Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Betsy by Lightning
I’m a simple man. Put some guys I recognize in elaborate beards and have ’em say “fuck” a lot and I’m satisfied. So of course I’m enjoying Death by Lightning, the four-part Netflix series about the presidency of James Garfield. (I’m only three episodes in, so please, no spoilers!)
Former Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges is checking the miniseries out as well. I know this because she’s started a podcast, Chet by Lightning, with her buddy Matt Erickson. (I have not listened to this podcast because, well, it’s a podcast—I barely keep up with RacketCast.)
As the title indicates, Hodges focuses on Chester A. Arthur, the New York machine politico who became Garfield’s VP. On the Netflix series, Nick Offerman really does steal the show as the rotund, bewhiskered, overindulgent Arthur. Who can forget his rallying cry of “Beer! Fighting! Sausages!” or his proclamation, “I’m Chester goddam Arthur… soon to be vice president of you cocksuckers!” (On the show, that is. Can't vouch for the historical accuracy of either statement.)
How a Duluth Church Protected a Serial Abuser
In a joint project between ProPublica and the Star Tribune that published today, Jessica Lussenhop and Andy Mannix tell the horrific story of a Duluth church that allowed one of its members to sexually assault numerous young girls over the course of two decades.
The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community had full knowledge of what Clint Massie was up to, but church leaders never reported him to the police. In fact, Lussenhop and Mannix report, when law enforcement began investigating Massie eight years ago, the church’s lack of cooperation was a barrier to bringing him to justice.
“His abuse was such an open secret among the tight-knit congregation that mothers warned their daughters to stay away from him,” Lussenhop and Mannix say of Massie’s actions. In addition, the church held “forgiveness sessions” where the abused children were instructed to “forgive and forget” the abuse. The story is a long, harrowing read, but an essential one.
No New Taxes? No, New Taxes!
Upcoming property tax hikes have been raising the blood pressure of Minnesota homeowners in recent days, with some surely thinking, “There’s gotta be a better way!”
Well, we don’t know if there are better ways, but over at MinnPost, Brian Martucci discusses different ways of raising funds for the city. At the center of the discussion is the Board of Estimate and Taxation, which may soon take a more central role in city politics than it has in the past.
Among the possibilities floating around: an extension of liquor, lodging, and restaurant taxes further into the North Loop; a city income tax on those earning more than $200,000; and a “land value” tax that encourages development on vacant properties.
The downside to all this? Most of these plans would require approval of the state Legislature.
More Like MNDON'T: Joyless Transpo Dept. Blows the Whistle on Tug of War
Last year, before their teams squared off, 160 Vikings and Packers fans participated in the first-ever “Border Battle" on the Stillwater Historic Lift Bridge while 500 others looked on.
And that was the last-ever Border Battle too—at least on that bridge. MNDOT denied a permit to repeat the event before next January’s Vikings-Packers game at U.S. Bank Stadium, Bring Me the News reports.
“While we have accommodated a few 'special occasion' requests like this one in the past, we also have a responsibility to protect and preserve our infrastructure in the long-term,” a MNDOT spokesperson tells BMTN.
We’re sure MNDOT has a very good reason not to allow hundreds of quite possibly inebriated folks to stomp around on a historic bridge, but we’re going to pretend to be mad at them anyway, as a bit.
In any case, the event has been relocated to the downtown Hudson dike, which is not, as far as we know, historic.
