Proposed MPS Closures: ‘An Assault on Our Students’ Sense of Security’

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

Parents, Educators Speak Out on Proposed MPS Closures

The fallout continued this week over the near-universally-reviled Minneapolis Public Schools proposal that could shutter more than a dozen district schools. On Tuesday, hundreds of community members and public school workers gathered outside of the Davis Center in Minneapolis to demand that the schools stay open.

Workday Magazine's Amie Stager was there, and she brings us this report from the scene. Here's just some of what educators and parents had to say:

• Patrick Farwig, special education assistant at Kenny Elementary School: “The proposed closure of 16 schools is an assault on our students’ sense of security. It is an affront to each one of us as educators, and it is a destabilizing threat to every community and neighborhood in our city.”
• Mia Pettinger, parent of students at Harriet Lower Elementary: “We surveyed over 1,000 parents from every single school in the district. We are hearing loud and clear that without community buy-in, this plan will lead to enrollment loss, enrollment loss that has been grossly underestimated by district leaders."
• Marcia Howard, president of MFE Local 59: “We are going to stand up and fight back for every single program, every single site, every single school in this district."

Angry parents and teachers cite a lack of data from the district and a failure to engage with families among their grievances with the proposal. Angry parents also packed a public meeting to challenge the district's transformation plan Wednesday night.

We Gotta Lay Better Pipe

Did you get one of those scary letters from the Minneapolis Public Works department alerting you about lead water pipes in your building? You're not alone, and another 40,000 warnings are set to go out in October. Our pipes might have lead, but it’s not exactly clear what we’re supposed to do about it. 

“Unfortunately, we also have to include a lot of the risk language that’s required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state health department,” Annika Bankston, director of Minneapolis Water Treatment & Distribution Services, tells Claire Carlson for MinnPost. “It’s not very consumer-friendly, I would say.” 

Carlson says many residents don’t know about free resources, including lead testing kits and programs that can save homeowners over $4,000 on pipe replacement. The problem? Those funds are set to go away. While the Minnesota Legislature passed a law to fully replace lead pipes by 2033, federal funding for free replacement expires in 2027.  

Lead is nasty stuff that can cause nervous system issues, organ damage, and developmental delays in children. Minnesota banned the use of lead pipes in water systems in 1985, but over 40 years later they're still operating all over the state. Friends of the Mississippi River estimate that 100,000 homes in the state still have lead pipes.

Right-Wing Weirdos Pushing Strange Klobuchar-Ventura Quid Pro Quo Narrative

OK, you're media-literate Racket readers, but still, please take everything that follows with an iceberg-sized grain of salt because... well, just keep reading.

On Thursday our state's G-League Newsmax, Alpha News, published a shocking story alleging that former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura told U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) that he'd not challenge her in the current race for governor, provided she appoints The Body/Mind to her empty Senate seat if/when she succeeds Gov. Tim Walz. The lone source for this intel? Loudmouth crank Joe Soucheray bloviating last week on his Garage Logic radio show; Souch claims Ventura told him about meeting with Klobuchar twice to hash out their alleged scheme. “I want a showdown with [Trump] in Washington,” Ventura told Soucheray, according to Soucheray. 

Unable to resist this dubious drama, Racket texted Jesse's son, Tyrel Ventura, who offered: "Tragically I can neither confirm nor deny." 

And here's a Klobuchar spokesperson responding to Racket's inquiry: "No—Sen. Klobuchar hasn’t committed to appoint anyone to the seat, and she's focused solely on earning the trust of the people of Minnesota for governor."

Anyway, sorry for wasting everyone's time... or did we?

On This Day in History, Two Timeless Pieces of MN Art Were Released

The first is Let It Be by the Replacements, which arrived 42 years ago via local imprint Twin/Tone Records. But why listen to us stammer about the LP's bursts of increasingly refined booze-rock genius when you can read our colleague Keith Harris break down Let It Be—not to mention the restless ghost of the Mats writ large—right here. (That Replacements longread is part of Racket's first-ever book—available now!) Fans of the band might also be interested in this rare 1994 Bob Stinton public access TV interview, of which we just became aware. 

And the second is Mighty Ducks, the Minneapolis-shot hockey flick that grossed over $50 million at the box office for Disney. In his 34-year-old review that deemed the movie "corny and predictable, but still a charmer," Strib critic Jeff Strickler rattled off the various local filming locations: a park at Park & Franklin Avenues in south Minneapolis, the Met Center in Bloomington, the downtown Minneapolis skyways, Mickey's Diner in St. Paul, the Theodore Wirth Golf Course in Minneapolis, Rice Park in St. Paul, and ice arenas all over town.

Happy anniversary to Paul Westerberg, Emilio Estevez, and everyone else involved.