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.
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.
ST. CLOUD – On Tuesday, St. Cloud voters will be asked to make decisions on a new fire station and moving city elections to odd years, and — for those who live in Stearns County — how to fund a new county jail.
Here’s a look at the three referendum questions that are on St. Cloud-area ballots this year.
Ballot question: “Shall Stearns County be authorized to impose a sales tax & use tax of three-eighths of one percent to finance up to $325 million, plus associated bonding costs, for the construction of a justice center facility, consisting of law enforcement, judicial center and jail? The sales tax would be used solely to finance construction, upgrades and financing costs for the justice center and remain in effect for 30 years or until the project is paid for, whichever comes first. These services and facilities are mandated by the state of Minnesota to be provided by counties.”
Stearns County officials are planning to build a new $325 million justice center complex that includes a 270-bed jail, a judicial center with courtrooms, and a law enforcement center that houses the Sheriff’s Office. In the summer, Stearns County board members voted to move those facilities out of downtown and to a new location with more space. That site has yet to be determined.
The question before voters is how to fund that center.
County Administrator Mike Williams said a common misconception he’s heard at recent town halls is residents think voting “yes” gives permission to the county to build the facility, and if they vote “no,” the county won’t spend the money to build it.
“People [think they] are voting on the project — and they’re not. They’re voting on how we are going to fund it,” Williams said.
If voters approve the ballot question, the county will impose a sales tax to fund the project. If they vote it down, the county can instead pay for the project with property taxes.