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The Chicago White Sox will try to end another four-game losing streak when they open a three-game series against the host Cleveland Guardians on Monday.
The White Sox just dropped four straight games to the Royals, just the third time Kansas City swept a four-game series against Chicago.
Chicago, which lost four straight to open the season, is 1-8 overall and 0-7 against the American League Central.
“Between now and (Game) 162, there’s a lot of peaks and valleys you’ve got to navigate through,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said before Sunday’s game against the Royals, where his team blew a 3-0 lead and lost 5-3. “What you’ve got to do is have that confidence and consistency, knowing that at the end of it all, this is where I’m going to be. This is who I am.”
Chicago will be without outfielder Eloy Jimenez, who went on the 10-day injured list on Friday after straining his adductor muscle while running out a grounder on March 31. He has missed the past six games. Grifol hoped Jimenez could have returned sometime this series.
Jimenez was fourth on the White Sox with 18 home runs in 120 games last season. He was also third on the team with 64 RBIs.
“We’ll just slow him down and make sure he gets his seven days and just get him right,” Grifol said. “We think that slowing this down and taking our time with it, there’s a really good chance that we can be done with it. He’ll continue to do his stuff, but not with the same urgency.”
Grifol was still undecided on his starting pitcher for the series opener, but the White Sox will likely recall a player from the minors.
The Guardians, who will be playing their home opener, had an extra day of rest after they were rained out in Minnesota on Sunday.
Triston McKenzie was scheduled to start the series finale against the Twins, but the right-hander was bumped to the home opener on Monday.
McKenzie (0-1, 10.80 ERA) will aim for a better performance than what he delivered in his season debut last Monday, when he allowed five runs (four earned) and four hits in 3 1/3 innings of a 5-4 loss to the host Seattle Mariners.
“I wish I would have been better,” McKenzie said. “I think (the loss) is a good step forward, and we’re looking forward from here.”
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was just happy to have a healthy McKenzie on the mound after injuries limited him to just four starts covering 16 innings last season.
“It was great to see him go out there and throw and feel good coming off the mound,” Vogt said. “He just lost his command there for a little bit, but good to see him out there. To go out and feel healthy, it’s always a good thing.”
McKenzie went 11-11 in 2022 with a 2.96 ERA. He struck out 190 batters in 191 1/3 innings.
He has made 10 appearances (nine starts) against the White Sox in his career and is 2-2 with a 5.64 ERA.
Remaining healthy is especially key for McKenzie after Saturday’s announcement that 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber would need season-ending elbow surgery.
The Guardians recalled right-hander Peter Strzelecki from Triple-A Columbus to fill Bieber’s roster spot.
MINNEAPOLIS — The clock is ticking for a possible end to rideshare services Uber and Lyft in the Twin Cities.
Both companies have threatened to leave after the Minneapolis City Council passed a pay raise local drivers demanded.
Rideshare services Uber and Lyft say they will pull out of the Twin Cities May 1. That is when a rate hike approved by the Minneapolis City Council goes into effect
Councilmember Andrea Jenkins has introduced a resolution that could allow the Minneapolis City Council to reconsider its rate hike at this Thursday’s meeting, but it is not clear if that will happen. If no action is taken, the companies say they will make good on their threat to leave.
Lyft has proposed a compromise rate structure. And over at the Capitol, legislators are scrambling to come up with a solution.
The rideshare companies are fighting back with ads and a website “bringridesback,” both urging the public to contact City Council members. Rideshare companies say most of their rides in this area are to places where people get groceries and other necessities, like Cub and Target.
Among those heading up the fight to find a solution is Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who vetoed the council’s controversial pay raise only to have the council override the veto.
“The City Council didn’t listen,” Frey said. “They didn’t do the proper engagement and you have to understand that this impacts a wide swath of people, from those with disabilities to those who are blind, from people trying to get home from the bar after having a couple too many drinks to people traveling to Minneapolis for a convention or a wedding or a ball game.”
The Minneapolis City Council ordinance requires a minimum wage of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute. Lyft says it is willing to support a state study’s recommended 89 cents per mile and 49 cents per minute.
WCCO will be monitoring continued developments. Smaller rideshare companies have already applied for licenses to operate in the Twin Cities. And taxi services are gearing up to fill the possible void. But there is widespread concern that the effort to quickly replace these two worldwide app-based services will be extremely difficult
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Esme Murphy, a reporter and Sunday morning anchor for WCCO-TV, has been a member of the WCCO-TV staff since December 1990. She is also a weekend talk show host on WCCO Radio. Born and raised in New York City, Esme ventured into reporting after graduating from Harvard University.
Mill City Farmers Market (MCFM) has a new Executive Director, Ella Daniels, and she has the experience and enthusiasm to take our local farmers market to new levels of success. We talked to her about opportunities to grow the market’s programs, how technology can assist and new vendors. She taught us that people who shop at farmers markets have 15 to 20 social interactions per visit compared with 1 to 2 social interactions at a grocery store – isn’t that fact alone enough to get you to visit the market?
Ella DanielsQ: Congratulations on becoming the Executive Director of the Mill City Farmers Market! Can you share a bit about your background and experience in food resource organizations?
A: Thanks so much. I’m a proud market shopper and donor of the Mill City Farmers Market, so to me, leading this organization is a privilege. My professional experience is focused on connecting food organizations with the resources and audiences they need to thrive. I grew up in Minnesota, but while living in Washington, D.C. I had the opportunity to work across various levels of the food system: globally at the United Nations World Food Programme, regionally at the Capital Area Food Bank, and nationally at Partnership for a Healthier America. My work experience has given me valuable insights into the policies and factors that shape our modern food system, and its economic, health, social, and environmental inequities. I’m excited to be able to use this platform to highlight the power of eating locally and advocate for a more equitable and sustainable food system.
Q: What do you see as the main challenges and opportunities for the MCFM in the upcoming year?
A: Great question. I’ve been asking this and similar questions of staff, Board members, vendors and partners since I started in January. My goal is to be in “listen and learn” mode this year. One takeaway I can share from my “listening tour” thus far is that Mill City Farmers Market is known among vendors as a springboard to success for local businesses. This feedback is helping me recognize a big opportunity to help people understand how farmers markets work, how local businesses benefit, and what makes Mill City Farmers Market unique. Our market has grown so much in recent years, and our experienced staff have great suggestions about what it means to sustain success and what additional role we could play in our community.
Q: The MCFM is a well-run operation, but do you have strategies in mind to enhance the efficiency of the market’s operations? What role do you see technology playing in the future of the MCFM?
A: MCFM has a well-deserved reputation as a well-run operation, and that’s a testament to the leadership of Martha Archer, during her 13-year tenure, and a dream team of staff, day staff and vendors. One project we have planned to enhance our operational efficiency is upgrading our point-of-sale system. We soon will need a new credit card reader, so we hope to transition to an integrated hardware and software that can complete payments for SNAP/EBT, merchandise sales and market tokens and inventory them to save staff time on manual reconciliation and bookkeeping. SNAP transactions at our market have tripled in recent years and we see a big opportunity to continue growing the percentage of customers who benefit from Market Bucks, but payment processing takes more staff time. By upgrading this technology, we’ll meet two goals at the same time: happier staff and increased food access in our community.
Q: Do you foresee new vendors that you will invite to the market?
A: We had a record-breaking number of applications this year and just finalized a fantastic line-up of vendors for the upcoming summer season. I can’t spill the beans yet, but we will be announcing our new lineup of vendors soon. As with most news, our newsletter subscribers will be the first to know. But you can expect over 100 vendors, with many familiar names and some brand-new faces, too.
Q: Are there any changes you foresee in the layout or structure of the market?
A: Market goers can expect the same layout and structure for 2024. Our indoor market season includes one more market on April 20th from 10am to 1pm inside the Mill City Museum, featuring 30+ vendors. On Saturday May 4th, we officially begin the outdoor market season. Summer market hours are from 8am to 1pm, May to September, then 9am to 1pm in October, before returning to indoor markets on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month from November to April. All summer long we’ll be hosting fun, experiential programming at the market like Mill City Cooks on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, weekly yoga (June-September), Storytime with the Guthrie Theater, and Mill City Kids and Power of Produce on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month.
Ella and family roll into the MCFM
Q: What ideas do you have for fostering a sense of community among vendors and customers?
