Good News ~ 3/29/26 - 4/04/26

Apr 04, 2026

Good News from Minnesota

Sunday, March 29, 2026

“Welcome to the freest state in the nation.
A state where you love who you choose to love. A state where you make your health care decisions. A state where you worship or not according to your own beliefs. And maybe most importantly, a state where everyone belongs.
You are the heart and soul of what the nation saw. And Just be very clear. Our weather may be a little cool, but our people are warm and FIERCE.
And my message, because this is not over. Don’t ever mistake our kindness for weakness.
We demand justice for Renee Good and Alex Pretti. We demand justice for every single person who was hurt or traumatized. We will never forget what they did here.
They call us radicals. The president said it’s a bunch of radicals. You’re damn right we’ve been radicalized. Radicalized by compassion. Radicalized by decency. Radicalized by due process. Radicalized by democracy. Radicalized to do all we can to oppose authoritarianism.”
~MN Gov Tim Walz

Conservative early reports are saying 8M people attended No Kings rallies nationwide. However, this number is based on estimates from large media sources and cannot account for the thousands of small bridge brigades, small-town intersection gatherings and many more.
An estimated 3200-3300 events were officially reported to have happened across the United States yesterday.
Minnesota’s flagship rally drew over 200,000 people, depending on the outlet, making it one of the largest public gatherings in the state’s recent history.
The Minnesota flagship rally drew more than half a million documented YouTube views across just four major livestreams.
Houston turned downtown into an art-and-movement space. The Houston rally featured a 75-foot fabric mural reproducing the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, alongside music, satire, and handmade protest visuals.
In San Francisco, one of the standout images of the day was a giant human banner at Ocean Beach reading “TRUMP MUST GO NOW!”
In Beaumont, Texas, roughly 400 people showed up in creative costumes, homemade T-shirts, and patriotic colors, turning the park into something visually playful as well as political.
In Midland, Michigan, the rally included costumes and puppets, including a Statue of Liberty outfit and a “rebel robin” puppet, which gave a small-city protest a bright, almost parade-like layer of visual storytelling.
In San Antonio, Texas, local coverage described a march shaped by music, costumes, and creative signs, with the emotional tone landing somewhere between protest and street festival as people walked nearly two miles through downtown.
In St. Peter, Minnesota, hundreds gathered outside Minnesota Square Park with protest songs, costumes, and signs, and one participant, Kerri Hoffman, came dressed as a giant cat to help signal the rally’s nonviolent spirit.
16 international cities hosted their own events in solidarity, including: London; Paris, Nice, and Lyon; Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Bremen, Düsseldorf, and Frankfurt; Todi, Venice, and Rome; Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia; Amsterdam; Tokyo; Oaxaca; Laborie and Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia; and Johannesburg.

Thanks for giving a shit.

I love you all fiercely.

TeriLeigh💜

Good News in Minnesota

Monday March 30, 2026

Yesterday in St. Paul, thousands of Christians gathered for a Palm Sunday Faith Action at the Minnesota State Capitol. The event began with a 2 p.m. procession from churches near University and Dale and moved into a 2:30 p.m. worship service and public action on the Capitol Mall.
A March Death Cafe in Minneapolis on Sunday made room yesterday for people to talk honestly about death. It was described as a place for a “tangible, factual, honest conversation around death.” It was not billed as therapy; it was billed as communal truth-telling.
After a winter of raids, mourning, and bridge brigades in brutal cold, the simple fact that people are walking into a near-70-degree Monday at the end of March is its own kind of Minnesota reset.
On Sunday, the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball team beat Indianapolis 4–1 to complete a three-game sweep, the first time in Triple-A franchise history they have opened a season 3–0. 5. Northeast Minneapolis welcomed the birds back.
A Welcome Back the Herons gathering along the Mississippi in Northeast Minneapolis celebrated the return of herons, cormorants, and egrets, with park rangers on site and spotting scopes out. That is such a Minnesota form of healing: after months of fear, people stand by the river and watch who has come home.
WCCO reports that activists are planning a hunger strike beginning April 10 to pressure Hennepin County to set a closure date for the HERC incinerator. This is “we are done swallowing harm” healing — people taking the next step toward cleaner air and a different future.
On Thursday, Judge Nancy Brasel extended her order requiring that people detained at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building be able to contact an attorney within one hour and not be transferred out of state for the first 72 hours.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez dismissed the DOJ’s challenge to Minnesota’s tuition-and-aid policy, allowing public universities to keep offering in-state tuition and some scholarships to students without legal status who meet the state’s high-school attendance rules.

