Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Craig Thinks Crypto Should Be Apolitical, But It's Not
That’s at least what she told Whitney Curry Wimbish, a journalist who spent a weekend at a blockchain symposium for the elite out in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for The American Prospect. Tickets to the August event cost upwards of $10,000, with hotel rooms going for $1,000 a night. Guests in attendance included failson Eric Trump, ex-White House PR guy Anthony "Mooch" Scaramucci, and Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman.
“The lone Democratic lawmaker at the symposium, Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), offered not so much resistance as a shrug,” Wimbish writes. “She’s running against populist Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for a U.S. Senate seat and told the audience that inviting digital assets into the financial system should be apolitical. Her presence on the cusp of an expensive campaign suggested otherwise.”
Whether or not it should be political is moot; crypto already is political—and partisan. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota), who founded the Congressional Crypto Caucus, has been called "crypto’s dream speaker." In 2024, crypto businesses invested over $245 million into election campaigns and candidates, accounting for about half of all corporate money spent. And with speakers onstage in Jackson Hole bragging about “owning the SEC, Federal Reserve, and most of all the White House,” it’s hard not to see it as a move to strengthen the wallets of the richest and wrest power from the U.S. Mint.
Languages in MN: We Got 'Em
Since 1980, the U.S. Census Bureau has asked about languages spoken in the home as well as English proficiency. Forty-five years later, we have a wealth of data that documents who was speaking what and when in Minnesota. Shubhanjana Das and Cynthia Tu have broken it down for us in this visually cool story on language diversity in the state for Sahan Journal.
A few fun facts: Spanish speakers increased tenfold over the last 30 years, German has dropped from 47,000 speakers to 16,000 between 1980 and 2023, and Somali and Hmong are the second- and third-most common languages outside of English. This is important info to have, as census results and school surveys can help organizations spot where translation services are needed at places like hospitals and government facilities. It has also been used to generate cool projects, like this Ojibwe People’s Dictionary and this searchable database for Hmong language from the U of M’s linguistics department.
Check Out This Awesome Election Guide (Feat. an Incredible Correction)
It’s a big year for Minneapolis City Council, with all 13 seats up for election. That’s a lot to keep track of, and unless you’re a nerd like me who listens to CC meetings on the city's YouTube channel while working, you might be overwhelmed and less informed on who’s repping your neighborhood. Matt DeLong, Deena Winter, and Susan Du have put together this great guide on who’s running in each ward, from longtime incumbents to the new kids on the block.
You can also check out the range of candidates; the youngest is 21 (Max Theroux) and the oldest is 88 (Covid truther Leslie Davis), with political affiliations including Republican, moderate, and socialist. Head to the bottom for a pretty funny correction explaining that All Of MPLS-backed Ward 2 candidate Shelley Madore sent over incorrect info on her age. Oh no, Shelley! (It happens; life is kinda a blur after 35.)
Downtown Pizza Hut Is Out! Weed Is In!
Sorry folks, you’re going to have to walk over to Buca di Beppo if you want mass-produced Italian in downtown Minneapolis. Turns out the Pizza Hut at 1101 Hennepin Ave. is letting its lease run out in February of next year. (This particular Pizza Hut made headlines in 2015 for attempting a boozy "sports bar" concept.) And we already (kinda sorta) know what will be moving in, with J.D. Duggan over at Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reporting that the building has sold for $1.57 million to Alsal Holdings, a Louisiana-based LLC with shops like Cali Smoke Shop and Cali CBD & Vape Inc. Could it mean that we’ll have two weed dispensaries downtown? (Green Goods Dispensary at 207 S. Ninth St. just started selling the green stuff to recreational users downtown.) Stay tuned.