A: This is my favorite thing about Mill City Farmers Market. I read a statistic from the Farmers Market Coalition that people who shop at farmers markets have 15 to 20 social interactions per visit compared with 1 to 2 social interactions at a grocery store. How cool is that? For me, the ingredients to foster a sense of community are curiosity, respect and good questions. Whether you visit us once a year or each Saturday, you are part of our community and you help us contribute to the growth and sustainability of our local economy. I’m proud of the fact that Mill City Farmers Market is a trusted destination where 175,000 annual customers can buy directly from over 100 small farms, food producers and entrepreneurs located within 50 miles of the Twin Cities.
Q: Are there any outreach or educational programs you’d like to implement?
A: Definitely. Through generous support from individuals and businesses in our community, we fund education and outreach for the Mill City Farmers Market through our Charitable Fund. This organizational model allows us to have a greater impact in our community by offering well-established programs to prevent food waste, improve food access, and invest in farmer-led solutions to build a more equitable and sustainable food system. When you donate to the Mill City Farmers Market Charitable Fund you help power our programming and close the gap between program demand and available funding.
Two programs we see an opportunity to grow with incremental funding are: Next Stage Grants and Greens for Good. For example, 32 emerging farmers and food makers applied this year for Next Stage Grants to scale their business operations but we can only fund 40% of these requests at current funding levels. On average, it costs $5,700 to help one emerging farmer unlock financial opportunity for years to come. Another program we’d like to grow is Greens for Good, a weekly food recovery program supported by Augsburg University volunteers and M Health Fairview Health Commons which distributes 10,000 pounds of high-quality surplus produce annually to 40 public housing residents in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. It would cost $14,500 to increase the program by 50% to meet the community demand for fresh produce. The project costs include farmer compensation at wholesale prices for 10,000 pounds of produce annually, staff support, additional volunteer stipends, additional compostable bags and a translator.
Q: How may we stay up to date with MCFM news?
A: Subscribe to our newsletter! It is a fun read with market news and behind-the-scenes stories every Wednesday. Our communications manager, Maya O’Brien McLeod writes the newsletter and she’s doing something right because we have an above average open rate of 47%. We’re on Instagram and Facebook as well with more regular updates (@millcityfarmersmarket), but the best way to stay up to date with Mill City Farmers Market news is to become a regular shopper. We have one more indoor market inside the Mill City Museum on Saturday, April 20th, and we officially kick off the outdoor market season on Saturday May 4th. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Karla Elizabeth Hovde is a big fan of the new bidirectional protected bike lane on Bryant Avenue in south Minneapolis.
“I think making car lanes one-way has been a great example of the concept of traffic evaporation, in addition to an excellent bike path,” she wrote on Facebook after the Drive asked people to comment on it. “It is a world-class street now.”
The folks at the Colorado-based PeopleForBikes Foundation think so, too. The nonprofit named the lane running from Lake Street to W. 50th Street as one of the Top 10 new bike lanes built in the United States last year. It “reflects a forward-looking commitment to safer and more sustainable transportation,” the organization said.
Though the accolade is a nice feather in the cap, the real reward is seen in the volume of bicyclists using the trail, said Kathleen Mayell, a city transportation planning manager.
“Bryant provides for a comfortable and safe experience for users of all ages and abilities,” she said. “We hope to encourage people to use the bike network, and evidence from Bryant shows it’s working.”
Robert Dahlstrom said he uses the lane regularly, often using the path on bike rides with his three children.
“Minneapolis does need more like it,” he said. “A lot more.”
He may get his wish. The city has an ambitious goal of having 60% of all trips taken in the city made on transit or by walking, rolling or biking by 2030, and Bryant “helped us toward achieving that goal,” Mayell said. “There are more projects like this to come.”
The city recently completed a protected bike lane on 4th Street in downtown and is building one similar to the one on Bryant as part of the massive remake of Hennepin Avenue through Uptown. The city also is in the planning stages of the Northside Greenway, which calls for biking facilities on Irving and Humboldt Avenues between Van White Boulevard and 44th Avenue N.
Minneapolis has 16 miles of on-street protected bikeways as of December, according to the city’s website.
Of course, the $27.6 million Bryant Avenue reconstruction project that included the bike lane isn’t without hiccups and shortcomings. For starters, the city had to spend an additional $1.5 million to fix a stretch between 42nd and 50th streets after the original reconstruction left the roadway too narrow for fire trucks, snowplows and garbage trucks. Hovde wondered why the protected bike lane was not extended north another 1½ blocks to allow for safe connection to the Midtown Greenway. Others said it suffers from visibility problems at some intersections and has poor signage.
The biggest beef, wrote Lee Penn, who rides on Bryant occasionally, are some drivers who don’t look for oncoming riders, “which feels sometimes dangerous.”
Though not perfect, Michael Wojcik, executive director of the Bike Alliance of Minnesota, said Bryant is a good example of how simple improvements to infrastructure can lower the barriers and make it safer for those who bike, walk and roll.
“We believe these kinds of improvements lower the cost of transportation and make our communities more equitable,” he told the Drive. “We are proud that Minneapolis is maintaining its leadership position in the best bicycling metro in North America.”
Right-hander Sonny Gray will make his debut as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
The right-hander, who signed a three-year, $75 million free-agent deal in the offseason, opened the season on the injured list with a right hamstring strain.
Manager Oliver Marmol said Gray, 34, will be on a pitch limit of 65 when he faces the Philadelphia Phillies in St. Louis.
Gray is skipping a minor league rehab start, telling Marmol he is game-ready.
“He is as direct and honest of a human as you can ever encounter,” Marmol told reporters. “And if he says he is 100 percent himself and ready to go, from my seat, I trust that.”
Gray left the March 4 spring training game against the Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach, Fla., with what the team called right hamstring tightness. He had gotten five outs — none of the balls hit left the infield — and was throwing to Washington’s Nick Senzel with a 1-1 count when catcher Willson Contreras summoned trainers from the dugout.
The Cardinals added Gray as part of a remake of their pitching staff that included bringing in Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.
Last season with the Minnesota Twins, Gray finished second in Cy Young Award balloting with an 8-8 record and 2.79 ERA in 32 starts.
In his career with the Oakland Athletics (2013-17), New York Yankees (2017-18), Cincinnati Reds (2019-21) and Twins (2022-23), Gray has a 98-85 record with a 3.47 ERA in 279 appearances (270 starts) in 1,571 innings.
MINNEAPOLIS — The finale of the Minnesota Twins’ first home series of the season has been postponed.
The Twins announced Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians has been moved to Aug. 9 due to inclement weather. The game was scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m. at Target Field.
Mill City Farmers Market (MCFM) has a new Executive Director, Ella Daniels, and she has the experience and enthusiasm to take our local farmers market to new levels of success. We talked to her about opportunities to grow the market’s programs, how technology can assist and new vendors. She taught us that people who shop at farmers markets have 15 to 20 social interactions per visit compared with 1 to 2 social interactions at a grocery store – isn’t that fact alone enough to get you to visit the market?
Ella DanielsQ: Congratulations on becoming the Executive Director of the Mill City Farmers Market! Can you share a bit about your background and experience in food resource organizations?
A: Thanks so much. I’m a proud market shopper and donor of the Mill City Farmers Market, so to me, leading this organization is a privilege. My professional experience is focused on connecting food organizations with the resources and audiences they need to thrive. I grew up in Minnesota, but while living in Washington, D.C. I had the opportunity to work across various levels of the food system: globally at the United Nations World Food Programme, regionally at the Capital Area Food Bank, and nationally at Partnership for a Healthier America. My work experience has given me valuable insights into the policies and factors that shape our modern food system, and its economic, health, social, and environmental inequities. I’m excited to be able to use this platform to highlight the power of eating locally and advocate for a more equitable and sustainable food system.
Q: What do you see as the main challenges and opportunities for the MCFM in the upcoming year?
A: Great question. I’ve been asking this and similar questions of staff, Board members, vendors and partners since I started in January. My goal is to be in “listen and learn” mode this year. One takeaway I can share from my “listening tour” thus far is that Mill City Farmers Market is known among vendors as a springboard to success for local businesses. This feedback is helping me recognize a big opportunity to help people understand how farmers markets work, how local businesses benefit, and what makes Mill City Farmers Market unique. Our market has grown so much in recent years, and our experienced staff have great suggestions about what it means to sustain success and what additional role we could play in our community.
