Rosalynn’s funeral, where he sat in the front row in a wheelchair.
James “Jimmy” Carter, the peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, who became the 39th president of the United States and later redefined the role of an ex-president through decades of humanitarian work, died Sunday at his home. He was 100. His son, James E. Carter III, known as Chip, confirmed the death but provided no immediate cause. Carter had been in hospice care since February 2023 after battling an aggressive form of melanoma that spread to his brain and liver.
Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, with whom he shared 77 years of marriage— the longest of any presidential couple—died on November 19, 2023, at 96. The couple’s final years were marked by their enduring love, and Carter’s last public appearance was at
Born in Plains on October 1, 1924, Carter grew up on a farm, served in the U.S. Navy, and rose to prominence as Georgia’s governor from 1971 to 1975. He was elected president in 1976, becoming the first man from the Deep South since 1837. The victory made Carter the only Democrat to hold the office between Lyndon B. Johnson and Bill Clinton. Carter’s presidency, defined by ambitious domestic and foreign policy initiatives, faced formidable challenges. During Carter’s presidency, America struggled with stagflation, an energy crisis, and international turmoil.
The 1979 Iranian hostage crisis and the failed rescue mission that followed, combined with economic woes and a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, led to his overwhelming defeat in the 1980 election by Ronald Reagan.
Despite serving just one term, Carter’s presidency
is remembered by historians as one of the most consequential. He brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978, a milestone in Middle East peace efforts. Carter prioritized human rights in U.S. foreign policy, advanced environmental conservation, and created the Departments of Energy and Education. His vision for alternative energy led to installing solar panels on the White House, which he called “a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”
In his biography “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life,” Jonathan Alter described Carter as “perhaps the most misunderstood president in American history.” In contrast, Kai Bird’s “The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter” highlighted his moral conviction in tackling issues others avoided, even at political cost.
After leaving the White House, Carter devoted
himself to humanitarian work, transforming the role of former presidents. Through the Carter Center, founded with Rosalynn in 1982, he worked to promote democracy, monitor elections, and combat diseases like Guinea worm. The Center has monitored 115 elections in 40 countries and played a key role in nearly eradicating Guinea worm disease.
Carter and Rosalynn’s decades-long partnership with Habitat for Humanity further exemplified their commitment to service. Wearing tool belts and working alongside volunteers, they helped build or renovate more than 4,000 homes in 14 countries.
In 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Gunnar Berge, a Nobel committee member, called Carter “the best ex-
president the country ever had.”
Carter’s postpresidency also saw moments of controversy. His 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” drew criticism for its comparison of Israeli policies to South African apartheid. Yet, even in contentious circumstances, his tireless advocacy for peace earned him widespread respect.
“During his presidency, Jimmy Carter advocated to have Medicare cover all Americans. After his presidency, he continued humanitarian works that everyone, regardless of political affiliation, should respect,” said former Congresswoman Nina Turner. Carter maintained a modest lifestyle, choosing not to capitalize on his presidency. He and Rosalynn lived in the same Plains home they built in 1961, and Carter often said he wanted their gravesite in Plains to benefit the local economy through tourism.
In their later years, the Carters celebrated milestones with family and friends, including their 75th wedding anniversary in 2021. Guests included civil rights leader Andrew Young, country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, and former President Bill Clinton.
“Simply put, Jimmy Carter was a good man,” said former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “He was the epitome of a servant leader, changing the world and setting the highest example of what it meant to honor God, family, and country.” Carter is survived by his four children, numerous grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, and a legacy of public service that transformed lives around the globe. He will be buried next to Rosalynn under a willow tree near a pond he helped dig in Plains, where his journey began and ends.
The hypocrisy of Musk and Ramaswamy’s
By Haley Taylor Schlitz, Esq.
They have always feared the power of an educated Black mind. This fear is woven into the fabric of our nation’s history, from slavery, where it was illegal for enslaved people to learn to read, to segregation, which kept us confined to underfunded schools. That fear persists today, cloaked in new rhetoric and policies.
Before the election, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy pushed the lie that education in America was failing because of “woke indoctrination.” They attacked public schools, labeled teachers as villains, and dismantled diversity efforts in universities, all while a large majority of Americans on the right cheered them on. These voices celebrated the defunding of schools and the undermining of teachers, embracing policies designed to weaken public education.
Now, Musk and Ramaswamy claim America lacks skilled workers and demand more H1B visas to fill the gap. At the same time,
Ramaswamy has criticized mainstream American culture as “mediocre” and incapable of producing excellence. But this critique ignores a fundamental truth: the mainstream culture they speak of - a culture built on exclusion and privilege - has never represented everyone. For Black Americans and other marginalized groups, the reality has always been different. We have lived in an America that demanded we be more, more capable, more resilient, and more extraordinary, just to access opportunities others took for granted.
Musk’s recent tweet about America rising to greatness over the past 150 years because it was a “meritocracy” exposes another layer of this hypocrisy. America during much of that time was anything but a meritocracy for Black Americans and other marginalized groups. Musk’s claim ignores the realities of slavery, segregation, redlining, and systemic racism that denied millions the ability to access opportunity. The so-called merit-based system Musk celebrates was, in reality, one that rewarded privilege while excluding those who were not white, male, or wealthy.
Black American culture has never had the luxury of mediocrity. It has always
been defined by resilience, determination, and excellence in the face of relentless barriers. This is the culture that demanded access to education when it was illegal to teach us to read and produced innovators, thinkers, and creators who changed the world despite being shut out of opportunity.
Black American culture does not venerate mediocrity because it never could; it is a culture of survival and greatness, forged in the fires of systemic racism and oppression.
What Musk, Ramaswamy, and Trump refuse to acknowledge is that Black Americans have been excelling in STEM and other fields despite systemic barriers. The 2024 Black Students and STEM Report confirms that Black students possess the aptitude to succeed but are held back by underfunded schools, limited resources, and a lack of mentorship. These are not cultural failures; they are policy failures.
Rejecting their hypocrisy means rejecting the lie that higher education is unnecessary or that our communities cannot meet the challenges of the future.
Systemic barriers built by people like Musk and Ramaswamy have deliberately sabotaged opportunity. Public
schools are underfunded, books are banned, histories are erased, and equal opportunity programs are dismantlednot because of culture, but because of deliberate policy choices aimed at maintaining control and privilege.
While attacking public education and diversity initiatives, Musk champions H1B visas, claiming they built companies like Tesla and SpaceX. What he fails to mention is how these visas create a system of exploitation, tying workers to their employers in a modern form of indentured
servitude. Musk, Ramaswamy, and Trump know exactly what they are doing: erasing opportunity for marginalized communities while consolidating power over a workforce they can manipulate.
Musk and Ramaswamy’s arguments rest on a willful ignorance of what it means to thrive as a Black American. We have always had to navigate a system that was never built for us, excelling in spaces that excluded us, and creating cultures of brilliance and resilience despite the odds. Their critique of American
Remembering President Jimmy Carter
The Honorable James Earl Carter, the 39th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was called from labor to rest yesterday afternoon after spending well over a year in Hospice Care in Georgia. President Carter was 100 years old…
Since hearing the news, each time I’ve read a professional or personal perspective about his life, I’ve been reminded that my very own love for news and politics started during his single term in office from January 1977-1981;
I turned five years old in May of
‘77 and with my family living in Oxon Hill, Maryland at the time, hardly a day went by when the local and national news didn’t chronicle some event that focused on Carter, his family, or his administration.
