Rochester Rundown

Prior to the pandemic, many of the retail spaces in the downtown area had been filled with bustling small businesses — the kinds that are vital for a thriving destination area.But downtown Rochester, like many other city centers, has seen its restaurant and retail industries decimated by shutdowns and slow foot traffic, as previous trends, including the shift to online commerce and problems in the labor market, accelerated due to Covid-19. The result has been fewer small businesses seeking out space downtown, at a time when new development has made commercial space abundant.

This list goes through the heart of the Rochester music scene — no matter the genre, there is a local artist trying their hand at it. We reached out to local recording studios and music-makers to see who they were excited for, while doing research of our own — scouring DIY music sites like Soundcloud and Bandcamp to see who spent the past year releasing new music, priming themselves for an exciting summer of 2021.

Today on the Rochester Rundown, we check in with the students behind the Rochester Community Initiative. The group came together in the wake of the George Floyd protests last June, and has since grown in size and stature, adding roughly three dozen new members and creating programs for students and the general public alike. Their work revolves around advocating for youth representation and uplifting marginalized voices, and in recent months, their outreach has expanded into RPS classrooms beyond their own. In some cases, these students are becoming the teachers.

As the proportion of Minnesota residents to receive at least one vaccine dose approaches 25 percent, Gov. Tim Walz released sweeping rollbacks to Covid-19 restrictions Friday morning. Businesses like restaurants, gyms and salons can welcome more people into their shops, but perhaps the biggest changes came for large entertainment venues, which will be able to welcome thousands of people for sporting events and concerts in the near future. And on the local level, the first steps are being taken to bring live entertainment back.

We’ve heard from so many voices on the debate over reopening schools: frustrated parents, worried teachers, administrators and board members looking for a solution, but today on the show, we’re giving the spotlight to the students. Specifically, we’ll hear from four RPS high schoolers, who have been in distance learning since last March. We’ll get their thoughts on the district’s re-opening plan and the recent announcement from Gov. Tim Walz that may upend everything, plus how they’ve adapted to the new learning model and spending a year away from their teachers and friends.

So, how did things get like this, where a house gets snapped up by a feeding frenzy of buyers within hours of hitting the market? It’s partly thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, but not entirely — more a multitude of factors that have been coalescing since the end of the Great Recession.

Today on the Rochester Rundown, we head to the RCTC Fieldhouse, where things have been quieter than normal thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic — until now. Olmsted County Public Health, with assistance from Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center, has taken over the space for the next two days, with the goal of giving out 2,300 vaccines to some of the last Phase 1A health care workers still waiting on a vaccination. We hear from the person in charge of this weekend's clinic, and find out what his team will take from this clinic to use for larger events in the future. Plus, a recap of a packed School Board meeting, which saw the resignation of Superintendent Michael Muñoz and the approval of two new learning models — signaling an eventual end to distance learning in Rochester.

Plus, we take you inside the two-man workshop building dozens of desks for elementary schoolers, preview another new track from a Rochester artist that released Friday, and check on what the latest Covid-19 case numbers look like.

Today on the Rochester Rundown, Isaac sits down for a socially-distanced conversation with new City Administrator Allison Zelms, who assumed office earlier this week. In this week's episode, we hear her thoughts on transitioning the city out of the pandemic and the future of downtown, plus her goals for her first months in the new position.

On this special holiday edition of the Rochester Rundown, we hear from the 10 local musicians who contributed to the Think Ahead Olmsted song contest, put on by Med City Beat and Olmsted County Public Health.

According to Matt Dacy, director of Heritage Hall, Mayo Clinic’s museum, the story does not begin and end with two people at a ceremony — in fact, their discovery took the work of dozens of people, over thirty years of research, and as always, a little bit of luck.

We talk with people from all corners of the industry to see how they think growth can be sustained in Rochester’s creative scene, and what the future of music will look like in this city.

Nobody knows exactly what the next few months will bring. Good news on the effectiveness of various vaccines brings hope, but a lack of federal aid leaves small businesses without a safety net when they need it the most. Inevitably, some of our favorite businesses will not survive the winter. For the businesses that do get through, though, what world will await them on the other side of the pandemic? How will things change?

On today’s episode of the Rochester Rundown, we have a conversation with Brooke Carlson, president-elect of the Rochester City Council. We touch on her top priorities in the first months of her term, plus the advice she received from her late father, Dr. David Ahlquist.

In a recent county board meeting, it was reported that the election office expects about half of Olmsted County’s ballots to be cast prior to Election Day — be it through mail-in voting, drop-off balloting, or in-person absentee voting.  Katie Smith, Olmsted County’s elections director, says her office has received a ballot from roughly one-third of Olmsted County’s registered voters already — that’s over 30,000 ballots already, and she says that number is still going up fast. 

