Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily midday digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Community Meeting Starts with a (Gang?) Bang
Residents of West St. Paul are currently embroiled in a battle over the proposed construction of a $7.6 million mental health crisis/recovery center. One side believes the 16-bed facility would be a boon to our society's threadbare social services; the other doesn't want it near their homes. Ahead of a December 12 City Council vote to decide its fate, around 100 folks gathered Thursday at the Dakota County Northern Service Center to debate the development. Neither side would've advocated for what happened next—10 to 12 seconds of "hardcore" pornography! Here's right-wing comms consultant Michael Brodkorb, who we reached by phone for all the sordid, sexy details:
“I’m sitting literally in the front row, and there are three screens, and they were filming the meeting and broadcasting it on Zoom for people to participate remotely. Without any sound, this very graphic pornographic video came up. I’m not trying to be a prude, but I will tell you it was hardcore, hardcore. I think people were genuinely stunned. Someone from the county went up and apologized; apparently someone had taken control of the Zoom feed. There weren’t a lot of audible gasps… everyone’s mouths were just on the floor. It certainly wasn’t Bambi, it certainly wasn’t Snow White, and there was nothing left to the imagination. It was unbelievable. There was no mention of it after it was done, and there was a really thoughtful discussion for close to two hours. It was a real opportunity for both sides to be heard.”
Extremely Minnesotan to bare witness to, and then simply not address, the surprise presence of coital theatrics. We'll continue to keep readers abreast of any and all X-rated hyper-local politics.
Defunding the Police—by Cutting Their Proposed Budget by 1/195th
A million dollars is a lot of money right? Maybe for you or me, but not for the Minneapolis police department. Mayor Jacob Frey has requested that the current $187 million MPD budget be boosted to $195 million for 2024. In response, city council cut less than $1 million from this proposed amount—basically a half-percent—$350,000 of which was offset by transferring some civilian jobs to another department. New MPD chief Brian O’Hara was displeased with council’s refusal to give his department everything they want. Per O’Hara, the department needs that extra mill to respond to the uncertainties of upcoming state and federal consent decrees in 2023. As O’Hara put it, “I need civilian people who can work here, and work at my pace, so we’re not wasting time in terms of making change real and coming into compliance, because every day that goes by, we’re just costing the city more money.” He sure got that last part right.
That's It! Bring Back the Metrodome.
Back in 2020, we made a pretty convincing—though logistically slight—case for bringing back the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The need has never been greater. Consider the latest column from reliably great Strib columnist Jennifer Brooks. In it, she waxes nostalgic for the era of the Rollerdome, when Twin Cities families could zip around the Dome’s ol’ concrete concourses on the cheap. A true hoot! Then, Brooks reveals the 2022 pricing for U.S. Bank Stadium’s so-called Winter Warm-Up skating/running hours—$15 fuckin’ dollars! Through Ticketmaster! At the risk of editorializing, what absolute money-grubbing, deranged horseshit. Brooks notes that state and Minneapolis taxpayers collectively coughed up about half the cost to build the (already crumbling) $1 billion shrine to concussions and dead birds, which is still, somehow, laughably billed as “The People’s Stadium” by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. Minnesota’s all-time greatest photo proves more prophetic by the year.
Questionable Survey Says Minneapolis is a Great for Singles; St. Paul Forever Alone?
Are you single and loving it? Then you might enjoy living in Minneapolis. A recent survey by Wallet Hub ranked it as the 6th best city for singles. What the heck does that mean? It's kinda inconclusive! While the survey implies that these are the best places to be if you’re looking for love, the data they quantified – price of wine and beer, spas per capita, gym membership fees, Google search traffic for “Tinder” – seems to actually suggest that this is a ranking for people who are single and into no-strings dating and living well. The survey looked at over 180 cities in the U.S., with Seattle taking the top spot, Madison making second, and St. Paul ranking 37th (don't worry St. Paulites, we know you’re just hanging out over there, married and chillin’). Meanwhile, Warwick, Rhode Island, ranked dead last because it lacks things like “fun” and “dating opportunities.” Homebody aces, Warwick may be your city!