Whether it was the Camp David Accords that focused on improving relations between Israel and Egypt or the Energy Crisis that found Americans waiting in LONG lines for gas on “odd” and
“even” days; the meltdown at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant or the crisis involving the Shah of Iran and the subsequent capture of America’s hostages by Ayatollah Khomeini’s goons, my acute awareness of the world around me—and the power of the American government— emerged during the Carterian Age! While many of the major media retrospectives about Carter’s life are focusing on the vicissitudes of his presidency, there is almost unanimous consensus among former presidents, politicos, world leaders, and ordinary citizens that Carter was arguably the greatest human being to
By Simon Burris
ever inhabit the Oval Office. My Frat Brother and fellow pundit Tom Cunningham may have said it best this morning on Facebook, averring: “Jimmy Carter is the best HUMAN BEING to have occupied the White House in my lifetime. An actual Christian who lived his faith DAILY, his presidential legacy is less than stellar. He only earned one term in office. However, he is respected by all his presidential peers, and indeed, Democracies across the globe for what he accomplished as a former President.” Indeed! From teaching Sunday School at his home church to building homes for Habitat for Humanity,
President Carter displayed a humility and decency in thought, talk, and action that is sorely missing in our current political era—and his fire will never be forgotten by me or the Hobbservation Point blog! Requiescat in Pace, Mr. President! Hobbservation Point is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Chuck Hobbs is a freelance journalist who won the 2010 Florida Bar Media Award and has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
Columnist
Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy
By Chuck Hobbs
Puzzle Master
Senator Kari Dziedzic,
“Kari Dziedzic was a one-ofa-kind leader, ally, and friend. Humble and dedicated, Kari spent her time finding ways to bring people together and serve Minnesotans. And she was good at it,” said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. “No one worked harder or got more done in one session as Majority Leader than
By Edwin Okong’o Mshale Contributing Editor
If Paul Wellstone, the late U.S. senator from Minnesota, is looking down from the heavens, he is smiling and happy to see what became of the young Kenyan woman whose family he saved from deportation decades ago.
That young woman was Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley, who made history on Tuesday. When voters chose her to represent District 38A in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Hiltsley became the first Kenyan immigrant to win a state assembly seat anywhere in the United States. Hiltsley, who ran on the ticket of Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL), as the Democratic Party is known in Minnesota, defeated Brad Olson, her Republican opponent, by winning almost 65% of the vote.
“I stand before you tonight with a heart overflowing with gratitude, love, and a deep sense of responsibility,” Hiltsley said in her acceptance speech, fighting back tears, amid cheers from dozens of supporters who gathered for her election watch party at Oro Lounge in Brooklyn Park. “I want to honor my parents who have been a source of courage and resilience throughout my life. Our immigration story – our journey to this country – shaped my identity and purpose.”
Kari did. She was a talented legislator with old-school political savvy and a knack for relationship building. The scope of her work will color Minnesota history books forever. She used her personal experience to improve the lives of others battling a cancer diagnosis, including expanding paid medical leave to all and passing a law requiring insurance to cover wigs for cancer patients. Her legacy should inspire all
of us in elected office to be better public servants. Gwen and I are sending love and peace to the Dziedzic family and her Northeast Minneapolis community.”
“Former Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic was a courageous, hard-working, and selfless public servant – and proud daughter of Northeast Minneapolis. We were all so fortunate to have witnessed her leadership,” said Minnesota
Lieutenant Governor Flanagan.
“She led by example, always one of the last people working at night in the Capitol and a consistent fighter for the working class. She leaves a huge legacy – her loss will be felt widely in the legislature and across Minnesota. Tom and I are praying for her family and loved ones. I will miss her terribly.” Senate President Bobby Joe Champion said, “Kari Dziedzic has served
with integrity, thoughtfulness, compassion and always with an eye toward improving the lives of all Minnesotans. She will always be known as a selfless, people centered majority leader who used her intelligence, insightfulness, and creativity to benefit all of us.”
Governor Tim Walz Monday issued a writ of special election to fill the vacancy in Senate District 60 in Hennepin County following the passing of
Senator Dziedzic. A special election to fill the vacancy will be held on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. If necessary, a special primary election for nomination of candidates will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. Affidavits of candidacy and nominating petitions were required to be filed with the Secretary of
The Hiltsley’s journey to the state capitol is one of the most remarkable stories of an immigrant’s resilience – one that restores faith in the American dream. It was a long, difficult, and at times painful journey that could have ended before it began, if it weren’t for the last-minute intervention by her community, and a U.S. senator who listened and decided to act.
“Senator Paul Wellstone stood up for us, and his belief in fairness and justice left a lasting impression,” said Hiltsley.
VIDEO: Huldah Hiltsley Election Night Watch
PRLog — At this year’s Hope Global Forum annual conference in Atlanta, GA, Operation Hope Founder and CEO, John Hope Bryant, presented a special award recognizing the profound contributions of three legendary thought leaders and speakers: Dr.Willie Jolley, Les Brown, and Dr. George C. Fraser. In a memorable ceremony, the trio was honored with the prestigious “Titans of Public Speaking” award. John Hope Bryant expressed his desire to spotlight these distinguished individuals for their decades-long impact on economic growth, personal empowerment, and leadership. He praised Dr. Jolley, Les Brown, and Dr. Fraser as icons who have inspired and empowered millions worldwide to improve their lives, businesses, and financial well-being. “These three industry titans,” Bryant
said, “have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to shaping a modern, inclusive global economy—one that extends the opportunities of free enterprise to everyone.”
The Hope Global Forum is an annual event that unites influential leaders across government, business, and community sectors to discuss solutions for economic empowerment and inclusion. Attendees include renowned figures such as Ambassador Andrew Young, SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Milken Institute Chairman Michael Milken, Delta CEO Ed Bastian, and esteemed minister and businessman Bishop T.D. Jakes. The award presentation underscored the Forum’s mission: “Together, we create a more inclusive and prosperous global economy.”
For more information about Dr. Willie Jolley, please visit https://winwithwillie.com.
Sweet Potato Comfort Pie (SPCP) of Golden Valley, Minnesota, will host its 10th annual celebration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunday, January 19, 2025, 1:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m., at the Metropolitan Ballroom in Golden Valley.
“The first event we did over the MLK Holiday Weekend was in January 2015 after the murder of young Michael Brown Jr. The event has continued to grow enormously over the past decade, and I think it is because of our healing and uplifting message,” says Sweet Potato Comfort Pie founder and president, Rose McGee. “Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community continues to be a guiding light, and we are so pleased to offer this 10th annual event to the community — especially in this very tense and divided time in our nation’s history.”
The event will have music, artists and food, and audience members can engage in facilitated “story circle” conversations about racial healing. Since the first event 10 years ago, the event has grown from an average of 80 to 400 participants.
The holiday weekend of service begins with community members gathering on Saturday to bake 96 sweet potato comfort pies, the number that represents Dr. King’s age if he were alive today. These pies become an integral part of Sunday’s program as attendees engage in discussion and decide whom to uplift or honor with a pie. A recognition preprogram kicks off at 1:30 p.m. and will honor several community figures with the Upholding Our Beloved Community Awards. During this time, attendees will also be able to view SPCP’s photo exhibit, Character Values: Upholding Our Beloved Community.
