Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
... And We Still Love Ant
Are you maybe a bit groggy from too little sleep last night? Wanna celebrate the Wolves 4-1 series shellacking of the Lakers—and their triumph over their haters in the media? First watch this great video from Timberwolves PR “thanking” everyone who counted them out, tweet by tweet. Beautiful.
Next, watch this video of Anthony Edwards, which, like all videos of Anthony Edwards, is a damn treat. Following last night’s game Ant talks shit to Lakers fans, hopefully not doing anything that’ll get him fined further.
In the same clip, Ant also reminds folks that his favorite movie is the magical 1996 kid flick Matilda. Real Ant-heads know he’s not just funning here—he’s been giving the same answer to that question for years. As he once explained, "She was a very powerful girl at a young age. I just like to see things like that." Don’t we all, Ant. Don’t we all.
Well, maybe not Luka Dončić. Could that nasty brute ever truly appreciate the story of a young girl discovering she has magical powers? Nah. Based on the amount of time Luka spends on the court floor whining to refs, his favorite movie is probably this.
KARE 11 Serves Up the Headline of the Day
We’re big fans of KARE’s Lou Raguse in these parts. When he finds an out-of-the-ordinary legal incident worth doggedly digging into, Raguse turns up the most shocking or ridiculous details without fail. He’s the fella, as you may remember—we certainly do—who broke the news about Hennepin Country Commish candidate Marisa Simonetti throwing a live tarantula at her tenant. (Simonetti is incidentally running for U.S Senate now. Never say die!)
Anyway, I don’t have much to say about Raguse’s latest story that isn’t right in its beautiful headline: “Filter-loving polyamorous Eden Prairie fraud suspects plead not guilty to $15 million scheme.” OK, there’s a lot more to say about the case of Gabriel Luthor and Elizabeth Brown, whose "neurofeedback therapy" company allegedly bilked insurers for $15 million. Start with details like this: “In a bizarre moment, Luthor couldn't remember his age—saying 38, then 37—before finally telling the judge he's 39.”
The duo attracted attention by throwing wild parties in Eden Prairie that attracted countless young women, many of whom lived there occasionally. “A long federal investigation into suspicion of sex trafficking found that all the young women insisted they were part of a consensual polyamorous relationship with Luthor,” Raguse tells us. Luthor and Brown now claim to be broke and in need of a public defender, and I get it—can’t be cheap to support that many wives.
What Are U Waiting For?
As the Trump administration and its enablers in Congress do their worst to smother the U.S. higher education system, some universities are fighting back. Hundreds have signed an American Association of Colleges and Universities letter condemning the administration’s “unprecedented government overreach and political interference." Locally, Gustavus Adolphus, Carleton, St. Thomas, MCAD, and Hamline have signed on.
But CTRL+F that AACU letter all you will, and you will not find the name of University of Minnesota Rebecca Cunningham. Nor did she support a resolution, which the U of M Senate passed unanimously, to join a Big Ten effort, led by Rutgers, to set up a joint defense pact against Trump. As Ana Radelat and Winter Keefer write for MinnPost, “those who’ve spoken with Cunningham about the issue say she’s taken a ‘neutral’ and ‘non-committal’ stance on the Big Ten resolution and is, in general, trying to avoid conflict and involvement of the school in politics.” Haha, good luck with that.
Matt’s Is on the Move
Have you ever eaten a Jucy Lucy… in a parking lot? You will! Matt’s just posted a pic of its new big red food truck on Facebook, and this summer they’ll be delivering delicious patties of cheese-infused, grease-exuding goodness all around the metro this summer. I don’t have much more to say about it—it’s a truck, it’ll sell cheeseburgers—but it seemed newsworthy. In other Jucy Lucy news, Jay somehow forced this abomination down his gullet for your entertainment.
