Kare11
Mayo Clinic to stop MN projects if DFL moves forward on 2 bills
In an email first reported by the Minnesota Reformer and confirmed by KARE 11, Mayo Clinic says the proposed bills will “negatively impact access to care.”
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic threatened this week to withdraw an undisclosed, billion-dollar infrastructure project from the state of Minnesota if DFL leaders move forward with two health care bills that Mayo opposes, according to an email first reported by the Minnesota Reformer and independently confirmed by KARE 11.
In the email to DFL leaders, a Mayo Clinic official said “We will need to direct this enormous investment to other states” if they do not modify the legislation.
Mayo’s concerns center around two bills. The first, known as the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, seeks to limit patient loads by putting more nurses on hospital staffing committees, while the second would establish a Health Care Affordability Board. The DFL-led House and Senate have already advanced both bills this session into larger budget bills, and they’re currently finalizing the measures to send to Gov. Walz for his signature.
“At the heart of this,” said Dr. Amy Williams, the Chair of Midwest Clinical Practice at Mayo Clinic, “is legislation we believe will negatively impact access to care and our ability to transform health care to support our staff and meet the evolving needs of our patients.”
But DFL legislators, as well as the Minnesota Nurses Association, are pushing back.
Rep. Sandra Feist (DFL-New Brighton), the House author of the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, said she was “very surprised” by what she called Mayo’s “ultimatum.”
“The language that Mayo has provided would exempt nearly — if not all — hospitals in Minnesota, and would make the rest of the bill pointless,” Feist said in an interview. “So, we can’t move forward with that language. But I would very much love to work with Mayo to finesse that language, to ensure that it exempts hospitals that are safely staffed where nurses have a voice, and where this bill isn’t as necessary.”
Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner, meanwhile, ripped Mayo after learning of the email.
“To have, at the last minute, corporate health care — big business — come swooping in, and basically holding our state hostage?” Turner said in an interview. “It’s despicable. And it’s dirty politics.”
Turner accused Mayo of wanting “total control over everything that has to do with patient care assignments.”
“That’s what is behind this whole thing, is control. And they’re using money, obviously, threatening us with a billion-dollar operation that they’ll move,” Turner said. “If there’s one thing nurses know how to do, it’s mobilize, and organize, and fight back. Because we do it every day at the bedside.”
Despite not having power in either chamber, at least one Republican legislative leader rushed to defend Mayo on Friday. Sen. Paul Utke, who has spoken against the staffing bill this session, released a statement saying that “Mayo Clinic, along with many other businesses, school districts, and even the Wall Street Journal are raising alarm bells about the sweeping changes Democrats are rushing to implement.”
“Nowhere else do you see the reckless abandon displayed by Gov. Walz and legislative Democrats to expand their agenda,” Utke continued, “and transform our once business-friendly state that fueled innovation and created one of the strongest economies in the nation, into something that makes even the most loyal hometown businesses reconsider.”
Rep. Feist, however, said she’s “optimistic” about a compromise.
“If they will come back to the table, I am sure that we can work together,” Feist said, “to find language that ensures this bill achieves its goal, and can also address Mayo’s concerns.”
Gov. Walz also addressed the Mayo situation during a session with reporters on Friday. Although he said he’s not aware of the specifics related to Mayo’s planned investments, he said he recently spoke with Dr. Gianrico Farrugia of Mayo Clinic and heard their concerns.
“We’ve always supported making sure our nurses are supported, have what they need. We also understand that Mayo Clinic is a unique entity where it’s focusing globally… I know that’s being worked on right now,” Walz said. “I think we can get a compromise that works for everyone.”
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CHANHASSEN, Minn. — Predicted weather conditions have triggered a Red Flag Warning for virtually the entire state of Minnesota Thursday, indicating an extreme danger for wildfires.
The National Weather Service (NWS) says the forecast – extremely low humidity and dewpoints and wind gusts in the neighborhood of 40 mph – will exacerbate already tinder-dry conditions, increasing the likelihood that a wildfire could spark and quickly spread.
Here are the counties impacted, and when Red Flag Warnings will be in effect.
8:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. – Northwest Minnesota: Becker, Beltrami, Clay, Clearwater, Grant, Hubbard, Kittson, Lake Of The Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Roseau, Wadena and Wilkin.
11:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. – Central and southern Minnesota: Anoka, Benton, Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Chisago, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge, Douglas, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Isanti, Jackson, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Olmsted, Pipestone, Pope, Ramsey, Redwood, Renville, Rice, Rock, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Stearns, Steele, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Traverse, Wabasha, Waseca, Washington, Watonwan, Winona, Wright and Yellow Medicine.
12:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. – Northeast Minnesota: Aitkin, Carlton, Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca, Koochiching, Pine, and St. Louis.
Additionally a Special Weather Statement has been issued for Cook and Lake counties in northeast Minnesota where wind and relative humidity are predicted to produce near-critical fire weather conditions. Outdoor burning is not advised.
Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is telling residents to refrain from burning in counties where a Red Flag Warning is in effect, and to check any recent burning to ensure the fire is completely out. The DNR will not issue or activate open burning permits for large vegetative debris burning during a Red Flag Warning, and campfires are strongly discouraged.
“When fire risk is this high it’s important to be careful with anything could spark a wildfire,” said Karen Harrison, DNR wildfire prevention specialist.
Justin Ekelman’s business, Shrimply the Best, has a fan following.
MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — There are things you expect to see along a desert highway and then there are Justin Ekelman’s hand-painted signs.
Drivers on State Route 347 between Phoenix and Maricopa usually pass them before they see the old, white cargo van Ekelman parks in a dirt lot off Riggs Road.
He is a man, with a van, who sells seafood.
“I do this year-round, I sweat it out and then when the winter comes, the snowbirds come back and it’s amazing,” Ekelman said. “You can’t bring enough; you can’t fill this thing enough.”
He is also not oblivious to what some people think when they see his Pike Place Market on four wheels: Seafood from a van in the desert? It seems a little sketchy. And a little dangerous.
But if you stop, Ekelman will proudly show you his frozen food vendor permit and other licenses one needs to sell shrimp and scallops on the side of the road.
Ekelman’s business, Shrimply the Best, has a fan following. In fact, one-third of voters in a recent InMaricopa poll named his seafood van their favorite food source.
Shrimp from Rocky Point are his bestsellers but Ekelman keeps his chest freezer stocked with Caribbean lobster tails, mussels and a variety of fish, too. An extension cord plugged into a gas-powered generator keeps everything frozen even when it’s 115 degrees outside.
“If it was sitting in a cooler in ice, it may be a little weird,” Ekelman said.
Selling seafood out of a van has provided Ekelman, a single father of two teenage boys, with enough to pay his bills and keep a roof over their heads. He feels more blessed than he did 15 years ago during the Great Recession.
Ekelman bought his first home in 2008, then lost his job as a carpet and air duct cleaner.
“Long story short, I ended up having to short sell my home, lived with my parents for a year and a half. My dad said come do this,” Ekelman said.
His father, a former door-to-door meat salesman, ventured into the roadside seafood business 40 years ago. Ekelman said his dad used wet rags to keep himself cool during the summer months.
“I did it one year like that. Why would you do that when you could buy a $130 air conditioner? I made a stand, put it in my window, now I have a little cold room,” Ekelman said, pointing to the curtains at the front of his van.
His father retired more than a decade ago and Ekelman retained many loyal customers. The business has not changed much since then, including the rudimentary hand-painted signs along the highway. Those are informative – and nostalgic.
“Ahead: Rocky Point Shrimp,” one of them reads.
“I go to Home Depot, get the wood, get them cut and paint them up, that’s how my dad always did it,” Ekelman said. “I have people stopping all the time saying ‘I can make you professional signs’ and I‘m like, ‘Bro, this is what people see. It’s a lot cheaper.’”
Ekelman also gets his seafood from the same source: His dad’s friend who owns a distributing company and gets seafood shipped to the Valley from across the globe. The company supplies seafood to restaurants, cruise liners and small fry (we couldn’t resist) like Ekelman.
“A lot of people assume I am getting it all from Mexico, it’s not,” Ekelman said. “A lot of the shrimp do but I just had salmon from Alaska, my lobster tails right now are out of the Bahamas, I have got orange roughy from New Zealand, the catfish is from here in the U.S., all sorts of different places but it is wild caught.”
Ekelman said he gets a good deal buying wholesale but the COVID pandemic forced him to raise his prices.
“My lobster tails, I was paying $5 a tail cheaper near 2019, COVID hit and everything went up,” Ekelman said. “I have tried to keep it pretty reasonable but my profit margins have gone down.”
Shrimply the Best accepts cash and credit cards.
A pound of raw, frozen shrimp ranges from $9 to $12 per pound depending on the size and type. Ekelman sells a 5-pound bag of extra jumbo, U-15 size tiger shrimp for $60 a bag. Chilean black mussel meat is $10 per pound. Wild-caught U.S. catfish sells for $6 per pound and orange roughy, a deep-sea perch caught in the waters off New Zealand goes for $12 per pound.
When Ekelman has no customers, he sits in the cab of the van with his makeshift air conditioning unit and reads his Bible.
He’s especially proud of his lobster tails, which are nearly as big as his forearm. An 18–20-ounce tail goes for $36 or two for $68.
“Mother’s Day is crazy; I could fill this thing with lobster and it’s just gone,” Ekelman said. “Father’s Day? Well, we don’t get treated as well as the ladies do sometimes.”
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The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way.
WELCOME, Minn. — Nine students were injured Wednesday morning when a truck crashed into a bus in southern Minnesota.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way at the intersection of County Road 7 and 280th Street, according to the Redwood County Sheriff’s Office. In a press release, officials say the nine students sustained “minor injuries” and were transported to a nearby hospital.
The initial investigation indicates that the truck, an F550, was traveling north on County Road 7, while the bus, which was providing service to the Wabasso Public School District, was traveling east on 280th Street. The news release says the truck had the right-of-way at the intersection.
“We are grateful that no serious injuries happened to our students, the driver or the other driver, however, nine students were transported to area hospitals for follow-up treatment,” Superintendent Jon Fulton said in a letter to parents. “… The District and 4.0 bus transportation company is praying for a speedy recovery for the students and families involved.”
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