Star Tribune
Myron Frans to retire from University of Minnesota finance post
Myron Frans will soon retire from his job as the University of Minnesota’s senior vice president for finance and operations — but he’ll continue to work part-time providing advice to the president on healthcare issues.
Frans couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Interim U President Jeff Ettinger announced the change in an email sent to students and staff Tuesday afternoon.
As senior vice president, Frans oversees a wide array of issues for the university, helping to craft its funding requests, overseeing public safety efforts and playing a key role in negotiations aimed at ironing out the future of its medical programs. Before joining the U in 2020, Frans worked as a commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Revenue and Department of Management and Budget, and as an attorney.
The announcement comes at a time when the U’s health programs face a critical juncture. A state task force charged with providing recommendations on the U’s health programs is set to hold its final meeting Wednesday. The U and Fairview Health Services, which owns its hospital, are renegotiating their long-term affiliation.
“Myron has been our point person for academic health negotiations and I deeply appreciate his willingness to continue leadership in this realm over the next several months to ensure the best possible conclusion on this important effort,” Ettinger wrote in the announcement.
The announcement said Frans will retire as senior vice president on March 1 but will continue to serve as the U’s designee on the Fairview Health Services board and “has agreed to serve as a Senior Advisor to the President in a part-time capacity focusing on our clinical partnerships related to academic medicine.” The announcement didn’t provide further detail about what that advisor role entails or the salary for it.
Ettinger said U Budget Director Julie Tonneson will serve as interim senior vice president for finance and operations when Frans retires.
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.
