Communities negatively impacted by the fact that cannabis was once illegal are getting a big boost from the state. Then, a new team in Willmar brings their own traditions to the country’s national sport. And, it looks like Minnesota will end up being the home to two hockey Halls of Fame.
—–Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Jose OzoriaAnchor: Grace Jacobson Reader scripting: Victor Palomino Fact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Transcript
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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.
ANCHOR: Today, communities negatively impacted by the fact that cannabis was once illegal are getting a big boost from the state. Then, a new team is adding a Latin flavor to the national sport in south central Minnesota. And, it looks like Minnesota will end up being the home to two hockey Hall of Fames.
I'm Gracie J.
The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management has awarded CanRenew grants to 11 organizations. The grants fund projects that boost economic development, public health, youth programs, violence prevention, and civil legal aid. About 150 organizations applied, requesting more than $22 million, but the program is only able to invest $1 million in communities hit hardest by past cannabis prohibition and discriminatory law enforcement. The grants do not support cannabis businesses; they fund programs that make positive impacts. Programs will start within 90 days, and the next CanRenew round opens this winter.
In today's main story, Minnesota's first all-Latino amateur Baseball squad is creating a cultural force and giving Latino players and fans their own space within Minnesota's century-old townball tradition. Jose Ozoria has the story.
[Nat Sound: "Off number three."]
Jose Ozoria: Minnesota has a long, rich baseball tradition that dates back to the 1800s. With the end of their 2025 season, the Willmar Indians have become the latest chapter in that story.
Juan Carlos Morales: I moved here to Minnesota 2016 to play college ball at Ridgewater. My Ridgewater team was mainly Latino guys from Puerto Rico. Mostly.
Jose Ozoria: That's Juan Carlos Morales. He's the founder of the Willmar Indians. His experience at Ridgewater College in Hutchinson sparked an idea.
Juan Carlos Morales: I had this idea to make a team, to join the League. There is no Latino team from the league.
Jose Ozoria: Mr. Morales believed that an untapped talent pool existed, but that potential players were not pursuing baseball because of the language barrier.
Juan Carlos Morales: They are afraid. They are like, no, I'm not gonna go over there because I don't know if they're gonna reject me or something. Say I don't speak English. That was the main reason that I feel like I gotta do this.
Jose Ozoria: Mike Nagle is the treasurer of the Minnesota Baseball Association, and the founder of the league the Indians are a part of. He says that the sound, the smell of the food, the atmosphere at the ballpark is uniquely different.
Mike Nagle: When you play the Willmar Indians in Willmar, they bring in food trucks that have, you know, Latino foods. And everyone that's been there said it's probably one of the coolest experiences they have ever had.
Jose Ozoria: Mr. Nagle points out that, like the teams in the past, the success of the Willmar Indians has reverberations beyond the baseball diamond.
Mike Nagle: This is way more than a bunch of guys who want to play baseball. This is a paradigm shift.
Frank White: Minnesota, as a whole, has a great legacy of baseball.
Jose Ozoria: Frank White is a baseball historian and author of the book They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in Minnesota.
Frank White: When you talk about town teams, I mean that is still today. Town team baseball is very popular. To have big crowds that still attend some of the games, the state tournament games.
Jose Ozoria: Mr. White feels that the Willmar Indians are part of a larger tradition of baseball in the area, like the Minneapolis Gophers, who predated the Negro Leagues by several years, and the Negro League teams that toured the area.
Frank White: Initially, the acceptance of black players here was well received because of the popularity of people going to watch them play. I mean, they were a gate attraction.
Jose Ozoria: Mr. Morales, the Willmar Indians' founder, says he received some pushback about the team's name, leading him to seek approval from some of the local Native American communities. He believes that the name reflects the ancestry of the team's players.
Juan Carlos Morales: Some negative feedback for saying we are Latinos. I mean, I take the name to represent our traits, our ancestor and everything.
Jose Ozoria: The Indians made it to their league's amateur tournament, where they won one game. Their season ended the first week of August, but the team will be back in action in early September, when they participate in their fall classic tournament. For North Star Stories, I'm Jose Ozoria.
Nat Sound: Baby, let's go, Willmar.
ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.
The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame won't be moving to the Twin Cities after all. Instead, a group that wants to honor the sport is planning to build a new $70 million complex in the metro area. The goal is to break ground next year and open the new facility in 2028. A development partner, corporate sponsors, and individual donors will fund the new Minnesota Hockey Hall of Fame. The plan calls for a professional-sized hockey rink that could host high school, college, and even professional games. Those creating the new facility say that, rather than competing with them, they would like to partner with the US Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth.
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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.