Without knowing valuations at this point it is to early to make any decisions on getting involved with the company. However are you thinking positively about getting involved when this happens? Also under consideration would be that the post spin off MMM could look more attractive or I suppose, the current MMM at the relatively high dividend. Post spin off I would guess that the dividend will not increase any more and could decrease.

The last div of MSB was in July,2022. About that time Northshore (CLF) ceased taking tons from the MSB lands in a dispute over fees. As late as July 14, 2023 MSB announced another no div for this quarter. I expect that when they settle their dispute MSB will receive a lower fee. Northshore has started taking limited tons from the MSB lands but the amount is unknown so far and CLF said that they were not opening Northshore up completely. I seem to remember that there is more info on the CLF IHub message board.

I used to own a lot of MSB and was lucky enough to sell it in the $30's. I will probably look at getting in it again once the payments are arranged and a dividend is clear again. It is quite regular when they are paying. When they stopped paying the div they were paying about $5 a year, but variable depending om mining in the quarter.

Cleveland-Cliffs, U.S. Steel vying for mineral rights in Nashwauk on Iron Range
The requests were made after the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the Department of Natural Resources' termination of Mesabi Metallics' leases.
By Mike Hughlett Star Tribune MARCH 3, 2023 — 10:

The Iron Range's two largest mining companies — Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel — have submitted formal requests to the state for coveted mineral leases formerly held by Mesabi Metallics.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) terminated Mesabi's leases for state-owned ore last year. The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the termination in January, paving the way for the DNR to reallocate the leases near Nashwauk, Minn.

Cleveland-Cliffs filed a formal proposal for all of the Nashwauk leases the day the Supreme Court made its decision. U.S. Steel filed its formal proposal on Feb. 24.

The DNR is still analyzing U.S. Steel's request. The department believes, but has not confirmed, that U.S. Steel is also requesting all of the "parcels" held by Mesabi Metallics, said Joe Henderson, director of the DNR's land and minerals division.

The former Mesabi leases cover 66 parcels, each roughly 40 acres. The DNR has not set a deadline for lease proposals.

"The fact that there isn't a deadline for proposals should not be construed to mean that it is not a priority for DNR to lease the ore near Nashwauk," said Jess Richards, assistant DNR commissioner.

The DNR canceled Mesabi's leases after the company missed a 2021 deadline for a $200 million down payment to complete a half-built taconite plant. A predecessor company started the project in 2011, but it went bankrupt in 2016. Since then, the venture has been plagued by delays.

The DNR can negotiate new leases or put mineral rights up for public bidding. Any lease agreement made by the DNR must be approved by the Minnesota Executive Council, which is comprised of Gov. Tim Walz and the state's other top four elected officials.

Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel have asked for negotiated leases; both have long histories on the Iron Range. Cliffs fully owns three of the Range's six taconite mines; U.S. Steel, two. Cliffs owns 85% of Hibbing Taconite and U.S. Steel, 15 %.

In its letter to the DNR, Cliffs said the former Mesabi parcels "are adjacent to ore owned and leased" by Cleveland-Cliffs, "and it is impracticable for anyone else to mine."

Hibbing Taconite, which employs 750, is expected to run out of ore around 2025. If Cliffs gets the former Mesabi leases, Hibbing Taconite's life would be extended by 27 years; without them, the plant will close, Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in November.

U.S. Steel is interested in the Nashwauk leases for its Keewatin Taconite operation.

"With U.S. Steel's Keetac mine being the closest production to the [state lease properties], the subject leases are [of] particular interest to the longevity of the Keetac facility," U.S. Steel said in a statement.

Keetac's lifespan isn't clear from public records, but it has about three times more mineral reserves than does Hibtac, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Last year, U.S. Steel announced a $150 million addition to Keetac aimed at making a new pellet for electric steel furnaces, not traditional blast furnaces.

The DNR says it has been contacted by others interested in the Nashwauk leases, but there is only one other formal proposal. It covers six of the 66 lease parcels.

Scranton Holding Co. of Hibbing is interested in those leases for "scram" mining, which involves extracting residual ore from old mining wastes. Scranton is interested in waste piles on those six parcels.

