“She was really into the Replacements. So for her to have her dad suddenly playing in the band, it would be like my dad joining the Rolling Stones.”

Dunlap played guitar on the final two Replacements studio albums, also including 1991’s “All Shook Down.” Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson later credited him for sparking a new spirit in the band and extending their run during their waning years.

After the break-up in 1991, Dunlap toured with Dan Baird of the Georgia Satellites, who led the first fundraising campaign on Dunlap’s behalf in the days after his stroke.

Finally, in 1993, Dunlap got his own chance to shine as a singer/songwriter.

He channeled his love for Hank Williams, Chuck Berry and vintage blues alongside the Replacements’ Stones and Faces influences on his debut album, “The Old New Me,” issued by former ‘Mats manager and Twin/Tone Records co-founder Peter Jesperson on the Medium Cool record label. A second solo album came three years later, “Times Like This,” similarly earning a cult-loved status — especially among fellow musicians.

Springsteen publicly raved about those records numerous times, including in a 2014 interview with NPR’s Ann Powers: “I hope I get a chance to cut one of his songs,” said the Boss. “Check out the two Slim Dunlap records, because they’re just beautiful rock ‘n’ roll records. I found them to be deeply touching and emotional.”

A 59-year-old utility worker died Tuesday after falling from the bucket of a boom truck at a job site north of Big Lake, according to Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Ben Zawacki.

Thomas L. Stewart of Dayton fell about six to eight feet and suffered significant head injuries while working in the ditch on the north side of 241st Avenue NW, just west of 185th Street in Orrock Township.

First responders performed life-saving efforts at the scene before Stewart was transported to St. Cloud Hospital, where he was pronounced dead late Tuesday.

Stewart worked for the Minnesota-based utility company Connexus Energy. In a response to a Facebook post about the incident, a representative from Connexus thanked people for their thoughts and prayers, and clarified the utility worker was not electrocuted in the incident.

“We’re heartbroken over the passing of our friend and colleague but we are waiting for family and friends to be notified so we cannot share additional information,” Stacy Downs, communications specialist at Connexus, said Wednesday.

“I doubt if they’re going to get there by Christmas, even though I’m mailing them priority,” said Hager, a trust officer for the Department of the Interior and retired army colonel. “It’s just the way life is. Sometimes the vegetables don’t arrive on the island, so you gotta wait another week.”

In 2023, many residents across northern Minnesota and into the south metro complained their mail often didn’t arrive for days at a time. Hager said he felt USPS’s performance is “not as nearly as bad as last year” but still noticed mail arriving in the evenings when it used to arrive in the late morning.

Craig, who has been vocal about mail problems in her district, said it seemed as if USPS had “stabilized” in Minnesota relative to other parts of the country. But quarterly service reports show on-time mail delivery in the Minnesota-North Dakota district still slowed in 2024.

In the latest report, which covers July through September 2024, 84% of first-class, two-day mail, and 75% of three-to-five-day mail was delivered on time. That’s down from scores of 88% and 79% in the same period of 2023. All those scores are below national averages, which also fell during the same time period.

Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince said he knows from talking to four carriers in town that they are overworked and understaffed.

“I still get the impression that they believe that they’re still short-staffed relative to the workload,” he said. “They’re cautious in what they say, but I think they’re feeling stretched.”