Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Feeding Hundreds of Hungry Schoolchildren
The Minnesota Star Tribune's Mara Klecker has an interesting look at the "frenzy" that comes along with serving millions more free breakfasts to kids, as the state enters the second year of universal school meals.
In the 2023-24 school year, the number of lunches served jumped up by about 14 million, or 15%. But the number of breakfasts served? That surged by about 40% statewide, with an additional 13.8 million morning meals flyin' out of school cafeterias. That's been difficult to manage, because while lunch times can be staggered throughout the day, many kids hit school grounds with just 15 or 30 minutes before the first bell.
At Echo Park Elementary School in Burnsville, “it’s like Los Angeles traffic” between 9:15 and 9:30 a.m., principal Logan Schultz tells Klecker. Schools are managing that deluge of hungry kids differently; some offer grab-and-go breakfasts, while others, like Echo Park, have kids fill a bag with food to eat in the classroom while their teachers take attendance. To keep it speedy, staffers scan barcodes on kids' backpacks as they move through the line, and for "efficiency and maybe to avoid collisions," Klecker writes, preschoolers and kindergarteners select lunch from a cart that wheels through their classrooms.
The Future of St. Paul's Childcare Tax
Speaking of kids and how we care for them, Gov. Tim Walz voted early on Wednesday, casting his ballot for Kamala Harris and voting "no" on St. Paul's childcare referendum, the contentious proposal that would levy property taxes in order to fund free childcare, Fox 9's Nick Longworth reports.
Last year, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter vetoed a City Council-backed plan to fund childcare for families making less than 185% of the federal poverty level (about $55,500 annually), saying that the cost to the city would be, at a minimum, $111 million annually. The City Council overrode that veto, sending the issue to voters this fall.
More recently, Carter has said that even if voters approve the budget proposal, he won't implement it, as James Walsh reported for the Minnesota Star Tribune earlier this month. How can he do that? Well, the argument is that the ballot question language “authorizes” a special property tax levy but doesn’t automatically certify one.
Carter's saying the city simply doesn't have the money, and that with the way the ballot question is phrased, he's off the hook. This has the potential to get very weird and messy if voters do OK the ballot question come November 5. Me? I don't really comprehend how any parents in Minnesota are paying for childcare—it's like having a second mortgage/rent payment.
Let's Read About 50+ Burgers
And speaking of... food? The Pioneer Press just released a sprawling guide to the best burgers in the Twin Cities. Jess Fleming and Jared Kaufman have divided the honorees into six categories: burgers by chefs, dive bars, neighborhood burgers, destination burgers, cult burgers, and cheers (burgers to pair with drinks).
I'd quibble that 26 cheffy burgers might be too high a number, especially when there are just three cult favorites, but then I'd also argue that some of the spots included in that chef-made section (Burger Daddies, Angry Line Cook) fall more into the "cult" category. And speaking of the "cult" category... what are Matt's and the Nook doing there? Feels like we need a separate category for classics or perhaps burgers of national renown.
But arguing is the point of these sorts of lists, after all! So go ahead, dive in, bicker, and then go ahead and get yourself a burger.
Who Will Buy the MN Twins?
There's an "understated potential suitor" in the mix to buy the Minnesota Twins, reports Charley Walters, elsewhere in the Pioneer Press. How very Brontëan!
Walters writes that the most recognizable names with potential to buy the team are Marty Davis, the Cambria quartz countertop guy with big family dairy money, and Glen Taylor, the billionaire owner of the Star Tribune and, at least for now, owner of the Wolves/Lynx. But then Walters tosses us a curveball (baseball term): What about Jim Hays? No? Anybody?
The 67-year-old Hays is "a Minneapolis Patrick Henry High and University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business grad who is well-connected in baseball and loves the game," per Walters. He founded Minneapolis's Hays Companies, which apparently is "among the country’s leading business insurance brokerages," and he "operates a myriad of other major businesses." So, another rich white guy—but a lesser-known rich white guy!
