Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
State Patrol Shoots and Kills Man
This morning, Minnesota State Patrol shot and killed Ricky Cobb II of Spring Lake Park. He was 33 years old, and is survived by two children. While police have not released a name yet, the family has confirmed the identity with the press. "I don't want to blame the police or anything," Cobb's stepmother, Kashina Cobb, tells the Star Tribune. "I don't know what has transpired. I'm trying to process what happened." State Patrol say the incident began as a routine traffic stop, with officers pulling Cobb over on I-94 in north Minneapolis after noticing that the tail lights on his Ford Fusion were out. According to troopers, when a background check showed that he was "wanted by law enforcement in Ramsey County in connection with a felony level violation," Cobb refused to get out of his car, and fled the scene, but not before shots were fired from the troopers. They engaged in a short chase, managing to box the car in, and call medical; Cobb died on the scene. It’s unclear at this time how many shots were fired by the State Patrol or who fired the shots, but body cams were activated at the time and footage is being reviewed. All three at the scene have been put on leave.
Donations for Dizzo
"Chances are, if you live in the Twin Ports or you’re involved in music in this area, you know (and are probably a friend of) Walter Raschick, AKA Walt Dizzo." So begins a GoFundMe created by Meghan Gantz late last week to support Dizzo, a KUWS radio DJ who's readying for surgery due to a bicuspid aortic valve, a congenital heart defect. Bring Me the News reports that while the upcoming surgery is covered by insurance, he faces lots of out-of-pocket costs in addition to lost income from his surgery and rehabilitation. The GoFundMe has raised $8,836 out of a $10,000 goal so far.
Meet a Local Coaster King
Apparently a local guy named Mike Cameron is among the most prolific roller coaster riders there is. He was one of the very first people to ride Valleyfair's Renegade when it opened in 2007, and since then he's totalled more than 21,000 rides on the very cool wooden coaster. Cameron once racked up 100 Renegade rides in a single day (July 22, 2016) in Shakopee, and has averaged 1,443 rides a year since 2007. How do we know all this? Because Mpls. St. Paul Mag sent Drew Wood to Shakopee to ride Renegade with him. “One of the things that would make my life complete is going up the lift hill, it breaks down, and I have to be evacuated and walk down the lift hill,” Cameron tells Wood as they ready for their sixth and final ride of the day. “And then I could say I’m at 21,655.01 rides.”
Immigrants Denied Prison Benefits, Programs
Discrimination against non-citizens takes place in prison as well, reports Hibah Ansari at Sahan Journal. Minnesota can even deny legal permanent residents (aka green card holders) prison programming and benefits offered to other inmates if ICE places an immigration detainer on them; they may not be eligible for work release drug rehab programs or supervised release programs. The story focuses on Jorge Vargas Perez, who’s in for violating probation (his original conviction was for drug possession) and has been fighting with the help of attorney for access to programs for which other inmates are eligible. Though he was successful in getting his detainer lifted, he's still shut out from needed programs. In all, there are immigration-related limitations on more than 200 Minnesota inmates who are either green card holders or undocumented.