Q: The MCFM is a well-run operation, but do you have strategies in mind to enhance the efficiency of the market’s operations? What role do you see technology playing in the future of the MCFM?
A: MCFM has a well-deserved reputation as a well-run operation, and that’s a testament to the leadership of Martha Archer, during her 13-year tenure, and a dream team of staff, day staff and vendors. One project we have planned to enhance our operational efficiency is upgrading our point-of-sale system. We soon will need a new credit card reader, so we hope to transition to an integrated hardware and software that can complete payments for SNAP/EBT, merchandise sales and market tokens and inventory them to save staff time on manual reconciliation and bookkeeping. SNAP transactions at our market have tripled in recent years and we see a big opportunity to continue growing the percentage of customers who benefit from Market Bucks, but payment processing takes more staff time. By upgrading this technology, we’ll meet two goals at the same time: happier staff and increased food access in our community.
Q: Do you foresee new vendors that you will invite to the market?
A: We had a record-breaking number of applications this year and just finalized a fantastic line-up of vendors for the upcoming summer season. I can’t spill the beans yet, but we will be announcing our new lineup of vendors soon. As with most news, our newsletter subscribers will be the first to know. But you can expect over 100 vendors, with many familiar names and some brand-new faces, too.
Q: Are there any changes you foresee in the layout or structure of the market?
A: Market goers can expect the same layout and structure for 2024. Our indoor market season includes one more market on April 20th from 10am to 1pm inside the Mill City Museum, featuring 30+ vendors. On Saturday May 4th, we officially begin the outdoor market season. Summer market hours are from 8am to 1pm, May to September, then 9am to 1pm in October, before returning to indoor markets on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month from November to April. All summer long we’ll be hosting fun, experiential programming at the market like Mill City Cooks on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, weekly yoga (June-September), Storytime with the Guthrie Theater, and Mill City Kids and Power of Produce on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month.
Ella and family roll into the MCFM
Q: What ideas do you have for fostering a sense of community among vendors and customers?
A: This is my favorite thing about Mill City Farmers Market. I read a statistic from the Farmers Market Coalition that people who shop at farmers markets have 15 to 20 social interactions per visit compared with 1 to 2 social interactions at a grocery store. How cool is that? For me, the ingredients to foster a sense of community are curiosity, respect and good questions. Whether you visit us once a year or each Saturday, you are part of our community and you help us contribute to the growth and sustainability of our local economy. I’m proud of the fact that Mill City Farmers Market is a trusted destination where 175,000 annual customers can buy directly from over 100 small farms, food producers and entrepreneurs located within 50 miles of the Twin Cities.
Q: Are there any outreach or educational programs you’d like to implement?
A: Definitely. Through generous support from individuals and businesses in our community, we fund education and outreach for the Mill City Farmers Market through our Charitable Fund. This organizational model allows us to have a greater impact in our community by offering well-established programs to prevent food waste, improve food access, and invest in farmer-led solutions to build a more equitable and sustainable food system. When you donate to the Mill City Farmers Market Charitable Fund you help power our programming and close the gap between program demand and available funding.
Two programs we see an opportunity to grow with incremental funding are: Next Stage Grants and Greens for Good. For example, 32 emerging farmers and food makers applied this year for Next Stage Grants to scale their business operations but we can only fund 40% of these requests at current funding levels. On average, it costs $5,700 to help one emerging farmer unlock financial opportunity for years to come. Another program we’d like to grow is Greens for Good, a weekly food recovery program supported by Augsburg University volunteers and M Health Fairview Health Commons which distributes 10,000 pounds of high-quality surplus produce annually to 40 public housing residents in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. It would cost $14,500 to increase the program by 50% to meet the community demand for fresh produce. The project costs include farmer compensation at wholesale prices for 10,000 pounds of produce annually, staff support, additional volunteer stipends, additional compostable bags and a translator.
Q: How may we stay up to date with MCFM news?
A: Subscribe to our newsletter! It is a fun read with market news and behind-the-scenes stories every Wednesday. Our communications manager, Maya O’Brien McLeod writes the newsletter and she’s doing something right because we have an above average open rate of 47%. We’re on Instagram and Facebook as well with more regular updates (@millcityfarmersmarket), but the best way to stay up to date with Mill City Farmers Market news is to become a regular shopper. We have one more indoor market inside the Mill City Museum on Saturday, April 20th, and we officially kick off the outdoor market season on Saturday May 4th. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Evan Bouchard broke a deadlock and Connor McDavid collected two more assists in his quest to join elite company as the visiting Edmonton Oilers claimed a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames in a hard-fought Battle of Alberta clash Saturday night.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored once in a three-point game, while Leon Draisaitl and Connor Brown also scored for the Oilers, who are 5-1-1 in their last seven games. Goaltender Calvin Pickard made 33 saves.
With his helpers, McDavid has 99 assists, pulling him that much closer to becoming only the fourth player in NHL history to collect 100 in a season. McDavid would join Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky (who did it 11 times) and Mario Lemieux.
Edmonton is three points back of the Vancouver Canucks for the top spot in the Pacific Division and holds one game in hand. Edmonton also has a six-point edge on the third-place Los Angeles Kings.
Yegor Sharangovich scored once and added an assist, while Nazem Kadri also scored for the Flames. Goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 23 shots. Calgary has lost three straight, eight of nine and 11 of 14 outings since the trade deadline.
Penguins 5, Lightning 4
Michael Bunting tapped the puck inside the right post at 14:32 of the third period to give Pittsburgh a win over visiting Tampa Bay despite blowing a three-goal lead.
Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang also scored, and Erik Karlsson added three assists for the Penguins, who won their fourth straight. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves.
Steven Stamkos had two goals, Nicholas Paul and Anthony Duclair also scored, and Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each had three assists for the Lightning, who had won five of six.
Bruins 3, Panthers 2 (OT)
Jesper Boqvist sniped a deciding breakaway at 2:05 of overtime as Boston earned a win over visiting Florida in a key Atlantic Division clash.
Boqvist made the winning play happen all by himself, coming away with the puck out of a defensive-zone wall battle before breaking down the left side circle. Charlie McAvoy and Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston, which has won four straight and holds a five-point lead atop the division. Linus Ullmark made 28 saves in the Bruins net.
Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov each scored a goal while Gustav Forsling dished out two assists for Florida, which is just 2-4-1 over its last seven games. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 stops.
Devils 4, Senators 3
Brendan Smith had a goal and two assists for New Jersey in a win against host Ottawa.
Jesper Bratt had two assists, and Jake Allen made 25 saves for the Devils, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson each had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who have lost three straight. Anton Forsberg allowed three goals on nine shots before he was replaced in the first period by Joonas Korpisalo, who made 18 saves in relief.
Blackhawks 3, Stars 2
Connor Bedard, Andreas Athanasiou and Seth Jones scored second-period goals 4:03 apart and Petr Mrazek made 42 saves as host Chicago halted Dallas’ franchise-best eight-game winning streak.
The Stars remained atop the Central Division, three points ahead of the idle Colorado Avalanche. The clubs are set to meet Sunday in Denver. Outshot 44-17, the hosts capitalized on their limited offensive chances to win for the second time in three games.
Roope Hintz scored his third goal in the past four games to end Mrazek’s bid for a shutout at 15:37 of the second period. The Stars drew within a goal with 4:23 left in the game, with Jamie Benn redirecting a Miro Heiskanen shot for his 20th goal of the season.
Jets 4, Wild 2
Vladislav Namestnikov scored once in a three-point game and Alex Iafallo collected one goal and one assist to lead visiting Winnipeg to a victory over slumping Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.
Kyle Connor and Morgan Barron also scored for the Jets, who are riding a three-game winning streak and sit third in the Central Division. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves.
Kirill Kaprizov scored both goals for the Wild, who have lost three of four games and are in last-gasp territory with their hopes of reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs. Mats Zuccarello posted a pair of assists and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 shots.
Sharks 3, Blues 2 (OT)
William Eklund completed his hat trick with 1:04 left in overtime and host San Jose swept the three-game season series from St. Louis.
Eklund kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Joel Hofer for the game winner. It was a costly missed point for the Blues, who have lost three of their last four games and are seven points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn scored for St. Louis. Robert Thomas had two assists and Hofer made 22 saves. Devin Cooley made 34 saves for the Sharks.