A note about numbers. I hear a lot of talk about whether we met the 3.5% threshold with attendance at No Kings rallies with 8M in attendance. I think it is far more than that because small rallies aren’t necessarily counted in the 8M total. For example, 4200 people gathered at a small rally in Anoka MN, a Twin Cities suburb close enough to attend the big rally in St. Paul. Anoka is about 18,000 people, which means that 4200 is 23.2% of the population attended the small rally! (Anoka is also typically a more Republican community).

I also want to point out that the research about protests requires that the rallies and events are sustained and growing over time. We are seeing that here in Minnesota. Even as the horrors have decreased, the gatherings in the name of love and community are growing stronger and stronger each day.

I’m just so proud of my state and my people for constantly showing up and showing the people of the world how to keep showing up in compassion, kindness, love, and human decency.

Thanks for giving a shit.

I love you all fiercely.

TeriLeigh💜

p.s. for the image today, here are four of the 4200 loving souls in Anoka.

Good News in Minnesota

Tuesday March 31, 2026

Today, I took a deep dive into the cute, quirky, odd, and funky news across the state. When spring springs, we here in MN get giddy.

Luverne is taking reservations for prairie-and-bison tours. Blue Mounds State Park in Luverne is opening reservations for its 90-minute prairie and bison tours, which run from May 21 through Oct. 18. Tallgrass prairie, the park’s bison herd, and the chance to spot the cinnamon-colored calves that arrive in spring.
The St. Paul Saints season means new weird ballpark food season too. This year’s menu includes: a SPAM dog with kimchi, plus General Tso’s and mango mojo sauces, pickle pizza with Alfredo sauce, dried dill, sliced pickles, and browned cheese, a footlong hot dog buried under mac and cheese, barbecue beef, fried onion strings, French fries, jalapeño poppers, and sauces, a 16-ounce tres leches cake cup from El Burrito Mercado, topped with tropical fruit and toasted coconut, a Takis burrito bowl.
Duluth just held a big Trans Day of Visibility celebration at the Depot. WDIO reported that hundreds gathered at the Depot in Duluth for the annual Trans Day of Visibility celebration.
Chaska is doing spring the very Chaska way: a flower show at the Arboretum’s 50th anniversary. Southwest News Media’s homepage is featuring the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska celebrating its 50th anniversary with a Spring Flower Show.
The world’s largest candy story in Jordan, after 46 years in business, had planned to move, but the new site had poor soil conditions, so it is staying put. A new overpass project sparked the decision to move, so now the staple roadside business is looking at being a frontage-roadside business instead.
“Streets of Minneapolis” isn’t just a song anymore. Minneapolis gets Bruce Springsteen tonight at the Target Center tonight. We are joking that Bruce might be looking to move here.
There’s an official Northland invitation to submit your random life pictures. WDIO’s ongoing “Our Life in Pictures” project is basically a public call for Northlanders to send in selfies and snapshots of whatever they’re doing. Their own summary says, “Anything goes! (within reason.)”

As always,

Thanks for giving a shit.

I love you all fiercely.

TeriLeigh💜

Good News in Minnesota

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

In 1984, Prince knocked Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” off the top of the charts with “Purple Rain”. Yesterday, Bruce kicked off his tour in Minneapolis, and he livestreamed “Streets of Minneapolis” from the stage.
The muppets and Sesame Street are safe! A federal judge has permanently blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to cut funding for PBS and NPR, finding the efforts a violation of First Amendment rights.
Urban Sketchers of Twin Cities featured a sketch done by NuttDraws (James Nutt) that he completed while standing in the crowd at No Kings. See the image attached.
The Hennepin County Board has proclaimed March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility and the Lowry Bridge was lit in celebration last night. See image attached.
State Representative Leigh Finke (the first openly trans woman elected to state legislature) spoke on City Cast FM about working alongside Republicans who don’t accept her identity, and how Minnesota is working to be a trans-refuge state. USA Today named Finke Minnesota honoree Woman of the Year.
Gov Tony Evers of Wisconsin has pledged on multiple occasions to veto any anti-LGBTQ+ bill that crosses his desk. Yesterday on Trans Day of Visibility, he made right on his pledge and issued five vetoes against anti-trans bills.
WDIO reported that hundreds of people gathered at the St. Louis County Depot in Duluth on Sunday, March 29 for the annual Trans Day of Visibility event hosted by Trans Northland.
KTTC highlighted a March 31 TDOV gathering at Art Heads Emporium in Rochester organized with Rochester Pride and Rochester Zine Scene.
PRISM organized a Trans Day of Visibility Celebration: West Metro at the Blackbox Theatre inside Plymouth Community Center from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on March 31 for trans, queer, and allied neighbors.
There was a South Central MN Trans Day of Visibility Community Fair on March 31 at the St. Peter Community Center gymnasium, 600 S. 5th Street, with games, community-building, supportive organizations, and a chance to contact legislators.
A Trans Day of Visibility gathering took place Tuesday evening at Walker Library, 2880 Hennepin Ave., explicitly naming goals like health care access, meaningful sanctuary for trans refugees, and protections for trans youth. It’s a neighborhood-scale Minneapolis item with a concrete ask, not just a symbolic post.
The Hennepin County Trans and Gender Nonconforming Employee Resource Group and the City of Minneapolis Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Employee Resource Group organized a downtown Minneapolis TDOV celebration built around a short-format showcase of local trans and gender nonconforming performers. Even better: they put out a paid call for artists for the event, which is a very practical way to celebrate visibility.
Twin Cities Pride’s event calendar shows a Trans Day of Visibility Community Run and other March 31 community offerings, which means the day in the metro wasn’t just a rally or a proclamation — it also included people gathering through movement and repeated community touchpoints.
Governor Tim Walz formally proclaimed March 31, 2026, as Transgender Day of Visibility in Minnesota, with language explicitly recognizing the dignity, contributions, and needs of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive Minnesotans.

