Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Craig Supported Tlaib Censure
The U.S. House voted yesterday to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), its sole Palestinian-American member, for voicing support for Palestine in the Hamas/Israel War. Born in Detroit to Palestinian immigrants, Tlaib still has family in the West Bank. But her calls for a ceasefire, criticisms of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and use of the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” did not sit well with hundreds of right-wing House members.
Introduced by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), the movement passed with 212 Republicans and 22 Democrats voting for it. Interestingly, Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig was one of the few Dems who voted in favor, and she also voted for last week's $14.3 billion, GOP-backed military aid package to Israel. Not ideal company to keep! MN Rep. Dean Phillips, who was apparently busy running for president, did not vote at all but voiced support for Tlaib, while Rep. Ilhan Omar voted against censuring the congresswoman.
Later that day Reps. Omar, Tlaib, and Andre Carson—the three lone Muslims in Congress—released a joint statement against anti-Muslim bigotry in the House. Here's what they had to say about recent appallingly racist efforts from Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), a man who's voting a lot like Angie Craig these days: "Let's be clear: using the full power of the state to target and persecute a particular ethnic group or nationality is fascism and pure bigotry."
So About Last Night…
Yesterday was an election day. We hope you took the time to vote even if, like us, you only had one race on your ballot. While ranked-choice voting means some results are still coming in, here are a few highlights:
- Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins will probably keep her Ward 8 seat, though first-timer Soren Stevenson had 45% of the first-choice votes to Jenkins’s 43%. After tabulating second- and third-choice selections, the incumbent managed to win by a mere 38 votes. Since the race was so close, Sorenson could feasibly request a state-funded recount; the Strib reports his team is still weighing his options.
- First-timer Katie Cashman narrowly beat out (rumored slumlord) Scott Graham in Ward 7 by 2.3%.
- It looks like St. Paul’s City Council could become an all-woman joint, as voters have chosen seven female candidates.
- St. Paul also passed a sales tax hike to raise funds to improve roads, bridges, and parks.
- St. Louis Park made history last night by electing Nadia Mohamed, the first Somali-American mayor in the U.S.
40 Years Ago, the MN Daily Fought the Board of Regents and Won
On October 11, 1983, the Minnesota Daily published a tabloid-style “humor” issue, which included some poop gags, in-jokes about the school’s administrative staff, and an interview with Jesus where he told people to do drugs and have sex—pretty normal stuff from its annual “goof” edition.
But the Board of Regents, along with the U’s president at the time, C. Peter Magrath, were deeply unamused that students, most probably half their age, dare mocketh them and their sacred institution. So they decided they would teach them a lesson about grown-up consequences, voting to give students an opt-out option for the once-mandatory $5.50 a year fee that funded the school paper.
But in the end the students became the teachers. As Marshall H. Tanick, a lawyer on the case, recounts in this 40th anniversary piece in the Daily, while a District Court judge sided with the Regents’ jerk move, an appellate court upturned the decision, noting that the Board’s financial retaliation in reaction “to the contents of the paper and the disapproval that others expressed of those contents” was a First Amendment violation.
Support Palestine Businesses, Including This Bong Retailer
In times of global sorrow, folks often seek ways to show support locally. So we give props to Meryem Maameri, a Minneapolis resident/do-gooder who came up with this handy list of restaurants, markets, auto shops, barbers, and other fine establishments with ties to Palestine. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t also shout out a tipster, who sent us a DM last night reminding us that the Hideaway’s Dinkytown location is owned by Wally Sakallah, who grew up in the Gaza Strip before coming to the U.S. in 1997. The shop specializes in glass hookahs, bongs, pipes, and other smoking devices.
If you’re less about smoking and more about food, though, I can’t recommend Baba’s Hummus enough, Milkjam Creamery is one of my favorite ice cream shops, and I while I love Wrecktangle, I have to admit I do miss Falafel King being in the area. (Can you guess which neighborhood I live in based on these eats?) We're also a fan of this super affordable chicken sammie from Logan's Burgers & Chicken.
