Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
AI, AI, No
Generative AI! We at Racket (people who put words in order for a living) think it’s a menace. Maybe you do too.
The University of Minnesota seems much more amenable. The U has partnered with NotebookLM as well as my personal nemesis, Google Gemini. (No, I, Racket's Keith Harris, do not need this email summarized.)
But how does that play out with individual instructors? “While the University has adopted generative AI tools for students and faculty use, instructors have struggled to delegate the role of AI in their prospective classrooms,” writes Isabella Morden Wheeldon for the Minnesota Daily.
“Instead, if I am actually grading an assignment, and I am pretty sure AI has been used, I still try to grade the assignment on its merits,” says associate professor Jack Christian, who teaches first-year writing.
“I do not want to make my classroom kind of an artificial intelligence hermetically sealed chamber,” says Nat Bennett, a senior lecturer at Minnesota Carlson, noting that students will likely be using generative AI at work after the graduate.
He’s unconcerned with the cheating potential. “It is really good at C minus level writing,” he says.
“In the end, it is up to the individual student to decide whether AI is deployed to make the ‘sail’ through college, or whether it’s deployed to help the student develop a critical mind,” journalism senior lecturer Gayle Golden tells Wheeldon.
Sounds like a lot of “whatcha gonna do” to me, but I get it. You’re overworked, underpaid, the federal government is waging a culture war against you, and the last thing you’ve got time for is monitoring some checked-out undergrad who might be letting an app write his papers for him. Focus on the kids who care.
Personally, however, I agree with the story’s illustration of AI as a scary killer robot shooting a death ray at students. Run away!
Locally Angled Charlie Kirk News We'll Address With Maximum Caution/Self-Preservation
Following last week's assassination of right-wing activist/organizer/podcaster Charlie Kirk, the climate around free expression has grown... let's say... icy with a side of censorial tattletale hysteria. In that stifled spirit, here are three Kirk-related items pertinent to Minnesotans presented without our usual free-wheeling commentary.
The group Kirk founded, Turning Point USA, still intends to hold its "American Comeback Tour" event next Monday at Northrop on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus. Daily Wire commentator Michael Knowles will replace Kirk for a "candid conversation about conservative values, followed by a live Q&A session."
OK.
On Wednesday, state Sen. Nathan Wesenberg (R-Little Falls)—who's perhaps best known for his crusade to legalize beaver meat—announced plans for legislation that would direct Legacy Amendment funds toward the creation of a Charlie Kirk statue on the U of M campus. "The statue will symbolize Minnesota's commitment to free expression and the principle that we resolve our differences with words, not force," Wesenberg says via press release.
Got it.
And, finally, apropos of nothing, we'll remind you that the Turning Point USA's Professor Watchlist, which reportedly made some professors' lives a "living hell," still features eight University of Minnesota professors, in addition to professors, authors, lecturers, and educators at colleges and universities around the state.
All right, then.
Get the Green
It's time, THC enjoyers: Recreational cannabis users can now buy from Minnesota's medical marijuana providers. Green Goods started selling recreational-use product at its eight storefronts across the state Tuesday; RISE Dispensaries had grand openings at five locations Wednesday, with three more to follow.
And that's not all: Legacy Cannabis in Duluth just became the first state-licensed microbusiness to sell in the state, opening up right after 4:20 p.m. Tuesday. Blaze it, indeed!
Are folks excited? Yes, duh, reports Nicole Ki for MPR News (in so many words). “It's like one of those things I never thought was gonna happen in my state. So now that it's finally happening, I'm jumping for joy,” says Matthew LaFlex, one of the first in line at RISE’s Eagan location Wednesday morning. He got up at 7 a.m. to make it to the store by 8, an hour before the grand opening.
But that easy access doesn't come cheap, as Axios Twin Cities reporter Nick Halter notes. The 3.5-gram containers of flower at that Eagan location cost $40 to $50—and that's before the state's hefty new cannabis tax, which brings the total closer to $49.95 to $62.44. Axios reports that a "friend of Nick's" (suuuuure) says that 3.5 grams, or roughly an eighth of weed, can be yours for under $30 if you're buying in bulk via... other sellers in the city.
Xcel’s Remote Technology Makes Turning Off Power Cheap, Easy, and Not Always Fun for Customers
In 2023, Xcel Energy began replacing old meters with new ones that have the ability to turn off utilities without anyone actually visiting the property. Now that the company can deny things like gas and electricity with the push of a button from an office, it's doing it way more.
“Xcel used to cut off service to less than 10% of customers that it could have. This year, it’s 29%,” writes Walker Orenstein for the Minnesota Star Tribune, noting that 52,549 Minnesota households were shut off last year.
Folks who do fall behind these days also tend to owe Xcel way more, making it harder to dig out of that debt hole. “The average Xcel customer past due on their bill owed $270 in 2019. That figure was nearly double between 2021 and 2024,” Orenstein writes. (The story’s interactive map shows customer debt ranging from $400-$600 per person between 2024 and 2025.) Add this onto last year’s University of Minnesota report that found that people of color are three times more likely to experience power shut-offs, regardless of income or property ownership.
While Xcel reps note that remote shut-downs are safer and cheaper, those savings aren't getting passed along to customers. In fact, the company actually asked regulators to allow them to charge customers more. Doubling CEO Bob Frenzel's salary in 2023 and being one of the biggest lobbyists in Minnesota doesn't come cheap.