Mike Hughlett covers energy and other topics for the Star Tribune, where he has worked since 2010. Before that he was a reporter at newspapers in Chicago, St. Paul, New Orleans and Duluth.

mike.hughlett@startribune.com 612-673-7003

Idled since May, iron ore operation in Babbitt and Silver Bay set to reopen
Minnesota state senator says mine operator Cleveland-Cliffs told him it is recalling workers with plans for an April reopening.
By Mike Hughlett Star Tribune FEBRUARY 20, 2023 — 5:40PM

A Minnesota state senator said mine operator Cleveland-Cliffs plans to reopen Northshore Mining in early April, nearly a year after shutting down and laying off 450 workers.

State Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, said Monday a Cliffs corporate official told him of the company's plans. "The information I got is that they are in the process of calling back workers for reopening in April."

Hauschild, whose district includes Northshore's taconite mine and processing plant, said it is his understanding that the operation would fully reopen.

Cleveland-based Cliffs, in an email to the Star Tribune, acknowledged it's calling back some workers. "We will provide more details when we decide when and at what capacity this operation will be brought back online."

Northshore mines taconite in Babbitt and ships it by rail to Silver Bay, where it is then fashioned into marble-sized balls of more than 60% iron. Cleveland-Cliffs, the Iron Range's largest taconite mine operator, idled Northshore on May 1, a big blow to Babbitt and Silver Bay.

The closure stemmed from a long-running dispute between Cliffs and Mesabi Trust, which receives royalties for ore it owns near Babbitt.

"The point made to me [by Cliffs] was that conversations with Mesabi Trust were moving in the right direction," Hauschild said, "and that they were confident to start calling back workers."

Cliffs' CEO Lourenco Goncalves has previously described the royalties as "absurdly high."

Goncalves said last fall he's had difficulty even negotiating with Mesabi Trust given its minimal corporate structure because it has no CEO or executive committee. Mesabi Trust, in a federal regulatory filing last year, said Cliffs has failed to engage in meaningful negotiations.

Mesabi Trust, a publicly traded New York company, gets nearly all of its revenue from iron ore Cliffs extracts at the Peter Mitchell Mine. With Northshore idled, Mesabi Trust's revenues fell to zero last year.

The current royalty agreement dates to 1989, when Cyprus Minerals bought and resurrected the shuttered Babbitt and Silver Bay assets of Reserve Mining. Cliffs purchased Cyprus Northshore in 1994 and assumed the royalty agreement.

Over three years ago, publicly traded Cliffs invested $100 million in Northshore to produce "direct-reduced" taconite pellets, seen as critical for the Iron Range's future.

The new pellet has more iron and less silica than traditional pellets, making it ideal for use in direct-reduced iron (DRI) furnaces. Cliffs owns a DRI plant in Ohio, which churns out 95 % metallic iron that's used in steelmaking.

But through acquisitions in the past two years, Cliffs has gone from being an iron merchant to a fully integrated steelmaker. And one of those deals gave it ownership of the Minorca taconite mine near Virginia, Minn., which can also make direct-reduced pellets.

Cliffs has said it has relied on Minorca instead of Northshore for the new pellets.

Northshore is the largest employer in both Babbitt and Silver Bay, and it produces myriad secondary economic benefits, Hauschild said. Payroll is spent everywhere from grocery stores to auto shops.

Unemployment benefits for Northshore's workers ran out in December. Legislation, which Hauschild sponsored and Gov. Tim Walz signed last month, will provide about $10 million for both retroactive unemployment benefits and ongoing benefits through April, when the mine operation should restart.

https://www.startribune.com/idle-since-may-minnesota-iron-range-operation-northshore-mining-babbitt-silver-bay-to-reopen-april/600253078/

Again you are wrong, at least as it applies to Minnesota. I have observed turbine fields longer than a mile with no lights on at night and only a single red aircraft warning light on each end of the field. It is a good thing that normal lights are not used as they would attract birds as building lights do. I can not speak for any other states as I do not bird outside Minnesota any more. Obviously you no not understand my typing ( am very slow hunt and peck) and are attacking me for not being very clear.

I'm done with this conversation with you or anyone else on this board.

