Star Tribune
Prominent Minnesota lawyer, lobbyist William McGrann has died
For decades as an influential lawyer and lobbyist, William McGrann was the go-to guy on big projects, shaping the Minneapolis entertainment scene with his advocacy for projects from the Metrodome to the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis Convention Center and Target Field.
McGrann, 86, died Jan. 19 from complications of dementia at the family’s cabin on the shore of Lake Superior in Schroeder, just south of Tofte. He had been ill, but still enjoyed watching the Minnesota Twins, the Vikings and Gophers in his final two years when he lived at the cabin with his corgi Ava and younger son, Patrick, as his caregiver, family members said.
McGrann and his wife Judith, who met at the University of Minnesota and were married nearly 60 years, lived and raised their three children in Minneapolis. Judith McGrann was the proprietor of Judith McGrann and Friends, a colorful clothing store in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, until she sold it in 2017.
As a founding partner of McGrann Shea Carnival Straughn & Lamb law firm, McGrann was a longtime presence at Minneapolis City Hall and the State Capitol. Although a power broker by any standard, the mustachioed McGrann was unfailingly friendly and slightly mischievous.
“Everybody wanted to follow Bill because he just had this magnetic personality that was so endearing to people,” said Doug Carnival, his law partner of 50 years. “He was just a fabulous teacher and an incredible advocate and one of those guys who knew everybody in town.”
Minnesota Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley knew and worked with McGrann for decades. “He was smart, connected and highly regarded,” Bagley said. “We will miss the twinkle in his eye and wry smile that made him a joy to work with.”
McGrann was born Oct. 23, 1937, in St. Cloud to Josephine and William McGrann. He grew up in Owatonna before attending St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn. He served in the military, completing infantry and Army Ranger training at Fort Benning, Ga., followed by counterintelligence instruction.
He served as a first lieutenant in the U.S Army Research Group and as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He went to law school at the University of Minnesota where he met his wife. Upon graduation, the couple moved to Washington, D.C., where McGrann worked as a special agent with the National Security Agency and in Vietnam as a special representative of the secretary of defense.
He returned from the war to work at the U.S. Capitol while earning another graduate degree from George Washington University. McGrann served as a special assistant to the late Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey.
While at the U, he and Judith McGrann also met lifelong friends Tom and Margit Berg. Tom served in the Legislature and as a U.S. Attorney for Minnesota. The couple own a cabin next to the McGranns’ house on Lake Superior. Berg recalled numerous trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness that began when their children were young.
“We all went up there year after year after year, and we talked about it for the rest of our lives,” Berg said. “We caught fish and played jokes on each other.”
They called themselves the “Toilet Troupe” and had a longstanding joke about a black bear they named Mildred who appeared at one campsite and wouldn’t leave. “Bill came up and started saying, ‘Mildred, get your (expletive) out of here,'” Berg said.
When they broke camp, McGrann played taps and the kids would line up and salute a piece of toilet paper that served as a flag. Berg called McGrann a “good progressive Democrat.”
“Bill was just a truly fun guy to hang out with. I loved every minute of it,” Berg said.
In addition to his wife and son Patrick, both of Minneapolis, McGrann is survived by his son Chris (Sharon) of Orono, daughter Meghan McGrann (Chris Lawrence) of Minneapolis and five grandchildren.
A celebration of life will be held May 22 where Chris McGrann said the family will insist on levity. “It is an absolute celebration,” he said.
Friends and family said it was important to include McGrann’s highest compliment for a job well done: Good show.
Transforming the heart of both downtowns, which have much larger buildings than old warehouses, is going to take a lot more money, creativity and time. Josh Talberg, managing director at downtown Minneapolis brokerage JLL, said with no major apartment buildings on the drawing board in either downtown, the fleet of empty office buildings present a golden opportunity to create more housing and lead both cities in a new direction.
“You can can certainly see the fundamentals improving, and you can feel that vibrancy, and that’s ultimately the foundation that’s needed to get investors to reinvest in the city,” he said. “But it’s not as if these 18-wheelers can turn on a dime.”
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
