Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily midday digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Seeking the Melty, Meaty Truth of Mike Lindell's Drive-Thru Ordeal
When local Trump toady/election conspiracist/pillow huckster Mike Lindell went public with details of the FBI seizing his cellphone at a Mankato Hardee's, we had questions. Actually, just one trivial-yet-entertaining question: Was Lindell lying about the location of the raid? We relied on anecdotal and circumstantial evidence to question his claims ("I know for a fact it didn't happen," the restaurant's GM told us), and now Minnesota Reformer and independent journalist Tony Webster are busting out the big guns of truth: They filed a motion Wednesday asking a federal judge to unseal the search warrant documents the FBI used to justify taking Lindell's phone. Their reasoning may sound like a de facto defense of the pillow wacko, but it's important to remember that the feds, historically, aren't your friends either.
“Journalists and the public are unable to evaluate whether the exercise of judicial and executive power associated with executing the warrant is appropriate...,” the filing states. “This is crucial information for the public and the press to perform their oversight function, particularly as it relates to bedrock issues of election integrity and public corruption.” Yes, sure, true, important, thanks. But! Those docs could also reveal whether Lindell's infamously unreliable mouth, in the moments before agents encircled his Dodge Ram, actually ordered a Hardee's mushroom 'n' swiss burger.
Mercado Central to Jensen: Buzz Off, Bozo!
Dr. Scott Jensen, a noted bozo who’s running for governor on the GOP ticket, recently dropped a pandering ad to the Hispanic voting bloc, which some say is trending rightward nationally. (Fellow bozo Donald Trump at least pandered with more pizzazz.) Leaders at Minneapolis’s Mercado Central, the beloved Latino supermarket on Lake Street, are not pleased, and they’d like him to stop running the spot. They say the ad could lead viewers to believe that Mercado Central endorsed his candidacy (they don’t wade into politics) and that they would’ve appreciated a heads-up (Jensen’s ad team showed up unannounced, apparently). "It is troubling that a political campaign would blithely appropriate and exploit Mercado Central's iconic image without the minimum courtesy of consulting with the leadership or tenants of our cultural mall," a letter from Mercado Central’s board of directors reads, adding that the building murals are protected by copyright law. "Therefore, we trust that your campaign will take swift and appropriate action to prevent further unauthorized use of Mercado Central's image.” We asked the Jensen campaign for comment, but didn’t immediately hear back.
Oops! MN’s Schools are Racially Imbalanced. But That’s OK.
That’s the conclusion made by the Minnesota Court of Appeals this week on a case dating back to 2015. It’s only considered segregation if it can be proven that the segregation is intentional. Otherwise, it’s just racial imbalance. You know, one of the biggest issues in America today. "The existence of a racial imbalance in the student body of a school, as compared to other schools in the same school district or school system, is not a per se violation of the Education Clause of the Minnesota Constitution, unless the racial imbalance is caused by intentional, de jure segregation," wrote Appeals Judge Matthew Johnson. The seven-year-old case argues that over the last 20 years, the state’s efforts to desegregate schools have failed; lawyers on the case also argue that independent/charter schools, which are currently exempt, should meet this criteria as well. This appeal isn’t the end, however, the plaintiffs, a group of Minnesota parents, plan to take the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. You can read more about the decision and the case’s history in The 74.
Let’s All Watch a Tunnel Get Scrubbed
Why is it so satisfying to witness a power-washer go about its simple task? There’s something magical about watching a pollution-blackened tunnel restored to brand new before our eyes. That’s why whenever MnDOT announces a new tunnel cleaning, a certain segment of social media lights up with pleasure. Well, have we got good news for you lovers of infrastructure maintenance porn. (Which most definitely includes the Racket staff.) From Monday through Wednesday, October 3-5, the Lowry Tunnel will be scrubbed, which means I-94 will be closed overnight (10 p.m. to 5 a.m.) at Hennepin/Lyndale Ave. and I-394. And along with that announcement came the cool (if too brief) video below. MNDOT should honestly livestream the event, or at least preserve a video for future chill-out needs. (Also, wow, tunnels are nasty. That gunk’s in our lungs, huh?)