I2H Dionne Hart, MD – Psychiatry
Sports Vikings with O’Connell clearly prefer to pass the ball, and Darnold has aced the test
Excerpts from a MPR report by Dana Ferguson
By John Hope Bryant Hope Global Forum
Dr. Willie Jolley with Dr. George C. Fraser and Les Brown
What does 2025 hold for interest rates, inflation and the American consumer?
By D. Brian Blank Associate Professor of Finance, Mississippi State University and Brandy Hadley Associate Professor of Finance and Distinguished Scholar of Applied Investments, Appalachian State University
Brian Blank is a finance scholar and Fed watcher who researches how companies navigate downturns and make financial decisions, as well as how markets process information. Brandy Hadley is a finance professor who leads a student-managed investment fund and studies corporate decision-makingand incentives. Together, they’re also the resident economic oracles at The Conversation U.S., and their forecast for 2024 held up notably well. Here, they explain what to expect from 2025.
New year, new questions
Heading into 2024, we said the U.S. economy would likely continue growing, in spite of pundits’ forecast that a recession would strike. The past year showcased strong economic growth, moderating inflation, and efficiency gains, leading most economists and the financial press to stop expecting a downturn.
But what economists call “soft landings” – when an economy slows just enough to curb inflation, but not enough to cause a recession – are only soft until they aren’t.
As we turn to 2025, we’re optimistic the economy will keep growing. But that’s not without some caveats. Here are the key questions and risks we’re watching as the U.S. rings in the new year.
The Federal Reserve and
interest rates
Some people expected a downturn in 2022 – and again in 2023 and 2024 – due to the Federal Reserve’s hawkish interest-rate decisions. The Fed raised rates rapidly in 2022 and held them high throughout 2023 and much of 2024. But in the last four months of 2024, the Fed slashed rates three times – most recently on Dec. 18.
While the recent rate cuts mark a strategic shift, the paceof futurecuts is expected to slow in 2024, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested at the December meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Markets have expected this change of pace for some time, but some economists remain concerned about heightened risks of an economic slowdown.
When Fed policymakers set short-term interest rates, they consider whether inflation and unemployment are too high or low, which affects whether they should stimulate the economy or pump the brakes. The interest rate that neither stimulates nor restricts economic activity, often referred to as R* or the neutral rate, is unknown, which makes the Fed’s job challenging.
However, the terminal rate – which is where Fed policymakers expect rates will settle in for the long run – is now at 3%, which is the highest since 2016. This has led futures markets to wonder if a hiking cycle may be coming into focus, while others ask if the era of low rates is over.
Inflation and economic uncertainty
This shift in the Federal Reserve’s approach underscores a key uncertainty for 2025: While some economists are concerned the recent uptick in unemployment may continue, others worry about sticky inflation. The Fed’s challenge will be striking the
in Freeport, Texas, Melanie Oldham saw their health start to decline. Both children were diagnosed with severe asthma. As Oldham sent the twins to school – every day with their inhalers – she realized a lot
right balance — continuing to support economic activity while ensuring inflation, currently hovering around 2.4%, doesn’t reignite.
We do anticipate that interest rates will stay elevated amid slowing inflation, which remains above the Fed’s 2% target rate. Still, we’re optimistic this high-rate environment won’t weigh too heavily on consumers and the economy.
While gross domestic product growth for the third quarter was revised up to 3.1% and the fourth quarter is projected to grow similarly quickly, in 2025 it could finally show signs of slowing from its recent pace. However, we expect it to continue to exceed consensus forecasts of 2.2% and longer-run expectations of 2%.
Fiscal policy, tariffs and tax cuts: risks or tailwinds?
While inflation has declinedfrom 9.1% in June 2022 to less than 3%, the Federal Reserve’s 2% target remains elusive. Amid this backdrop, several new risks loom on the horizon. Key among them are potential tariff increases, which
of the kids in her part of Brazoria County had bad asthma. She also began to see that other serious chronic illnesses were rampant in her community.
“It’s shocking the number of people in their 50s that already have severe COPD, all the skin problems we know are caused by different types of emissions, premature heart attacks, spikes in certain types of cancers – including one form of childhood leukemia – and the number of children with asthma is staggering. ”
Those emissions she is referring to are from the oil, gas, and petrochemical plants peppering the landscape of her part of the Gulf Coast. Increasingly, the source of that pollution is the growing number of liquefied methane gas (commonly referred to as LNG) facilities in the region. Freeport LNG, in Oldham’s town, is the third largest LNG export terminal by capacity in the country. The largest is Sabine Pass LNG, just a few hours along the coast from Freeport. That facility sits just over the Louisiana border from Port Arthur, TX – which is also home to Port Arthur LNG, currently under construction.
Port Arthur, like Freeport, is a textbook environmental sacrifice zone. John Beard, a Port Arthur community leader, says the entire region is a “sacrifice coast.” Texas Monthly once labeled this part of the state the “Cancer Belt.” Beard speaks of members of his community like Etta Hebert, a two-time cancer survivor whose daughter also has cancer and whose husband Roy just passed away from a long battle with cancer on November 30. And Beard’s own family has been impacted by the intense pollution in the area. His oldest son had to have a kidney transplant – despite no family history of kidney disease – and his daughter had a brain tumor removed. This is what the
Count us as two financial economists hoping only certain inflation measures fall slower than expected, and everyone’s expectations for future inflation remain low. If so, the Federal Reserve should be able to look beyond shortterm changes in inflation and focus on metrics that are more useful for predicting long-term inflation.
Consumer behavior and the job market
Labor markets have softened but remain resilient.
could disrupt trade, push up the prices of goods and even strengthen the U.S. dollar. The average effective U.S. tariff rate is 2%, but even a fivefold increase to 10% could escalate trade tensions, create economic challenges and complicate inflation forecasts.
Consider that, historically, every 1% increase in tariff rates has resulted in a 0.1% higher annual inflation rate, on average.
Still, we hope tariffs serve as more of a negotiating tactic for the incoming administration than an actual policy proposal.
Tariffs are just one of several proposals from the incoming Trump administration that present further uncertainty. Stricter immigration policies could create labor shortages and increase prices, while government spending cuts could weigh down economic growth.
Tax cuts – a likely policy focus – may offset some risk and spur growth, especially if coupled with productivityenhancing investments. However, tax cuts may also result in a growing budget deficit, which is another risk to the longer-term economic outlook.
extractive fossil fuel industry does to human bodies and communities. It is the real-life human toll of our continued reliance on fuels like methane gas. And it is a toll that will get significantly steeper if the US expands LNG exports and the infrastructure to support a continued LNG boom.
Despite decades of branding and rebranding efforts by the industry, the fact remains: methane gas is simply yet another dirty, dangerous fossil fuel polluting our communities.
LNG takes the deadly threats methane gas poses to the extreme, not just by increasing the amount of gas fracked, but by adding dangerous and pollutionheavy steps to the process. From fracking to pipeline transmission to the compression and liquefaction of the gas and the shipping of the LNG overseas, virtually every stage of the lifecycle leaks methane (which captures 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide), is powered by the burning of other dirty fossil fuels like oil, and carries the risk of catastrophic ruptures and explosions.