Maple Leafs 4, Canadiens 2
Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 64th goal and visiting Toronto defeated Montreal.
Max Domi, Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann also scored for the Maple Leafs. Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Cole Caufield added a goal and Mike Matheson contributed two assists. Cayden Primeau made 18 saves in relief of Sam Montembeault, who allowed four goals on 12 shots.
Blue Jackets 6, Flyers 2
Defensemen Damon Severson and Zach Werenski both scored twice as host Columbus delivered a blow to Philadelphia’s playoff chances by sending it to its seventh straight defeat.
Defensemen Erik Gudbranson and Nick Blankenburg also scored and Werenski added an assist for the Blue Jackets, who won for just the fourth time in 14 games (4-8-2). Johnny Gaudreau had a pair of assists. Jet Greaves made 37 saves for his second victory of the season.
Olle Lycksell and Adam Ginning responded for the Flyers, who are 0-5-2 in their last seven and fell outside of the playoff picture with the loss. Samuel Ersson stopped 27 shots.
Islanders 2, Predators 0
Semyon Varlamov stopped all 41 shots for host New York, which took over sole possession of third place in the Metropolitan Division with a win over Nashville in Elmont, N.Y.
Noah Dobson scored in the second period and Kyle Palmieri scored an empty-netter with 1:19 left for the Islanders, who won their fourth straight game. The win snapped a tie with the Philadelphia Flyers, who fell 6-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier Saturday.
The Islanders are also two points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves for the Predators, who have lost four of five.
Kings 6, Canucks 3
Adrian Kempe had two goals and an assist as the Los Angeles continued its mastery of visiting Vancouver.
The Kings have won five of their past six games against Vancouver and clinched the season series 3-1. Drew Doughty and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar had two assists for the Kings, who have won three straight. Cam Talbot stopped 39 shots.
Brock Boeser, Dakota Joshua and Teddy Blueger scored for the Canucks, who have lost four of their past six games as they work toward the Pacific Division title. Casey DeSmith made 23 saves.
Let the parade begin. Country stars are coming to U.S. Bank Stadium.
Kenny Chesney was expected. After all, he’s country’s king of stadium concerts (he’s back again on May 4). But on Saturday, Chris Stapleton kicked off a run of three new country-affiliated stadium performers.
Stapleton may be one of the most award-winning country artists of the past decade (including 10 Grammys, three for country album of the year, two CMA Awards for top album and seven for best male vocalist) but he doesn’t seem to have anything in common with the other new headliners, underground phenomenon Zach Bryan (Aug. 24) and best-selling bad-boy Morgan Wallen (June 20-21).
Stapleton, a 45-year-old straw-cowboy-hat-wearin’ Kentuckian, lives in the intersection of blues and country, two cousins in the sense that they can plumb deep emotions in straightforward ways. Stapleton is a master of concision, in conversation, lyrics and music. On Saturday, he was a masterfully expressive blues-rock guitarist, equal parts finesse and fire but never flashy.
As with George Strait, it’s not about the showmanship with Stapleton, it’s about the songs, vocals and musicianship. The theater footlights and a proscenium curtain backdrop notwithstanding, this was about as frills-free as a stadium show gets.
Stapleton is not a physical performer, but he’s forceful. He knows how to make his voice roar, growl and even purr real nice and pretty when he wants to. He owes a debt to R&B shouter Otis Redding and full-volume rocker John Fogerty.
For two hours Saturday, Stapleton sang with deepfelt conviction, unleashing his vocal power in the homestretch on “The Devil Named Music” and “Traveller,” the title track of his 2015 debut album. His most impassioned vocal came on “Cold,” the heartbreaking power ballad with painfully lonely blues guitar, elevating it to the night’s high point. How often is a ballad the best moment at a stadium concert?
Stapleton showed an expressive vocabulary on guitar, with galloping on “White Horse,” garage-rock flailing on “Second One to Know,” slacker bass-heavy twang on “Might as Well Get Stoned,” swampy chicken pickin’ on “Hard Livin’,” bent-note blues on “Worry B Gone,” soulful caresses on “Think I’m in Love with You,” rumbling blues-rock on “Nobody to Blame,” a boozy bluesiness on “Tennessee Whiskey” and haunting twang rock on “The Devil Named Music.”
Missing in action Saturday was Stapleton’s wife, backup singer Morgane Stapleton, but on board in the six-man band was harmonica player Mickey Raphael, who is usually with Willie Nelson & Family.
Stapleton, who opened for Strait at the Vikings stadium in 2021, understands the impact of being an opening act in a stadium can have. For his All-American Road Show tour, he tapped Marcus King, a rising blues-rock guitar hero, and Lainey Wilson, one of Nashville’s hottest artists who captured top album and entertainer of the year at last November’s CMA Awards.
Even though Wilson gave a no-gimmicks performance, it was easy to see why she earned the entertainer of the year prize from her peers.
Wilson, 31, cut a striking figure on the stadium’s big screens with her hippie-meets-Western aesthetic of turquoise, fringe, bell bottoms and platform shoes. She was engaging, encouraging and effervescent. And she seemed genuinely grateful about her recent ascent after 13 years in Nashville.
With her unapologetic Louisiana drawl, Wilson imparted wisdom in the empowering “Things a Man Oughta Know” and the confidence-inducing “Atta Girl” (which she introduced by reading a female fan’s sign: “I am smart, I am beautiful, I am godly”).
She poured her heart into the very mainstream “Country’s Cool Again”, the Western-flavored “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” (which was introduced by a guitarist playing an instrumental version of “Ghost Riders in the Sky”) and “Wait in the Truck,” her award-winning duet with Jelly Roll that was rendered as a solo acoustic guitar number enrapturing the suddenly silent 47,000 fans in the huge stadium. And she closed the knockout hourlong set by belting out a big note on her own hit “Heart Like a Truck.”
After opening for both Stapleton and Luke Combs at the Vikings stadium in her only major Twin Cities appearances, Wilson is clearly ready to headline her own arena show.
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — Minnesota’s National Guard is capitalizing on one of its longest-standing partnerships in an entirely new way this weekend.
As the guard goes through bi-annual cyber defense training, it’s welcoming in members of the Norwegian Armed Forces – expanding on a relationship that’s lasted for more than a half-century.
“These exercises are incredibly important for us to keep our skills technically sharp, but the other part is being the first time the Norwegians have come to train with us, is the communication and the intractability,” said Lt. Kai Pederson of the Minnesota National Guard. “If we’re going to respond to something with our allies, especially our NATO allies, we need to know how each other operate.”
WCCO
The weekend’s training focused on analyzing and solving a hypothetical scenario stemming from a cyber attack.
“We’re playing the role of a team that has been called in to help defend a network that’s under attack,” said Major Peter Kapelanski of the Minnesota National Guard. “It’s been very interesting working with the Norwegians. Some of the things we do are very similar.”
“We’re really eager to learn the Americans,” said Markus Holmby of Norway. “(To see) how they work and what they can do.”
Holmby says his group, three in total, plans to try a jucy lucy during their first ever trip to Minnesota. He says the also paid a visit to the Mall of America.
“We came here and everyone was like, ‘You’re a big deal,’ and we were like, ‘Oh wow,;” he said.
In 2023, Minnesota’s National Guard signed a state partnership agreement with Norway, paying the path to expand military relationships with the NATO partner.
As a renter over the past decade, Sean Tanna grew familiar with the stores and restaurants in north Minneapolis — which is why he decided to plant his family’s roots there, he said.
In December, his family officially closed on a three-bedroom house with the help of a $20,000 grant from a program that aims to help Black and Indigenous first-time homebuyers purchase a house in north Minneapolis. Tanna is one of the first recipients of the Homeownership Access Fund, led by the north Minneapolis-based housing nonprofit Urban Homeworks.
Through years of divestment in north Minneapolis and discriminatory housing practices, families of color have been shut out from securing wealth to pass onto future generations, said Urban Homeworks Executive Director AsaleSol Young.
Young hopes the program will help former north Minneapolis residents return to their old neighborhoods, and encourage current residents to stay and invest in the community as homeowners.
“Making the decision to invest in a community like North, by purchasing a home in North, is a long-term commitment,” Young said, adding that homeowners typically have a greater interest and stake to get involved in the community, including local politics and schools, because of their investment in a house.
