Kristen Leigh Painter

Thank you for your kind words, Mary Ann. 💙 I was there at Sandy Hook in the days after and it nearly broke me.

Vikings players, staffers + coaches are wearing shirts that honor the shooting victims from the Aug. 27 tragedy at Annunciation Church in South Minneapolis. @carlosgphoto.bsky.social with the photo, in which the backs of the shirts read:

Be Kind
Be Respectful
Be Inclusive
Be My Best Self
Be Brave

Ramstad: Staggering, swaggering growth gives way to humility at UnitedHealth Group

Target gave $1M to Trump inauguration fund, a first for the company President Donald Trump raised a record amount of cash for his inauguration, including donations from several companies with operations in Minnesota.

President Donald Trump raised a record amount of cash for his inauguration, including donations from several companies with operations in Minnesota.

The divide between hybrid and return-to-office advocates grows in Minnesota From federal workers and Amazon at the national level to 3M and U.S. Bank in the state, workplaces are dialing back remote policies. But a return to pre-pandemic norms seems unlikely.

The divide between hybrid and return-to-office advocates grows in Minnesota.

By downtowns reporter Katie Galioto and economy reporter @emmamarienelson.bsky.social.

Pay starts flowing when nonprofit CEOs leave the job In recent years, Medica and Blue Cross of Minnesota provided millions in pay to their chief executives at the end of the road.

Calling it quits can pay well for CEOs at big nonprofit groups in Minnesota — particularly for those at health insurance companies.

The results of Chris Snowbeck's annual tradition of analyzing the federal tax filings and state documents for health NGOs.

Inside the slow rise and sudden death of Medtronic’s lifesaving ventilators Medtronic’s Puritan Bennett devices were some of the world’s most important in 2020, but profits dipped as clinical preferences shifted. Experts disagree on what their extinction means for the future...

Five years ago, the ventilator was a symbol of the pandemic.

Medtronic ramped up production and made blueprints public so others could replicate.

Now, it's shuttering that business.

Inside the slow rise and sudden death of its lifesaving ventilators. By @vstef.bsky.social

Inside the slow rise and sudden death of Medtronic’s lifesaving ventilators Medtronic’s Puritan Bennett devices were some of the world’s most important in 2020, but profits dipped as clinical preferences shifted. Experts disagree on what their extinction means for the future...

Five years ago, the ventilator was a symbol of the pandemic.

Medtronic ramped up production and made blueprints public so others could replicate.

Now, it's shuttering that business.

Inside the slow rise and sudden death of its lifesaving ventilators.

www.startribune.com/inside-the-s...

Shuttering of USAID could mean the end of millions in income for Midwest farm operations Frozen by Elon Musk’s DOGE personnel, the USAID program purchased $70 million in commodities in 2024 from Minnesota vendors.

Minnetonka-based Cargill, Inver Grove Heights-based CHS Inc. and Minneapolis trader Sinamco sold a total of $70 million in sorghum, wheat and peas to the agency’s Food for Peace program, according to records shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune on Thursday.

New FDA rules to reduce racial bias in some common devices measuring oxygen in blood But so-called “health and wellness” pulse oximeters available at drugstores and online will not be subject to the FDA’s draft guidelines.

So-called "health and wellness" pulse oximeters don't require extensive testing, despite criticism they're less accurate on darker skin.

@vstef.bsky.social spoke w/ MN-based Nonin Medical, which launched the fingertip device in 1995, about its FDA-cleared device and the unregulated (cheaper) market

"The six-day gap between the killing of Thompson and the capture of Luigi Mangione led the American public to rampant speculation on the motive for the crime, with a narrative coalescing for some around the idea of a measure of symbolic justice." On Tuesday, new questions arose over class and wealth

The Minnesota Star Tribune editor Suki Dardarian announces retirement Her 43-year career in journalism is defined by award-winning coverage and steadfast leadership during times of dramatic change

The Minnesota Star Tribune’s top editor, Suki Dardarian, is retiring in February after more than a decade at the news organization and 43 years in journalism.

