Omar Endorses Not-Frey
Ilhan Omar became the latest progressive Minnesota officeholder to come out in support for Anyone But Frey in next month’s mayoral election in Minneapolis. At a press conference at Minneapolis City Hall, Omar endorsed both Kate Knuth and Sheila Nezhad. Her remarks also called out Mayor Jacob Frey. "Both of these women are qualified and passionate,” Omar said. “One of them would make an excellent leader for Minneapolis, and both of them would be a better fit for the city than the current mayor." In perhaps less consequential but far more surprising endorsement news, Ninth Ward City Council Member Alondra Cano, who had recently seemed quite cozy with Frey’s agenda, endorsed Knuth today. Gonna be wild couple weeks still.
Racing in the Street
“Cars and teenagers have been a combustible mix for as long as there’ve been cars and teenagers,” writes Steve Marsh over at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. Marsh went on a ride-along with the street racers whose engines we hear revving at night and whose stories we only hear filtered through @CrimeWatchMpls. It’s a nuanced, well-told tale, and the idea of your grandpa in Eden Prairie reading it while waiting for a dental appointment is pretty sweet. Another thing about cars is that people driving them kill a lot of people: Minnesota is on track for the most road deaths since 2007, with 384 so far as of last Thursday.
When Is a Road Not a Road?
Not to turn The Flyover into a running John Reinan appreciation thread, but goddamn the Strib's Greater Minnesota reporter unearths some doozies. Consider his latest from Hillman Township, where a dispute over whether a road even exists is tearing a community apart. The Crisman family needs the quarter-mile gravel strip to legally access their home outside of Mora, Reinan reports. But since the road hasn't been maintained in 40+ years, the state's postmodern declaration is that it no longer exists, thus making it part of the neighboring property. Things have since gotten litigious and bitter. "It's so stupid the way this has snowballed into a big, dumb thing," says neighbor Dan Schmoll. "It's been a waste of time for everybody."
This Is the People's Water Tank
Some see a water tank as a way to keep people and local agriculture hydrated and safe from fire. Others see a giant canvas in the sky. Commercial and industrial paint coating company Tnemec celebrates the latter with its annual Tank of the Year Contest. This year, Rochester's majestic, uniquely shaped sky corn water tower has won the People's Choice Award, beating out nearly 300 other tanks, including White Bear Lake's "polar bear peepin' at ya" tower. That means Corn Tower's spot is secured in Tnemec's very sexy sounding Water Towers of 2022 calendar. According to Bring Me the News, the other 11 winners will be determined by the shadowy "protective coating business."