First I am not spreading alarmist oil industry propaganda, as you word it.. I have never said anything of the kind. I pointed that studies being done before the fields are built have been helpful in placing the fields where they do the least harm. And I have a friend who is doing those studies for the wind energy people.

At this point large buildings that are in migration corridors are a much more serious problem, at least in some cities. My home base Minneapolis has minimal problems, partially to lights out programs during migration times.

I have been involved in some of those energy studies and the problem is not from the spinning blades themselves but from the turbulence created behind the blades.. The energy folks have been very good about placing the fields in non migration corridors for the most part. Early turbine fields did not look at these things as they do today.

An apology for your quick unwarranted attack would be appreciated.

Years ago I was involved in doing bird surveys in various parts of MN but at 75 now my hearing is not what it used to be. My eyesight is still excellent so we do a lot of fun birding all over MN. Probably my wife and I are the most active birding couple in the state and are in the top ten in bird species seen in the state. You get to big lists be doing it for a lot of years. In our case about 35 years and counting. Hopefully many many more.

Most birds migrate at night and the structures are not lighted. Hawks migrate during the day as they use lift from the air movement or heated areas to climb but nearly all the passerines (smaller birds) are commonly night time flyers. I some times will listen in my driveway after dark and hear call notes of various species as they go by.

I had the chance to visit with some wind turbine people probably 10 plus years ago years ago and I asked them about the equipment's reliability and they were pretty evasive in their answers.

Obviously they knew they had a problem with the first generation. When we are birding in the southwest quarter of Mn we probably pass by 8-10 fields a day depending on which counties we are in. Very compatible with corn and bean fields. Today we have noticed a that they are placing the towers closer to each other.

A friend was helping with bird surveys in areas where fields were being considered. He tells me that it seems that if their reports show a lot of migration activity they build the towers elsewhere. Which is a good idea as the blades are getting longer and longer and the towers correspondingly taller, thus killing a lot of birds.

I've noticed that some of the original wind turbines in southwest Minnesota have been retro fitted with some new turbines in recent years. Not sure but the original ones have to be close to 20 years old. They seemed to have a relatively bad track record of breaking down originally. We would notice that maybe some 10% would not be turning when the rest of the fields were turning.

The wind always blows in southwest MN. A day without wind is unusual. The new ones today (they are continually adding new fields) seem to be more reliable and we seldom notice turbines not turning.

I last bought PFE around mid $30s and was finally called away a little over $52. I probably will look at doing the same again. Earnings should be good enough to hold in mid $30s or above. We will see.

Your math needs a little work. Down about the same as the rest of the market. In this case about 34% from its highs, BUT even with a year ago. And I might add paying a secure dividend of nearly 4%

Putin controls the military in Russia. He has taken out those not loyal to whatever he says. Note the continued loses in Ukrainian territory that he continues to endure. He just sacks military leaders here and there. While the loses in troops are truly the working of a mad man.

Barry McGuire is right today. Just as he was in the 60's.

That is a political position and does not belong on this stock board.

You should go back and read the study a little closer. It actually makes the case that vaccination is better than not being vaccinated.

Motley Fool put out an article (available on Yahoo) that claims the jump was because of earnings yesterday. But if I remember right earnings yesterday came out before the close. A beat of .02 compared to expectations doesn't seem enough to warrant a 33% gain.

The Motley Fool article showed up on Yahoo after the gains were already in for the day, although I suppose it could have been on the Fool website earlier. I don't follow the Fool.

Cowen raised their price target from $12 to $20, same target as Needham. I sold covered calls at the 20 strike. Currently up on them and will cover if it looks like the stock is running again. I want to stay in the stock for a while so selling the stock here is not in my plans. I'm just looking for a little income as their is no dividend here.

There are no experts on ihub, only a variety of people giving their opinions.

Needhams affirmation of a buy rating and a $20 price target seems a little weak as the reason for the very large volume today At 7 1/2 times normal volume somebody or a whole bunch of people are buying very large. Anybody hear any other news? Am considering selling cover calls for this Fri as usually you get a slight decrease after a jump like this.

