Ramsey County Crisis Response Unit Criticized for Surprise Billings

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

A Call For Help Could Net You a Bill

Here in America, many of us know not to call an ambulance unless we can afford the bill. But Ramsey County is taking medical billing to a whole new level, sending invoices to people who use their mobile crisis intervention service—a unit sent out to help people suffering from things like psychotic breaks, manic episodes, and/or suicidal thoughts. Nathan O’Neal at Fox 9 spoke with a client who was surprised to receive a bill for $342 after his mom called the hotline and dispatched a vehicle to his home. "My fear is that if people are afraid to call, and they don't, and they choose when, people will lose lives," he says.

He’s not the only one getting a surprise charge. “Ramsey County charged more than $1.1 million for mobile crisis intervention services over the last three years,” O’Neal writes. What’s even more maddening is that when he looked into why, officials claimed that they were required by law to bill patients directly (they are not) and that most people understand there will be a fee (that’s debatable). O’Neal notes that Dakota, Washington, and Hennepin counties send bills to insurance companies but don't bill people directly.

Meanwhile, Jessica Bari at MPR writes that the nationally funded 988 crisis line has been doing good work, reporting that some centers receive as many as 3,000 calls in a month. The Minnesota Department of Health claims that 94% of their callers “seemed to be served and stabilized by reaching out.”

Let the Children Plan Our Parks

Folks, it’s time to let kids call the shots in our neighborhoods. Back in February, a group of 21 youngsters successfully petitioned for Sebastian Joe’s to open a shop in their Kingfield neighborhood. And when children were asked to pitch ideas for a playground update to the Hayden Heights Recreation Center on St. Paul’s East Side, obviously they brought their “A” game. “It’s quite cool to see how excited young people get when envisioning a new play area,” St. Paul Parks and Rec director Andy Rodriguez tells Winter Keefer at MinnPost. The kids’ (very reasonable!) ideas include slides, swings, shaded areas, and areas for “lil kids” and “big kids”—all things that made it into the redesign. You can see a slideshow of some of the submissions over at MinnPost.

WALZ WATCH ‘24: Hot Walz Summer Continues

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been on fire the past couple weeks, giving sassy interviews, calling Trump “weird,” and riding the meme waves onto the top-three list for Kamala Harris VP hopefuls.

And the praise continues, as the people interviewed in this Politico piece by Meredith Lee Hill and Elena Schneider seem to think he’s a viable candidate that could help bring in the blue-collar/ farmer vote. “In terms of auditioning, [Walz is] doing an exceptional job,” says an anonymous source on the campaign trail. “He’s got the Midwest grit, the Midwest sensibility, and that appeal goes beyond the Midwest.” But it’s not all sunshine and grittiness; that same source says they are concerned with how Walz would “meld” with Kamala, citing a “gruffness during his congressional years.” Gruff is bad, grit is good—got it?

Meanwhile, over at MSNBC, David M. Perry confesses to being "fully Walz-pilled" despite supporting Erin Murphy for governor in 2018. At the time, Perry writes, he believed "Walz would be a brake on progress, seeking the kind of consensus across the middle that just isn’t possible these days thanks to the devolution of the Republicans." Who could have predicted Walz would become the lead warrior against weird conservatism we're now seeing on TV?

Walz also recently showed up on Pod Save America to talk shop and expound on the power of sharing cookie buckets with Republicans at the State Fair. “Sweet Martha is the ultimate bipartisan entry point,” he told the Obama bro hosts. (Note what appears to be two half-empty bottles of Mountain Dew on his desk—very on brand.) 

About Frickin’ Time: North Minneapolis Is Getting a New Grocery Store

When Aldi closed its store at 3120 Penn Ave. N. after 15 years, it left a lot of people wondering how they were going to get groceries. Cub and North Market are a few miles away, and many people in the area relied on being able to walk to Aldi for food. Now a new, locally owned business is moving into the space: Colonial Market. The plan is to open in December, and the store will boast fresh produce, a butchery, a taco/burger joint, and an ice cream shop. Beret Leone at WCCO also notes that it will create around 40 jobs.

"This is a community that deserves and needs a lot of grocery stores, and we have historically not had it," Minneapolis City Council Member Jeremiah Ellison tells Dave Orrick at the Star Tribune. The new owner, Daniel Hernandez, isn't new to the grocery game. He also owns La Casa Market (3733 Nicollet Ave. S.), Fusion Pancake House (5001 34th Ave. S.), and the other Colonial Market, located at 2750 Nicollet Ave. S.