Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Steve Drazkowski Is a Real Drag—and How(ski)!
“The least fun man in Minnesota just tried outlawing funny digital MnDOT signs on highways,” a DFL source texted us yesterday, linking to state Sen. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) transportation bill amendment from Thursday that, yes, would mandate those signs...
convey a clear and simple message without witticisms, colloquialisms, neologisms, portmanteaus, hashtags, electronic or internet shorthand or slang, popular culture references that target or are comprehended by a limited segment of the driving population, or any other message relying on hidden meanings, targeted cultural knowledge, or unconventional syntax to understand the message.
As J. Patrick Coolican points out today in the Minnesota Reformer, Draz, a guy who opposed banning cellphone use while driving in 2019, supported his amendment by citing an article in Science that warned drivers are susceptible to “cognitive overload.” The senator wants those cheeky MnDOT messages, which we celebrated in a fun Racket feature (see below) gone. Why? In part, because they’re “Big Brother-type messages.” Right…
Longtime Drazkowski observers are painfully aware he has been a peerless right-wing crank for decades, the type of reactionary dolt who repeats debunked claims about trans kids using classroom litter boxes.
Racism Pays
Maybe you’ve seen a video of a man confronting a white woman for allegedly calling a five-year-old Black child a racial slur at the Soldiers Field Park playground in Rochester. The woman repeats the slur several times, accuses the boy of trying to steal from her, and says "If he acts like one then he’s going to be called one."
It’s less likely that you’ve decided to give money to this woman. However, as of this afternoon, nearly 14,000 people have donated a total of $377,000 to an online fundraiser in the name of “Shiloh Hendrix,” the woman in the video. The post claims that Hendrix’s family has to move because her name, address, and social security number have been leaked, and the goal is $1 million. (Where the hell is she moving?)
The messages left by well-wishers are as fucked up as you’d expect. A typical comment: “If White [sic] people don't stand up for each other, no one will stand up for us.” White nationalist organization the Northwest Front offers words of support, and several donors with the username “14 Words” comment using the white nationalist slogan, "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."
On a more positive note, the Rochester NAACP has a fundraising page up called “Help Us Seek Justice for a 5-Year-Old Facing Racial Hate.” It has already raised $100,000, and the money will go toward “legal redress and social justice efforts in support of the child and family” as well as “legal advocacy, accountability, and restorative efforts, also in support of the child and family.”
RIP Pop Icon Jill Sobule
Before Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” there was Jill Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl,” a catchy little song about ladies experimentin’. When it was released in 1995, it was pretty much the only (openly) gay tune on the radio. (Others may know Sobule for her other Top 20 hit, “Super Model”—the jam played over Brittany Murphy’s character's makeover in Clueless.)
Sobule’s reps have confirmed that she died Thursday morning in a Woodbury house fire. According to the Current, she was in town in preparation for an upcoming performance at Parkway Theater. She was 66.
“No one made me laugh more. Her spirit and energy shall be greatly missed within the music community and beyond,” booking agent Craig Grossman says in a statement.
Born and raised in Denver, Sobule wrote songs about her struggles with depression and accepting bisexuality, political riffs, and just life in general. Over her multi-decade career she released 12 albums, and wrote an off-Broadway play. Ramsey County officials have not released a cause of death yet and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Meet the Man Behind the LOTI Pencil
"Interviewing John Higgins has been on my bucket list since the Lake of the Isles Pencil was constructed," writes Melody Hoffmann of Southwest Voices, referring, of course, to the locally famous No. 2 pencil in the front yard of Higgins's home.
The LOTI Pencil and the annual "sharpening" events Higgins hosts each June have quickly become a hit, but his contributions to the community don't end there. After Icehouse was threatened with eviction, it was Higgins who took over the struggling Eat Street venue and restaurant in 2024 (Hoffmann reports that she's seen him running drinks and food to tables during shows). His family also supports the local arts scene in other ways; last year he became a Walker Art Center board member.
Asked about his sense of humor, Higgins replies:
That's great to hear you think I'm funny, because a lot of this is just being whimsical, being fun. Life is so serious. We've got the pencil dancers with the purpose of just engaging the crowd. It's not an agenda. It's just for fun. I'm the CEO of companies, I run large companies, and I do a lot of event planning and project management. That is my life and career. But bringing that experience or sense of humor into any project, it's all with the goal of, how can we all just get on the same page and have fun together? You laugh or tell a story together.