Fourteen forums, 16 races, 32 candidates — it all Came to an end Thursday evening, with the last two installments of Med City Beat’s online forum series. The three-week lineup concluded with the candidates for Minnesota State Senate, pitting two sitting GOP Senators against ascendant DFL challengers — David Senjem vs. Sara Flick in District 25, and Carla Nelson vs. Aleta Borrud in District 26. Both debates were packed with discussion on the top issues of the day, though for this story, let’s focus on a couple of the key topics from each debate.

On this week’s edition of the Rundown, we continue our coverage of Med City Beat’s town hall debate series. Thursday night, the six candidates vying for a spot on the Rochester School Board joined Sean for a 90-minute forum on topics ranging from distance learning and Covid-19 precautions to racial equity among students and staff members, as well as the future of district-wide public choice schools like Friedell and Lincoln. On the podcast, however, we'll analyze every candidate's answer to one question: what are their opinions on having school resource officers inside Rochester's public schools? This question was where candidates differentiated themselves the most... listen to their answers here, then head to our Facebook page to listen to the full debate.

This week, Med City Beat hosted the first four of sixteen town hall debates in preparation for Election Day — all for the four Rochester City Council seats up for grabs in 2020. On the latest episode of the Rochester Rundown, we'll sift through the debates to bring you the issues where candidates differentiated themselves. Affordable housing, DMC, the upcoming parks referendum... those issues and more are covered in this week's edition of the podcast, presented by Altra Federal Credit Union.

Our latest episode of the Rochester Rundown marks the 25th installment of the show, so for today, it feels right to look back. The world has changed in numerous ways since the first edition of the show debuted in late January — so for this installment, we'll review the best stories and quotes from the first nine months of this new journalistic endeavor.

On this week's episode of the Rochester Rundown, Isaac talks with city administrator Steve Rymer about the city's 2021 proposed budget. With revenues down and city construction slowing after a huge 2020, Rymer and his team had to find millions of dollars in cuts. What's being cut — and why your tax bill may look better, even during a down year — included in our main story.

Back-to-school season has always been a time of preparation and excitement for young families. While that feeling is still there this year, the persisting pandemic adds a layer of uncertainty, and raises a tough decision for many parents of Rochester's elementary schoolers: send my child back to school, or keep them at home? One in five parents have decided on the latter option… and we found some of the reasons why on the latest episode of the Rochester Rundown.

On the latest episode of the Rochester Rundown, we have a conversation with Dr. Priya Sampathkumar, chair of infection control at Mayo Clinic, on the role vaccines play in a modern society. With the world on edge waiting for the eventual Covid-19 vaccine, where would we be if vaccines didn't exist? Dr. Sampathkumar shares her thoughts; plus, as always, we have a recap of our top stories from the week.

On this week's edition of the podcast, we hear from Graham Briggs and Meaghan Sherden — director and lead epidemiologist, respectively, at Olmsted County Public Health — about the latest Covid-19 numbers for our area. New case numbers have dropped to levels not seen since May, leading both officials to believe the situation in Rochester is consistently improving — although the time to stop wearing masks and social distancing is still far away. Their thoughts on what's driving the improved statistics, plus a round-up of other top stories from the week, including a possible ethics investigation into the office of Jim Hagedorn and a few tips from a Mayo Clinic pediatrician on helping your kids get back to school safely — all included in the latest edition of the Rochester Rundown.

This week on the Rochester Rundown, we hear from Olmsted County election officials about the results from Tuesday’s primary. The percentage of votes from mail-in absentee ballots shattered previous records and blew past the initial expectations of those in charge of counting the ballots. What will the county take away from this week’s experience, and put into practice for November? That story, plus who’s moving on to the general election and a look at the news of the week, including the newest destination added to Rochester’s airport.

Covid-19 has upended the music community at large — on the local, statewide and national levels. Today on the Rochester Rundown, though, we take a look at what Med City musicians have been able to do in the first half of 2020 — without live shows to play, it’s been all about recorded music. It’s a small roundup… just a snippet of the best music to come out of our city so far this year.

This week on the Rochester Rundown: a report on racial disparity in Rochester, specifically how it relates to this pandemic. Public data shows people of color, Black people in particular, are taking on a disproportionate share of Olmsted County’s Covid-19 cases. It is a microcosm of a much larger issue, one that can’t be captured in a single podcast — but today, we’ll start to tackle what’s behind this health disparity, and how gaps in wealth, education and housing all play into one another.

