Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Klobuchar Drags Sydney Sweeney Into Her Anti-AI Campaign
As legislators attempt to regulate AI, American Eagle’s exhausting/white power-coded jeans ad starring Sydney Sweeney is being placed front and center. Or, at least, that’s a big part of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) anti-AI argument in today’s New York Times opinion piece (gift link).
See, Klobes herself was a recent victim of a deepfake on Twitter…
The A.I. deepfake featured me using the phrase “perfect titties” and lamenting that Democrats were “too fat to wear jeans or too ugly to go outside.” Though I could immediately tell that someone used footage from the hearing to make a deepfake, there was no getting around the fact that it looked and sounded very real.
She goes on to point out that deepfakes impact public perceptions of people whether real or not, and that she worked with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on a bill signed by Trump granting legal protections for victims of AI revenge porn.
“The people who create these videos aren’t going to stop at Sydney Sweeney’s jeans,” Klobuchar warns, bringing it back to herself after pointing out that kids are actually killing themselves over deepfakes. (Welp, nice initiative, I guess, but the senator hasn't exactly been distancing herself from killers lately.)
Meanwhile, Disney and Universal, conglomerates with endless money and protected IPs, are going after the root of AI—the companies providing the tech people use to make it. In June, they filed a joint lawsuit against Midjourney, arguing that copyright infringement is embedded in the very core of their business model, right down to media used to “train” AI systems. The ruling on that suit could have far reaching implications on the entire industry. (You can watch a great primer on that case here.)
Uptown Cheba Hut Is Back ON
Covering stoner-themed sub shop Cheba Hut’s on-again, off-again relationship with Minnesota has been less of an emotional rollercoaster and more like being stuck on Disney’s very slow PeopleMover. In 2022, the Colorado-based company announced plans to open in Uptown. But by 2023 fans were big mad about delays and its never-ending Instagram teasers. Paperwork filings earlier this year suggested it was getting evicted and would never open.
But now it looks like the Uptown spot at 1118 W. Lake St. may actually open up—no really, hear me out! Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports that the lease for the Minneapolis space has been signed over to franchisees Nick Reckinger and Matt Alexander.
“We’ll turn it into a happy story," Reckinger tells reporter J.D. Duggan. They’re claiming work is about “80% complete,” and there are plans to open this November—we shall see!
What is Cheba Hut? A sandwich chain offering food and drink with 420-evocative names like “Bong Water,” “Sticky Icky,” and, uh, "French Onion Soup" at around 70 locations nationwide. These spots generally have a full bar (it looks like the Uptown one will, too) though, oddly, no actual THC (the marijuana leaf on the menu denotes vegetarian options).
Oh, and after this Cheba actually Huts in Uptown, there should be a few more soon. “After Uptown, [Reckinger and Alexander are] looking at Dinkytown in Minneapolis, northeast Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Duluth, Mankato and possibly St. Paul,” Duggan reports.
Don’t write checks your ass can’t cash, Cheba!
Happy 25th B-Day, Midtown Greenway!
It’s the 5.5-mile urban fairway that could, and it’s turning 25 this month. The Midtown Greenway offers a path for pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-car travelers to get around south Minneapolis in scenic style, with over 5,000 people using it daily. But it does so much more than that. It’s good PR, often helping us win those “best bike city” awards. It has helped develop neighborhoods, raising property values within 500 feet up $1.8 billion. It gives us easy access to 40-something taco spots.
For a bit of Greenway history and hopes for the future, check out Bill Lindeke’s latest MinnPost piece. Why does Lindeke think we should invest in even more Greenway-style infrastructure?
“If anything, the Midtown Greenway illustrates the utility of an urban trail running through the heart of residential and industrial neighborhoods,” he writes. “I’m guessing the trail would pay for itself over time with increased investment and tax base.”
Flyover Is Taking Tomorrow Off
If you’ve been to Racketmn.com today, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve gone into full State Fair archival mode. That’s because all four of us are prepping for our annual first-day trip to the Great Minnesota Get-Together, where we’ll be trying all 33 new fair foods in one go (see our predictions on what will be “Scarfs!” and what will be “Skips” here). We’ll also be doing some responsible goofing at the fairgrounds tomorrow morning—stay tuned for more on that!
Which is say, we’ll be too sunburned, bloated, and deep on a food-review deadline to do Flyover justice. (Keith has movie listings raring to go up on Thursday morning, however.) But fear not: Flyover will be back along with regularly scheduled programming on Friday.
