Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
More Bad News for Downtown
Downtown St. Paul, that is. Frederick Melo over at the Pioneer Press reports that Alliance Bank Center Building tenants were given an unsigned notice at 4 p.m. on Monday to vacate the premises. Soon after they were alerted that the city would soon be shutting off power. “I don’t know anybody who is going to be able to move in the dark on Wednesday,” says hemp store owner Bob Wolf. The building is currently home to 14 shops, office spaces, and facilities, including a printing press.
Madison Equities, who own the Alliance building, is downtown St. Paul’s biggest property owner. But when company principal James Crockarell died last year, the real estate firm quickly put the bulk of its portfolio—10 buildings total—on the market. A few months later three properties were ceded to lenders. Since then, remaining locations have fallen behind on inspections, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit over security guard wage theft, and utility payments have ceased. (Melo notes that ME execs believe the city should be picking up that tab, St. Paul disagrees.)
The closing highlights downtown St. Paul’s alarming vacancy issue; last year Twin Cities Business estimated commercial vacancy rates between 12.3% to 31.5%. The downtown area will lose its only grocery store, a Lunds & Byerlys, later this month.
Ilhan Omar Signs Letter Demanding Freedom for Mahmoud Khalil
This past weekend, pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was seized by ICE and transferred to a Louisiana detention center. At first, both his location and the justification for his arrest were unknown; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated Sunday that he had been arrested in connection with activities of his “aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” part of the current administration’s desire to crush any pro-Gaza demonstrations on American campuses. Khalil served as a negotiator during 2024 protests at Columbia University, where he graduated last December.
Now 14 U.S. legislators have signed a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem standing against the arrest. While that number is depressingly low, at least U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is among the signees.
“Khalil has not been charged or convicted of any crime,” the letter states. “As the Trump administration proudly admits, he was targeted solely for his activism and organizing... We must be extremely clear: this is an attempt to criminalize political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country.”
According to Khalil's wife, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, ICE agents raided his university housing unit with claims that his student visa was being revoked. Khalil does not have a student visa; he is a permanent resident with a green card. Columbia University has confirmed that ICE would need a warrant to raid student housing, though they have not confirmed that they were served one. Meanwhile, a New York federal judge has filed an order barring Trump from deporting Khalil.
Why was Love Is Blind So Bland? Blame the North Loop.
The most boring season of Love Is Blind is over, and now media critics are trying to understand what went wrong. Show contestant Monica Danús may have hit the nail on the head: The people they cast live in Minneapolis's North Loop neighborhood and barely venture outside of it.
“There are four bars,” she told a live audience at a SXSW event. “In Minneapolis, North Loop is where a lot of people live and a lot of people hang out, so when you go out, you have to mentally prepare yourself: I’m going to run into somebody that I want to see, and I’m going to run into somebody that I don’t want to see… A lot of us live on the same street.”
No wonder everyone was so similar! They all live and operate within the same three-block radius in yuppietown. Cast that net a little further next time, Netflix. We want to see the dating scene at 1 a.m. inside Jimmy's in Northeast.
Folks, It's Your 2025 Minnesota State High School All Hockey Hair Team
Mullets, dandelion tops, feathered bangs, and more abounded this year at the state championships, and it was too beautiful for this world. This year’s theme: “There’s no business like flow business.” So true, hair dudes, so true.