Grant recipients receive pre-purchase training and a coach to help them navigate financial challenges, such as a low credit score. They can also attend seminars after they purchase a house, and they can continue working with a coach on long-term goals such as paying for maintenance and weatherization.
“If we’re going to help a family get in a position to build wealth, there is no wealth-building if they lose their home,” said David McGee, executive director of Build Wealth, a nonprofit that works to help families navigate the home-buying process.
Tanna has been trying, on and off, to buy a home since 2020. He knew he wanted to leave behind rent increases and his landlord’s apathetic responses to repair requests, but he hesitated. “I was comfortable where I was at,” he said.
His loan officer kept calling to encourage him to buy a house, and he began to focus more seriously on his home search last year. Tanna said he wanted to provide his sons, partner and aging father with a stable place to call home.
“You gotta do it for yourself, but you make sure they’re good as well, by making payments on time and putting food in the refrigerator and just steady working,” he said.
Only two recipients have been awarded the $20,000 down payment grant, including Tanna. The grant is a check that the buyer brings with them to the closing of their house. The plan is to issue eight more grants to recipients this year, according to Katie Herrick, Urban Homeworks communications manager.
With the support of donors and foundations, a future goal is to expand the funding opportunity to south Minneapolis, Young said.
Home buyers who are interested in applying for a grant are encouraged to talk with their loan officer about learning more through Urban Homeworks’ website.
A few months after moving into the house, Tanna’s two sons are making “more noise than anything.” His partner is thinking of painting the exterior of the house from baby blue to white.
“Don’t wait at all,” said Tanna, offering advice to other first-time home buyers. “Don’t pay no one else’s mortgage. You gotta own your own stuff.”
About the partnership
This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for a free newsletter to receive Sahan’s stories in your inbox.
In her final hours as an enslaved person, Eliza Winston changed out of her old washing dress and into a calico dress — her finest one — at a boarding house near Lake Harriet on Aug. 21, 1860.
“That simple act was significant and symbolic,” writes Christopher Lehman, an ethnic studies professor at St. Cloud State University, in his new book, “It Took Courage: Eliza Winston’s Quest for Freedom.”
“Enslavers controlled the labor of their captives, telling them when to begin and end their workdays,” Lehman writes. By removing her washing dress, he says, Winston stepped into freedom for the first time in her 43 years — and became the first person to successfully challenge in court Minnesota’s informal practice of welcoming vacationing Southern slave owners who brought their human property north.
“Her story exemplifies Minnesota’s complex relationship to slavery,” Lehman writes, because the state’s tourism industry required local officials and businesses to overlook the fact that Minnesota was a free state with a constitutional ban against slavery.
Others have written about Winston finding freedom in Minnesota, but Lehman breaks all kinds of new ground. His research shows that she was 13 years older than previously thought; in her 1860 court affidavit, Winston said she was 30, but Lehman scoured records to pinpoint her birth in 1817.
And, Lehman has unearthed a surprising new character long overlooked in Winston’s story: President Andrew Jackson, who co-owned Winston from 1834 to 1842 — including during his final three years in the White House.
Winston came to Minnesota during the summer of 1860 with her vacationing owners, Mississippians Richard and Mary Christmas and their 7-year-old daughter, Norma. When the Christmases got wind of Winston’s plan to claim her freedom with the help of local abolitionists, they moved from the Winslow House in St. Anthony to a boarding house near Lake Harriet to maintain her captivity.
But Winston’s helpers filed a writ to the question of her freedom in Minnesota before Judge Charles Vanderburgh, who had served for nine months as Minneapolis’ first district judge. When Winston’s lawyer pointed to the young state’s ban on slavery, Vanderburgh promptly ruled that Winston was free — effective immediately.
Abolitionists, dodging local pro-slavery mobs, helped Winston follow the Underground Railroad to Detroit and then Canada. When the Civil War erupted the following spring, the southern tourists no longer traveled to Minnesota.
Lehman’s book explains how Winston’s freedom came amid three years of countervailing winds. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision in 1857 meant that enslaved people could not, under any circumstances or anywhere, be free. A financial panic that same year left Minnesota’s fledgling economy more dependent than ever on tourism dollars from southern slave owners, according to Lehman.
Never mind that Minnesota became a state in 1858 with a constitution that insisted: “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the state.”
Lehman’s 2019 book, “Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State,” details the spider web of connections between early Minnesota development and slave owner money flowing north. For this book, Lehman decided to focus on Winston and follow the sizable paper trail she left.
“The story of her emancipation while in Minnesota was very powerful to me,” he said.
While doing research for the book, Lehman discovered Jackson’s legal claim to Winston. Jackson provided the money to purchase Winston and other enslaved laborers in 1834 when they were auctioned to pay the debts of their owners, who were relatives of the president’s deceased wife. He maintained his interest in Winston until she was transferred to his grandniece in 1842.
Jackson, who enslaved more than 100 people, appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney in 1836. Two decades later, Taney wrote the Court’s majority opinion in the Dred Scott ruling. “Winston’s victory produced a compelling irony: a woman Jackson himself had enslaved defeated a part of his legacy in Minnesota,” Lehman writes.
For nearly 165 years, according to Lehman, Winston’s “iconic status [in Minnesota] has had less to do with her character and the details of her enslavement” than with the local abolitionists who helped her win freedom. Lehman has successfully flipped that script, providing a deeper look at Winston.
“As many African Americans today struggle to receive justice after suffering brutality from law enforcement,” he writes, “her story stands as a rare example of an African American relentlessly confronting a legal institution of brutality — the institution of slavery — and ultimately winning justice for herself in a court of law.”
William D. Green, a retired Augsburg University history professor and author who also has written about Winston, tips his hat to Lehman’s latest effort.
“With this book,” Green writes in a blurb, “Lehman presents a revealing addition to the complex story of Minnesota’s racial history.”
The Minnesota Historical Society Press will host a book launch featuring Lehman at 7 p.m. on April 18 at Mill City Museum, 704 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis.
Curt Brown’s tales about Minnesota’s history appear every other Sunday. Readers can send him ideas and suggestions at mnhistory@startribune.com. His latest book looks at 1918 Minnesota, when flu, war and fires converged: strib.mn/MN1918.
The Milwaukee Brewers will look for a return on their biggest offseason trade when they host the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.
Left-hander DL Hall (0-0, 4.50 ERA), obtained from Baltimore in February in the trade for ace Corbin Burnes, will make his second start for Milwaukee while right-hander Bryce Miller (0-1, 7.20 ERA) will get the nod for Seattle.
Milwaukee won the series opener 6-5 Friday night when Seattle reliever Andres Munoz walked four batters in the bottom of the ninth to force in the winning run and give the Brewers their fifth win in six games this season. It was Milwaukee’s first walk-off walk since July 2, 2018, against the Minnesota Twins.
Seattle’s bullpen entered the game with just five walks in 25 2/3 innings over the first seven games. Munoz had never walked more than two batters in an inning in his career.
The Mariners had tied the score at 5-5 in the top of the ninth with two runs off Abner Uribe, who had saved his first three opportunities. Uribe, in his second season, assumed the closer role when Devin Williams opened the season on the injured list with stress fractures in his back.
“He hung in there and got that last out,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of Uribe, who picked up the win despite his first blown save. “He didn’t implode right there. He’s a young kid, just got in the big leagues last year, doesn’t even have a year in, he’s keeping his composure.”
Christian Yelich, hitting .348 while batting third after three seasons in the leadoff spot, had his third home run for Milwaukee on Friday night.
Brewers rookie Oliver Dunn, who played last season at Double-A in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, had his first major league home run and an RBI single to raise his average to .313.
“He’s also a very young player who’s never played higher than Double-A,” Murphy said. “A real credit to him, what he’s done. He prepared himself to be a big leaguer.”
Hall allowed two runs on six hits in four innings in his first start with Milwaukee but did not get a decision in a 7-6 win over the New York Mets last Saturday. He has never faced the Mariners.
For the Mariners, Miller allowed four runs on six hits in five innings in his first start, a 5-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. Miller, 8-7 with a 4.32 ERA last season as a rookie, will make his first start career start against Milwaukee.
Seattle, which dropped to 3-5, has had four games decided by one run, winning the first three. The Mariners had eight hits Friday night to raise their team batting average to .201.
“We’re not clicking on all cylinders yet, I know that,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “Really happy with the way we came back in this ballgame. That’s what I want to take out of it because that’s how we can play.”
Mitch Haniger, originally drafted by Milwaukee, drove in the Mariners’ first run with an RBI single in the sixth. Haniger is batting .303 (10-for-33) with two homers and seven RBI in eight career games against the Brewers.
Public is invited to participate in shaping the Natural Resource Management for East Owamniyomni/Father Hennepin Bluff Park Lower Trail.
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1 – April 16, 6:30pm, Pillsbury A-Mill Performance Hall, 315 Main Street SE –Community Discussion: Caring for East Owamniyomni/Father Hennepin Bluff Riverfront
Friends of the Mississippi River and Full Circle Indigenous Planning and Design will offer regional context for this planning and share their initial assessment and draft recommendations. Participants will be invited to offer ideas, respond to draft concepts, and sign up to participate in caring for nature at East Owamniyomni. You can sign up for care events this season here.
Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA) has partnered with Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for several years by engaging volunteers in nature restoration activities at Father Hennepin Bluff Lower Trail, part of the Central Mississippi River Regional Park. As the Dakota name for the falls is Owamniyomni, volunteers are calling this lower trail area East Owamniyomni.
In 2023-24, MHNA received funding from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization to complete a 10-year natural resource management plan for volunteer-led restoration at East Owamniyomni. Friends of the Mississippi River and Full Circle Indigenous Planning and Design are working together on this plan. Essential parts of this planning process are evaluating its ecological health, and engaging Indigenous people and community members both in shaping the plan and playing a role in caring for nature in this special Mississippi River sanctuary.
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2 – Thursday, April 25, 6:30-7:30p – Join a site visit about this plan, led by volunteers. Following the meeting, you are welcome to comment, including online, until May 16. The plan will be finalized in July 2024.
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3 – Tuesday, Sept. 10, 5:30-7:30p – The group will be planting shrubs as they launch implementation of the plan. This event is part of the 2024 season of care days – please sign up here for April – November dates!
MINNEAPOLIS — Millions will be hoping for clear skies on Monday, for this once-in-a-lifetime sight in the sky.
It’s been seven years since a total solar eclipse swept across America, and in just three days it’ll be happening again.
From Texas to Maine, the moon will completely cover the sun for a total solar eclipse.
“The sun dips down, world changes and you’re never the same,” said Thaddeus LaCoursiere, Bell Museum Planetarium Production Coordinator.
In Minnesota, people will see a partial eclipse will be seen as 75% of the moon will be covering the sun. The partial eclipse will peak at 2 pm on Monday.
Others are hitting the road, making the 10-hour trip to Illinois.
“We’ll be staying at Mt. Vernon which is in the path of totality and we’re hoping the weather is fine,” Stephen Olson said.
Some would say Olson is eclipse chasing after witnessing his first eclipse in 2017. He snapped a photo in Nebraska as the sky became dark.
“It’s really quite an experience you’ll never forget,” Olson said.
No matter where you watch this astronomical event, you’ll need a pair of eclipse glasses.
“It blocks out almost everything except a thousand of the suns light including ultraviolet and infrared light which is especially damaging to our eyes,” LaCoursiere said.
If you still need a pair, check big box stores, hardware stores, or Amazon Prime if you’re in a crunch.
The next total eclipse in the United States will be in 2044 but Minnesota won’t be in the path of totality until 2099.
An 18-year-old man was shot and killed in a vehicle Friday night in the Harrison neighborhood of north Minneapolis, according to police.
The shooting happened around 8:50 p.m. in the 1700 block of Glenwood Avenue, police spokesman Aaron Rose said.
Others in the vehicle were driving the victim to a hospital when they flagged down a police officer near the intersection of E. 26th Street and Longfellow Avenue, Rose said.
There have been no arrests yet, and police were investigating to determine what happened, Rose said.
You couldn’t blame the Denver Nuggets for already thinking about another deep playoff run.
A second straight season holding the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed hangs in the balance, however.
Following Thursday’s 102-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Nuggets (53-24) sit a half-game behind the No. 1 Minnesota Timberwolves, and just a half-game ahead of the No. 3 Oklahoma City Thunder in the tightly knit West.
Denver hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, before four games against conference opponents to finish the season.
In a crucial game with seeding implications, the Nuggets jumped out to an early 25-8 lead over the Clippers, but saw their advantage trimmed to a point late in the first half.
After a James Harden triple gave Los Angeles a two-point advantage with 32 seconds left before halftime, Denver trailed for the remainder of the contest.
“That second quarter, (the Clippers) scored 33 points, and shot 50 percent from the field,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We’ve got to really look at that film, because it seems like this is happening a little too often right now.”
Denver star Nikola Jokic had a typical all-around performance, collecting game-highs of 36 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists. Aaron Gordon was the Nuggets’ second-leading scorer with 18.
Jokic leads the team with 26.5 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game. Denver has been without Jamal Murray (20.9 points, 6.7 assists) since March 21 with a knee injury.
“Those non-Nikola minutes, how can we survive those?” Malone added. “It’s hard when Jamal’s not here because usually he’s out there. But that (second quarter) was a really big stretch of the game.”
Malone was ejected with 7:54 remaining for arguing a no-call against Denver’s Michael Porter Jr.
“The first thing I told my players is I apologize for getting thrown out,” Malone said. “In a close game I’ve got to be there to help them at the end of the game.”
As for Atlanta (36-41), a 6-2 record in the last two weeks cliched a play-in berth — its third straight appearance in the 7-10 tournament.
The only question left now is whether the Hawks will be at home or on the road for their 9-10 game on April 17. As it stands entering Friday’s schedule, Atlanta sits a half-game behind the Chicago Bulls for the No. 9 seed.
The Hawks could have helped their cause with a win in Dallas on Thursday, but fell 109-95, mustering just 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter hit a 3-pointer to cut the Hawks’ deficit to seven with 6:16 left, but didn’t connect on another field goal the remainder of the game.
“I thought we gave ourselves a chance because we continued to work and fight, defensively,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “The last five minutes, we were still there. We had a couple three’s rim out and missed a layup that could have cut it to five.”
A day after Atlanta forward Jalen Johnson collected 28 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in his first career triple-double in a win over Detroit, he was held to six points on 3-for-12 shooting from the field against the Mavericks.
Nonetheless, the third-year player has enjoyed a breakout season, averaging 16.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Atlanta is aiming for its first road win against Denver since Nov. 12, 2019.
College basketball stars Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers face off in the women’s Final Four Friday night. Both Iowa’s Clark and UConn’s Bueckers are top-tier college basketball players, and their March Madness Final Four is expected to be both immensely entertaining as well as fiercely competitive.
Ask Clark and Bueckers their earliest impression of the other and you get generalities, light on details if heavy on respect. Their memories are blurry. Of AAU tournaments and Team USA practices. Of gold medals and deep 3s. Of the girl with the brown ponytail with the unlimited range who always seemed to know what was coming next and the blonde who never got rattled with the ball in her hands, by opponents or the sea of eyes constantly transfixed on her.
Maybe because those years shadowing each other on the travel circuit across the Midwest or teaming up for the occasional international competition seem so long ago. Maybe because in some ways — in the most meaningful of ways — they are.
The NCAA Tournament that Clark grew up watching in Iowa and Bueckers took in from the outskirts of Minneapolis doesn’t exist anymore. Back then, the inequalities between the men’s and women’s versions of March Madness were massive, from facilities to swag to TV ratings, even the branding.
It’s not that way anymore.
Not with Clark and Iowa selling out everywhere they go. Not with Bueckers finally healthy after spending the better part of two years recovering from knee injuries that left her fearful the generational skills that made her the first freshman to win the AP Player of the Year award would never return.
Only they have. Just in time for the two players who have helped propel interest in the women’s tournament to an all-time high to take center stage.
When Clark and the top-seeded Hawkeyes face Bueckers and third-seeded UConn on Friday night in the Final Four, they’ll do it not in some anonymous gym with nothing but parents, scouts and college coaches watching.
They will play in front of a packed arena with millions watching on television and millions more keeping track on social media, an ever-growing group that includes LeBron James and Steph Curry and Luka Doncic and aspiring ballers from all over.
It’s not that women’s basketball hasn’t had stars before. It has. Just never quite as many as this who play quite like this.
