Emily Blomberg has been named president of Regions Hospital and the Regions Hospital Foundation.

Blomberg, a Rochester, Minn., native, brings local and national health care leadership to HealthPartners, according to the announcement of her appointment. She recently served as chief operating officer for University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics.

“Throughout Emily’s leadership career, she has shown a deep commitment to quality improvement, health equity and colleague engagement,” said Andrea Walsh, HealthPartners president and CEO, in a statement. “We’re looking forward to what she will bring to our team as we care for patients in St. Paul and the broader community.”

In 2019, Blomberg received 40 Under 40 honors from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal when she was Hennepin Healthcare’s chief operating officer, a position she had from 2017 to 2022. Also, she had several roles at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston from 2010 to 2017, including health system operations vice president, associate vice president and director.

Blomberg starts at Regions on June 13. She will report to Megan Remark, who was Regions president since 2015 before being named chief operating officer of the HealthPartners care group in March. Regions Hospital has been part of HealthPartners since 1993.

— Pioneer Press

Downtown power loss blamed on raccoon

The perpetrator that ran roughshod through an electrical substation in St. Paul this weekend — knocking out power to some 1,600 customers in and around downtown — has been identified as nature’s own masked bandit, the wily raccoon.

Xcel Energy reported that the outage occurred around 4:30 a.m. Saturday and was caused by a curious critter exploring a substation.

Xcel crews responded and power was restored in little more than an hour, according to a spokesperson for the utility. There was no immediate word on the condition of the raccoon, but chances were slim that it escaped unscathed.

— Frederick Melo

Nonprofit Basic Needs names new director

Opey Peñaloga, chief operations officer at Special Olympics Idaho, has been hired to be the next executive director of Basic Needs Inc. of South Washington County.

Peñaloga will start his new position on May 1.

He succeeds retiring executive director Vickie Snyder, who has led the organization, formerly known as Stone Soup, since 2019.

While at Special Olympics Idaho, Peñaloga led the operations of the organization through the challenges of the pandemic and helped stabilize the program, grow the team and diversify fundraising strategies, Synder said.

Snyder praised his “exceptional leadership skills and vision,” adding that they will “undoubtedly propel (Basic Needs) to new heights.”

Basic Needs, based in St. Paul Park, has two core sites of work supporting their mission: Basic Needs Thrift Shop and Basic Needs Food Market.

As executive director, Peñaloga will be responsible for maintaining and creating partnerships and relationships with the community. His duties include staff and volunteer oversight, operational management, strategic planning, fundraising and development.

“I can’t wait to continue this work together with the Basic Needs community as we broaden our impact and reach to serve more individuals and families,” he said.

— Mary Divine

Teach for America hosting DEI speaker

Teach for America Twin Cities will host a nationally acclaimed activist at its diversity, equity and inclusion event this week.

Brittany Packnett Cunningham, an activist, speaker and member of former President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, will headline the event Thursday with her talk, “Co-creating a More Just Minnesota,” that aims to give context for Minnesota’s racial disparities.

Cunningham will share anecdotes, data and best practices for building a movement to drive equitable outcomes in education, housing and health care, according to a news release from Teach for America Twin Cities.

“After George Floyd’s murder, everyone was making commitments about how they will do things differently and make it equitable,” said Sheletta Brundidge, a local small business advocate and CEO of production company ShelettaMakesMeLaugh. “We need some lasting change, not just the knee-jerk reaction like after Floyd died. … You can’t legislate change. You can legislate laws, but change starts in the heart.”

Teach For America, which launched its Twin Cities chapter in 2009, recruits and trains educators who teach for two years in underserved, low-income schools.

Thursday’s event begins at 7 p.m. at Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater with tickets starting at $5.

— Maraya King

MPCA fines sugar plant $350K for air pollution

The American Crystal Sugar plant in East Grand Forks has been fined $350,000 for air quality violations, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced Tuesday.

