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LOL, Pete Stauber
What’s the best way to shut down criticism when your colleague is a no-show for a public event? I'm not sure, but whatever you try, don’t do what U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) did Tuesday during a Farm Fest forum in Redwood County.
“You have no idea what Congressman Emmer is dealing with right now,” he told an audience questioning why U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) was MIA. “If you did, you would have never made that comment. He is fighting for his damn life today."
Fighting for his damn life! That sounds serious.
“[Emmer is] not fighting for his life,” Stauber’s staff clarified later that day. “He had a series of foot surgeries.”
Sounds like a real foot-in-the-mouth situation, right?
Crowdfunded Malls: Intentionally Inclusive or Risky Business?
Hawthorn Crossings, a north Minneapolis strip mall located at 1000 W. Broadway Ave., may soon be under new ownership. But the company buying it, Chicago Trend, isn’t doing it alone. Instead, it invited neighbors in the area to invest $1,000 via a crowdfunding campaign. The original goal was to hit $100K; the campaign eventually raised $248,500.
“Anyone can invest. I call the effort intentionally inclusive,” Chicago Trend co-founder Lyneir Richardson tells Sahan Journal reporter Viktorie Spurná.
Ah yes, who doesn't love inclusive opportunities to... give investors money? If alarm bells are going off in your head, you’re not alone.
“If they haven’t closed on the property yet, there’s nothing in stone,” Kristel Porter, executive director of the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition, tells Spurná. “It’s not written that they own it, and so what if a bunch of North Siders invest $1,000, and then they don’t get their money back?”
This isn’t Trend’s first rodeo; it currently owns six malls across the Midwest. According to the fundraising pitch, Chicago Trend will retain a minimum 51% majority control. It’s unclear if the sale goes through what will happen with current Hawthorn Crossing tenants—currently there’s a McDonald’s, a family-run beauty shop, an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts, and other businesses.
Welp, I hope y’all make bank, North Siders!
St. Paul Evicting Homeless People
We call it Pig’s Eye Park, but the 100–200 unhoused folks who live there call it Fish Hatchery. In July, the city of St. Paul announced plans to close the encampment due to health and safety concerns. Today is eviction day.
Reports from the scene are disheartening. “I don’t know that there are enough resources in this city to get people what they are going to need to survive this,” Kat Turner of Rising Waters Mutual Aid tells Sahan Journal.
“I honestly don’t think the city cares,” resident Isaac Thomas adds.
Healthcare for the Homeless nurse Kat Donnelly has been on site, trying to get residents their meds and check in on scheduled appointments and surgeries. “I’d like to hold up my end of the bargain,” she tells MPR News. “I’ve promised that I will be there to care for people and I want to continue to be able to do that.”
Some people are moving to other locations, many of which are already full. “Eventually we're going to meet capacity here,” Ryan Gill, who has been a resident of a nearby encampment for three years, tells tells the Strib.
A spokesperson for the St. Paul mayor’s office tells KSTP there are no plans for any major machinery onsite today. (Mayor Her has been... distracted of late.) However, at least two Bobcat front-end loaders were reportedly seen entering the area. Sahan’s lead image from Wednesday also features a Bobcat actively clearing out part of the camp.
Nice! Folks Flock to Car-Tracking Camera Stations and Destroy Them.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some quietly do their community service in the dead of night, like an anti-surveillance Batman. I’m talkin’ ‘bout the recent jag of Flock camera destruction. Police are reporting similar incidents all over the state. Winona PD says all eight of that city's cameras have disappeared, Duluth PD tells the Strib six cameras either been vandalized or stolen, and some dude in Faribault wielded a 10-foot pole to slay a camera. Police have reported similar incidents in Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Anoka, and Edina near 50th & France. (Minneapolis would like you to know that while it uses cameras, they are not from Flock—leave them be, please.)
While the cost to replace these setups is around $3,000 per site, let’s talk about the cost of personal freedoms. Atlanta-based Flock uses AI to track the movements of vehicles passing by and then uploads it to a national database. Have you driven past one? Well, now Flock and its users know the make and model of your car, as well as any dents or bumper stickers, and whether you have an air freshener dangling from your mirror.
The ACLU and other civil rights orgs have argued that Flock's type of surveillance tech leads to over-policing, immigrant harassment, and can even enable stalking—anyone with an account can access the entire database. Hell, a data-entry error alone can lead to a terrifying, potentially deadly experience.
