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Fine, We’ll Take the Bait
As you’ve probably already heard, Time Magazine, which still exists, has named Jacob Frey, alleged mayor of Minneapolis, among its 100 most influential people of 2026. Frey’s blurb tells us, “From a walnut conference table in city hall, he directed the unprecedented logistical response to having 4,000 federal agents on the ground.”
Citation, as they say, needed.
Features like this are very silly, of course, and Frey, to his credit, keeps saying that we regular folks of Minneapolis are “the real heroes here, unquestionably.” He’s included in Time's “Leaders” section, which casts a wide ideological net (Trump! Mamdani! The Pope!), and I will admit that Frey is as effective a leader as fellow influential person Marco Rubio.
Still, while informing Time that ICE wreaked havoc on St. Paul and throughout the state as well, let me suggest our alternate nominees: Council Members Elliott Payne and/or Jason Chavez, who were out on the street daily aiding their constituents; Alex Pretti and/or Renee Good, who were killed for standing up to ICE; and Smitten fuckin’ Kitten, which has conducted heroic mutual aid efforts to keep vulnerable people housed and fed.
Anyway, as another influential Minnesotan ranting about Time Magazine put it in 1965: “I read it on the airplane but I don’t take it seriously.”
Open the Bathhouses!
There’s been a lot of hot air blowin’ around regarding the Minneapolis City Council’s steps to end the city’s ban on bathhouses and other sexy places of co-mingling. TV news especially has treated the subject as a scandalous distraction from “the real business of the city,” as though people were being taken off pothole-filling duty to do research. And Ward 7 Council Member Elizabeth Schaffer has complained, “These resolutions are simply disconnected from the reality of everyday residents and people trying to do business in our city.”
And yet, as Sam Stroozas of MPR News points out, the drive to reopen bathhouses has been led by “everyday residents.” In an excellent feature, Stroozas talks to LGBTQ+ elders like Patrick Scully of Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis, analyzes the role of gay Council Member Brian Coyle in passing the bathhouse ban amid the AIDS crisis, and asks those involved in the movement about what they envision.
“It’s frankly something that I would say is expected for a city that is an inclusive, welcoming queer and trans refuge place," says former City Council aide Claire Kingstad. Anyway, context! It’s good to have!
Somali Museum Gets National Attention
I was reading a story in the world-famous New York Times about the Somali Museum in Minneapolis, and whose byline should I see but MPR’s terrific arts reporter Alex V. Cipolle. The story connects with the “grandmas,” as the elders who teach weaving classes are known, as well as founding director Osman Ali and his son Mohamoud Mohamed, the museum’s artistic director. “The museum, it’s our heartbeat. It reminds us of who we are, that yeah, we are people who are loud and brash and giving and kind and generous,” says artist Ifrah Mansour. It’s entirely likely that even if you live in Minnesota you haven’t visited the museum, and you should.
Expanding St. Paul
Over at Axios, Nick Halter is pessimistic about St. Paul’s bold plans to develop its riverfront, which envisions four towers, a 1.2 million square foot mix of business and residential, and a land bridge to the river.
“Instead of swinging for the fences, maybe it's time to hit a single or double,” Halter writes, and he’s got a point. The city is searching for its fourth master developer for the project, and coordinating financing and land rights is a real headache. But Halter speaks to Ramsey County's top economic development official, Josh Olson, who counters that many of the problems Halter raises are in the process of being addressed. He’s also got a point! In conclusion: What the hell does anyone know?
