News Flash: Drinking and Walking Around a Pleasant Experience

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.

Anoka: The New Orleans of the North?

Last year, Anoka became the first Minnesota city to designate a downtown "social district" where folks were allowed to walk around outside and shop with an alcoholic drink in hand. The five-month pilot was a hit, and so Anoka is bringing the pro-open container program back in 2025, with the the season kicking off May 1.

In fact, seeing Anoka's success, Stillwater and Shakopee are are planning to launch their own so-called social districts this year, reports Sarah Ritter for the Star Tribune. Even Blaine is getting in on the action. And as more cities show interest, state lawmakers are considering legislation to expand the concept statewide and make it easier to establish these districts. Will Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis be next?

“I think we’re all a little bit challenged with this economy,” says Becky Althoff, owner of the shop SWAG Etc in downtown Anoka. “So having the option of a social district that can bring out more groups of people who might be interested in walking around downtown, I love it.”

Anyway, read the whole Strib story above (gift link)—I was delighted to see the Gilly Grenades from our drunken Halloween scene report in Anoka make an appearance here as well.

State Worker Return to Office Mandate Looms

With about a month until Gov. Tim Walz's order mandating most state employees return to the office part-time goes into effect, a recently posted change means workers living 50+ miles from their primary worksite will be able to seek extra telework allowances. (Originally, that had been 75 miles.) A spokesperson for the Department of Minnesota Management tells MPR News that the change "grew out of feedback—and loud criticism—received from state workers in response to the initial plan."

If you're thinking, "Hm, that doesn't seem like it addresses all of the feedback and/or loud criticism," Megan Dayton, president of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, agrees with you. Dayton tells MPR that union leadership won't be giving detailed comment now that contract negotiations are underway. But she sounds unconvinced by the 25-mile adjustment: "We view this as a cosmetic adjustment to an inherently flawed policy that continues to disrupt state operations, require unnecessary costs, and destabilize the workforce without addressing any clear operational need," Dayton says in an email to MPR.

The return to office order goes into effect June 1; Walz says he's meeting with union leaders Thursday.

Some Fish Updates for Ya

First, the bass—er, bad—news: the St. Paul State Fish Hatchery is in trouble, according to the nonprofit MN-FISH, which is trying to raise awareness about the need for major upgrades at the 150+ year-old facility. This is the metro's only state-operated fish hatchery, according to a WCCO report, and it needs funds to fix... well, a whole lot of stuff. And while regular maintenance is covered through state funding, bigger upgrades to the Minnesota DNR-managed site will require legislative action.

"It's a really funny question asking, like, what could be done? Because, in a way, there's just so much that can be done," manager Genevieve Furtner says. "It's really hard for me to even quantify specifically we need this and this and this."

In sunnier fish news (but, to be clear, not sunfish news), let's look at a really big trout! This record-breaking lake trout, caught last month in Lake Superior by Isaiah Bartlett of Culver, measures 43.25 inches, which Minnesota Fish and Wildlife reports beats the previous record by just 3/4 of an inch. Congrats to Bartlett and his unsettlingly large fish!

No, MN Starter Homes Don't Cost $1 Million (Usually!)

Look, homeownership in Minnesota isn't easy. But this headline from Fortune that's been making the rounds on social media, "A starter home now costs $1 million in half the states in the U.S., report reveals," is pretty misleading. The data Fortune is referring to actually shows that half of U.S. states "have at least one city where a starter home costs at least $1 million." And in Minnesota, as the Reformer's Christopher Ingraham points out, there's exactly one. Not saying the market is great! But certainly there are lots of places in Minnesota where you can get a starter home for uh, a lot less than $1 million.