Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Report: "Pete Hegseth Texting Out War Plans Like Invites to a Frat Party"
If only Pete Hegseth had presented red flags galore before winning confirmation as the current U.S. secretary of defense. Now the allegedly adulterous drunk who once manned the weekend shift at Fox News orchestrates the world's largest military, and things... well, they aren't going great for the Minnesota native.
In a bombshell report for the Atlantic headlined "The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans," Jeffrey Goldberg explains how high-level national security officials unintentionally looped him into a group chat that was planning a bombing in Yemen. Goldberg begins...
The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.
I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.
This is going to require some explaining.
The explanation sheds rare light on the mind-bogglingly stupid people running the country. "No one in the chat had seemed to notice that I was there. And I received no subsequent questions about why I left—or, more to the point, who I was," writes Goldberg, who later confirmed the authenticity of the Signal group chat—which included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House advisor Stephen Miller, and national security advisor Michael Waltz—with the National Security Council.
The juiciest reveal, outside of the screaming recklessness of Goldberg being added in the first place? Vance appears to bristle at the White House's agreement to protect European shipping lanes, writing, “If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.” To which Hegseth replies, "VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC." Later, the group celebrates the bombing of Yemen with a series of emojis.
"I have never seen a breach quite like this," Goldberg concludes. (Inexplicably, the journalist tells readers he left the group chat—lurk, Jeffrey, lurk!) Will we see anything approximating accountability from the bloodthirsty doofuses operating America's war machine the same way I talk to my fantasy football league? Not exactly this administration's calling card.
Messiest Woman Alive Seeks Accused Sex Criminal's MN Leg Seat
We've had a lot of fun with Jennifer Carnahan over the years. Before her late husband, Rep. Jim Hagedorn, died, the couple used to have fun using their political power to bully National Parks workers. Things took a turn when Carnahan was recorded joking about her dying husband's impending death, and after Hagedorn kicked it in 2022, his widow unsuccessfully ran for his seat while being sued by his family.
Enough for a Lifetime movie, right? But there's so, so, so much more. In 2021 Carnahan was booted from her old job as chair of the Minnesota GOP after allegedly leaving the party "in ruins," and there were subsequent lawsuits over her ouster. And, of course, there's Carnahan's public friendship with GOP donor and convicted child sex trafficker Anton Lazzaro. (Enjoy this timeless photo + headline combination.) So, please, forgive us for missing out on parts of the baggage-loaded Carnahan story, like her WTF election victory last fall to become the mayor of Nisswa.
Her political ambitions don't stop in central Minnesota, however. Just today we learned that Carnahan will seek the Senate District 6 seat that was recently vacated by fellow Republican Justin Eichorn, who was arrested last week by Bloomington PD in an underage sex sting. “Running for the Minnesota Senate wasn’t something I planned on, but I’ve been encouraged and asked by many to run because the people in our area are tired of the same career politicians who come out of the woodwork and make big promises, but then forget about us,” she writes in a campaign announcement.
Who are these encouraging and certainly very real people?! In any case, Carnahan's campaign website is already live and soliciting donations.
Hippo Pockets Coming to Ol' Herbie Butcher's Address
Last month Racket insensitively wrote that Herbie Butcher's Fried Chicken was being "led to slaughter"—aka closing after this coming weekend. And now we know what'll replace the vegan chicken shack at 48th & Chicago in south Minneapolis: Hippo Pockets!
The ghost kitchen concept from rapidly expanding Centro Restaurant Group has been slingin' its riff on Crunchwrap Supremes for a couple years now, and onetime RacketCast guest Justine Jones reports its first brick 'n' mortar spot will be at the tiny (and possibly cursed) address of 735 E. 48th St. by as early as June.
Writing via MSP Mag, Jones outlines potential new flavors that'll fill those tortilla pockets: "spaghetti and meatball, muffuletta or an Italian, Korean barbecue, and a bananas foster dessert pocket." Hippo Pockets will also sell salads, bowls, kid-friendly stuff, boba tea, and milkshakes, though there won't be a liquor license for the takeout-focused shop.
Here's a lil neighborhood gossip for you, the committed Flyover reader: We're hearing reliable chatter that the never-gonna-open Urban Wok kitty-corner from the forthcoming Hippo Pockets will soon become a bánh mì shop run by Bagu Sushi. (Bagu hasn't responded to our confirmation attempts.)
RIP MN Concert Photographer Paul Lundgren
There's an outpouring of online love and mourning coming from the Twin Cities music scene for Paul Lundgren, a photographer who died last week.
"I will miss seeing him so much at shows, and all his stunning photography," local writer/musician Jim Walsh writes via Facebook. "Pretty sure there has never been a more vibrant person on this planet than the Paul I interviewed just a year or so ago."
You can read Walsh's 2023 Strib profile of Lundgren, which focuses on his involvement in the '70s punk/new wave scene and later-in-life rediscovery of concert photography, here.
"Honestly, it's getting me out of the house. That's the main thing. I guess I just found something that gives me joy. Especially since I retired," Lundgren tells Walsh. "And I enjoy hearing the music, too. It's not just about the photography; when I'm at a show, I'm probably paying as much attention to shooting as I am listening, but I'm OK with that. That's how I roll."