And while Iowa coach Lisa Bluder made it a point on Thursday to say she didn’t want the national semifinal to be pitted as “Caitlin vs. Paige,” everyone else involved seems to be OK with the arrangement because of what it means for not just their respective teams, but the women’s game in general.
“It’s a star-driven society that we live in,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “It’s a celebrity-driven, star-driven, influencer-driven world that’s been created.”
One in which both Clark and Bueckers are comfortable traveling, perhaps because it’s the only world they’ve ever known.
The parallels to the rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird that began when Johnson and Michigan State faced Bird and Indiana State in the 1979 NCAA championship are obvious.
“All of a sudden those two particular players came on and it just lit everything up, and it just took off from there,” Auriemma said. “So it needs some stars. It needs people that have the right personality, the right game. And we have that now.”
Thing is, Bueckers and Clark don’t view themselves as rivals. Not in a traditional sense. If anything, they believe they’re simply riding the crest of a wave that’s been building for years, long before they reached a first-name-only level of fame.
Ask Clark why interest in women’s basketball has spiked and she doesn’t point to her record-setting career or her “did she really shoot that” range or even her team’s success but simple exposure.
To Clark, the women’s game has always been great. It’s just taken a while, a long while, for the world to catch up.
“It’s the platforms that (we’re able to have now) that should have been there for a really long time,” Clark said. “We’ve had some amazing talents come through our game, over the last 10, 20 years.”
Talents that haven’t quite connected in the way that Clark and Bueckers have connected. The easing of rules surrounding name, image and likeness compensation has allowed them to market themselves and their game in ways once unimaginable.
It’s a history not lost on either of them. They understand and embrace the responsibility of being a role model, knowing they were once on the other end, looking up to the likes of college and WNBA stars Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen.
“They were everything that I wanted to be like,” Bueckers said. “And they won.”
A trait that has followed Bueckers seemingly from the first time she picked up a ball. It’s telling that when asked about Bueckers’ game, Clark didn’t talk about her impeccable court vision or precise midrange jumper but what the scoreboard says after nearly every game in which she plays.
“She’s always been dominant,” Clark said. “Every team that she’s ever been on, she’s led them to great success. It’s just what she does. She’s a winner.”
That hasn’t changed, though the dynamics around the way Clark and Bueckers are perceived have flipped over the last three years.
It was Bueckers, not Clark, who was the top recruit in the Class of 2020. It was Bueckers, not Clark, who was recruited by the Huskies, though Auriemma did point out this week “if Caitlin really wanted to come to UConn, she would have called me.” It was Bueckers, not Clark, who won that first meeting in 2021 and became the “media darling,” as Bueckers put it Friday.
Clark is in that position now. Setting the NCAA Division I scoring record and playing with a fearlessness that is equal parts thrilling and accessible will do that.
Security people had to clear a path deep inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Friday to make sure she could make it from one media opportunity to the next. When UConn and Bueckers came through an hour later, the throng was half the size.
Even for a player who says on the court she can see things before they happen, it’s been a lot. The 22-year-old Clark welcomes the attention because she understands it has brought new people to her sport. Yet she’s not here to be The Star, as much as people want to thrust that moniker on her.
Three years ago, it was Bueckers. The last two years, it’s been her. Next spring it might be Bueckers during her redshirt senior season. Bueckers is leaning toward this year’s blockbuster freshman class, a group that includes USC’s JuJu Watkins or Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo. A decade from now, it might be some young woman who didn’t pick up a ball until she watched Clark hoist it from deep and Bueckers weave through traffic in the lane.
In that way, Clark doesn’t see herself or Bueckers as the end result of something, but simply the latest links in a chain growing ever stronger with each passing season.
“It doesn’t need to be one end-all, be-all (star) just like I think there doesn’t need to be one end-all, be-all team,” Clark said. “The young talent, it’s only going to get better.”
Having direct access to top bosses can help you out these days.
CEOs are key players who steer their companies and make big choices. They also build important connections that lead to chances for partnerships.
But it’s not always easy finding the right info to reach these super busy and private people. They’ve got a lot on their plates.
That’s why we need some smart tactics and helpful resources to unearth their contact specifics. If you are looking for a way to do so, check SignalHire.
Digging those up is gold, as it clears a path for valuable networking.
Key Takeaways
Sales intelligence tools and manual searches both effectively uncover CEO contacts for those willing to invest effort.
Personalizing outreach to align with a CEO’s background and responsibilities boosts message impact.
Understanding a company’s tech stack and leadership’s buying behavior helps sales reps identify key needs or challenges.
Tools and Techniques for Finding CEO Contact Information
First, let us go through different techniques and tools you can utilize to find CEO contract information.
Using Software and Databases
B2B sales have really changed over the years. Now there are way more people involved in each sale than before.
That’s why using smart tools is so important when trying to reach top business leaders. Things like databases with CEO contact info can help, but they have some downsides too.
Providers like Prospect IQ offer lists that include emails and numbers for bosses. But the contact details might be out of date or incomplete. And you gotta pay subscription fees to use these resources long-term.
Email verifiers are helpful additions that double-check if addresses are still good before you message someone. Services like MailTester and ZeroBounce make sure your important messages get through.
CEOs want to limit spam, so keeping information locked down tight is smart on their part. That’s why validation tools are crucial nowadays. They help you reach key people without cluttering inboxes or wasting your efforts.
Manual Search Strategies
Even with all the new tech tools, old-fashioned searching still has merits when trying to reach important business leaders.
Manual methods take more time but don’t cost money like databases. Tactics include signing up for company emails, investigating partner businesses, and maximizing Google’s search powers.
Other low-tech options are directly messaging companies, carefully reading press releases, and connecting through LinkedIn. The personal contact shows CEOs you put in real effort.
Of course, manual hunting demands patience and an eye for detail. You need to dig deep online and through sources to find each helpful clue. Then reach out with a friendly, customized message that shows why connecting is worth their time.
It’s okay if manual methods move more slowly. What matters is showing decision-makers you care about understanding their business better.
Sales Intelligence Tools
This Image Is Generated by Midjourney
Technology has really changed how sales reps do their jobs these days, especially when trying to link up with top business leaders, like Magic Johnson.
Programs like SalesIntel and LeadIQ provide sales teams with tons of useful information, far more than just basic contact info. These platforms dig deep into companies and the executives running them.
They uncover details that were difficult or impossible to find before now. Salespeople gain insights into things like a CEO’s interests, past projects, and current priorities. This type of rich data helps reps start discussions on a much more personal level.
Where manual searching and basic databases only offer surface facts, these new intelligence tools shine a light in the hidden places. They give reps a true advantage in figuring out the best ways to support each CEO’s unique goals.
Comprehensive Data Access
Before, everyone pretty much got the same generic introduction since the info was limited. But tools like SalesIntel and LeadIQ allow for way more customized contact now.
By providing a huge pool of rich details on companies and their leaders, these platforms empower reps to personalize their whole strategy. Instead of a one-approach-fits-all, reps can craft unique discussions for each CEO based on deeper insights.
It’s like the tools flipped the script completely. reps can aim connections directly at what really matters to specific executives now.
Detailed Professional Profiles
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Being able to see a top boss’s past roles, accomplishments, and strengths really helps salespeople understand their path. It gives context for why they care about certain things.
That knowledge is a goldmine for customizing connections. With insight into a CEO’s journey and long-term plans, reps can highlight how their product fits that vision perfectly.
Instead of generic pitches, reps use profile details to craft conversations centered on what truly motivates each leader. Showing that type of understanding grabs way more attention than a one-size message.
Areas of Expertise
Knowing a CEO’s strengths lets reps customize their approach in very smart ways.
For example, if a boss has experience in tech, reps can highlight how their product uses innovative solutions. Focusing on areas the CEO understands grabs their attention way more than a generic pitch.
Being able to pinpoint backgrounds is such a gift. These sales intelligence programs provide details that help reps personalize outreach down to a very fine level.
Matching messaging to a leader’s specific field of expertise makes the conversation immediately relevant to them. That sparks interest versus a one-size-fits-all message any CEO might ignore.
Current Responsibilities
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These sales tools give details on the projects and goals a leader is working on at that very moment. Reps can then craft messages showing how their product supports that specific work.
Positioning offerings as direct aids for what’s front and center for the CEO now catches their eye way more than generic pitches. It shows the rep truly pays attention to what’s most pressing.
