Business and Economic News

Author Margie Sarsfield’s ‘got the beet,’ and it’s really creepy
If you were going to write a horror story about something in Minnesota, what would you choose as a focus? The newly released novel “Beta Vulgaris” features potentially malevolent sugar beets. They are far from sweet.
Planters, growers stuck rooted to ever-changing landscape amid tariff war
The Trump administration’s recent tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products leave many in the agricultural and horticultural industries anxious and worried about unfulfilled contracts or trying to figure out how they’re going to take on the financial losses as the growing expenses are mounting on their bottom line. 
Minnesota’s first rapid transit line mostly on a bus-only lane opens Saturday
If you’ve ever been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 94, you may have wished you were speeding down a car-free lane beside the highway. That lane soon will be a reality for the Gold Line, Metro Transit’s sixth rapid transit route opening Saturday.
Americans increased spending tepidly last month as anxiety over the economy takes hold
U.S. shoppers stepped up their spending just a bit in February after a sharp pullback the previous month, signaling that Americans are shopping more cautiously as concerns about the direction of the economy mount. 
A Tesla protester targeted by Elon Musk speaks out: ‘I have to protect myself’
“When one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful person in the world is saying you’ve committed a crime, it doesn’t matter what the truth is,” says Valerie Costa, an anti-Tesla protester.
Duluth looks to housing to revive stagnant, post-COVID downtown
Like Minneapolis, St. Paul and other cities around the country, Duluth hopes to revitalize its downtown through new housing, to bring new residents to an urban core that was abandoned by thousands of workers who didn’t come back to the office after COVID.
North Dakota went big for Trump. Now many farmers say they face an uncertain future
In North Dakota, many farmers are still recovering from the 2018 trade war and are now bracing for more losses as President Trump levies sweeping tariffs on everything from soybeans to pork.