Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Give ‘Em Hell, Hope
Gov. Tim Walz’s 24-year-old daughter, Hope, regularly speaks her mind about politics on TikTok, which has earned her about half a million followers who dig her candor and occasionally makes her the regular target of reactionary outrage-churners (none of whom deserve mention let alone linkage here).
Most recently, Walz has upset the professionally aggrieved by referring to President Trump’s militarized takeover of Washington, D.C., as "bitch-baby, wussy, scaredy-cat behavior." In the video, Walz not only says Trump wants to lock up "people that aren't rich and white and men" but claims, shockingly, that “mass modern incarceration” is a bad thing in general. Well, I never!
In another TikTok, Walz admitted she is "not caught up on The Summer I Turned Pretty." Just wait till Alpha News learns about that! I just hope she brings half this energy to the table when she has dinner with mom and dad.
@hopewalz does this even make sense? idk i have many thoughts and am working on putting them all together in a coherent way lol
♬ original sound - hopewalz
The Most Awful Details in Wren Clair’s Lawsuit Against KSTP
Former KSTP meteorologist Wren Clair (government name Renee Fox) has filed a discrimination suit against her former bosses, alleging “severe, overtly sexist conduct by her coworkers and superiors.” Clair left the station suddenly this past February. In her suit, she says she reported the alleged misconduct to HR and was demoted, fired, and replaced with “a less qualified man.”
Former KSTP meteorologist Dave Dahl, who retired in 2020, sure doesn’t come off well in the complaint, which was filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court. According to the suit, Dahl:
- “Repeatedly compliment[ed] Plaintiff’s body … telling her how good and ‘slim’ she looked”
- “Frequently talk[ed] about his sex life in graphic detail, e.g. how ‘turned on’ he was by his then-girlfriend’s relative lack of sexual experience”
- “Compliment[ed] the breasts of underage waitresses”
- “Engaged in sex acts with his date in public at the company Christmas party”
- “Proudly showed male colleagues photos of his paramour’s breasts at work”
Clair names former KSTP News Director Kirk Varner as Dahl’s chief enabler, and also says that Varner:
- “Voiced his preference for tighter fitting outfits [and] complained when she wore ‘pants’ instead of a dress”
- “Mused aloud how ‘lucky’ her husband was to wake up and ‘see that’”
- “Repeatedly and vocally doubted that ‘the public can accept a lead female in a scientist role'”
According to the suit, when Clair took her complaints to human resources, HR Manager Michelle Ott told her, “You think that’s bad? I used to work for a trucking company.”
Which 2024 State Fair Vendors Raked in the Most Dough?
Was that header intended to tee up a low-hanging Sweet Martha's cookie dough wisecrack? How dare you think that! We have standards.
At any rate, the Minnesota State Fair PR team recently shared which vendors "fared" (just kidding, no standards) best, financially speaking, during the 2024 run. Via direct quote, I'll echo my esteemed State Fair food critic colleague, Keith Harris: "Go Que Viet! Boo Blue Barn! What is wrong with people who eat french fries at the fair?"
- Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar: $4.9 million from three locations; same ranking as '24
- Pronto Pups: $2.3 million from eight locations; same ranking as '24
- Mouth Trap Cheese Curds: $1.6 million from one location; same spot as '24
- The Perfect Pickle: $1.5 million from two locations; up two spots from '24
- Fresh French Fries: $1.4 million from two locations, down one spot from '24
- American Dairy Association of the Midwest (aka the all-you-can-drink milk people): $1.4 million from two locations; down one spot from '24
- Corn Roast: $1.3 million from one location; same spot as '24
- Que Viet: $1 million from one location; up two spots from '24
- Carousel BBQ: $933,000 from one location; down one spot from '24
- The Blue Barn: $866,000 from one location; down one spot from '24
Last year State Fair attendance continued to soar back from the post-pandemic doldrums, setting five daily attendance records. It may shock, excite, alarm, and/or delight you to know the 2025 Great Minnesota-Get Together does indeed kick off in exactly one week. See ya in line at the Mouth Trap.
Let the Lyndale Reconstruction Wangst Begin!
Now that the Hennepin Avenue/Uptown redo is coming to an end, we’re moving on to the next big project: Lyndale Avenue South, which is set to begin in 2027. The final concept design was released today through the project’s interactive map and it looks… mostly OK? There’s through lanes for Metro Transit (nice!); there’s plenty of parking for the car devotees; they’re trying to add at least a few new crosswalks.
But there’s one thing that seems to be giving street freaks pause: a shared use path that would run from Franklin Avenue to the Midway Greenway entrance (just north of West 29th Street). Bikes and pedestrians together in a highly trafficked area? Insanity!
“I love the idea of a shared use path for bikes and peds but have you considered expanding that idea into a single 50 foot wide shared use path for bikes, pedestrians, cars, buses, trucks, strollers, [and] rollerbladers?” one commenter asks via the interactive map.
“Shared use paths create unnecessary conflict between bikes and pedestrians. No pedestrian wants to be hit by a bike, and no biker wants to worry about if the pedestrian six feet in front of them is going to step left out of nowhere and be hit,” another notes.
The design can still change. (Hennepin Avenue’s 24-7 bus lanes were nixed after Uptown businesses started a petition against it over lost parking.) But, to look on the bright side, at least the path is on the east side. Expecting the drunks of Hum’s, CC Club, and the VFW to share the sidewalk would certainly be disastrous.
