Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily midday digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Kook to Appear With Other Kooks
Alleged physician Scott Jensen will be in his element when he speaks at Alexandria’s “Global Health Freedom Summit” on October 1. Your potential future governor, who was unvaccinated against COVID as of January, and likely hasn’t changed his mind since, once called the virus “a mild four-day respiratory illness.” (The mild illness has killed almost 6.5 million people around the globe.) Over at the Minnesota Reformer, Deena Winter took a peek at Jensen’s fellow speakers, and they’re just the sort of scummy scammers, conspiracy theorists, and outright quacks you’d expect. Perhaps the kookiest is Sherri Tenpenny of Cleveland, who has made nice living for herself by proclaiming that the vaccine magnetizes people and connects them to 5G cellphone towers. (Like becoming an X-Man-style mutant is that easy!) Other winners include Eden Prairie doctor Robert Zajac, repeatedly disciplined by the state medical board for counseling parents against supposedly “unsafe” childhood vaccines. Several attendees agree with Jensen that anti-vaxxers are like Jews in Hitler’s Germany, and there’s a least one hydroxychloroquine supporter. If any accurate medical advice escapes anyone’s lips during this convention, it will be purely by accident.
Wait, Minneapolis Ranks #2 for Gen Z HOW?
Data, what does it mean? Often, it’s open to interpretation. One real estate listings service used its data to come up with a bonkers list of top cities for Gen Zers and, wow, it’s really something. Minneapolis placed second in its ranking of the best cities for Zoomers, which they define as 18- to 25-year-olds. The criteria: affordability, Gen Z population share, unemployment rate, internet speed, recreational and dining establishments, green commuting options, number of parks, and school enrollment. While the usual suspects helped us smoke the competition (parks per residents, green commuting options), we also did surprisingly well in internet speed (if you can afford it), school enrollment (ditto), and overall affordability. (Uh, have they heard about our rapidly rising rent and housing market?) Though we may be the second “best” city for Zoomers, that doesn’t mean they actually have the income to live independently here; this New York Times article helpfully points out that despite solid employment rates, a third of them are still living with their parents. Other unexpected cities that made the list include Atlanta (#1), Tucson (#4), New York City (#10), and Boston (#3)?!
The Guv Debate That Made MN History
Star Tribune reporters take turns helming the ol' Curious Minnesota byline, and we were delighted to see Randy Furst's name appear this week. The old-school, rabble-rousing Pulitzer Prize finalist spins a fascinating yarn about the 1990 gubernatorial election, a race that saw the GOP-endorsed candidate, Jon Grunseth, withdraw nine days before the election amid a disturbing child-sex controversy. "This campaign was so nuts and there were so many weird things," says Bill Hanley, the former VP at Twin Cities Public Television. TPT enjoyed its highest ratings ever during the Grunseth/Arne Carlson/Rudy Perpich debate, and Carlson—who generously gabbed about Jingle All the Way with us last winter—would later emerge as the write-in upset winner. Grunseth? He left the damn country. Do yourself a favor and relive the entire saga via Furst. In more contemporary debate news: Gubernatorial candidates Gov. Tim Walz and Dr. Scott Jensen finally have one on the books, following much clamoring from the Jensen camp.
Activate the Meme!
Joe Soucheray, the throwback right-wing blowhard whose reliably shitty, weird takes do provide welcome entertainment, made a legit great point Thursday at the State Fair. Here's the host of Garage Logic admonishing GOP gubernatorial candidate Dr. Scott Jensen and his moochin' ticketmate:
Cue the classic ClickHole meme.