Yet fossil fuel interests and their allies in government continue to promote the fallacy of methane gas as a “bridge” fuel. Former presidential climate envoy John Kerry rightfully points to a “massive movement in the fossil fuel industry” to sanitize fracked gas’s image and brand it as part of our clean energy future. And the push to further build out LNG exports not only threatens the pace and success of the necessary clean energy transition already underway, it threatens to drive up energy costs for American households. The Department of Energy released an updated analysis just this month confirming that unfettered LNG exports would drive up domestic energy prices – and clearly showing that approving new or expanded gas exports is bad for the American people.
Hiring rates are normalizing, while layoffs and unemployment – 4.2%, up from 3.7% at the start of 2024 – remain low despite edging up. The U.S. economy could remain resilient into 2025, with continued growth in real incomes bolstering purchasing power. This income growth has supported consumer sentiment and reduced inequality, since low-income households have seen the greatest benefits.
However, elevated debt balances, given increased consumer spending, suggest some Americans are under financial stress even though income growth has outpaced increases in consumer debt.
While a higher unemployment rate is a concern, this risk to date appears limited, potentially due to labor hoarding – which is when employers are afraid to let go of employees they no longer require due to the difficulty in hiring new workers. Higher unemployment is also an issue the Fed has the tools to address – if it must.
This leaves us cautiously optimistic that resilient consumers will continue to retain jobs, supporting their growing purchasing power.
Equities and financial markets
The outlook for 2025 remains promising,
with continued economic growth driven by resilient consumer spending, steadying labor markets, and less restrictive monetary policy. Yet current price targets for stocks are at historic highs for a post-rally period, which is surprising and may offer reasons for caution. Higherfor-longer interest rates could put pressure on corporate debt levels and rate-sensitive sectors, such as housing and utilities. Corporate earnings, however, remain strong, buoyed by cost savings and productivity gains. Stock performance may be subdued, but underperforming or discounted stocks could rebound, presenting opportunities for gains in 2025. Artificial intelligence provides a bright spot, leading to recent outperformance in the tech-heavy NASDAQ and related investments. And onshoring continues to provide growth opportunities for companies reshaping supply chains to meet domestic demand. To be fair, uncertainty persists, and economists know forecasting is for the weather. That’s why investors should alwaysremain well-diversified. But with inflation closer to the Fed’s target and wages rising faster than inflation, we’re optimistic that continued economic growth will pave the way for a financially positive year ahead. Here’s hoping we get even more right about 2025 than we did this past year. The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
Part of the fossil fuel industry’s “massive movement” is an effort to use former politicians to sway core constituencies. One industry front group, Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, sends out politicians like former Ohio Congressman and presidential candidate Tim Ryan to tout the virtues of methane gas at events and on news shows without disclosing that they’re on the gas industry’s payroll. According to the organization’s IRS 990 tax form, Natural Allies seems to have compensated Tim Ryan to the tune of $246,943 in 2023 alone. The same 990 shows Natural Allies also spent $290,723 on public relations services from a firm where former Senator Mary Landrieu (one of their other key voices) works.
Natural Allies also pays Black leaders to deceive Black audiences about how methane gas power is needed to keep their home energy costs down. Former Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter and former Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek work in tandem to peddle that fossil fuel industry lie at
events and in the Black press. Meanwhile, as former Mayor Nutter and former Rep. Meek make the case that more methane gas will help Black, brown, and lowincome communities, what about the communities of color and low-income communities bearing the brunt of the deadly pollution from this toxic industry? What about a place like Port Arthur, a majority Black and Latino city where nearly 30 percent of its people live below the poverty line? To that, Port Arthur’s John Beard says: “By bringing more gas into play, you say that you’re helping me? When my town has some of the worst air quality in the country? When we’re already su
State or the county auditor of Hennepin County on by 5:00 p.m. Tuesday December 31, 2024. A
Former Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic died Friday, Dec 27 less than two years after receiving a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. She was 62.
Her family said she died surrounded by loved ones. “She had a heart of gold, willing to go to any measure to help those she loved,” they said in a statement.
Democratic-FarmerLabor Party Chair Ken Martin said the Minneapolis Democrat was committed to working for Minnesotans. She served in the Minnesota Senate for more than a decade.
“It is impossible to overstate the positive impact that Senator Dziedzic’s leadership has had on our state,” Martin said in a statement. “Minnesota has lost a giant, but her extraordinary legacy will outlast us all.”
Dziedzic was
Hiltsley
From 3
Party on YouTube or Facebook.
In 2021, this reporter sat down with Hiltsley at her home in Brooklyn Center as she told her family’s immigration story. Her father, Phillip Momanyi, came to the United States as a student in 1988. His wife Tabitha joined him in 1992, followed in 1995 by 9-yearold Hiltsley and two siblings. The youngest of her siblings was born in the United States.
For 11 years, Momanyi fought the immigration system to gain legal permanent residency for himself and his family. His efforts were unsuccessful, and the family was ordered to leave the country. With only 48 hours left, a coalition led by an African American church the family attended petitioned Wellstone to intervene. The senator began lobbying for the family, which led to a last-minute court ruling overturning the deportation order. Unfortunately, Wellstone and his wife, Sheila, died in a plane crash in October 2002. He was 58.
“His intervention kept us here, and that experience taught me that government can truly be a force for good,” Hiltsley said. “We were not Americans who could give him votes, but he helped us just because we are human beings.”
At the watch party,
3
will enjoy free food and refreshments and take part in “story circle” facilitated conversations at their tables to further connect the community and help people hear from a variety of perspectives about the issues of our time. Participants will also discuss whom to honor with a pie. Pies will be distributed in the following days. In February, attendees will gather again to share their “pie stories” about gifting or receiving those pies.
The event is free and open to the public. Registration and volunteering information is here.
Event sponsors and partners include: Black Collective Foundation Minnesota, St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, the Minnesota Humanities Center, League of Women Voters MN, PRISM, Stephanie’s Dish, Avio Medtech Consulting, Westopolis, Normandale Lutheran Church, Flour & Flower, Golden Valley Lunds & Byerlys, King Arthur Baking Co., the City of Golden Valley, and the Golden Valley Community Foundation.
instrumental in holding together the Senate DFL caucus in 2023 as they passed, with a one-vote majority, a variety of Democratic priorities like funding universal school meals for students, approving a paid family and medical leave program, cementing legal protections for abortion and gender-affirming care and legalizing cannabis for recreational use.
“Senator Kari Dziedzic was a passionate legislator, a respected leader, and a trusted colleague and friend. She will be remembered for her integrity and her compassion for Minnesotans, something that we all saw as she continued to serve even as she battled cancer,” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, an East Grand Forks Republican. “I’m deeply saddened at her passing and am praying for her family and friends as we all mourn this loss.”
House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFLBrooklyn Park, said she was “one of the most skilled diplomats ever to serve in elected office.”
“Her legacy includes significant achievements in policy and investment in Minnesota, but more importantly she will be remembered for
Hiltsley’s mother, dressed in a sparkling purple skirt and a matching coat, danced to African music with other women. Hiltsley’s father paced around clad in a checkered blue suit with “HULDAH FOR HOUSE” and “HARRISWALZ” pins on the left collar of his jacket. When it was clear that their daughter had won, Momanyi became emotional about what could have happened if his family had been deported. Wellstone would have been exceptionally happy to see Hiltsley make history, he said.