Obviously managements great vision to spent $100 million to upgrade the taconite processing facility in Silver Bay when they could get the same product from Minorca all along without spending the share holders dollars unnecessarily seems to say management seems to be losing their magic touch in rebuilding CLF. Looks like more clarity is needed from management or new management to continue the rebuild.


https://www.startribune.com/northshore-mining-will-be-closed-until-at-least-next-spring/600192312/

Northshore Mining will be closed until at least next spring
Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Friday the company has enough scrap steel to last until next spring and won't need the Iron Range pellets until then.
By Catherine Roberts Star Tribune JULY 22, 2022 — 1:59PM

Cleveland-Cliffs' Northshore Mining operations on the Iron Range will be closed until at least April 2023.

Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of Cliffs, said Friday the company has enough scrap in its steelmaking operations because of its acquisition last year of Detroit-based Ferrous Processing & Trading.

"The pellets from Northshore are not needed at this time. Rather than deplete this finite resource for the benefit of the Mesabi Trust and its so-called unitholders we will keep Northshore idle until we decide otherwise," Goncalves said during the company's second quarter analysts' call.

Cleveland-based Cliffs is in a long-running dispute with Mesabi Trust, a publicly traded company that gets all of its revenue from royalties paid by Cliffs for ore mined in Babbitt. Goncalves has called the royalty payments "absurdly high."

Northshore's mine in Babbitt and the taconite processing plant in Silver Bay have been idled since May 1, a significant economic blow to the area.

In 2019, Cliffs spent $100 million upgrading Northshore's operations to produce a better grade of iron for steelmaking. But that supply is now being sourced from the Minorca mine near Virginia, Minn., which Cliffs has owned since buying ArcelorMittal USA in late 2020.

Through acquisitions over the past couple of years, Cliffs — which also owns two other Iron Range taconite operations — has transformed itself into a full-fledged integrated steelmaker.

Goncalves also said it has begun union negotiations with United Steelworkers, which covers about half the company's workforce. The contract expires Sept. 1.

Cleveland-Cliffs made $596 million, or $1.13 a share, in the second quarter. That was down from the same quarter a year ago when it posted a profit of $780 million, or $1.33 a share.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $1.31 a share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Goncalves said he expects demand for its steel to increase as the automotive industry continues to ramp up production. He said the company has made investments to serve the current needs plus electric car factories.

You need to prepare yourself for the fact (as I see it) that he will never see a day in a cell. This will be appealed more ways than imaginable including to the supremes. He will probably be able to claim that a i was not dotted or a t was not crossed somewhere. And then they will order a new trial. By that time the repubs will again control the house and they will squash the order to appear before the committee to begin with, as the committee will no longer exist. In the meantime Garland will do nothing to protect democracy and none of the planners, backroom people, etc involved in the insurrection will be charged with as much as jaywalking.

It is extremely depressing but justice will not be served.

When I got out of the service I was very involved with the anti war movement starting in 1968. I was arrested at the dems convention that year. When did we finally get out of that war? Not for many 10's of thousands of deaths and untold volumes of destruction, both to Nam and to the US.

I have felt for years that I basically wasted a bunch of my life fighting to end that war. This battle is no different. I ended up being a alcoholic after that war. I don't want to end up in that gutter again by believing justice will be done for January 6th.

We were in Grand Marais, MN on June 30 this year and it was 55 in town and 80 plus just 5 miles inland. As very regular visitors to the north shore of the great lake the lake can be very moderating in temperatures but in winter that makes little difference if the wind is blowing in off the lake. Years ago in Grand Marais we has 30 mph winds blowing in off the lake and near zero in town. When I went into a place for breakfast my glasses froze up. Never have been so cold in my life. True story when we got home I went out and got a warmer winter coat. By the way we found the bird we were looking for in town that day, a Purple Sandpiper.

Articles like this certainly have a continuing impact on the CLF sell off. The DRI plant at northshore is still operating as far as I can tell, only getting its supply from the Minorca mine instead of Babbitt (MSB royalties.) If CLF has shut down the DRI operation that is a huge waste of money building it. Note the last paragraph.

U.S. Steel announces $150M investment in Iron Range operations

GLEN STUBBE, STAR TRIBUNE FILE
The Minntac taconite mine plant in Mountain Iron, Minn. U.S. Steel said it will invest $150 million at either Minntac or Keetac.