Who is Luigi Mangione, person of interest ID’d in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing? The suspect was carrying a manifesto that criticized health care companies for putting profits above care, police said.

The suspect, identified as Luigi Mangione, was carrying a manifesto that criticized health care companies for putting profits above care, police said.

Large companies likely to beef up security for executives after UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder Specialists have seen calls rise in the days after Brian Thompson’s death in Midtown Manhattan.

Related: The CEO slaying is likely to prompt a major reassessment of security for corporate executives.

Medica shuts down Minn. HQ as manhunt for UnitedHealth CEO killer stretches into Day 3 Citing ‘an abundance of caution,’ the nonprofit health plan’s move responds to safety concerns after shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Minnetonka-based Medica temporarily closes its headquarters amid swelling anger at health insurers.

The manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO's killer stretches into Day 3.

Why UnitedHealthcare is a four-letter word to critics Some mourn the shooting of chief executive but still have scorn for the insurance company he ran.

Health care reporter Jeremy Olson delves into the company's reputation re: claims denials.

Ramstad: Murder of UnitedHealth exec incites anger — not at the killer, but at him and the company The lack of empathy over the shooting of a Minnesota executive is emblematic of a new norm in the national conversation. It also shows a sense of powerlessness over health care, one of the most import...

Business columnist Evan Ramstad addresses the mood in wake of UnitedHealth exec slaying.

Police release new photo of ‘person of interest’ in manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Brian Thompson, 50, of Maple Grove was killed in what authorities described as a targeted attack in NYC.

New York police have released a photo showing the face of a “person of interest” in the fatal ambush of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare executive who was killed Wednesday in New York City.

The suspect remained at large as of late morning Thursday.

Manhunt continues for killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, of Maple Grove was killed in what authorities described as a targeted attack in NYC.

As the manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO's killer stretches into day 2, whether the slaying was ideologically motivated, personal or other remains unconfirmed. Here's the latest:

The latest on the father of two, executive from Maple Grove who was killed in what NYPD call a "brazen, targeted attack" with manhunt underway.

Updated information on what NYC Mayor Eric Adams called a 'targeted murder'

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is shot and killed in New York City Local news outlets reported the killing; executives were meeting for investor conference, which was closed abruptly.

Breaking:

The comedown following pandemic-era commodity highs.

Inside the procedure at the heart of a multibillion-dollar race to a safer AFib treatment Medtronic, Boston Scientific and other medtech leaders are competing to commercialize catheter technology with roots in Minnesota that’s making atrial fibrillation treatment safer.

Medtech reporter Victor Stefanescu takes us inside a Mayo Clinic cardiac lab — and inside a multibillion dollar innovation race — for a safer, faster treatment of AFib (irregular heart rhythm), which affects 10M Americans.

My guess: Goose Island’s Bourbon County stouts and other limited editions released on Black Friday :)

Minnesota business leaders say Trump’s proposed tariffs would result in higher prices for consumers Canada, Mexico and China are Minnesota’s biggest trading partners, and the tariffs could disrupt companies from 3M and Cargill to Target and Polaris.

Minnesota’s large companies and their emissaries are getting chattier about tariffs.

Ramstad: How Sun Country quietly became one of the most profitable airlines in the country Don’t let the low fares fool you. The Minneapolis-based airline has a business model that works.

Forever an airlines nerd 🙋... so loving this column. Don't let the low fares fool you, writes Evan Ramstad. Minneapolis-based Sun Country has quietly refashioned itself. (Spoiler alert: it's working!)

Wanted: irresistible vibes.

Ramstad: Bremer Bank execs said for years they couldn’t sell it. Then they did. A storied St. Paul bank comes to an inglorious end because of misguided executives and misplaced pride.

In the words of business columnist Evan Ramstad:

The last of the banks from St. Paul’s 20th century heyday came to an inglorious end because of misguided executives, a collision of pride and anger, and a strange ownership structure that was unique in American banking.