“Senator Wellstone was a very compassionate man,” Momanyi said. “What he and his wife Sheila did for us is the reason we are still here, and we are very grateful.”
Hiltsley said because she was very young back then, she didn’t understand the magnitude of what the community and Wellstone had done for her family until years later when they became U.S. citizens.
“I didn’t have to think about, ‘Oh my goodness. I can’t say something because I’m worried about who is around me. I can’t go somewhere because I’m worried about, my immigration status. I can’t apply for a job. I can’t do this. I can’t do that,’” she said. “When you talk about the American dream, that’s where it was born for me as an individual. That’s when I realized that I could do anything.”
As she grew older,
SPCP was founded in 2014 by Rose McGee, who responded to the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, with solidarity and healing by delivering sweet potato pies to a grieving community. She discovered
treating people with dignity and respect and never giving up on finding workable compromises,” Hortman said.
“She had an incredible ability to work diligently through the most arcane and difficult policy issues to find resolution.”
Senate Majority
Hiltsley developed a strong desire to serve the community that rallied so hard to help when her family had lost hope. She attended Cooper High School in a Minneapolis suburb coincidentally named New Hope, before heading to Bethel University, where she earned three bachelor’s degrees, and later an MBA. Although she went on to build a successful career as data privacy and protection professional, Hiltsley said her true passion was organizing her community to ensure that the needs of every resident were met.
One of Hiltsley’s first major leadership roles was serving as the president of Mwanyagetinge, the largest organization of Kenyans in Minnesota. The population of Kenyans in the state is estimated to be around 20,500, according to the research nonprofit, Minnesota Compass.
Suzie Obwaya, a Kenyan American and businesswoman who runs an assisted living company named Fortunate Homes LLC, said Hiltsley made an immediate impact when she took office at Mwanyagetinge.
“She’s a visionary thinker,” Obwaya said. “She sees the future.”
Obwaya said Hiltsley did a lot for the community, like applying for grants and trying to bring awareness to people about what resources were out there for them to tap into. Obwaya said Hiltsley won the election
Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, agreed, saying she was “an uncommon leader.”
“Her talents as a consequential and thoughtful leader made us all better legislators, and her examples of kindness humor, and selflessness made us all better
because over the years she had built a reputation of a genuinely friendly and honest person.
“One thing I like about Huldah, first of all, is her smile,” Obwaya said. “When she smiles at you, you feel the warmth.”
Hiltsley first entered politics when she ran for a state Senate a seat in District 40 in the 2022 elections. However, following the redistricting mandated according to the 2020 U.S. Census results, she found herself in District 38 with Susan Pha, a councilwoman in the city of Brooklyn Park. When she announced in 2023 that she was going to run for the House seat, Hiltsley found herself yet again going against Wynfred Russell, another savvy, trailblazing candidate, who like Pha had extensive experience running a successful election campaign.
In 2018, Russell became the first Liberian American, and the first Black person elected to the Brooklyn Park City Council. Instead of seeking reelection in 2022, he opted to run for mayor of the city but lost.
In April, Hiltsley and Russell went to the DFL convention hoping to win the 60% of delegate votes needed for the party to endorse a candidate. When neither met the threshold, they took the decision to DFL voters in the primaries held on Aug. 13. Hiltsley beat Russell by a mere 50 votes to clinch the nomination. Speaking to Mshale on Tuesday, Russell attributed
the power of the pie to create conversation, provide comfort and spark alliances for committed action. SPCP has gone on to create extensive programming that activates the power of connection for racial healing and justice. Rose McGee and SPCP have gained local, national and international coverage, including on the Rachael Ray
people,” Murphy said.
After being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2023, Dziedzic underwent emergency surgery to limit its spread. She stepped down from her leadership position in February after her cancer recurred.
The Senate will now
Hiltsley’s victory in the primaries to the experience she gained when she ran against Pha.
“It was a very close race, but in the end the person who worked the hardest won,” Russell said. “I have participated in a number of elections, but running for the House is a whole other animal. There is a lot of helpful strategies that I think she put into the primary race, which showed that she learned a lot.”
Ben Hackett is the local DFL branch chair in Brooklyn Park and an early supporter Hiltsley, who endorsed soon after party delegates failed to agree on a candidate to back. Hackett said he got to know Hiltsley well during her run against Pha, who he said was his friend. He decided to back Hiltsley as soon as he heard that she was running for the House seat. What impressed him most about her was that, even after she lost, she never stopped participating in community events.
“I just saw her everywhere,” Hackett said. “She was helping out, but she wasn’t really asking for something in return when she volunteered with the party.”
Hackett said Hiltsley continued to participate in local DFL meetings and community events. After getting to know her, Hackett said he concluded that Hiltsley wasn’t out there for her own personal gain but seemed driven by a strong desire to making sure that her neighbors, friends, and community were
stand in a 33-33 tie between Democrats and Republicans heading into the 2025 legislative session. “I knew the long hours. I knew the phone calls at home. I knew what I was walking into,” she said. “But I also knew the opportunity that you have to help other people. And it’s about helping people and making your community better.”
Dziedzic, Kari Lifelong “Nordeaster”, passed away on December 27th, 2024. Preceded in death by father, Walter. Survived by mother, Pat, siblings, Steve Dziedzic (Ann Settgast), Anne (Scott) Kelling, Tim (Sara) Dziedzic, Kelly Dziedzic (Paul Arntzen) and Joe (Kelly) Dziedzic; 10 nieces & Nephews, Alyssa, Alexander, Andrea, Sophia, Jack, Liam, Nora, Brielle, Vienna and Hubert; and a host of other loving friends and relatives. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to the Dziedzic Family Foundation, East Side Neighborhood Services, Walt Dziedzic Innovation Fund at Minneapolis Park Board, or MN Ovarian Cancer Alliance. www. kozlakradulovich.com
properly represented and engaged in the political process.
“That’s the principal reason why I strongly supported Huldah,” he said. “And while I would like to call myself a friend of her opponent [Russell], I just felt that she was a better fit for the district and that’s why I endorsed her.” Hackett said he believed that, after Hiltsley assumed her duties at the state capitol, she would continue doing the same community building and networking that won her so many supporters and helped her win the elections.
“Of course, we will definitely be holding her accountable to make sure that she continues to do that,” he said. “But I believe that she will do that regardless.” During her victory speech, Hiltsley promised to continue being available to her constituents and urged them to join hands with her to make District 38A a place where everyone felt valued and empowered. She vowed to fight for safe neighborhoods, high quality education, affordable housing and healthcare that’s accessible to all.
“This journey is only the beginning,” she said. “The work doesn’t end here.” Edwin Okong’oMshale Contributing Editor Edwin Okong’o is a Mshale Contributing Editor. Formerly he was the newspaper’s editor.
