Downtown St. Paul Gets an Aldi, Feds Target MN Medicaid, and Snowplow Names

It's been almost a year since the St. Paul downtown Lunds & Byerlys closed, and Aldi just filed plans to open a store in the same space. Host Sean McPherson is joined by contributor and acclaimed vocalist PaviElle French and Adam Sage to celebrate the end of the downtown food desert and fight over whether or not Aldi is a good grocery store. The team also breaks down a recent announcement from Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Oz that the federal government will be withholding $259 million of Medicaid funding from Minnesota. Later, Racket owner-editor Jay Boller joins the conversation to chat about the results of the 2026 MnDOT Snowplow Naming Contest, and why the Twin Cities were once again deprived of a plow named "Abolish ICE".

Learn more about the topics discussed in today's episode:

• U of M to license new fruit varieties, including a sequel to the Honeycrisp apple (MPR)
• Nearly a year after Lunds & Byerlys closed, Aldi to open in downtown St. Paul (Star Tribune)
• White House to pause $259M in Minnesota Medicaid dollars in fraud crackdown (Star Tribune) 
• Trump administration halts some Medicaid funding to Minnesota (Minnesota Reformer)
• Report: Groundwork for fraud in Minnesota human services goes back 50 years (Minnesota Reformer)
• Based on Nominations, Minnesota Should Have an ‘ABOLISH ICE’ Snowplow. Here’s Why We Don’t. (Racket)
  

Learn more about the sponsors of this February 27th episode:

• Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
  

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