Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Cheba Will Not Hut in Uptown
Can a restaurant close if it never opened? Is it possible to mourn something you never had? Is Uptown dead? These are some of the questions you might ask yourself upon hearing that the Uptown Cheba Hut has been served eviction papers. According to court documents, the company failed to pay February rent on its (never opened) shop at the Asher apartment complex at 1125 Lagoon Ave. in Minneapolis. That matter was settled out of court, but when Cheba Hut failed to pay rent in March, an eviction notice was issued. It's currently on the hook for $49,413.45.
But what is a Cheba Hut? Minnesota may never know! The Colorado-based toasted sub shop announced back in April of '22 that it would be opening just in time for legalized weed. (Curiously, they sell sammies named “Dank” and “Senshi Kush,” as well as alcoholic cocktails like the “Hash Can” and “Buzzed Bong Water,” yet they do not sell anything with THC in it.) By 2023, fans were starting to get annoyed and wanted answers on the opening delay. “Look, we want this door open as much as you guys do,” Seth Larson, chief relationship officer at Cheba Hut, told Racket at the time. "We will get there and we will have a kick-ass pre-open party... we do see some light at the end of the tunnel here.”
Welp, looks like that "light" was actually sandwich heaven.
What Could Go Wrong? MN Crypto Bill Introduced.
It's an insecure world with a tanking stock market—a great time to add even more chaos in the mix, right? Enter Bitcoin, the decentralized cryptocurrency favored among money launderers, fraudsters, and the kinds of folks who keep offshore accounts. Sen. Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) wants Minnesota to be a crypto bro, too—he just introduced a Bitcoin bill in the state legislature.
“I’ve gone from being highly skeptical, to learning more about it, to believing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,” Miller says, describing the all-too-familiar normal-to-nuts pipeline. (Miller's previous legislative efforts focused on legalizing sports betting—don't read into the parallels.)
The proposed Minnesota Bitcoin Act would make it make it so state employees could invest their retirement savings in crypto and pay their taxes in crypto, and the state itself could opt to invest in cryptocurrencies like DOGEcoin, Ethereum, or memecoins instead of things like stocks and bonds. It would also give residents the option to pay state taxes and fees with crypto and make crypto investment gains exempt from state income taxes.
Bitcoin fans are expecting mega wins for imaginary money this year thanks to big talk from Trump and state legislators across the country. Financial institutions, however, still warn that crypto is a risky and highly volatile investment susceptible to market manipulation (not to mention how horribly bad for the environment it is).
IPG Tenants Describe the Stuff of Nightmares
You know things are bad when a group of renters holds a press conference to expound on the horrid conditions they’re living in because their rental agency has failed them. That’s what south Minneapolis tenants of IPG properties did last week, and journalist Deanna Pistono is sharing some horror stories over at MinnPost. We’re talking ceiling mold, people living in laundry rooms, human feces in hallways, heating issues spanning years, car break-ins, and all kinds of infestations. “They haven’t even painted the lines to separate the parking spots since they’ve been here,” longtime resident Michael Hru says of his property.
According to tenants, about 20 folks received eviction notices last month from the company, most of them going to tenants who have been asking for repairs. Pistono also notes that IPG has been on Attorney General Keith Ellison’s radar the last few years for charging exorbitant utility fees and for other pending lawsuits.
Encampment Clearings by the Numbers
Last fall, the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance requiring city staff to log info and publicly release information encampment clear-outs, including locations, eviction notices, outreach efforts, overall hours and cost, and equipment used. A report released yesterday from Regulatory Services Director Enrique Velazquez helps map out the bigger picture of what went on at homeless encampments between July 25 and December 18. That includes the number of encampments closed (17), the staggering amount spent bullying people out of their homes ($332,620—mostly from the MPD budget), how many residents were affected (227), and how many people were offered temporary shelter (169, nine accepted). For more context and findings, Velazquez will be giving a formal presentation on his findings at a public meeting this Thursday at 10 a.m. (you can also stream it here).