Show, NBC Nightly News, The Huffington Post, People Magazine, TODAY and most recently NBC Today, The Guardian and CNN. For more information, please call Barbara Prindle at 612205-2578, email press@ sweetpotatocomfortpie.org or visit sweetpotatocomfortpie. org
Governor Tim Walz Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Flanagan
la Miundombinu na Utayarishaji wa Idara ya Marekebisho
Soo
Black Media in Minnesota: Tradition, Practice & Vision
By W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor
BLACK MEDIA IN MINNESOTA
Tradition, Practice, and Vision
An Anthology
Al McFarlane
by
Edited
Forward by Mahmoud ElKati
Contrary to what mainstream media would have us believe, Black media has been and will continue to be essential to proper representation of our community. It is here that our stories are told. It is here that our authentic truths are shared. Such is our past, present, and future as illustrated in the anthology Black Media in Minnesota: Tradition, Practice, and Vision.
First and foremost, I give a hat tip to the contributors—Al McFarlane, Tracey Williams-Dillard, Dr. Mahmoud El-Kati, Donnie Nicole Belcher, Daniel Pierce Bergin, Georgia Fort, Dr. Robin P. Hickman-Winfield, Lissa Jones-Lofgren, Jasmine Snow, Dr. Catherine R. Squires, Dallas Watson, and Henry Banks. They represent the generations of Black journalists in our community in their diversity and history, and their voices serve to encourage us to support the Black press in all its forms.
Their stories take us back to 1827 and the first Black newspaper to be published in the U.S., the Freedom’s Journal in New York. Since mainstream newspapers
denigrated African Americans and generated misinformation and disinformation, the Black press met a definite need as they developed over the 19th and early 20th centuries in terms of getting accurate news out. White supremacists did their best to prevent the newspapers from being distributed among African Americans, but the news quietly got though anyway—through the powerful network of Pullman porters. With coverage of the Black community by mainstream media being mediocre at best, stereotypical and incendiary at its worst (followed by a lack of fact-
We have shared our stories through media outlets such as the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder (the oldest Black-owned business in Minnesota), Insight News, public broadcasting (Black Voices was the first program to do so in 1968), radio (e.g. KMOJ, KFAI), film, and now, live streaming shows, podcasts, and community programming.
checking, framing, and reliable sources), from slavery to George Floyd, from Frederick Douglass to Kamala Harris, the Black press has provided an authentic picture of who we are as a community and the place to share our stories— our successes, our ongoing struggles, and the issues important to us and our lives. Here in Minnesota, we have notables in the field such as Cecil Newman, Gordon Parks, Carl Rowan, Roy Wilkins, and Henry Banks (As descendants of Newman and Parks, Tracey Williams-Dillard and Robin Hickman-Winfield continue to pay it forward).
Though there were Black newspapers that folded or were bought out, those that remain serve as vital a purpose today as they did back in the day. Our contributors offer solutions on how to support the Black press/media, plus a directory of Black media outlets here in Minnesota. In the words of Al McFarlane, “The Black press began with the sole intention of being a contrast to what was in the White press. The single focus was to present the Black community in a dignified manner and to shine a positive light on its members’ lives. Freedom’s Journal and the hundreds of Black newspapers that followed it in the 20th century affirmed Black people’s existence. Births were announced, deaths were mourned, marriages were celebrated, and achievements were showcased.
In the early days of the Black press, journalists who were shunned by mainstream media gained celebrity status. They have been referred to as ‘soldiers without swords’ because they used their pens, typewriters, and cameras to give voice to the voiceless. The pay was low and the work was hard, but it was more than just a job.”
Black Media in Minnesota is available through In Black Ink. The voices and experience of these contributors
Long COVID
By Ziyad Al-Aly Chief of Research and Development, VA St. Louis Health Care System.
Since 2020, the condition known as long COVID-19 has become a widespread disability affecting the health and quality of life of millions of people across the globe and costing economies billions of dollars in reduced productivity of employees and an overall drop in the work force.
The intense scientific effort that long COVID sparked has resulted in more than 24,000 scientific publications, making it the most researched health condition in any four years of recorded human history.
Long COVID is a term that describes the constellation of long-term health effects caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These range from persistent respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath, to debilitating fatigue or brain fog that limits people’s ability to work, and conditions such as heart failure and diabetes, which are known to last a lifetime.
I am a physician scientist, and I have been deeply immersed in studying long COVID since the early days of the pandemic. I have testified before the U.S. Senate as an expert witness on long COVID, have published extensively on it and was named as one of Time’s 100 most influential people in health in 2024 for my research in this area.
Over the first half of 2024, a flurry of reports
Insight 2 Health
puzzle pieces are falling into place – the picture is unsettling
and scientific papers on long COVID added clarity to this complex condition. These include, in particular, insights into how COVID-19 can still wreak havoc in many organs years after the initial viral infection, as well as emerging evidence on viral persistence and immune dysfunction that last for months or years after initial infection.
How long COVID affects the body
A new study that my colleagues and I published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 17, 2024, shows that the risk of long COVID declined over the course of the pandemic. In 2020, when the ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2 was dominant and vaccines were not available, about 10.4% of adults who got COVID-19 developed long COVID. By early 2022, when the omicron family of variants predominated, that rate declined to 7.7% among unvaccinated adults and 3.5% of vaccinated adults. In other words, unvaccinated people were more than twice as likely to develop long COVID. While researchers like me do not yet have concrete numbers for the current rate in mid-2024 due to the time it takes for long COVID cases to be reflected in the data, the flow of new patients into long COVID clinics has been on par with 2022.
We found that the decline was the result of two key drivers: availability of vaccines and changes in the characteristics of the virus –which made the virus less prone to cause severe acute infections and may have reduced its ability to persist in the human body long
enough to cause chronic disease.
Despite the decline in risk of developing long COVID, even a 3.5% risk is substantial. New and repeat COVID-19 infections translate into millions of new long COVID cases that add to an already staggering number of people suffering from this condition.
Estimates for the first year of the pandemic suggests that at least 65 million people globally have had long COVID.
Along with a group of other leading scientists, my team will soon publish updated estimates of the global burden of long COVID and its impact on the global economy through 2023.
In addition, a major new report by the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine details all the health effects that constitute long COVID. The report was commissioned by the Social Security Administration to understand the implications of long COVID on its disability benefits.
It concludes that long COVID is a complex chronic condition that can result in more than 200 health effects across multiple body systems. These include new onset or worsening: heart disease neurologic problems such as cognitive impairment, strokes and dysautonomia. This is a category of disorders that affect the body’s autonomic nervous system – nerves that regulate most of the body’s vital mechanisms such as blood pressure, heart rate and temperature. post-exertional malaise, a state of severe exhaustion that may happen after even minor activity — often leaving the patient unable to function for hours, days or weeks
gastrointestinal disorders kidney disease metabolicdisorders such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia, or a rise in bad cholesterol immune dysfunction
Long COVID can affect people across the lifespan from children to older adults and across race and ethnicity and baseline health status. Importantly, more than 90% of people with long COVID had mild COVID-19 infections. The National Academies report also concluded that long COVID can result in the inability to return to work or school; poor quality of life; diminished ability to perform activities of daily living; and decreased physical and cognitive function for months or years after the initial infection. The report points out that many health effects of long COVID, such as post-exertional malaise and chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment and autonomic dysfunction, are not currently captured in the Social Security Administration’s Listing of Impairments, yet may significantly affect an individual’s ability to participate in work or school.
A long road ahead
What’s more, health problems resulting from COVID-19 can last years after the initial infection.
