Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily midday digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Center of the American Experiment v. Rochester Golf & Country Club
Last month, Rochester Golf & Country Club canceled a reservation made by the Center of the American Experiment. Now, the Minnesota-based conservative think tank is seeking vengeance via two lawsuits. The group had planned a panel talk on crime trends and the criminal justice system with a local sheriff and police chief. Then club member Erin Nystrom circulated a petition against the luncheon, garnering around 90 signatures from people CAE refers to as “leftist activists.” That was enough for the country club to revoke their agreement to host the event.
“American Experiment staff and around 50 attendees were left standing in the parking lot after a request for a temporary restraining order was not granted in time for the lunch event to occur,” a statement explains, failing to note that there was ample time to not show up to the canceled event, and this was probably more of a protest. CAE says their contract was violated; the country club states that it’s within its right to put “membership before politics." The CAE is suing the club and Nystrom for damages to its reputation, and for free speech. "The suggestion that I don't have the right to petition—the hypocrisy is too much," Nystrom told the Star Tribune. "The irony is, when I use my freedom of speech to petition my country club and ask them to cancel the event I am met with a $50,000 lawsuit."
The Current Adds 3 "On-Call" DJs
What's going on over at Minnesota Public Radio? The public radio company seems to be hemorrhaging talent in recent years, both at MPR and the 89.3 the Current, all while tax filings reveal staggering executive compensation. Yet today brought good news on the hiring front with the addition of three "on-call" DJs who'll "fill various daypart spots in the schedule." Among them: Barb Abney, who worked at the Current before stints at Go 96.3 and KFAI; Jessica Paxton, formerly of Northfield's KYMN Radio and now with the Parkway Theater; and Chaz Kangas, another former Go worker who was once a frequent City Pages contributor. A new full-timer, evening host Ayisha Jaffer, was announced last month.
Stucco-ne You
Absolutely love this latest Curious Minnesota investigation from the Star Tribune's Nancy Ngo: "Why are there so many stucco homes in the Twin Cities?" "No other Midwestern [cities] that I know of have such a love for stucco," Steve Pedracine, former executive director of the Minnesota Lath and Plaster Bureau trade association, tells Ngo. Fun facts scattered throughout the story include stucco ratios (45% Minneapolis's single-family homes are stucco, while only about 30% of St. Paul's are), the material's ongoing resurgence (at 27%, the rate of new stucco homes is the highest it's been since "at least" 1973), and the fact that in Europe, the style is known as "ornamental plastering." As for the why? For one, many Scandinavians and Eastern Europeans who were also skilled in plasterwork immigrated to Minnesota.
Claes Oldenburg's Monuments
Let's end the week with a TikTok! Here in MN, we know Claes Oldenburg as the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculptor. But what else do we know about him? Well, after viewing the clip below, I've learned about the Swedish-born artist's proposed monuments for New York City. Taken from his book Proposals for Monuments and Buildings, 1965-69, Oldenburg's cheeky ideas include a war monument shaped like a "gigantic, impassible block" at Broadway and Canal. On Park Avenue, he suggests a monument made up of two big ol' bowling balls that would roll up and down the street, causing cars and pedestrians to dodge out of their path. Why? Because it "literalized his opinion that the city is a dangerous place to live, forcing its inhabitants to be both quick and clever." It's a lotta fun, folks; watch the whole thing here.