Among the violations was a release of more hydrogen sulfide and particulate matter than the Red River Valley plant’s permit allows, according to the MPCA.

After staff inspections and reviewing company records, the MPCA determined the plant:

Failed to properly operate multiple pieces of pollution control equipment and dust control systems in 2020 and failed to identify corrective actions in 2022.

Failed to continuously operate air monitoring equipment for up to 40% of the required time during the second half of 2020.

Had a performance stack test failure in February 2022 for emissions of particulate matter by 110% of the permitted limit, small partic

ulate matter by nearly 4% and filterable particulate matter by 99% of the limit.

Exceeded hydrogen sulfide emission limits during the 2020 and 2022 monitoring seasons.

Missed four quarterly equipment inspections since October 2021.

Failed to update and maintain its operation and maintenance plan and to provide adequate training for staff on plan implementation and record keeping.

American Crystal Sugar couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on the agency’s action.

A law enacted in Minnesota in 2023 requires that 40% of enforcement penalties of $250,000 or more go to local community health boards that are located near the violating entity.

The MPCA said that “this is the first case the MPCA has completed that meets the criteria since this statute went into effect.”

Based on the new law, part of the penalty funds will go to the Polk-Norman-Mahnomen Community Health Board.

— Forum News Service

Phillips wins first delegates — in Ohio

Former presidential candidate Dean Phillips will receive at least three of Ohio’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention even though the Minnesota congressman has dropped out of the race and endorsed President Joe Biden. But they’re likely to be Phillips delegates in name only.

The president locked up the Democratic nomination on March 12 and so far has won 99% of convention delegates, a sign that even some of the more organized efforts to oppose him haven’t gained traction with the party’s voters. Party rules also make it nearly impossible at this point in the presidential primary process for any candidate other than Biden to even be eligible to receive votes for the nomination at its summer convention.

In several states, activists have been encouraging voters to fill out their ballots for the option of “uncommitted” to protest Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, earning the option 27 delegates.

The minimum goal for Democrats competing for delegates is to win 15% of the statewide vote or 15% of the vote in an individual congressional district. In the March 19 Ohio primary, “uncommitted” wasn’t a bal

lot option, leaving Democrats wishing to express opposition to Biden with only one other choice: Phillips.

It has taken more than a month to determine the delegate count in Ohio because the state doesn’t release presidential primary results by congressional districts, requiring news outlets such as The Associated Press and the parties to do it themselves. On election night, Phillips came close to the threshold in four congressional districts, per an AP count, but it remained unclear if he would receive any delegates in the end.

The Ohio Democratic Party said that Phillips’ campaign had not sent in a delegate list, making it unclear if any delegate slots he qualified for could be filled. In addition, the margins were so thin in those districts that certified totals were required to confirm he had received delegates.

An AP analysis of the certified results, released Friday, at the precinct level shows he met the 15% threshold to receive a delegate in the state’s 2nd, 6th and 14th congressional districts. He still could qualify for a fourth delegate in the 12th Congressional District, but the margin there is so razor-thin that additional details are needed from local elections officials to confirm.

Bill DeMora, the delegate and convention director for the Ohio Democratic Party, said that any delegates Phillips qualified for would be counted as pledged to support him — but also said the spots would be filled by Biden supporters.

“They are Phillips delegates who will vote for Biden,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Phillips’ campaign confirmed it will encourage delegates they won in Ohio to vote for Biden.

Phillips joins Jason Palmer, who won three delegates in American Samoa, and the “uncommitted” option as the only non-Biden choices to receive delegates.

Palmer told the AP that while he had not “technically suspended his campaign,” he is endorsing Biden and planning to work with the Democratic National Committee to figure out what role he and his pledged delegates could play at the convention in Chicago. For now, Palmer says, his priority is making sure his delegates in American Samoa can afford travel expenses to actually attend the convention. He won three delegates at the American Samoa Democratic caucuses after winning 51 votes; Biden won 40 votes.

— Associated Press