Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Immigration Thugs Invade St. Paul
Federal agents snatched several Latino roofers from a job in St. Paul on Thursday.
Just look at how vague that sentence is. What kind of agents? Well, they wouldn’t identify themselves, and who knows who the mask-wearing clowns swarming American streets report to these days. (The New York Times recently explored the "long, strange story of masking and law enforcement.") How many roofers? Six or seven, it’s estimated, but we don’t know exactly because no information is being provided.
Mary Hennigan at the Minnesota Reformer has the facts that we do know. The incident happened at the North End neighborhood of Marydale Park, and it happened fast:
Mark Sacay, a rapid responder for a local immigrants’ rights group, said he arrived at the scene of the roofer raid just 12 minutes after he received an alert to dispatch. But even by that time, all of the men on the roofing crew were gone, as were the federal agents, Sacay said.
Immigration enforcers have been swarming the state for months, harassing Minnesotans. Earlier this week, USCIS announced that it had “conducted 900 site visits and in-person interviews” in Minnesota and found 275 cases of “fraud, non-compliance, or public safety or national security concerns”—terms that can mean just about anything. Meanwhile, in Appleton there’s talk of re-opening a 1,600-bed detention facility.
These goons are “destroying the fabric of our community in which immigrants are integral,” according to state Rep. Athena Hollins (DFL-St. Paul). (Note: “Goons” is my word.)
Also, roofing is a much harder and more dangerous job than rounding up immigrants for the state, and, it goes without saying, of greater value to society. I’d like to see one of those drooling camo-swaddled babies do it for a week.
Yikes: Adult Man Enrolls in White Bear Lake High School
A little vindication for those who've always found 1999's Never Been Kissed incredibly creepy: Parents and students are outraged after a 22-year-old man posing as a teen was able to enroll at White Bear Lake Area High School. The discovery was made by “staff members, families, and students who saw something and decided to report it," according to a letter from high school principal Russell Reetz.
As WCCO News reports, White Bear Lake police were notified about the situation on Monday, at which point the man had already been arrested by another law enforcement agency "on unrelated charges." The charges? Violating the terms of his probation, which stemmed from a 2023 conviction for sending a nude photo to a then-15-year-old girl. Not so cute when it isn't Drew Barrymore, is it?
Parents like April Jorgenson, who has three kids at the school, are rightfully distressed and disgusted. "I don't understand how this man got into my kids' school," she tells WCCO. Police are investigating the suspect for criminal violations “related to fraud, forgery, and unlawful conduct involving interactions with minors." Bad, bad, bad.
Pension Plan Buys MN Power Co. for $6.2 Billion
Who's got the power? Well, if we’re talking about Allete, the largest power company in northern Minnesota, then it’s Canada. Or, rather, the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board as well as Global Infrastructure Partners, which is a subsidiary of BlackRock.
This Friday, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted unanimously to approve BlackRock's buyout of Allete for $6.2 billion. "The consumer advocates, environmental groups, and even the judge that have meticulously tracked this proposal for more than a year remain steadfast in their conclusion that it's a bad deal for utility customers," the Energy & Policy Institute's Karlee Weinmann told Racket in August.
Meanwhile, PUC chair Katie Sieben tells the Star Tribune that the sale will lead to cheaper energy bills for customers, and the PUC still has the power to veto any rate changes. The Sierra Club, which vehemently opposed the deal, notes that there’s evidence that not only is it likely that rates will increase, it's unclear whether the company will stay on course with Minnesota’s 2040 carbon-free mandates under new ownership.
“BlackRock and predatory private equity firms have long proven that their mission will always be to relentlessly pursue profit, no matter the harm it causes to communities,” says Jenna Yeakle, central region campaign manager at Sierra Club, in a statement. BlackRock is "waging a scorched-earth campaign" to hoover up utilities, Katya Schwenk writes for The Lever, as CEO/alleged climate villain Fink is bullish on those energy-guzzling data centers for AI purposes.
Auction Fever Sweeps Twin Cities
As you may have heard in propagandic new docs and in legacy media, Twin Cities commercial real estate has fallen on hard times. That's not really the business of me and you, the non-titans of industry, but it remains a topic of fascination as we constantly assess the vitality of the cities we love. Which brings us to: the auctioning off of major buildings in each city.
In downtown Minneapolis, the former Seven Steakhouse & Sushi building at 700 Hennepin Ave. is slated to hit the auction block again in 44 days, per this LoopNet listing. "This iconic retail property combines high-quality modern features, a flexible layout, and premier placement surrounded by Minneapolis’ sought-after Theater District and sports complexes," we learn of the 31,255-square-foot structure housing multiple dining rooms, lounges, kitchens, and rooftop bars. Starting bid is set for $450,000 if you'd like to throw your hat in the ring. Interestingly, Finance & Commerce reported that the "pretty run-down" property had sold for $4.4 million last October after going up for auction earlier that year. Yet, according to county records, the most recent sale was in 2017 for $7.5 million. In any case: Remember when L.A. Nik's World Famous SuperStar Bar briefly operated out of the second story? What a time to be alive.
Over in downtown St. Paul, the 380,170-square-foot U.S. Bank Center will hit the auction block next month, the Biz Journal reports. It's part of the massive Madison Equities portfolio that's being liquidated following the death of real estate mogul Jim Crockarell last year. Built in 1973, the 25-story tower at 101 E. Fifth St. is reportedly just 26% occupied... yikes! "Take advantage of the opportunity to acquire the U.S. Bank Center in the iconic St. Paul skyline," reads the LoopNet listing that this Minneapolitan refuses to mock (re: skyline). Ramsey County property records say the two-acre parcel is worth $14 million, so your $1 million starting bid could score a heckuva deal. Be like Bart!
