Nooo! Hymie’s Records Is Closing.

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

RIP Hymie's Records

After 37 years at 34th & Lake Street in Minneapolis, Hymie's Records is closing.

"Hymie’s is going out of business," an Instagram post announced Tuesday. "It’s all on sale: shelving, artwork, turntables, even the jukebox. Most of our inventory has already sold... records that remain are our $3 and $1 albums and our 45s: get them for a song!"

Jim "Hymie" Peterson opened the East Lake Street shop in 1988. After his death in 2000, Hymie's changed hands a few times; its fourth owner, Adam Taylor, took over in 2019 and struggled to find someone to pass it on to over the last few years. According to Longfellow Whatever, Taylor says profits took a hit during Covid and never really recovered.  

Hymie's final sale before going to the big vinyl shop in the sky is this Saturday, June 28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Oops, Legislature Never Got Around to Appointing U of M Regents This Session

You might not be familiar with what the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents is, exactly, but you probably know about some of the things it has done, including ruling on what faculty can and cannot publicly say, nixing any talk of the school divesting the school from Israel, and teaming up with North Wind to make aerospace weapons for the Pentagon. The board also does things like sign off on the school’s budget, approve agreements between labor unions, and OK the occasional questionable faculty side hustle. 

The board of 12, mostly made up of legal and business professionals, is typically elected via the Minnesota Legislature. But lawmakers this session, which came down to the wire, didn’t get around to electing four volunteers to replace the retiring folks on the board. So now Gov. Tim Walz will be tasked with selecting interim candidates. 

For a really good primer on what the Board of Regents is, be sure to check out this piece from Matthew Blake for MinnPost, which details what they do and how they get elected, from the partisan in-fights to secret caucusing that makes the whole process so opaque for the general public.  

RIP Bill Salisbury, Longtime PiPress Political Reporter

Over nearly 50 years, Bill Salisbury “covered 40 sessions of the Minnesota Legislature, eight governors as well as presidential visits and state and national political conventions and campaigns,” write Alex Derosier and Mary Divine for the Pioneer Press. He died Monday at 80. 

According to his PiPress colleagues, sources, and friends, Salisbury was a kind gentleman, a trustworthy reporter, and well respected for his neutral approach to political writing. “Bill was just extraordinarily kind,” former Gov. Arne Carlson says in the obit. “You don’t think that kind of a person can be a good reporter, but the truth of the matter is, his kindness led to a tremendous amount of trust, and trust is what begets information — not fear.”

Salisbury's old newspaper notes that his favorite pieces included a 1984 story on Walter Mondale announcing Geraldine Ferraro as his presidential running mate and his coverage of Minnesota’s gay marriage bill. His final story for the paper was on Kamala Harris’s announcement that Gov. Tim Walz would be her VP running mate.

Three’s a Trend! Backyard Concert Venues Are on the Rise.

Some folks look at their lawn and think about setting up a pollinator garden. Others opt to bring people together by hosting music concerts in the backyards of their private homes (think business in front, party in back). Luke Taylor spoke to three such families for this super sweet story over at 89.3 the Current, checking in with notable “venues” like Richfield's Rock Garden, St. Paul's Fourteen_43, and the Grand Oak Opry. 

These concerts are typically an RSVP affair with free pops and water, and money made often goes directly to the performers. “People are really generous with tips… so they make a good amount of money for working in our backyard for one hour,” says Megan Bell Honigman of the Rock Garden. Past shows there have included Dylan Hicks, the Danger Pins, and John Munson.

All three backyard venues report that feedback has been positive, with neighbors and friendly strangers stopping by to enjoy tunes. It also helps that the music is often PA-free and of gentler genres. “I always tell artists, ‘Since we are right in the city, heavy metal is out,’” says Jodi McDonah of Fourteen_43, who recently hosted a show featuring singer/songwriter Megan Burtt.

Dominator 3 Is at the Downtown Hilton

Uh oh. Do the owners of this tornado-chasing vehicle know something about the weather today that we don’t? This behemoth ride was spotted this afternoon outside the Hilton at 10th & Marquette in downtown Minneapolis.

For those unfamiliar (I wasn’t!) the Dominator 3 is a pimped-out 2012 Ford F-350 Super Duty pickup truck owned/designed by meteorologist Reed Timmer, who's basically Glen Powell’s character from Twisters in real life. You might know him from TV shows like Storm Chasers and Tornado Chasers (bet you can’t guess what those programs are about). 

And yes, as the name implies there is in fact a Dominator 1 and 2, as well as a 4 and 5. You can watch Trip (that’s Dominator 3 in this family) do a 180 in a tornado here.