Google Escalates PR Offensive on Hermantown Data Center: Want a Cookie?

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

C Is for Center, Data

How would you feel about Google building a $2 billion data center in your small town? Now… hear us out… would your answer change if Google offered you a cookie?

Google seems to hope so. On Wednesday, the world-dominating tech firm hosted an open house regarding its proposal to build a massive data center in Hermantown, Minnesota, a Duluth suburb of around 10,200 people. (Check out Racket’s article from March about Google's plan, the company’s secretive deals with local officials, and the grassroots movement pushing against the project.) 

In Dan Kraker’s report for MPR News, Tyler Huebner, Google’s manager of energy market development for the central U.S., says that the company wants to act in “a responsible way,” and that the open house is about creating trust.

“We certainly understand the concerns about transparency, and this open house hopefully is a start at rebuilding that trust in the community,” he says.

After trying to keep the proposal details under wraps since last year, Google framed this open house as an informal opportunity to ask questions about the project. And Hermantown residents have a lot of questions. Independent journalist Nikki Davidson’s video reporting shows a long line and a packed house. Protesters held signs and passed out flyers outside the event, but police officers standing at the entrance told people to put those flyers away. Officially approved Google-made flyers were passed out inside.

Attendees cycled through various stations, asking questions and sometimes receiving answers. But who really cares about knowing the details of what might be built on 1.8 million square feet of your community when you’ve got a Google-branded cookie, right? (Here’s a video of the full snack table from the Duluth Monitor Facebook page.)

Racism Roundup: Emmer Goes Full Bigot; Anti-Somali Rant Goes Viral; MN GOP Lt. Gov. Candidate Goes to J6

This week U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN)—a slithering, dog-whipped toady to President Trump if there ever was one—melted down into mask-off levels of racism he had previously only hinted at. Here’s Emmer, speaking Wednesday at the Faith and Freedom Coalition town hall in Washington, D.C.: 

In response, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN) offered, "I assimilated all the way to Congress and this idiot still tells me to go back where I came from.” State Sen. Omar Fateh (DFL-Minneapolis) had a pretty good comeback, too. 

On Monday a TiKTok clip went viral that appears to depict a Shakopee couple telling a Somali family shopping for homes that "Nobody wants you here” and “I can smell you from here.” The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling on local, state, and federal officials to investigate the incident, which has been viewed more than 2 million times; a law firm representing the couple says they “categorically deny any and all allegations implied by this video.” Watch the Somali sisters, Hamdi and Sumaya, speak about the altercation with KARE 11 here.

And finally, a nugget that’s only racism-adjacent, considering far-right hate group the Proud Boys escalated the January 6 riots in and around the U.S. Capitol. Thanks to a helluva scoop by the Strib’s Walker Orenstein and Jake Steinberg, we learn that Brian Nicholson, the man tapped as running mate to GOP-endorsed Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls, was among the rioters that day in 2021. “I don’t apologize for being there,” Nicholson says, adding that he left “when things turned violent.”

Anti-ICE Protesters Speak Out

WCCO's Esme Murphy sat down this week with Callum Robinet and Isaac Sant, two of the 15 people arrested and charged last week for their alleged involvement in impeding ICE throughout Operation Metro Surge.

Sant and Robinet have been charged with felonies and are facing up to 11 and six years in prison, respectively—especially scary given the harsh sentences handed down this week to the Prairieland protesters in Texas. While their attorneys advised them not to speak on their indictments, the two did discuss last winter's activities in broad terms, and shared their belief that the charges are politically motivated attacks on protected First Amendment activity. (As a reminder: Not one January 6 rioter remains in prison.)

"I think people need to hear this story," Robinet says. "I think people need to see what this regime is trying to do to people who are standing up for their neighbors."

Bus Riders’ Grievances, Mapped

Metro Transit wants to make it easier for people to figure out where they can catch a ride when they’re downtown in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. But before the agency can print out new signage or update info at shelters, it wants to hear what you like or don’t like about the bus stops you frequent. (For example, one of my stops still has a route poster that is about 20 minutes off what the schedule says online.) 

This week, Metro Transit launched this interactive map, which allows riders to click on it and add their own perspectives on what should be done to make riding the bus easier. It’s fun to see what other riders are saying, too: “A lot of newbies at this stop,” one commenter warns. “Prohibition is over!” another proclaims about a “hidden” bike trail entrance that could use better signage at a nearby bus stop. 

If you’re feeling especially ranty and have the time, there’s also a 10-minute survey you can find here.