Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
How Much of Grove's Book Will Be About His Very Powerful Old Boss?
Steve Grove’s honeymoon period might be over. For the past month or so, Racket has received anonymous messages, apparently from inside the Star Tribune newsroom, about growing frustration over the CEO/publisher. We’ve been unable to get Stribbers on the record, but today Minnesota Reformer’s Patrick Coolican—himself an ex-Strib dude, whose spouse still works there—surfaced some spicy media gossip.
At a recent company town hall, a reporter asked Grove about a rumored book deal he’d secured with Simon & Schuster. Particularly, how much of it would be about his old boss, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Writes Coolican via the Reformer newsletter:
[Grove] seemed to acknowledge to Strib journos in a recent company town hall that he’s working on a book—but assured them it won’t primarily be about the governor, according to multiple Strib employees in the meeting. The assembled journalists were surprised by Grove’s apparent side hustle, which has deepened worries that Grove’s connection to a potential vice president of the United States could erode trust among readers who expect a brighter line between media outlets and their subjects.
After being asked about it directly by his newsroom, Grove wouldn’t elaborate on his burgeoning career as an author, according to those in attendance. Here’s the really good part: Unnamed newsroom sources tell Coolican that top editorial brass at the paper were, “blindsided by the news, which could require decisions about how to deal with any Walz news nuggets that might appear in the tome.”
Strib Editor Suki Dardarian, Grove, and Simon & Schuster all declined to talk with the Reformer.
If you wade into the right-wing weirdo fringes of Twitter (well, more than fringes these days…), you’ll see that local conservatives have long teed off on the fact that Grove, who took over the Strib early last year, used to work in Walz’s cabinet. (Grove and Walz couldn’t quit texting each other afterward.) Their concerns about an ex-DFL politician leading the upper Midwest’s largest media org are starting to look a little less baseless, at least in terms of optics. Meanwhile within the Strib, there've been rumblings about whether things like a statewide listening tour and, soon, a book could be Grove using his high-profile gig as a launching pad back into politics. He certainly seems to be keeping the door open.
Mickey’s Diner Is Back!
It’s a Halloween miracle! After more than four years, downtown St. Paul landmark Mickey's Diner has reopened softly—but smoothly! News broke this morning when a Minnesota Children's Museum worker tweeted that the dining car-style restaurant's signage was lit up and local news outlets soon confirmed it’s up and running again.
Mickey's co-manager Sam Hashish tells Joy Summers at the Strib that menu favs are back, but there are also some changes: They’ve got lattes and an expanded coffee menu thanks to a new machine, added halal/kosher beef options, and baklava has been added to the dessert case. Axios’s Kyle Stokes reports that they’ll be open at 6 a.m. daily “until they run out of food” (the folks at MPR estimate that’ll be between 5 and 6 p.m.).
When the pandemic hit, Mickey's was forced to close for the first time since opening in 1939. Over the next four years, news of the fate of the formerly 24/7 space was scant. In 2021, owners managed to raise over $72K on Kickstarter for renovations and a new HVAC system. A few months ago, Charlie Walters at the Pioneer Press dropped a BI suggesting that Mickey’s could soon be “purchased by a local sports family and relocated several blocks closer to Kellogg Ave.” For now, the historic landmark is still located at West Seventh and St. Peter streets, and is still owned by the Mattson family after 80+ years.
“Mickey’s cannot die,” Hashish tells Axios. Amen.
Follow the Money (With Cool Graphics)
How has the DFL continued to dominate Minnesota politics as our neighbors succumb to GOP rule? Did I hear someone say “Why, it’s our good-natured Scandinavian populism, which simply makes us better people than Iowans or Wisconsinites!”? Hmm, not entirely, nor is it just that our Republicans are even screwier than the national norm. As a feature in MinnPost details today, with really engaging graphics, the DFL has built an efficient fundraising machine gathering multiple sources into an effective coalition. Union contributions to the DFL are steady in Minnesota, and wealthy liberal donors are plentiful. Of course, folks don’t like to back losers. As state DFL Chairman Ken Martin puts it, “If we stop winning, will people stop giving?”
The Agate Hunters of Moose Lake
Did you know that Moose Lake, Minnesota, is the Agate Capital of the World? Well this delightful little WCCO News segment says it is, and who would we be to dispute such a claim?
Footage of folks staring at the ground quite literally kicking rocks might not always make for compelling viewing, but the rock hounds here have their sights set on agates, those gorgeous, waxy, wavy, banded bois. The semiprecious stones are common throughout Minnesota (and fun to find!), but Moose Lake is apparently a hotbed for 'em, and rock hunters have taken notice. "Along the dirt roads now—it used to be you would never see anybody. Now, after a rain, you might see eight or 10 cars. It's really become popular," Roger Beibl of the Carlton County Gem and Mineral Club tells 'CCO.
Maybe one of those hunters will even come home with a record-breaker; Moose Lake is home to the world's largest agate, according to the city's chamber of commerce, a 108 pounder displayed at the First National Bank of Moose Lake.