U.S. Steel plans to invest $150 million in a new Iron Range facility that would make taconite pellets tailored for electric arc steel mills.

The Pittsburgh-based company said Tuesday it plans to break ground this fall on the facility, which will be located at one of its two taconite plants, either Minntac in Mountain Iron or Keetac in Keewatin.

At the same time, U.S. Steel has proposed selling its Granite City, Ill., steel mill to SunCoke Energy, which would then build an on-site pig iron facility. The new pig iron plant in Illinois would essentially consume the new type of taconite pellets that U.S. Steel intends to produce in Minnesota.

U.S. Steel's new Iron Range pellet operation will make DR — or "direct reduced" — grade taconite pellets, which are a key feedstock for producing iron used in electric arc furnaces. Electric arc mills have traditionally used scrap metal, but are increasingly utilizing direct reduced iron, which has a much higher iron content than a traditional taconite pellet.

Taconite plants on the Iron Range — including U.S. Steel's — primarily produce iron pellets that are used in traditional blast furnaces. Electric arc furnaces are now the primary source of U.S. steel production.

"Our conviction remains that steel mined, melted, and made in America is vital to our national and economic security," David Burritt, U.S. Steel's chief executive, said in a news release. "We are strategically investing in our raw materials that will feed the advanced steel mills of today and tomorrow, making us increasingly self-sufficient."

U.S. Steel said it would sell its DR-grade pellets to third-party manufacturers of direct-reduced iron (DRI) or hot-briquetted iron (HBI), the latter a premium version of the former. The company said it could also use the DR pellets for a DRI or HBI facility of its own.

The non-binding letter of intent with SunCoke — a raw material processor that operates a coke oven at U.S. Steel's Granite City plant — allows SunCoke to build the pig iron production facility and acquire the two blast furnaces there. Coke, made from coal, is an essential element in traditional steelmaking.

SunCoke would produce the pig iron specifically for U.S. Steel, which the steelmaker could use for its own growing fleet of electric arc furnaces.

U.S. Steel's new DR facility would be the second such operation in northeastern Minnesota. In 2019, Cleveland Cliffs invested $100 million in upgrades to its Silver Bay taconite production plant to produce DR-grade pellets.

However, Cliffs idled its Silver Bay taconite operations this spring. Cliffs is the largest taconite mine operator in Minnesota; U.S. Steel is second.

Mike Hughlett covers energy and other topics for the Star Tribune, where he has worked since 2010. Before that he was a reporter at newspapers in Chicago, St. Paul, New Orleans and Duluth.

We have a 45 year old Kenmore washing machine that is a workhorse and on our last minor repair the repairman said this would out last us and we are only 75 years old. He actually said that a good repairman could probably fix just about anything that goes wrong and not to consider buying a new one. Even though his company also sells new ones.

The close today was the same (1.61) as two previous interday lows. I wonder if that means we go up or down from here. Obviously partially of their own doing but also because of the mass leaving of the health care sector. I have followed this company for several months but have been lucky enough to not buy it.

I see nothing the wrong with this feature. Simply move the cursor to the right and the menu disappears. No big headache at all and nothing close to the uproar on this board.

While MULN is technically a Nasdaq stock it is in reality a penny stock. No profits, no expectation of profits, no sales of consequence, no expectation of sales increases, no future as a investment. The last one out loses all their money. Not even worth a hope!!

We should be so lucky!!!!!!!!!

Very simple. A lot of young educated people have left Russia to live in the Baltic states and other European locations. Move their families out of Russia or as far as I am concerned, be partially responsible for what is happening in Ukraine.

I had to leave for dinner so answered too shortly. Most Russian athletes return to their home country in their off season. They then pay their taxes to the Russian govt that allows them to earn very large salaries in the western world. After all, they are all excellent athletes and most are paid no more than similar non Russian athletes.

The fans of these sports need to consider whether it is worth it to them to help pay for Putin's' extermination of the Ukrainian people. The owners of the companies running these sports will do what the fans require. No lawsuit required. Simply don't resign those contracts. The Wild general manager said that he had to pay an extremely high premium for their current Russian star, but he has turned out to be a real star in the NHL and appears to be well worth what they paid. They didn't expect him to be this good when they contracted for him, although I presume they had hopes.