Knowing current responsibilities is such a gift. It empowers reps to engage decision-makers with relevance to their immediate needs. And that type of personalized message is much more likely to lead to discussions about real partnerships.
Technographic Insights
Knowing what tech tools companies already use is important these days. These sales programs give details on things like which CRM or marketing programs different businesses have.
That type of info lets reps spot where a company may be struggling with its current setup. Or maybe there’s room to add something new. Either way, reps can craft pitches highlighting exactly how their product improves or adds to the tech stack.
Targeting needs or issues with existing systems is way smarter than generic messages. It shows the rep understands the company’s specific situation. And addressing real problems businesses have grabs way more attention than just saying what your product does.
Behavioral Insights
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Sales programs give details on what products bosses picked before and any challenges they mentioned. That type of info helps reps craft messages addressing real issues on a CEO’s mind.
Knowing past decisions and future goals lets reps highlight exactly how their offering meets those aims. It shows they really pay attention to what motivates each leader long-term.
Targeting past buying patterns and future visions is way smarter than one-size pitches. It proves to CEOs the rep understands their unique priorities. And addressing what drives key people grabs way more interest than generic sales speak.
Being able to spot trends and aspirations from profiles truly empowers customized outreach. It gives reps the power to start important discussions focused on shared success.
Alternative Strategies for Contact Discovery
Making friends in your field is super important for finding CEO info. Connecting with others leads to great referrals, helping you skip past locked-down details.
Industry meetups are also goldmines. Face-to-face time lets you introduce yourself directly to bosses. Just be friendly and look for chances to chat.
Don’t forget about company helpers too. Reaching out to assistants and such is smart. They know the executives and might pass your message along if they like you.
Building networks and bonds takes effort, but it for sure pays off when trying to reach busy decision-makers. Personal relationships are key, so put yourself out there and represent your brand well at all events.
Effective Communication with CEOs
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Emailing CEOs is tricky since you gotta make each one count. CEOs get tons of messages daily, so yours needs to stand out.
Crafting the perfect note is like an art. Studies show emails to bosses do better than others, so focus there. Start with a catchy subject to grab their eye. Then make the opening line personal by name.
Quickly tell them the “What’s in it for them” so they understand the benefits. Add any interesting info from your field too while pointing out advantages.
Gently ask for a reply using soft calls to action, not pushy demands. And wrap it up neatly by signing off professionally yet friendly-like.
The Bottom Line
Sales is a tricky territory to cross, so keeping an open mind and trying different avenues is key. These tools and tactics together offer a full blueprint for tracking down busy decision-makers.
The most important things are sticking with it, being willing to change plans, and always focusing on the value you bring. Reps have to show CEOs they truly care about supporting goals, not just making sales.
Today, I wanted to talk about some of the stuff people say about Gen Z kids these days.
It seems like every group thinks the younger ones must be totally weird and different from them. Lately, everyone’s talking about Gen Z, the ones born in the late 90s on up. Some folks make them sound super confusing! But you know what, while everyone talks about dumb internet stuff, these kids are actually doing big things to make the world better.
It’s not perfect being a Gen Z, though. They gotta deal with lots of challenges, just like we all did growing up. I’m gonna share some of my thoughts on what Gen Z is really like and why those of us who had to use dial-up on the computer sometimes just don’t get them.
Sound good? Alright, let’s break this down piece by piece so it makes sense:
The Curious Case of Nicotine Pouches
Remember when sneaking cigarettes was the pinnacle of teenage rebellion? Well, move over, Marlboro Man, because nicotine pouches are the new sheriffs in town.
No smoke, no vape, just a tiny sachet of nicotine that sits quietly under your lip. It’s like nicotine decided to go incognito, blending in at parties without leaving a trace.
Gen Z’s discreet way to get that buzz without the clouds of smoke or the telltale vape clouds. Parents and teachers are scratching their heads, while Gen Z is probably smirking behind those TikTok filters.
SnusDirect offers a wide range of nicotine pouches, from bold to barely-there flavors, so you can discreetly satisfy cravings anytime, anywhere, without all the smoke.
The “Cool” Factor
What’s fascinating is the branding gymnastics these pouches perform to appeal to the youth. With flavors that sound more like a Starbucks menu, it’s no wonder Gen Z finds the allure hard to resist.
It’s nicotine’s latest costume in the masquerade ball of teenage vices, and it’s hitting the mark.
Health Halo or Health Hazard?
Here’s the kicker: the debate rages on whether it’s a step forward or a bound backward. With sleek designs and clever marketing, these pouches are dancing in a gray area of health implications and ethical advertising.
But let’s not pretend we’re surprised. It’s just another day in the life of trying to figure out Gen Z’s choices.
A Love-Hate Story of Social Media
Social media is, without a shadow of a doubt, the digital air Gen Z breathes. It’s their town square, their diary, and their soapbox.
But for the older generations? It’s like reading a book where half the pages are ripped out. They see the highlights and the filtered snapshots, but what about the context? Lost in translation.
The irony is palpable – the most connected generation is also the most enigmatic.
The Influencer Economy
Scroll through any social platform, and you’ll stumble upon Gen Zers turning their passions into paychecks.
It’s impressive and baffling at the same time. The bedroom becomes a boardroom, and followers are currency. Meanwhile, the older generations are still marveling at the concept of email money transfers.
The Echo Chambers
Here’s a fun fact about social media: It’s kinda like having a friend who only tells you what you want to hear.
The younger generation is growing up where they mostly see others who feel the same way they do. This can be good or bad. If you want to find people talking about different ideas, you gotta dig through a LOT of hashtags and exaggerations!
Social media helps make “echo chambers” without even trying. People mostly see others who already agree with them. This keeps them from talking to folks with different views.
If someone says something you don’t like, you can just not listen to them anymore by blocking them. But that’s a topic for another time.
The Fashion Frenzy
One man’s trash is Gen Z’s treasure. Thrifting isn’t just shopping but a statement. Fast fashion? Cancelled.
Sustainability is the name of the game, and if you’re not upcycling, you’re not on trend. It’s a refreshing shift with a pinch of irony. The same generation known for digital consumerism is also championing eco-conscious living.
Welcome to the era of aesthetics, where your vibe attracts your tribe. Cottagecore, dark academia, e-girl, and more – if it can be hashtagged, it’s a movement.
It’s all about the visual identity, a stark contrast to the Gen X ethos of “less is more.” Now, it’s “more is more, as long as it’s curated.”
Cryptocurrency and the Digital Gold Rush
While some of us are still trying to figure out online banking, Gen Z is mining digital currencies in their dorm rooms.
Cryptocurrency has become the modern-day gold rush, with all the volatility and thrill of a rollercoaster at Six Flags. It’s a brave new world of finance, and guess what? The kids are leading the charge.
With their knowledge of technology, they are well versed in this area, while this is something that is completely lost on older generations. Interestingly, Bitcoin can also be used to purchase items ranging from luxury cars to even space travel tickets, expanding its utility far beyond conventional currency.
The Side Hustle Hustle
Things have changed from how we used to make money when we were kids, right? Remember delivering newspapers on your bike or working at the mall in the summer? These days, lots of young people have side jobs or side businesses to earn extra cash.
Some people buy and sell shoes online to make a profit. Others trade digital artworks called NFTs. It shows the entrepreneurial spirit – that’s a big word that means being your own boss and starting small businesses. This next generation is mixing that with the gig economy. That means doing different jobs, such as driving for Uber instead of a regular 9-to-5.
It’s shaping what work looks like for young adults in the future. When you stop and think about it, it’s good that today’s youth are resourceful. That means they’re good at finding ways to make things work with what they have. That gives me hope that the future is in good hands. They’ll know how to solve problems and keep things moving forward.
Pretty cool how the young folks are taking charge, right? Always good to see the new ideas the next generation comes up with. Keep hustling out there! Let me know if any other questions come up.
The Moral of the Story
So, what’s the takeaway from this whirlwind tour of Gen Z’s world? It’s simple: change is the only constant.
Each generation comes with its quirks, its innovations, and its challenges. Gen Z is no exception. They’re rewriting the rules, one nicotine pouch and thrifted outfit at a time.
And for the rest of us? Maybe it’s time to stop trying to explore every little detail in everything and just appreciate the complexity of the world they are creating. After all, confusion is the first step to enlightenment, or so they say.
