Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Let’s Do Things Outside Again
Music & Movies in the Parks is back. Throughout the summer, in eight locales around the city, the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board will be offering up something for you to look at and listen to as you lounge about outdoors. Musically, you can expect the usual mix of crowd-pleasing styles—a little jazz, a little classical, a lotta rock and singer-songwritery fare. And when the sun (finally) sets, the movie selection includes cartoons like Encanto, recent blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick, superhero flicks like Thor: Love and Thunder, and oldies like Ghostbusters. And here’s a screening we weren’t expecting: Game 6 of the 1991 World Series at Northeast Park in July. Watch Kirby homer to force Game 7 and remember what it was like to having a winning baseball team. You can find the complete schedules here. (And, of course, we'll keep you updated weekly with our regular music and movies listings.)
‘Nordic’ DFL Achievements Draw Nationwide Attention
For those of us who aren’t used to Democrats accomplishing anything (that is, pretty much anyone under 60), the successful DFL-controlled legislative session that wraps up today here in Minnesota has been pleasantly disorienting. Bring Me the News has a terrific rundown of the major legislation passed by category, and whether in education, voting rights, or abortion, there’s something anyone left of center can be happy with.
That record is getting Minnesota noticed nationwide, too: Ryan Cooper of the American Prospect touts the DFL’s legislative achievements, while shaming Dems in liberal redoubts like New York, California, and Massachusetts for not being nearly as effective. Cooper begins with the usual potted Minnesota political history, “Minnesota is typically seen as a reliably blue state” [Insert Mondale mention] BUT! Hillary almost lost it in 2016, Republicans have often done well at the state level, etc. (He also uses the term “Nordic” four times.) His takeaway—unlike true-blue states, “Minnesota Dems had to run on a serious progressive agenda to win… and have to actually represent their constituents”—seems filtered through an out-of-state perspective. We await more astute local explanations of how the DFL acted with such a united purpose this session.
Cyclists Don't Have to Stop at Stop Signs Anymore
The DFL's legislative accomplishments this session, as you've just read, are considerable. Buried beneath the headlines about free school lunches and legal weed lay dozens of Easter egg wins for Minnesota. Consider the modified "Idaho stop" that, when it becomes law on August 1, will make it legal for cyclists to treat stop signs like yield signs, thus yoinking the top gripe vein-throbbing motorists voice from the conversation. Eagle-eyed Twitter guy David Brauer spotted the language inside Sunday's sprawling, $1.3 billion transportation deal that DFLers are calling "historic." But we're here to talk about the Idaho stop, so stay focused! Eight states plus the District of Columbia currently have versions of it on the books, though only some of those laws allow for the full Idaho stop—treating stop signs like yield signs and treating stop lights like stop signs. Click here to see the full language of Minnesota's, which will only include the stop sign bit. The maneuver is considered safer for cyclists as well as motorists, Canadian Cycling Magazine reports.
Roof Depot May Get a Happy Ending After All... For a Price
This past weekend, the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute announced that it worked out a deal with the city of Minneapolis to buy the former Superfund site and turn it into an urban farm, community space, and a shelter for the unhoused. The deal comes down to money: $6.5 million, to be exact, which will come from the state. The city, which had planned to turn the Depot into a public works facility, will be getting $4.5 million to move that project elsewhere. Meanwhile, $2 million will go toward the community’s purchase of the site. EPNI and other orgs involved will also have to raise $3.7 million by September. However, if they manage to do so, they’ll get another $5.7 million from the state next year. EPNI president Dean Dovolis says they already have some investors lined up. “I’m quite elated for everyone that was involved in the effort,” he tells MPR.