When I get a chance I intend to ask one of my neighbors (they are Wild season ticket holders) what the fans think of this arrangement. His response will be a great interest to me.

All sports teams. There are outright Putin supporters playing in the NHL today.

Wimbledon is right. The athletics need to go by the norms of the free world if they want the benefits of the free world.

The problem is not with those athletics that are against the war. It is with those athletics who pretend that their support for Russia is not related to the war. If a athletic says stop the war they will not be able to go home without being arrested by Putin. I support those athletics. I do not support those athletics who pretend that the war has no effect on them and they can go on living their lives as if nothing is happening.

Ukraine is being systemically destroyed by Putin. It will be meaningless if Russia has to withdraw and the world says that Ukraine has won the war because their will be nothing left. Its people scattered throughout the world as refugees and its facilities and towns bombed into oblivion. There will be nothing left for the refugees to go home to.

Russian athletics cannot be allowed to go on as if nothing is happening with their county and themselves. Ukraine athletics have no country to go home to!!!

It is time for the WTA and the NHL to do something about their Russians. There are skaters in the NHL who consider Putin to be a great man and a friend. These people need to go home or denounce Putin and change countries of citizenship. My hometown Wild has a excellent player who said he was a friend of Putin when he came here. I would hate to see him leave as he is carrying the team but fans supporting him are on the wrong side of history.

Actually very serious. Have had it since I was a kid, actually over 60 years ago. Today I find it best with thick cut bacon we get from a butcher in rural Minnesota. The thick cut bacon at Sams is ok but not what we get from this butcher. He smokes his meat himself. I actually don't remember when I first had it but suspect my parents served it to me as a kid.

My mother was raised in a cattle raising family in the boot hill lands of Nebraska and was raised on meat and potatoes. I even remember my grandma cutting the head off a chicken in the backyard to make dinner, and then chasing a rattle snake out of the yard with a broom. Then she called to local snake catcher to come and kill it. Grandma was a true pioneer. She and grandpa west west to that land as kids in covered wagons. Their ranch was actually several square miles in size. I spent my summers out there as a kid as my parents were in Lincoln, Nebraska and then we moved to Minnesota when I was in the 4th grade. I learned to drive on a tractor in the fields and then grandpa let me drive his new Rambler on the farm near town and ranch in Sioux County NE.

I am surprised that no one has heard of eating bacon that way. I seems so normal to me although as I said my wife has always had a traditional BLT.

Just put the bacon on peanut butter and toast Have never bothered with the lettuce and tomato although that is my wife's choice.

Vaccine helps reduce heart attack deaths among COVID-19 patients

Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation saw a decline in such deaths in 2021, but primarily in the vaccinated population.

By Jeremy Olson Star Tribune APRIL 4, 2022 — 4:39P


Fatal heart attacks linked to COVID-19 declined in hospitals over the past two years, and vaccines played a key role, the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation reported Monday.

The finding builds the case for COVID-19 vaccination, albeit at a time of diminishing pandemic activity and risk in Minnesota. The state on Monday reported five COVID-19 deaths and 473 coronavirus infections but only a 2.9% positivity rate in COVID-19 testing, which remains below Minnesota's 5% caution level.

The Minneapolis-led research analyzed 586 heart attacks in COVID-19 patients in the U.S. and Canada and found a 25% reduction in deaths in hospitals from 2020 to 2021. Delayed addition of vaccine status to the research in 2021 resulted in the identification of only 22 heart attacks involving vaccinated patients and 171 involving unvaccinated patients.

None of the vaccinated patients died in the hospitals, though, which is significant when considering that 22% of the unvaccinated patients died, said Dr. Santiago Garcia, the lead Minneapolis researcher, who presented the findings on Monday at a scientific session of the American College of Cardiology in Washington, D.C.

"The ones that aren't vaccinated, they still have the nasty chest X-rays, they're short of breath, and that makes the management of the heart attack more complex," he said.

The research is based on 64 sites in the U.S. and Canada, which set up a registry to assess the impact of the pandemic on heart attack care and outcomes.

