Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily noontime(ish) digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
GMA Salutes Our “Midwestern Charm”
“Music legend” Prince! The Mary Tyler Moore statue! Our very big mall! Our many lakes! Yes, Good Morning America trod some well-tread ground in today’s feature celebrating Minnesotan resilience. (At least they didn’t eat a Jucy Lucy.) They also addressed the challenges we’ve overcome, including *serious, empathetic TV voice* “social unrest, protests, and pain.” They visited local businesses Duluth Pack and Hen House and made the MNHS light up Split Rock for the occasion. In short, if you’d like to see some things that are nearby—but on television—this segment is for you!
Betsy Hodges: Frey Lies
Former Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges is the latest public official to step forward and say her position on a city ballot question has been misrepresented. (The “All of Minneapolis” campaign previously and incorrectly said that Attorney General Keith Ellison was against the public safety amendment; the Frey campaign said the same about U.S. Senator Tina Smith.) Hodges tweeted on Monday afternoon that she’d learned that “Mayor Frey is representing, at least privately, that I agree with him on amendment one re: mayoral administrative control of the city.” Hodges says she has no position but added that “*when it comes to police* the Minneapolis mayor *already has control*.”
Control Issues
With so much focus on the Minneapolis public safety ballot question this year, you might have forgotten that there’s also a rent control Q on the ballot—in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Landlords and realtors, of course, think rent control is a bad idea, much in the same way bears think food control is a bad idea. But as Max Nesterak reports in the Minnesota Reformer, the coalition opposing the initiatives also includes union carpenters, who predict that the measures will slow down construction. The story also notes that money and momentum seem to be on the side of the ballot measures.
So, Where’s the Next Homeless Encampment Gonna Be?
Early Tuesday morning, Minneapolis city workers cleared out a large homeless encampment on the Franklin Avenue median near Cedar. While “safety and health concerns” are cited as the reason for the dismantling of the encampment, it’s debatable that the six-figure project will do much to address those concerns long-term. As an April 2021 report showed, these efforts are not only incredibly expensive but typically just drive the unhoused to a new site. They may also slow down aid: When camps close, outreach worker Justin LaBeaux told the Strib’s Susan Du, “you lose track of folks and … have to start over in the housing process.”