As always,

Thanks for giving a shit.

I love you all fiercely.

TeriLeigh💜

P.S. Fierce Love merch is now available for sale on our publication page. For the month of April 50% of all profits will go to Kelly Wilson’s mutual aid efforts to support Minneapolis families in need.

Good News in Minnesota

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Thank you Sean Snowfor your excellent good news reporting today! Many of my items came from Sean’s list today.

Now that the sun is out and the ICE is mostly melted, the Truths of what was underneath all the slipperyness is coming out. Sean Snow reported (via Pro Publica) The Justice Department declined to pursue more than 23,000 criminal investigations during its first six months as it redirected resources toward immigration enforcement. Former officials described pressure to chase easier immigration numbers while more complex cases, including fraud, terrorism, and national security matters, were left behind. We here in MN know that the clean-up after winter ice is a painful and meticulous process, but well worth it.
Minnesota also continues to fight the good fight in all the good ways. Sean also reported today that “Trump signed an executive order Tuesday attempting to change how mail ballots are handled, directing the Postal Service to use a DHS-compiled citizenship list.” However, Minnesota’s Secretary of State Steve Simon pushed back, saying the president has no authority to unilaterally change election law and that Minnesota is exploring legal options.
James Willis and Garrett Willis, two Oklahoma bounty hunters, were charged after prosecutors said they pointed what looked like guns at civilians in downtown Minneapolis on March 3. Justice is slowly working!
St. Paul is leading the way in helping families falling behind on rent as a result of the surge. A new two-day application window opened Wednesday for emergency rental assistance with eligible households able to receive up to $3,500 paid directly to landlords through a lottery system. This same week the St. Paul’s new 60-day pre-eviction notice ordinance was set to take effect May 14.
Judge Allison Burroughs rules that the Trump administration unlawfully stripped legal status from nearly 900,000 immigrants who entered legally through the CBP One App. She ordered their legal status restored.

I’m calling on my community to send Fierce Love to Minnesota independent journalists Lee Stedman (GhostLee) and Andrew Mercado. These two brave souls put themselves on the front lines through the entire surge, providing on the ground news and publicly posting about rapid response calls. They have both reported numerous times in recent weeks that their mental health has suffered and they are struggling, both emotionally and professionally. They cannot continue their reporting at the levels they were before, and that is impacting their income.

Lee Stedman (GhostLee) is just starting the set up of his substack page. Go follow and subscribe, show him we love him here.

These two men were leaders in their field and were vital to my good news reporting. And they are proof of what happens when we don’t keep our focus on the GOOD STUFFs coming out of the horrors. They were too immersed in the horror to stay plugged into the goodness. And they are struggling because of it now. This is precisely why I do what I do here, writing about the goodness, so that we can prevent this overwhelm and darkenss from taking over.

Please love on them in whatever way you know how.

Thanks for giving a shit.

I love you all fiercely.