Vaccination was only part of the progress in 2021 when compared to 2020, when stay-at-home measures and COVID-19 fears led to people delaying medical care for preventable health problems.

While 77% of the heart attack patients with COVID-19 underwent catheterization to address blockages in blood vessels in 2020, that rate increased to 86% as caregivers were vaccinated and less concerned about being infected during the procedures, Garcia said. Caregivers also became more familiar with the characteristic blood clots in the course of COVID-19 that increased the risk of severe heart attacks.

The COVID-19 vaccine has lost effectiveness against a fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus that caused the latest pandemic wave. A state update on Monday showed that fully vaccinated Minnesotans made up 37% of the 3,580 COVID-19 deaths in the second half of 2021 but 55% of the 1,049 deaths in the first two months of 2022.

Even the latest number demonstrates protection, though, when considering that fully vaccinated people make up 79% of Minnesota adults. The fully vaccinated population also includes more seniors at elevated risk of COVID-19 mortality along with people who haven't sought boosters and have little immunity left from their initial shots.

Only 49% of eligible Minnesotans 5 years and older are considered up to date with either recent initial COVID-19 vaccinations or scheduled booster doses. Dr. Gregory Poland, director of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, urged people to receive recommended shots, noting that health problems occur at far higher rates from infections than vaccine side effects.

"I often say to people, 'Which risk do you want?' There is no risk-free option," he said.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Minnesota nudged up slightly to 203 on Friday, but remain below the peak of 1,629 on Jan. 14. Health officials remain concerned that a BA.2 omicron subvariant could fuel a new pandemic wave, though, because the virus' presence is being found more frequently in Twin Cities wastewater.

The positivity rate of COVID-19 testing has been a stable indicator of pandemic severity for two years, but changes on Monday could disrupt its usefulness. The federal government no longer requires many labs to report negative COVID-19 test results, which could upset the calculations used to determine the positivity rate.

Wastewater sampling and hospitalizations will become more important measures if the positivity rate is no longer reliable, a Minnesota Department of Health spokesman said.

Jeremy Olson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering health care for the Star Tribune. Trained in investigative and computer-assisted reporting, Olson has covered politics, social services, and family issues.

jeremy.olson@startribune.com stribJO

https://www.startribune.com/vaccine-helps-cut-heart-attacks-among-covid-19-patients/600162143/

Actually Chris Rock deserves some of the blame. Making fun of someone that has a serious disease is not funny I well remember my mother losing her hair from chemo. She didn't leave the house for 6 plus months because she was so embarrassed. Even with a hat and wig she still didn't feel right. I admire Smiths wife for going out in public with her disease and don't blame Smith himself for getting out of control. His loyalty to his wife is admirable.

A local TV station played a tape of a teenage girl who has the same disease as Smiths wife. She said she was bullied every day in school. Chris Rock has taken a step down in humanity as far as I am concerned.

What is their forecast for the coming quarters and year?

The winter Olympics are more interesting depending on where you are from in the 50 states. Being from Minnesota we watched it much more intently because 30 members on the US team were from Minnesota. And 21 people who had Minnesota ties competed for other countries.

The disappointing finish of the curling teams was only disappointing to those who haven't followed the past 30 years of no metal round at all until 4 years ago. US curling has come a long ways in the past 10 or so years and will come a lot further in the future. Europeans and Canadians have been curling so long that a chain of experience has kept them on top.

I actually saw my first curling match in person nearly 30 years ago when a Canadian friend came to St Paul to compete in a curling tournament there. There were only 2 curling rinks in Minnesota at that time.
Enjoyed it but at that time in my sobriety I wasn't very comfortable in settings where alcohol was being consumed in good quantities. Have only been able to see them on TV since till recently when a new curling arena was built 10 miles from home. And while alcohol is served the curling is more important. There is actually a half dozen or so arenas now and more planned. I go to watch occasionally now as I have nearly 40 years of sobriety and am able to be around people having a beer now and then.

The women's gold metal game between the US and Canada was very interesting as 3 Minnesotan were on the US team and 3 Canadians had played college hockey in Minnesota and we have been able to follow them for years.

By the way we don't follow the summer games that much unless a odd Minnesotan or two are on the team. Sunni Lee was the exception.