Corin Hoggard, News Reporter

12/17/2024

We’ve now heard from 12 of the 20 voters whose ballots were not counted.
6 for Paul, 6 for Tabke.
With those six Tabke voters, it would be impossible for Paul to overtake the incumbent.
Last night’s story on Fox 9:

The balance of power at the state Capitol depends on the outcomes of two court cases, including one involving about 20 disappeared ballots.

12/12/2024

"I would say that this rollout was comically bad.”

Minnesota will now officially be the third slowest state to go from legalization to licensed and legal sales.

The Office of Cannabis Management announced Wednesday it’s canceling the ma*****na license preapproval process after lawsuits held up the lottery scheduled for late last month.

12/10/2024

BOOK BAN

St. Francis Area Schools will now give the final say on banning books to a conservative-aligned national group that reviewed not quite 800 books so far.
Among potentially banned books under this system: Night by Elie Wiesel.

Here’s how it came about:

There’s a book made into a Ryan Gosling movie that some school board members thought was too risqué for students to read.
When the local review committee decided against banning it, they looked for another way.
The superintendent and some other board members sought a compromise, but couldn’t find one the majority accepted.

An Anoka County school district is now letting a conservative-aligned national group decide which books are allowed in its libraries.

12/08/2024

What a beautiful December day for a !
Felt great to for about 10k and get up to Dead Man’s Bridge to see construction on the west side and then down to Stone Arch to try and figure out the new closure.
(Spotted a semi-secluded make-out sesh on the way…)

12/05/2024

BIG DAD ENERGY

As it turned out, Gov. Tim Walz was a day away from getting the VP nomination four months ago today when I originally tried to do these, so our scheduled interview was postponed until now.
So yes, I debriefed him on the election and what might've gone wrong, as well as his political future after the loss.
But what I really wanted to do was get him to read the Minnesota Nice version of Mean Tweets.
I hope you enjoy Tim Walz reading Threads and letting us know how true they are.

(If you follow me on Threads, I shared the actual Threads along with each individual video.)

12/04/2024

CHI-CHI'S IS BACK!!!

I grew up on Chi-Chi's (and Paradiso) for Mexican food in Fargo, so I had to know more as soon as I saw this.
I reached out right away.
They're not ready to disclose a whole lot, but the biggest takeaway I got is that the first two new Chi-Chi's will be in Minnesota. (That wasn’t disclosed in their press release, so it pays to ask!)
They didn’t reveal the two locations, though. I’m guessing Richfield — where the first Chi-Chi’s went up in 1976 — and maybe Maple Grove.
Got any guesses?

While exact details are not yet known, the first two stores will open in Minnesota next year.

12/04/2024

If I’m reading the MMB budget forecast correctly, they’re still projecting surpluses through 26-27, but the state would head off a fiscal cliff in 28-29 on its current trajectory.
That’s a budget deficit of $5.1 billion.

This includes accounting for inflation, which is new.
Almost half the projected deficit — $2.23 billion of it — is from non-mandatory spending increases related to inflation.

12/01/2024

Coldest day I think I’ve ever but I was never uncomfortable on this .
I guess it’s true that the right clothes make all the difference.
Of course, 14 layers added 10 lbs., so I just had to run a little slower. 🥶
The river is freezing over on top and there were flurries, but it was a beautiful “feels like 4-degrees” morning.

11/29/2024

I gobbled up some pretty awesome Thanksgiving stories this week!

First off, there’s a guy from Willmar who is the go-to chauffeur for turkeys headed to the White House for presidential pardons.

Wait until you hear/see how these turkeys ride in style and even get a little attached!

He’s done it nine times since 2005.
I searched White House archives for all those years and found him in a lot of video.

A Minnesota man has carved out a very special Thanksgiving niche taking turkeys to the White House for presidential pardons.

11/25/2024

BREAKING: No Minnesota cannabis preapproval lottery tomorrow.
A judge put it on pause while lawsuits proceed about the validity of denials by OCM.

11/23/2024

The Last Dance

Hard to believe we’re here at the last home game of our senior’s The University of Minnesota Marching Band career.
From Day 1, the smiles on her face let us know she found her home here and for four years, we watched her love grow for band, for friends, and for alma mater.
Joy Hoggard Edina Realty and I couldn’t be prouder of you, Jaelynn!
All three of us will be crying happy tears today.

11/22/2024

UPDATE: Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management has set its social equity license preapproval lottery for next Tuesday, eight days after starting to tell more than 1100 businesses they were denied entry.
I know of two law firms filing lawsuits over this today, including one asking a judge to stop/delay the lottery.

Prior Fox 9 story:

Veterans with rejected applications told FOX 9 the process was unfair and didn't give them a chance to appeal their denial.

11/06/2024

It’s an ABC30 Action News reunion in the nation’s capital!
Really happy to catch up with one of the real ones, and hopefully D.C.’s favorite morning news anchor, Cory James!

11/06/2024

The Minnesota House has had a 67-67 tie once before.
The two parties hammered it out then, but we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out this time around.

In sports, ties are unsatisfying, and can be settled by equally unsatisfying means, such as shootouts in hockey and soccer, or overtime in football and other sports.

11/05/2024

At the office for Fox 9.

11/05/2024

Couldn’t find the river so this was a past a few familiar markers:
Washington Monument, National Mall, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, White House South Lawn
Will it all come down to Pennsylvania tonight?

11/04/2024

The view from back home as my wife watches me report from Washington, D.C. on the eve of the election.
We’re at Howard University, the alma mater of Vice President Kamala Harris, which will be the first college campus to host a presidential Election Night party.
And we’re here mainly to track Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who still has some miles to cover before he gets here tomorrow night.

11/01/2024

CUTE CONTENT

I patched together a story about this southern Minnesota tradition in transition.
Farmers John and Jan have a lot of stories to tell, but the real magic came from the heart over the last 36 years at Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch.

https://www.fox9.com/news/carving-new-legacy-southern-minnesota-tradition-transition Fox 9

A southern Minnesota tradition came to an end on Halloween. Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch in Austin will not be run by Farmer John next year for the first time since 1988.