Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Mac Staff Demand Union
Over 270 Macalester College staffers could soon become unionized.
Officials from the private liberal arts college in St. Paul declined to voluntarily recognize the union, so workers filed a petition earlier this month for an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. If successful, those non-managerial Mac employees would join the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), the largest union representing state workers.
“Macalester staff built a thoughtful, disciplined organizing effort and they didn’t back down when management refused recognition," MAPE's president, onetime RacketCast guest Megan Dayton, tells Minnesota Reformer's Max Nesterak. "Now, we’re ready to win this election."
Mac Weekly reports that this union push has been in the works for two-plus years. Efforts ramped up after the reelection of Donald Trump last fall, and now the NLRB election is set for June 10. A simple majority would mean hundreds of freshly minted union jobs.
“I, in my [opinion], am doing a middle-class job, but I don’t make a middle-class wage," says Gwen Comings, an art and art history department coordinator. "A lot of us really love our jobs and just want to be able to afford to stay here.”
The Evolving Coverage Around George Floyd's Murder
Michigan State journalism professor Danielle K. Brown has researched media coverage of protests for almost a decade. Much of that study focuses on the “protest paradigm,” or how the relationship between protests, media, and the public shapes narratives.
"Time and time again," she writes in an analysis for The Conversation, "colleagues and I have found that the bulk of news coverage of protests against police brutality tends to focus on protesters’ violence, disruption, or sensational actions."
But Brown found something different in the months and years following Floyd's 2020 murder. "Floyd’s killing has yielded space for reflection and coverage that legitimizes those who took to the streets," she writes, adding that there are notable exceptions, like the "still burning" claptrap published this month by the bozos at the New York Post. (Brown also takes a shot at a 2020 Strib article, which described Gov. Walz's "show of strength" in summoning the National Guard to stamp out “days of lawless rampage.")
There are graphs. There are charts. There's plenty more to read that's worth your time and reflection.
Sports Roundup! Frost Start Dynasty; Twins Can't Find Buyer; Great Wolves Fan Gets Questionable Tattoo
Welcome to our first-ever Sports Roundup mega-blurb, sports fans!
First up: On Monday night your Minnesota Frost defeated the Ottawa Charge 2–1 in overtime, making 'em back-to-back PWHL champs. Considering the women's hockey league is only two years old, that makes the Frost the only team ever to hoist the Walter Cup. Congrats to the whole squad, especially Mound's Liz Schepers, who scored the title-sealing goal last night.
Next up: Almost eight months ago the Pohlad family were bullied into putting the Twins on the market, and Charley Walters at the PiPress is getting reports that the prospects for a sale are "dismal." "The major obstacle for a sale of the Twins is cash flow," Walters writes in his Sunday column, noting that multiple local prospective buyers have soured on deal due to the financials. "A majority buyer would need myriad limited investors to cash-flow the operation, which could cost at least $25 million a year." The franchise is valued at around $1.5 billion, though it's saddled by $400 million in debt.
And finally: Fox 9 aired a fun story early Monday about Timberwolves fan tattoos, and of course they spoke with our buddies JC Stroebel and Jesse George, who went viral last season for their gratis Naz Reid tats. The station also checked in with poor Nate Samuelson, who got a 2025-timestamped Wolves championship trophy tattoo on his thigh. Considering the Wolves fell to 1-3 in the Western Conference Finals last night, Mr. Samuelson may have been a smidge overconfident in his team and his corresponding body art choices. "We'll be hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy," he predicted to Fox 9's Howard Thompson.
Look at These Newborn Wolf Pups, Vote on Their Names
Ely's International Wolf Center has been sitting on a secret. An adorable one. On May 3, the nonprofit wolf education org welcomed two two-and-a-half-week-old pups. The baby wolves will join the rest of the pack when they've reached three months and around 30 pounds, according to a press release, but in the meantime the Wolf Center is monetizing 'em—why wouldn't ya? They'll be available for hourly viewings beginning June 3.
The International Wolf Center is a non-breeding facility that "always adopts captive-born pups," that press release states. So where'd these cuties come from? I reply-all emailed to ask, and one of my colleagues mistook my question ("where did the pups come from?") to mean I lacked a basic understanding of mammalian reproductive biology.
"When pups are scheduled to be added, we coordinate with another USDA-licensed professional animal organization—i.e., a zoo or other wildlife education facility such as our own," reports Carissa Winter, IWC's cagey brand and marketing manager. "The source is always dependent upon reproductive plans within their facility and availability."
Now the IWC folks need your help naming the pups. You can vote here, and you catch watch a vid of them chomping on a pinecone here.
