Northeast Minneapolis Debates Future of Historic/Crumbling Cook House

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

Northeast Preservation vs. Development Drama!

In 1889, John L. Cook built himself a Queen Anne house in northeast Minneapolis, right off Central & 18th. "Cook’s use of cream-colored brick with red brick accents is rare," reads the city's historic designation page for the property located at 948 18th Ave. NE. "The house is also an example of immigrant housing in Northeast Minneapolis."

Today, four years after securing historic designation, the Cook House is in shambles, and some neighbors are accusing the owner of buying the place in 2019 for $240,000 with the intention of letting it rot. (Boarded up since 2014, the creaky, haunted-seeming home has become a neighborhood curiosity, according to a reporter friend of mine who lives nearby.) "The owners have successfully trashed it and now want to tear it down," writes Dan Turpening, the owner of a Northeast accordion shop. Meanwhile, other social media commentators contend the eyesore is beyond repair and should be razed.

Conveniently, owner Master Properties is a major real estate developer; it has indeed filed paperwork to tear down the old home, though last week city officials recommended blocking that move. The public is invited to debate whether or not to demolish the Cook House at Tuesday's meeting of the Heritage Preservation Commission. Racket is too deeply embedded in south Minneapolis to have a "take" here—Northeasters, please sound off in the comments.

Twins, Lynx End Seasons in Shambolic Fashion

Hamstrung by bozo owners and largely abandoned by fans, your Minnesota Twins ended their embarrassing 70-92 season Sunday with a 1-2 loss to the Phillies. Midday Monday, likely beaming from an inexplicable puff piece in the Strib, the Pohlad family relieved manager/scapegoat Rocco Baldelli of his duties. (Elsewhere in the Strib, that bozo family explained their refusal to sell the team, despite their refusal and/or inability to properly run it.) "An excruciating season in which 10 players were traded, the team fell woefully short of expectations, the ownership group shockingly ended its sale process with only a partial transaction and irritated fans grew increasingly disillusioned would cost many managers their jobs," write Dan Hayes and Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, whose preliminary '25 Twins autopsy arrived hours ahead of Baldelli's firing.

The Lynx, the one Minnesota team that's not supposed to break your heart, did just that Sunday, losing their best-of-five WNBA semifinals series in just four games. The fourth-seeded Phoenix Mercury eliminated the first-seeded Lynx in a 86-81 victory, which saw Minnesota blow multiple double-digit leads. "Shit fucking hurts," veteran guard Kayla McBride told reporters from the desert. The Lynx didn't have the coach (suspended Cheryl Reeve) or the superstar (injured Napheesa Collier) who helped lead them through a dominating 34-10 regular season. "Virtually the entire roster of the Lynx was made up of free agents, so Reeve and her front-office helpers will have to put a team together again.... maybe Reeve did have an excuse for being so grumpy over a 50-50 call," writes Patrick Reusse, referencing the outburst that got the coach suspended.

Meet the Hotdoggers Piloting the Weinermobile

Great stuff from the student reporters at my old stomping grounds, the Minnesota Daily: "Hauling buns and spreading joy: Oscar Mayer Wienermobile visits Minnesota."

Reporter Emma Vasa introduces us to Camila Fowler and Hunter Gonzales, two of the 12 young "hotdoggers" tasked with driving the 27-foot hot dog car across the country to promote... um, well, Oscar Mayer hot dogs. We learn that “Minnesota” by Lil Yachty and “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo soundtracked their tour of Minnesota, which wrapped up last week in Richfield. We learn that they're tasked with handing out countless wiener whistles. We learn, generally, about "the magic" of being a hotdogger. “It was really, really cool seeing how the Twin Cities operate,” says Fowler, who tried Jucy Lucys and visited Mia while not on hot dog duty. “But also being able to see what happens when the Wienermobile is not in town; what people love and what brings them joy.”

For much more on the (occasionally frightening) lives of college-aged Oscar Mayer Wienermobile operators, I recommend the book Raw Dog by comic/podcaster Jamie Loftus. Oh yeah, and not to be a bummer or whatever, but industrialized meat production is a horror show of blood and cruelty. Honk, honk!

And Now, Your Moment of Zen

As Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (aka nation's worst guy) prepares for his mysterious gathering of the generals on Tuesday, let's all enjoy this throwback video of the native Minnesotan absolutely rocking himself in the nuts with a skateboard. Can't wait for the Hollywood retelling starring George C. Scott.