Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Twitter Won’t Give KARE 11’s Boyd Huppert His Account Back
Last month, Land of 10,000 Stories host/producer Boyd Huppert discovered that he couldn’t log into his Twitter account, the very aptly named, blue-check verified @BoydHuppert. Turns out, he was hacked. Now, a month later, Twitter is basically telling him he’s SOL. “We know this is disappointing to hear, but we can’t assist you further with accessing your account... You’re more than welcome to create a new account to get back onto Twitter,” Twitter wrote in an unhelpful email that Huppert posted on Facebook. That’s a pretty big bummer; Huppert’s original account is around 12 years old and has nearly 20,000 followers. “I'm not exactly living my life in anonymity, but somehow Twitter can't verify that I'm a real person attached to my Twitter account," he writes on Facebook. "It can't be that hard to straighten this out. I suspect no one has even tried.” Since making the post, friends and fans on Twitter have been vouching not just for Huppert's account, but for Huppert as a person. “@elonmusk please fix this,” writes journalist Al Tompkins. “@BoydHuppert is one the the better forces for good on this planet. He is nice to children, old people, dogs and even unlikeable people like him.”
Let’s Tax Uber and Amazon!
With a likely deficit in transportation funding this year, the Minnesota legislature is mulling over rideshare and delivery fees as possible ways to fill in the gap, MinnPost reports. That means hitting up big app-based businesses like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, as well as mighty Amazon itself. Rep. Erin Koegel (DFL-Spring Lake) has proposed a flat 75-cent fee on deliveries, which would likely raise about $210 million annually. Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis) has proposed a percentage fee on rideshare transactions, though he’s considering changing that to a flat rate. Both new fees would supplement gas taxes, tab fees, and certain transportation-related sales taxes that are already earmarked for transportation spending. Hilariously, a lobbyist for Uber told MinnPost that it’s unfair to treat rideshares differently than traditional taxi services—oh, now you guys want to be treated like taxis?
Big E, Big E, Big E, Can’t You See?
Chef Justin Sutherland's new sandwich chain, Big E, will soon open its first Minnesota location in St. Paul, next to Grand Ole Creamery, in the spot that recently housed the Grand Pizzeria, says the Strib. The first Big E opened in Portland, Oregon, last summer, and Sutherland hopes to have this one up and running sometime before this summer. Local ingredients include Japanese-style milk bread buns from St. Paul's Rose Street Patisserie, coffee from Minneapolis's Misfit Coffee Co., and Cry Baby Craig's as the house hot sauce. The hours will be "early until late,” though it’s unclear whether the chef means late late or just St. Paul late. People magazine recently shared an update on Sutherland’s medical problems. Although he had to undergo multiple surgeries as a result of a July 2022 boating accident, People reports, “the remaining procedures are mostly for ‘comfort or cosmetic’ purposes.”
EagleCam Update: There’s a Tiny Baby in There!!!!
This morning, a tiny fluffy eaglet showed up on the Minnesota DNR’s EagleCam. While the new little buddy mostly stays hidden under the nesting care of its mom and dad, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of fuzz and a bobbing head. “It has already had its first meal this morning,” the DNR announced via its website, estimating that the eaglet hatched sometime last night. “Bald eagle chicks are one of the fastest growing animals on the planet, so tune in to get early shots of (what we think is) the cutest phase of development.” That “cutest phase” is often called the “bobble-head” stage, as the eaglet must develop its neck muscles so it can properly hold its head up. Aw, just like human babies! You can watch the live feed below or, if a 24-7 falcon cam is more your thing, you can watch that feed here.