TeriLeigh💜

https://www.etsy.com/shop/wakingdragons

Good News in Minnesota

Friday, April 3, 2026

The tour that Bruce Springsteen launched in Minneapolis last week was not planned. It is a protest tour that puts Springsteen at the front of activism against this administration.
It took five decades for Bruce Springsteen to play at Minneapolis’s First Avenue (a favorite venue of Prince). And it took only five days for First Avenue to honor Springsteen with a star on their wall.
Springsteen honored Prince by playing Purple Rain during his Minneapolis concert last week.
Xelas restaurant in Stillwater, owned by Chef Christian and Karen DeLeon, has reopened. They closed just days before its one-year anniversary as a result of ICE activity earlier this year.
On 4/1 Amy Lorentz announced that she completed and fulfilled her final order for handmade rebel loon woodwork art. She has made 468 loons since she started earlier this year. She is still collecting orders for her Rebel Loon Collection, but the initial rush is fulfilled. Pieces are $70-$75 each and can be ordered at theknotandnail.com.
The annual East Side St Paul Community Clean Up is scheduled for April 25th. Backed by local small businesses, this is an effort to keep our streets healthy and clean that is completely community driven. Here’s a list of the businesses that support this event: CrowBar & Voliere Spirits, Eastside Pizzeria, Mission Auto Repair, Dabble Depot, ESNDC, BIZRecycling, Walters Recycling and Refuse, Brunson’s Pub, Chance’s Tavern, Kendall’s Ace Hardware, Saint Paul Brewing, Tongue In Cheek Restaurant, and Cadence Records & Coffee.
Lawsuits do matter, and they keep coming forward. DHS and ICE have been sued by the ACLU of Minnesota, ACLU of D.C., Protect Democracy, and others sued DHS and ICE for their use of a “Home Entry Memo” that encouraged agents to enter homes with an administrative form instead of a judicial warrant.
Democratic lawmakers are reportedly preparing “The Alex Pretti Act” which aims to remove qualified immunity for ICE agents and could allow agents to be sued or jailed for wrongdoing.
Every Wednesday, Recovery Bike Shop hosts a 6pm community bike ride starting at Sociable Cider. All are welcome.

Thanks for giving a shit.

I love you all fiercely.

TeriLeigh💜

Good News - Bruce Springsteen Installment

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Bruce came to Minnesota out of Fierce Love. Below are some of the love notes he shared with us while he was here.

Bruce Springsteen to Minnesota

“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ’n’ roll in dangerous times. We are here in celebration and defense of our American ideals, democracy, our Constitution, and our sacred American promise.”
“The America that I love, the America that I’ve written about for 50 years, that’s been a beacon of hope and liberty around the world, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless, and treasonous administration.”
“Join us in choosing hope over fear, democracy over authoritarianism, the rule of law over lawlessness, ethics over unbridled corruption, resistance over complacency, unity over division, and peace over war.”
“This past winter, federal troops brought death and terror to the streets of Minneapolis. Well, they picked the wrong town. The power of solidarity, of the people of Minneapolis, was an inspiration to the entire country. Your strength and your commitment told us this is still America, and this will not stand.”
“Minnesota, you gave us hope. You gave us courage. And for those who gave their lives, Renee Good, mother of three, brutally murdered, and Alex Pretti, VA nurse, executed by ICE and left to die in the street without even the decency of our lawless government investigating their deaths. Their bravery, their sacrifice, and their names will not be forgotten.”
“We’ll take our stand for this land / And the stranger in our midst / We’ll remember the names of those who died / On the streets of Minneapolis.”
“This is a tour that was not planned. We’re here tonight because we need to steal your hope and your strength. And we wanted to bring some hope and some strength to you. I hope we did.”
“You want to try to meet the moment. The No Kings movement is of great import right now. When you have the opportunity to sing something where the timing is essential and if you have something powerful to sing, it elevates the moment, it elevates your job to another level. And I’m always in search of that.”
“Your strength and your commitment told us that this was still America. And this reactionary nightmare, and these invasions of American cities, will not stand.”
“The solidarity of the people of Minneapolis, of Minnesota, was an inspiration to the entire country.”

Thanks for giving a shit.

I love you all fiercely.

TeriLeigh💜

P.s. The full set list…

🎸 Full Setlist — March 31, 2026

War (Edwin Starr cover)

Born in the U.S.A.

Death to My Hometown

No Surrender

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Streets of Minneapolis

The Promised Land

Out in the Street

Hungry Heart

Youngstown

Murder Incorporated

American Skin (41 Shots)

Long Walk Home

House of a Thousand Guitars

My City of Ruins

Because the Night

Wrecking Ball

The Rising

The Ghost of Tom Joad

Badlands

Land of Hope and Dreams

Born to Run

Bobby Jean

Dancing in the Dark

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Purple Rain (Prince cover)

Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan cover)

Discussion about this post

Ready for more?