Coming to North Loop: A Data Center Tucked Between Acme Comedy Co. and Bar La Grassa

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.

Grove Era Poetry: Former Site of 100+ Star Tribune Newspaper Jobs Poised to Become Data Center

Late last year, just after Christmas, the Star Tribune Media Co. shut down its Minneapolis production plant, a move that eliminated around 125 jobs. Surely the 159-year-old newspaper would divest of the 13-acre parcel in a civically responsible and popular way, you might have thought to yourself. It's prime, posh North Loop real estate, after all, not far from the Mississippi River—a developer's dream!

A Virginia-based data-center developer's dream, it turns out. The Strib revealed Wednesday that Legacy Investing signed a purchase agreement for the property, which it intends to transform into a—you guessed it—data center in the heart of the city. Pending city approval, the deal will close later this year. Terms were not disclosed. (Longtime Strib observers will remember the string of editorials supporting the construction of U.S. Bank Stadium at its current site, the sale of which greatly enriched—you guessed it—Star Tribune Media Co.)

Legacy's Daniel English predicts the profits generated by fueling AI slop will allow his firm to build out housing and retail. “Data centers are not necessarily standalone, ugly buildings that sort of block off the community, they can be part of properties that communities want to live with," English tells the Strib's Katie Galioto.

The polling disputes that. Forty-one percent of Americans say they wouldn't want to live within three miles of a data center, while seven in 10 oppose projects in their local area like, say, the North Loop. "Majorities of all major demographic groups, including all party groups, say they would oppose having a data center built where they live," per Gallop.

Several Minneapolis City Council members have expressed reservations about data centers; the council approved a six-month moratorium on new data center development outside of downtown earlier this month. But, of course, Mayor Jacob Frey is bullish on the developments. We shouldn't be surprised that the Strib—owned by GOP billionaire Glen Taylor and led by tech bro Steve Grove—is happy to sell its legacy out to Big Tech, too.

Target Field Workers Set to Walk Off Job Again

On June 22, over 500 Target Field food and beverage workers went on a one-day strike after contract negotiations with their employer, Delaware North, had stalled. Now Unite Here Local 17 union members, alleging that management engaged in surveillance and interrogrations since the strike, have voted to walk out and rally outside the ballpark on August 5. 

Aggrieved rank 'n' file workers are also protesting Delaware North’s tactic of subcontracting via the MN Fundraising Initiative, a program where volunteers (aka scabs) work concessions in exchange for grant money. On Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison demanded the organization dissolve operations after determining it was a “sham charity” designed to cut down on the company’s labor costs. The grant money was also reportedly going more toward board members, not people in need.   

“Over the course of MNFI’s existence, the organization awarded ‘grants’ totaling more than $1.1 million for the benefit of current or former members of its board of directors,” Ellison's office writes. “One former board member alone received more than $237,000 in ‘grants.’”

Meanwhile, the real, non-volunteer Target Field employees are seeking a $20 per hour wage floor and $3 an hour raises for higher-paid workers. After the strike in June, Delaware North countered with an offer of 25-cent raises for minimum wage workers and 60-cent raises for others.

Blame Iran First

Iranian hackers conducted a cyberattack on dozens of municipal water systems in Minnesota, U.S. officials said Thursday. Then again, U.S. officials say a lot of things these days, like “vaccines cause autism,” “the 2020 election was stolen,” and “our troops suffer from a testosterone deficiency.”

We don’t want to sound paranoid, but if we were an inept, bloodthirsty administration looking for excuses to continue bombing Iran? We'd blame any bit of espionage on that state’s agents.

Then again, it’s not like Iran has no reason to strike back against the U.S. And Minnesota is the perfect target, since Pete Hegseth is from here, though it’s entirely unlikely that Wario Joe Isuzu ever drinks water. We know he doesn’t wash his hands with it. 

Stop Waving People Through, Ya Moron!

This past week, over in the Nazi sandbox formerly known as Twitter, a rare good/local tweet gained serious traction, just like the ol' days:

Yes. Yes! YESSS! A thousands times yes. You're not helping anybody! You're gumming up the works! Frankly, and it pains us to outright say this, you're driving like a bozo.

In possibly related news: Minnesota drivers are failing road tests at the highest rate since 2021, the Strib reported Wednesday; 40% of test-takers require two or more attempts to score their licenses. Almost certainly related to that: Over the past five years, crashes that cause serious injuries have spiked 24%, according to data from Minnesota’s Advisory Council on Traffic Safety.

Stay safe out there.