A large study published in early 2024 showed that even people who had a mild SARS-CoV-2 infection still experienced new health problems related to COVID-19 in the third year after the initial infection. Such findings parallel other research showing that the virus persists in various organ
systems for months or years after COVID-19 infection. And research is showing that immune responses to the infection are still evident two to three years after a mild infection. Together, these studies may explain why a SARS-CoV-2 infection years ago could still cause new health problems long after the initial infection. Important progress is also being made in understanding the pathways by which long COVID wreaks havoc on the body. Two preliminary studies from the U.S. and the Netherlands show that when researchers transfer auto-antibodies – antibodies generated by a person’s immune system that are directed at their own tissues and organs – from people with long COVID into healthy mice, the animals start to experience long COVIDlike symptoms such as muscle weakness and poor balance. These studies suggest that an abnormal immune response thought to be responsible for the generation of these auto-antibodies may underlie long COVID and that
removing these auto-antibodies may hold promise as potential treatments.
An ongoing threat Despite overwhelming evidence of the wide-ranging risks of COVID-19, a great deal of messaging suggests that it is no longer a threat to the public. Although there is no empirical evidence to back this up, this misinformation has permeated the public narrative. The data, however, tells a different story. COVID-19 infections continue to outnumber flu cases and lead to more hospitalization and death than the flu. COVID-19 also leads to more serious long-term health problems. Trivializing COVID-19 as an inconsequential cold or equating it with the flu does not align with reality.
Ziyad Al-Aly receives funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
Minnesota stabilizes Medicaid for children up to age 6
Eligible Minnesota children will soon have steady access to Medicaid health insurance until they turn 6. The new policy as of Jan. 1 will support a healthier, more equitable start for the youngest state residents. All children under age 6 who qualify for Medical Assistance will have up to 72 months of uninterrupted coverage. Medical Assistance is Minnesota’s Medicaid program. Signed into law by Governor Tim Walz in 2023, continuous eligibility for kids prevents gaps in necessary care and promotes health equity.
“We know that consistent access to health care and regular check-ups improve children’s health
outcomes, support school readiness and advance health equity,” said Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. “This new policy takes a big step toward those goals.” Another change gives qualifying 19- and 20-year-olds ongoing Medical Assistance eligibility for 12 months at a time. Minnesota has significant racial health disparities, with Black and Hispanic children more likely to experience gaps in health care coverage. Data shows that these groups are at greater risk of losing their health insurance because of paperwork and administrative barriers. The new law makes it easier for kids to stay covered. For children under 6 who qualify for Medical Assistance, the new law extends their eligibility until the last day of the month of their 6th birthday. The law’s initial phase took effect in January 2024. It allows children ages 6 to 19 who qualify for Medical Assistance to remain eligible for 12 months at a time. People who have Medical Assistance have to renew their insurance each year. To keep their health insurance, enrollees are urged to update their contact information and watch their mail for important renewal paperwork. For more information about Medical Assistance renewals, visit mn.gov/dhs/renewmycoverage.
Sports
Wins, losses and departures: The top stories of 2024 in Minnesota sports
By Pat Borzi MinnPost
Never a dull moment around here, is there? The year in Minnesota sports began with three unexpected championships and one notable firing, and ended with the local NFL team rolling with a new quarterback and the baseball team up for sale.
So let’s get right to it: Here are the Seven Top Minnesota Sports Stories of 2024, from No. 7 to No. 1. Your list may vary.
7. Minnesota State men’s and women’s basketball teams win NCAA Division II championships.
It’s hard enough to win one of these, let alone two by the same university in the same season. But that’s what happened on consecutive days in March.
First the Maverick women, a No. 5 seed, dispatched Texas Women’s University 89-73 in St. Joseph, Mo., to win its first NCAA title since 2009. Sophomore Natalie Bremer of Lake City won the Elite Eight Outstanding Player Award, scoring 27 points in the final and 70 in the final three games for the Mavs (32-5).
Then in Evansville, Ind., the Maverick men pulled out an 88-85 victory over Nova Southeastern, with Kyreese Willingham hitting the gamewinning three-pointer from the corner off a feed from his brother Malik, the Elite Eight MVP. The Mavs (35-2) had never won a men’s basketball championship.
Months later MSU nearly bagged a third NCAA title, as the women’s soccer team (18-2-7) advanced to the final before losing 2-1 to Cal Poly Pomona. That’s some year for the folks in Mankato.
6. Kirk Cousins leaves the Minnesota Vikings in free agency. Cousins always struck me as a guy who played
well enough to give Vikings fans hope, but not well enough to deliver a Super Bowl. With Cousins approaching age 36 and coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon, the Vikings declined to offer him a multiyear extension this off-season. So Cousins grabbed a four-year, $180 million offer from Atlanta, with $100 million guaranteed. So far, it’s working out great — for the Vikings. Sam Darnold, an underachiever with the Jets and Carolina and a backup in San Francisco, excelled after arriving in Minnesota as a one-year stopgap, leading the Vikings to five consecutive victories to start the season and a 12-2 mark by mid-December. Against Atlanta and Cousins on Dec. 8, Darnold threw for a career-high 347 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-21 victory. And Cousins, after nine interceptions and only one TD pass in a five-game stretch, soon lost his starting job to rookie Michael Penix Jr.
5. The Minnesota Lynx make the WNBA finals.
Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve challenged captain Napheesa Collier before the season to put herself in the conversation for league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. Collier did just that, establishing herself as one of the WNBA’s best players in a season that saw her win DPOY, finish second in the MVP balloting and carry the Lynx to within a jump shot of its first league title since 2017. All-Star Kayla McBride and free agent newcomers Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith helped Collier lift the Lynx from middle-of-the-pack to championship contenders.
Bandwagon jumpers discovered the surging Lynx late; crowds of more than 19,000 turned out for Games 3 and 4 of the WNBA Finals at the Target Center, with the Game 3 total of 19,521 breaking the club record. That the New York Liberty prevailed in overtime
in Game 5, 67-62, still stings with the players, some of whom returned to Minneapolis this fall to prepare for 2025.
4. The Minnesota Timberwolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks. This was an even bigger shock than the Timberwolves making the Western Conference finals last spring for the first time in 20 years. President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly sent the popular Towns, the last player remaining from the late Flip Saunders’ tenure with the club, to New York in a multi-player, three-team deal in early October to gain salary cap flexibility. The New Jerseyraised Towns got to go home in a sense and move back to center, his best position. Tortured Wolves fans shouldn’t be surprised that Towns is thriving in New York under former Wolves Coach Tom Thibodeau, averaging 24.8 points per game while leading the NBA in rebounding (13.9) through Dec. 18. The Wolves, meanwhile, struggled early as former Knicks Julius Randle
and Donte DiVincenzo adjusted to their new teammates and new surroundings, and coowners Glen Taylor, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez went to arbitration to settle purchase issues.
3. Suni Lee and Regan Smith win Olympic gold medals. Lee, the defending artistic gymnastics all-around champion from St. Paul, overcame a debilitating kidney ailment to win a team gold medal and bronzes in the allaround and uneven bars at the Summer Olympics in Paris. That gave Lee six career Olympic medals, tied for thirdmost by an American gymnast. Earlier, Lee delivered a stunning performance at the Olympic Trials at Target Center in June, taking second in the all-around to Simone Biles and winning the uneven bars — a triumphant homecoming for Minnesota’s most accomplished Hmong-American athlete. Smith, of Lakeville, won five medals in Paris — silvers in the 100- and 200-meter backstrokes and 200 butterfly, and golds on two world recordsetting relays. Smith now owns eight Olympic medals,
the most by any Minnesotan. In all, Minnesota athletes brought home 12 medals from Paris, matching the 2021 haul in Tokyo for the most by our state at a single Games. It’s 14 if you count part-year Minnesota residents Anthony Edwards (men’s basketball) and Napheesa Collier (women’s basketball).