In 2015, two hopeful orthopedic surgeons arrived in Rochester for the first time. In the past two years, they have become famous for something completely different. After a meteoric rise to stardom, however, it’s come time for them to move on — but not before giving one final shout out to the city. This week on the podcast, the story of Drs. Elvis Francois and William Robinson, otherwise known as the singing surgeons. We were at their farewell concert at Forager Brewery this week, where both men opened up about some of the wildest and most interesting moments of their rise to fame. Hear from the doctors themselves on what they have learned in the Med City and what the future holds — in medicine and in music — in the latest edition of the Rochester Rundown.

With early absentee voting for the upcoming primaries set to begin one week from today, Olmsted County election officials are preparing for an anticipated surge in mail-in ballots due to the pandemic. For this upcoming election cycle, the county expects somewhere around 50 percent of voters to cast ballots absentee, an unprecedented figure likely to impact how we think about voting now and in the future. To understand how this process will play out on the local level, we sat down with the county’s top election administrator, Mark Krupski. That interview, plus more news from the week, are included in this week’s edition of the Rochester Rundown.

This week on the Rochester Rundown, Isaac takes a look at the path forward for small businesses across five different industries, as the state of Minnesota cautiously begins to re-open most facets of life. The five entrepreneurs quoted here, just like every other business owner in Rochester, noted the balancing act they have to successfully accomplish in the coming months: how to open up as much as possible to help bleeding bottom lines, yet implement enough safety precautions to make customers feel safe. Not enough precautions, and customers will stay away — but if there aren't enough customers in the store, the financial woes get worse. Welcome to the new normal. The thoughts and experiences of these five owners, plus new regulations out of the Police Policy Oversight Commission's meeting earlier this week and a plea from Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, all included in the podcast.

Seven students organizing against injustice; a police chief seeking to build trust; and a mayor reconciling past wrongs with the hope of a better future. This week on the Rochester Rundown, we hear from a chorus of local voices on policing, racial justice and the shortcomings of the city we call home.

This week on the podcast, we bring you the comments and context from the latest Destination Medical Center Corporation board meeting. Thursday’s board meeting was the first since Covid-19 threw the global economy into chaos, and the conversation quickly turned to the very future of the initiative as it moves into its second five-year phase. How will the Covid-19 pandemic affect DMC’s plans, and how can the body best move forward in a position of strength while supporting people in need? is that even within DMC’s prerogative? For the debate around those ideas and more — tune into this week’s episode of the Rochester Rundown.

On this week's podcast, Isaac takes a look at the state of the local restaurant industry, which will be allowed to return in outdoor spaces only starting June 1. The new guidelines issued by Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday were intended to give restaurants some relief, but it’s caused quite the opposite feeling for some. A vast number of Rochester’s restaurant owners say they can’t go on like this for much longer, and the new guidelines call to use spaces that they simply don’t have. We talked to local restaurant owners and leaders of local hospitality organizations to find out what restaurants can do to maximize the space they have, plus what the city and other organizations are planning to do to give landlocked eateries a lifeline.

After taking a two-month hiatus to focus resources on daily reporting related to the pandemic, reporter Isaac Jahns is back hosting the Rochester Rundown. For the reboot of the podcast, he dives into campaigning through Covid-19: what political candidates are doing to keep the ball rolling toward November, after the pandemic threw their entire playbook out the window. We hear from local candidates and campaign managers in races from city council to Capitol Hill. Their strategies for reaching voters, plus recaps of the top stories from the week — all in this week’s podcast.

This week on the Rochester Rundown: closures, cancellations and precautions — we examine how news of the area’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 is affecting daily life in Rochester. Hear from the leaders of the Mayo Civic Center and Rochester Downtown Alliance, as well as one local business owner who tells us about some of the preventatives measures his staff has begun putting in place. That story, plus a report on Mayo Clinic’s efforts to expand testing for the virus — all included in the podcast below.

This week on the Rochester Rundown, Isaac Jahns heads to Riverside Central Elementary School to experience traditional Tuvan throat singing; and more importantly, explore the impact music can have in connecting students with other cultures. Plus, we have an update on what local officials are doing to prepare for the possibility of the coronavirus; we’ll take you to Thursday’s press conference where we heard from Mayor Kim Norton and Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Michael Muñoz.

It’s easy to see the impact Rhonda has on these kids — a sweet, knowledgeable woman imparting her wisdom and kindness on the next generation is something to be celebrated. But this relationship is more symbiotic than you’d think. Reporter Isaac Jahns has the story in this week’s episode of the Rochester Rundown.

It’s been incredibly interesting to watch Rochester’s music scene grow over the past few years. Options for shows were pretty limited, especially for younger music fans, when I first poked my head around the music scene in 2014. Fast forward to now, and there’s a genuine venue ladder and scores of bands across all genres, giving even the casual music fan options on a nightly basis.