Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Hail Free Speech
It's becoming a Christmastime tradition on par with the proliferation of horny holiday movies. Each year, Satanist groups erect displays at state houses as wink-nudge reminders about the freedoms of religion and speech; each year, Christian conservatives lose their shit. It happened last year in Iowa, stoking a national media feeding frenzy (and in Florida in '14... and in Illinois in '18...). And it's happening right now in St. Paul.
"Thanks to all the hard work from our Congregation, especially Calcifer, for helping us set up Minnesota Satanist's first ever holiday display at the State Capital in Saint Paul!" the Minnesota Satanists, whose logo is sick as hell, posted Saturday via Facebook. "HAIL RELIGIOUS PLURALITY!!! HAIL SATAN!!!"
Here's where we'll go out of our way to explain the group, which was founded in 2017 and achieved 501(c)(3) religious tax designation last year. It's not dedicated to goat sacrifices or ushering in the unholy reign of Ol' Scratch. Instead, it hosts "Beelzeboard" game nights and throws goth parties at Sisyphus Brewing. In its own words…
Although we venerate the literary figure of Satan, we do not believe they are a real entity, nor do we worship them. If we were to worship anyone, we would say we worship ourselves and those we care about… We champion the symbol of Lucifer as representing revolt against arbitrary authority and oppression, advocacy for the pursuit of knowledge and reason, and sympathy with the scapegoat and the downtrodden.
You get the idea.
Among the dopes who wasted zero time descending into moral panic over the downright tasteful Satanism display inside the Capitol rotunda: Former Minnesota Senate majority leader Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa), current U.S. Reps. Pete Stauber and Tom Emmer, and, of course, Alpha News.
"This is a huge insult to Christians. There are a lot of 'firsts' under Walz…1st police precinct to burn down etc.," Gazelka writes via Twitter. "But to prominently allow a satanic shrine at the Capitol takes the cake."
You gotta wonder how outraged these honest brokers got at the nearby Capitol Christmas tree, which went up a couple weeks back! The office of Gov. Tim Walz tells WCCO that, while the governor doesn't agree with or approve of the satanic display, "The First Amendment means that he does not police speech in the State Capitol."
We reached out to the Minnesota Satanists for an interview, but didn't immediately hear back—guess it wasn't god and/or satan's plan.
Moms Allege Tutoring Companies Outsourced to Oversees Instructors, Left Them on Hook for Thousands
Last Friday, the Minnesota Reformer's Patrick Coolican published a column asking that state officials please, for the love of god, do something about our rampant fraud problem. The Reformer editor knew his outlet had yet another fraud doozy in the hopper, and that's exactly what it published today: This deeply reported and deeply enraging account from Max Nesterak about tutoring companies allegedly preying on low-income families while exploiting government programs.
There are lots of moving parts, but the gist is two connected companies—Success Tutoring and Achievers Tutoring—reportedly used connections at Bloomington's Dar Al-Farooq mosque to find East African families with children in need of tutoring. Problems began percolating immediately, 18 moms allege. Some of the kids reported that their online tutors were difficult to understand, and after sitting in on a session himself, Nesterak confirmed that at some of the instructors employed by Achievers are Filipino folks making $4.50 per hour. “It’s not that much I guess compared to if I work in Minnesota,” Julieross Elveña told the Reformer with a laugh.
The two men behind Success and Achievers—Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf and Osman Sheik-Yusuf—post flashy social media photos in Cybertrucks, and Abdijalil testified last year before the Minnesota Senate Taxes Committee on the need for more money to flow into the K-12 Education Credit, which is intended finance tutors for low-income families, wearing a Louis Vuitton scarf. Moms like Lul Mohamud signed up with Achievers, having been promised free tutoring for her kids after she handed over personal information like her social security number.
Come tax time, the Minnesota Department of Revenue informed Mohamud that she was being audited, and that all of her $2,418.43 state refund would be used to pay back the $3,000 she'd claimed for the K-12 Education Credit. Her story is "strikingly similar" to others told to the Reformer by moms recruited by Achievers Tutoring. “We compliance [sic] with all guidelines,” Abdijalil Sheik-Yusuf tells the Reformer.
“We have gone everywhere looking for assistance,” Mohamud says, noting that she and the other moms still receive threatening messages from anonymous numbers, criticizing them for speaking out.
Putting a Price on Downtown Real Estate
There's a lot of enthusiastic chatter about saving downtown Minneapolis, though a recent real estate transaction suggests the urban core really ain't what she used to be. The Wells Fargo Center—downtown's third-tallest skyscraper, behind the IDS Center and Capella Tower—was recently acquired by three companies for $85 million, an unnamed source tells Finance & Commerce. That's notable because the last time the 57-story, 1.15-million-square-foot art deco tower sold? It was for $313.6 million, back in 2019.
The Wells Fargo Center is reportedly 62% leased out, though a press release bills it as “one of Minneapolis’ most desirable [properties], averaging 95% occupancy since 1988." (Minneapolis and St. Paul's central business districts have vacancy rates hovering above 25%, according to an October report from Colliers.) Designed by famed Argentine-American architect César Pelli, the Wells Fargo Center opened in '88, fresh off a thrilling Twins World Series victory the previous fall.
MN Cat Condo Warms Internet's Heart
I hadn't heard of Helping Feral Cats, a modestly sized Facebook group dedicated to... exactly what you think it'd be. But over the weekend a Minnesota-sourced contribution to Helping Feral Cats went bonkers viral, attracting 419,000+ reactions.
In it, Angie Olson writes...
My parents had 4 cats show up in their yard awhile back. Our Minnesota winters get cold so my dad built this cat condo for them and they love it. The platform is for their food and water so the wild animals don’t steal it from them. The bird feeder is their favorite as they love the entertainment it brings.
Followed by the photo below...
Aww. Very sweet stuff. We reached out to Olson for pertinent deets, like where pops lives and how he's handling blowing up online, but we didn't hear back.
In other news from the critter beat: Did you know a celebrity neighborhood pig hangs around the St. Paul Kowalski's? Or that this three-legged wolf is reportedly thriving?
