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Cheers to Ramiro Hernandez
The owner of Bymore Supermercado on Payne Avenue has begun offering free delivery to his customers who are too worried to come to the store because of Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. Hernandez doesn’t ordinarily deliver, but he, his family and some volunteers are doing so now, taking orders by phone and bringing food to doorsteps. Margins are thin in the grocery business, and the cost to Hernandez is significant, but he’s committed to continuing, supplementing orders for free with extra eggs and beans. “There is no limit if they need help,” he said. “If we can go, we go.” May his family’s heart and generosity be an inspiration.
Jeers to rejecting transit
Nine members of the 17-member Metropolitan Council, who all get a free pass to ride light-rail, didn’t use it from September 2024 to September 2025. Only eight of the members used the perk of a pass for a combined 259 rides in a year, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune report. The council oversees the Twin Cities’ light-rail operations, and it would seem that riding the rails would help them understand lagging ridership and safety concerns. Former Council Member Annette Meeks said she tried to ride once a month and described taking the trains as “part of your duty, your due diligence.” She’s correct. Cheers to current member Robert Lilligren, who tapped on 117 times, the most of any council member. In selecting future council members, the governor and his aides should find appointees who are more familiar with and willing to hop on the trains like Lilligren.
Cheers to healthy competition
The U.S. Senate race to succeed departing Sen. Tina Smith in D.C. is heating up. A big-name Republican has yet to enter the race, but the intra-DFL contest is percolating. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan drew a contrast with U.S. Rep. Angie Craig on social media after Craig criticized an ICE raid of a home in Burnsville as “inhumane and cruel.” Flanagan sharply called out Craig for voting with Republicans “to strip due process from immigrants.” Craig was the only Minnesota Democrat in Congress to vote for the Laken Riley Act last January, clearing a path for faster deportation of immigrants. Flanagan was pointed in her critique of Craig, writing, “Every vote in favor of this bill normalized the chaos we see now.”
Jeers to Action 4 Liberty
The far-right conservative nonprofit has latched onto President Donald Trump’s offensive use of the R-word against Gov. Tim Walz. Action 4 Liberty activists thought Trump’s denigration was so clever that they’re now selling Christmas-themed sweatshirts with Walz’s image, name and the full nasty word. “Trigger liberals, win Christmas,” is the message. Action 4 Liberty is also selling similarly branded stickers, baseball caps and regular sweatshirts with the R-word and, of course, Walz’s image. What a lack of imagination and ideas. If this group has constructive ideas about how to lead Minnesota, let’s hear them and debate them — because repeating Trump’s slur to promote their brand isn’t the way to build a healthy movement. This sort of name-calling serves no one and turns good people away from politics — which may be the nonprofit’s ultimate aim.
Cheers to Southwest Minnesota State Republicans
The group, with an assist from the Lyon County GOP, played host to the first gubernatorial forum of the 2026 campaign. With nine candidates on the dais, it could have been an unwieldy event. But the hosts handled it deftly, mixing rapid-fire queries while giving the contenders opportunities to provide more expansive answers and show their personalities. The forum was livestreamed from Marshall and is available online. It’s must-see video for political junkies and all who want an early look at the shape of the GOP race. The pre-debate live auction is not to be missed.
Jeers to Richard Carlbom
The state DFL Party chairman recently criticized GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel’s criminal defense work. Carlbom said Madel “built his career defending violent and exploitative criminals. He represented fraudsters, rapists, and pedophiles, getting many of their charges and cases thrown out along the way.” Yes, that’s the nature of criminal defense work, a vital part of the justice process that should not be held against anyone. Even fellow DFLer Mark Haase, now a Ramsey County assistant attorney, called out Carlbom’s comments as lazy. “Let’s find a better way to win this,” Haase said. Madel’s wholesale support of immigration enforcement might be a place to start rather than slamming his exemplary criminal defense work.