2. PWHL Minnesota GM Natalie Darwitz is fired after winning the league championship. League officials dismissed Darwitz, the Hockey Hall of Famer and Minnesota women’s hockey icon, nine days after the team she assembled won the Walter Cup title. Locally, it spoiled an otherwise terrific inaugural season for the Professional Women’s Hockey League, the latest and best-funded attempt to establish women’s pro hockey in North America. Darwitz’s accomplishments included securing ice time and locker room space at TRIA Rink, the Wild’s practice site, and arranging for home games at Xcel Energy Center. PWHL Minnesota (now the Minnesota Frost) was the only club in the league to play regularly in an NHL building. The club drew 13,316 on Opening Night, and its average attendance of 7,138 trailed only Ottawa (7,496). Minnesota barely qualified for the playoffs after losing its last five games, then rebounded to oust Toronto and Boston in consecutive series to win the championship, with former University of Minnesota star Taylor Heise winning the playoff MVP award. But Darwitz and Coach Ken Klee didn’t get along, according to media reports, and the league resolved the conflict by firing Darwitz after a lengthy review. Klee had been Darwitz’s second choice as coach, brought on after Charlie Burggraf resigned unexpectedly a week before the first game.
1. The owners of the Minnesota Twins consider selling the team. This one took everyone by surprise. Forty years after Carl Pohlad bought the club from Calvin Griffith, grandson and executive chair Joe Pohlad announced in October the family would “explore selling the Twins.” Pohlad’s statement didn’t go into why, and he hasn’t spoken publicly about it since. It followed a torturous season where fans vilified Pohlad and the club for reducing payroll by $25 million, in response to a sizable drop in local TV revenue from the Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy restructuring. The Twins weren’t the only MLB club that cut back spending. But Pohlad took heat for making what he called “a very difficult business decision,” one he defended in late September after the Twins collapsed the final six weeks to miss the playoffs. Pohlad
Vikings with O’Connell clearly prefer to pass the ball, and Darnold has aced the test
By Dave Campbell
AP Pro Football Writer
The Minnesota Vikings had just retaken possession with a precarious two-point lead on Green Bay right before the twominute warning, badly needing to drain the clock and stem the momentum the Packers seized down the stretch.
Convention calls for running the ball. Coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t hesitate to dial up some passing plays, another sign of his unwavering confidence in the value of bold decisions, the effectiveness of his system and, of course, the ability of quarterback Sam Darnold. The 27-25 victory over Green Bay on Sunday further validated all of that.
“I felt comfortable with Sam in those moments,” O’Connell said, alluding to some particular runs he’d called earlier in the game and in lategame situations throughout the season that gave the Packers plenty of reason to anticipate them. “I thought we’d get some edges and get Sam and his athleticism out on the perimeter.”
With 2:18 to go, Darnold faked a handoff to Cam Akers as he ran toward the right end. Fullback C.J. Ham stepped forward in a mock blocking action, then veered left into the
By The Associated Press
flat where he was uncovered as Darnold bootlegged to his left for a 13-yard completion that moved the chains.
Two plays later, on second-and-11, Darnold rolled right and threaded an on-the-run throw through traffic to Justin Jefferson, who pulled in a difficult catch with Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine draping all over him in tight coverage. That forced the Packers to use their second timeout.
Then came another rollout on third-and-2, when Darnold had to hurry his toss with linebacker Isaiah McDuffie bringing pressure. Akers nimbly snagged the low throw before it hit the turf and tumbled past the marker for the everimportant first down that sealed Minnesota’s ninth consecutive victory.
“I’m trying to make sure that he and I are playing this game as close-knit as we possibly can so we can be aggressive,” O’Connell said. “He’s still going to be a great decision-maker, and he’s playing quarterback at a very, very high level and has been for the majority of the season. You can tell by the locker room. You can tell by the way I call plays. I know for us to get to where we want to go, we’ve got to be aggressive, and we’ve got to play football in a way that allows us to have our whole offense at our disposal.”
Darnold went 33 for 43 for a career-high 377 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.
“Whenever he does call a pass in that situation, I’m always prepared for it,” Darnold said, “and I feel like our guys did a really good job of executing that.”
What’s working
The pass protection was impeccable, with only one sack allowed on Darnold and plenty of time for him to progress through his options and look downfield for receivers on longer-developing routes. The Packers had 16 sacks over their previous four games.
“I felt like there were times, too, where I could have got the ball out a little quicker, especially on the second-to-last drive, but I thought the big guys did a really good job,” Darnold said.
What needs help The special teams haven’t been all that special. The place kicking has been the most valuable unit this season, but rookie Will Reichard missed two field goals against the Packers. Ryan Wright averaged only 35.5 yards on two punts. Brandon Powell muffed a punt return at his own 16-yard line, but he fell on the ball. Ty Chandler returned a kickoff that landed at the goal line after Green Bay had cut the lead to
27-18, but he gained only 21 yards. Chandler also took one back in the first quarter from 4 yards deep in the end zone, reaching only the 23-yard line.
Stock up
Wide receiver Jalen Nailor had six catches for 69 yards on eight targets, all season highs. He broke wide open on a corner route for a 31yard touchdown in the second quarter that put the Vikings in front 7-3. Jefferson wasn’t targeted until midway through the second quarter and had only two catches in the first half while the Packers paid him extra attention, necessitating Darnold to rely often on Nailor.
Stock down Reichard had a 57yard field-goal attempt that hit the crossbar and a 43-yard try that clanked off the left upright. His 55-yarder at the end of the first half went wide right, but an offside penalty on the Packers gave him another opportunity for a 50-yarder that he made.
“My confidence in Will is sky high,” O’Connell said, alluding to an “unbelievable session” in practice on Thursday. “If we think we’re anywhere near the range, I’m going to give him a swing.”
Injury report
Backup edge rusher Patrick Jones dodged a serious
injury to his right knee after a low, diving block by tight end Tucker Kraft. He’ll have an opportunity to return this week. Running back Aaron Jones, who was held out of the fourth quarter with a bruised quadriceps as a precautionary measure, likely will be ready for action this week, O’Connell said.
Key number 9 — Minnesota’s winning streak is tied for the third-longest in franchise history and is the longest since a 10-game run in 1975.
Up next The Vikings (142) are facing one of the most consequential regular-season games in franchise history when they play at Detroit on Sunday night, considering the either/ or stakes. Securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs and getting a firstround bye would put them two home wins away from their first Super Bowl appearance in 48 years. Losing to the Lions would put them on the road to start the postseason as the No. 5 seed the following weekend, with Tampa Bay the most likely opponent in that slot.
NBA players Mike Conley Jr. of Minnesota
Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa hitting a home run against the Miami Marlins in the sixth inning at Target Field on Sept. 26.
AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell calls a timeout during the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Minneapolis.
