Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Hegseth "Proud Member" of Christofascistic Church That's Not Wild About Women Voting
One of the great mindfucks of our time involves processing the fact that Pete Hegseth, a man whose pre-Pentagon résumé peaked at "weekend Fox News host," controls history's most deadly imperial war machine. And one of the great indignities involves having to hear from the Minnesota-raised dipshit just about every week, including late last week.
That's when the secretary of defense reposted a video of Doug Wilson, a Christian nationalist pastor, that outlines how Wilson's Idaho church doesn't necessarily believe the 19th Amendment should exist. In that interview with CNN, Wilson also defends his belief that slaves and their masters could have been buddies and calls for sodomy to be recriminalized.
All of Christ for All of Life. https://t.co/QqXhqZFStv
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) August 8, 2025
Now, as drinkers among our readership may already be aware, late-night scrolling can become a blur (love this classic Onion headline on the subject), and Hegseth is (allegedly!) a messy, abusive, adulterous drunk. Did he smash that CNN retweet with full clarity of mind? Impossible to say, and it's best to not think about all the other daily tasks he completes while (allegedly!) shitfaced. Then again, a Pentagon PR hack tells NPR that Hegseth "very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson's writings and teachings," and that he's a "proud member of a church affiliated with the [Wilson-founded] Congregation of Reformed Evangelical Churches." Cool.
If you love punishing yourself, make like me and listen to this excellent two-part Behind the Bastards recap of Hegseth's 2020 book, American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free (Wilson comes up a lot).
Booted by Landlord, Comedy Corner Underground Vows to Fight On
A double-dose of bummer news dropped last week outta Seven Corners. The owners of two longtime Minneapolis establishments—the sporty Corner Bar and its basement club Comedy Corner Underground—announced that their new landlord won't be renewing their leases. (Last month Human Development Fund, "a Muslim-led humanitarian nonprofit," purchased 1501 Washington Ave. S. for $2.16 million, the Biz Journal reported.)
Neither spot has determined a closing date yet, but CCU founder Bob Edwards tells Racket he hopes his club can stay operational through the annual 10,000 Laughs Festival this October.
"I'm proud of what the club has done for local comedy, which is all we've really ever tried to be about," he says. "This ain't the last form of the club, so tell the local comics they're not done dealing with me yet."
He ain't lying about CCU's influence on the local comedy scene. Writing over the weekend via Instagram, comic Geoffrey Asmus praised the 20-year-old club as a launching pad for Twin Cities comedians. Its self-stated ethos ("Minnesota's weird little punk rock comedy basement") always shined through, and hopefully Edwards can recapture that magic at a different address.
Inside the Numbers: How Dead, Dying, Alive, or Thriving Are Minneapolis Restaurants?
Members of the press are dutybound to take anecdotal events and breathlessly ask: Is this a trend? Recent high-profile Twin Cities food/drink closures (Annie's, Palmer's, Young Joni, Cafe Lurcat) have spurred plenty of these trend pieces, with varying degrees of competency. So it was nice to see WCCO dig into the numbers to determine whether or not "the Twin Cities restaurant scene in crisis." What'd reporter Jeff Wagner find after asking the city for Minneapolis restaurant licensing data going back to 2017? Well, here are the total restaurant licenses by year that he unearthed:
- 2017: 1,791
- 2018: 1,979
- 2019: 2,019
- 2020: 1,446
- 2021: 1,800
- 2022: 1,925
- 2023: 1,829
- 2024: 1,844
- 2025: 1,484 (as of July)
Doesn't exactly seem like a crisis. But! "I do think that this initial decline could certainly become a long-term trend," WCCO Radio's Jason DeRusha warns his old TV station, adding that higher rents and wages present hurdles for mom 'n' pop operators. "There's so much talent in this city, that's why we want to make sure this industry survives," says North Star Deli owner Pedro Wolcott, who, like DeRusha, believes upstart energy might drift to the cheaper 'burbs. In the meantime, the Minneapolis restaurant scene seems determined to support around 1,800 establishments in any given year.
Good Cheerleader Attacked by Online Psychos
Did you know this year's Vikings cheerleader squad includes a talented young man named Blaize Shiek? The Fargo native made the team in May, writing via Instagram: "I am so grateful for this journey, the support, and the opportunity to make a little history along the way. I hope to represent and inspire what’s possible when you stay true to who you are." (Another dude, Louie Conn, also made the roster.)
Nice! Way to go, Blaize. Or that's how a normal person might confront the knowledge that a man will be cheering for the Vikes in a professional capacity.
Unfortunately our sicko online culture doesn't reward normalcy; rather, it algorithmically spews the type of hate that Shiek endured over the weekend. "I’m so done with this state JFC," wrote one MAGA chud via Twitter. "As much as I love my Minnesota Vikings, I will not be supporting them any longer after I found out they have a male cheerleader. Im so done with this woke, bullsh*t!" wrote another. Facebook users are acting just as cruel.
But! Turns out more than a quarter of NFL teams employ male cheerleaders, Outsports reports; last season the Baltimore Ravens boasted 19 of 'em. Noted war criminals like George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan were once male cheerleaders, proving that this sorta "woke bullsh*t" has deep historic right-wing connections.
We've reached out to Shiek to hear more about his career and accomplishments. Kinda sorry for even entertaining this non-story, but at least it's an excuse to learn more about Shiek and Conn:
