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Here's Dashcam Footage of Rep. Engen's Arrest
You may recall that back in March, after Rep. Elliott Engen (R-Lino Lakes) was arrested under suspicion of DWI after an apparent day-drinking spree with Rep. Walter Hudson (R-Albertville), the latter man was in possession of a 9 mm handgun. Hudson has a permit to carry, but it's a misdemeanor in Minnesota to have a gun on you if your blood alcohol content is .04 or higher. He was never charged in the incident.
Why do we bring this up now? Well, authorities have released the dashcam video from the March incident, including portions in which Hudson and an unidentified man are getting a ride back to the station in a squad car. KARE 11's Jana Shortal and Lou Raguse sat down to discuss the footage, in which Hudson says to the mystery passenger, "He's cuttin' me a break."
"You're a politician though, right?" the unidentified party asks Hudson at one point.
"That's correct. But I'm a very pro-cop politician," the Republican lawmaker replies.
Hm! White Bear Lake's chief of police said at the time of Engen's arrest that the officer at the scene used his own discretion and opted not to give Hudson a field sobriety test, which, hey, I guess we don't know how drunk Hudson seemed.
But that's not all! When Hudson's unidentified companion asks how Engen got pulled over, the pro-cop politician replies, "He drives like a motherfuckin' retard."
Incredibly cool stuff all around, guys. Engen stepped down from the Legislature after he was charged; Hudson is still a sitting member of the House of Representatives and spends most of his days complaining about Somali people on Twitter.
The Man Who Protects St. Paul's Encampment Residents
For MPR News, Cari Spencer has this moving profile of Dan Campbell, a 61-year-old former roofer who spends his days protecting the people of the Shepard Road encampment in St. Paul.
Campbell, who became homeless after a traumatic injury put him out of work, is one of the camp's oldest residents and, Spencer writes, a pillar of the community. He welcomes people to warm up in his tent and shares what little money he has to help feed others. He fixes things for neighbors when he has time, and he's a CPR pro—he's reversed many overdoses over the years.
And when 59-year-old Corinna Gonzales was threatened by someone with a machete, it was Campbell who disarmed the man and de-escalated the situation. “Just like every other human being, we don't want people to get hurt,” he tells MPR. “So we just do what we have to."
Grocery Shopping With Wedge LIVE! (Without a Car)
Whether he's planning cat tours or interviewing our civic leaders by bike, no one is doing it like Wedge LIVE's John Edwards. Just take his latest video series: "Grocery Shopping With Strangers Without a Car." On the newest installment, posted Thursday, Edwards joins DFL legislative assistant Ayana Smith-Kooiman as she scoots to Aldi and catches the bus home. A transit rider who does not own a car himself, Edwards tells Smith-Kooiman that he started the series to reach folks who might be "transit-curious" but who think it would be too difficult or annoying or scary to do something like grab groceries without an automobile.
More than that, Edwards and his guests make shopping without a car look... fun! You know that old Vonnegut bit about how we're on this Earth to fart around? The carless grocery series is the embodiment of how the fastest and most convenient way to do stuff isn't always the best or most enjoyable way.
Edwards previously went grocery shopping with the very funny Blue Delliquanti at Cub, joined Elliot Newhouse on a rainy bus ride to Trader Joe's, and biked home from Costco with Parker Seaman. You can watch the latest segment in full below.
And Speaking of Carlessness...
We've got bad news for folks who rely on Hourcar, the Twin Cities car-sharing system that launched back in 2005. The Star Tribune's Tim Harlow reports (gift link) that the nonprofit, unable to close a $625,000 funding gap, will shut down by October 15.
Earlier this year, Hourcar secured $475,000 from the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, but it wasn't enough to erase the company's $1.1 million deficit. Record-high insurance rates are to blame: According to Hourcar president and CEO Amanda La Grange, roughly a quarter of the nonprofit's budget went to insurance.
“Maybe neighbors will go in together on a car and do informal car sharing,” La Grange tells the Strib. “This was such a gem, a beautiful thing. It’s a heavy day to share this news. It’s too important of a service not to have in our community.”
A group calling itself Neighbors for Community Carshare has made it easy to contact your reps in support of Hourcar, and they're planning a rally at a date and time TBD.
And hey, if you can drive a manual and want to borrow my Baja, just ask!
