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Local Firm Linked to Kennedy Center Plan
Why is Racket, your beloved hyperlocal news source for all things Twin Cities and ever-so-slightly beyond, directing you to a Bloomberg story about President Donald Trump's Kennedy Center renovation plan?
We regret to inform you that there's a local angle: "The architect of record listed for the Kennedy Center renovation, ATSR, is a Minneapolis-based firm with experience designing K-12 school buildings, mostly in the Twin Cities," writes Bloomberg reporter Kriston Capps.
Now, how did Trump land on ATSR for his Kennedy Center scheme? The firm does specialize in public facility projects; in addition to K-12 schools, its website lists "higher education campuses, civic agencies, and faith-based organizations." Notable ATSR jobs include the newer portion of Southwest High School in Minneapolis and Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park. But as Bloomberg reports, its portfolio doesn't boast any performing arts centers, nor does it include federal buildings or historic renovations—all of which seem like they'd be necessary for a project on the scale of the Kennedy Center. "The firm is perhaps best known for a school that, when seen from above, looks like the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars," Capps writes.
Hm, no insight there; if they'd made a school that looked like the Death Star, that might actually help explain the president's interest. We reached out to ATSR for more info, but the firm directed us to the Kennedy Center Public Relations' PR department, from whom we have not yet heard back.
John Oliver Takes on UnitedHealth Group
I don't watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as often as I should. Blame the time slot: As the weekend draws to a close and the Sunday Scaries set in, the last thing I need is to sit down for a 30-minute segment about how bad things are. I already know! And also, I have a lot of Columbo to catch up on.
But I did make time for this Sunday's episode, which Oliver dedicates entirely to an evil local company we know all too well: UnitedHealth Group and its insurance division, UnitedHealthcare. As Luigi Mangione's December sentencing for the killing of UHC CEO Brian Thompson draws near, Oliver takes a closer look at the universally loathed healthcare giant. Specifically, the show digs into the "almost unimaginably massive" UnitedHealth Group—the third-largest company by revenue in the U.S. behind Amazon and Walmart and, it seems safe to say, the most hated of the three by a wide margin.
"Telling UnitedHealthcare to go fuck itself has become an entire genre of internet video, like unboxing products or horny whispering or someone doing a dance trend with their friend who's not quite as good at dancing at they are, which is why you feel they picked that friend in the first place," Oliver quips, before exploring how UHG became so big, how it makes so much money, and how it became so hated that the killing of one of its executives made Mangione a sexy folk-hero vigilante for the modern era.
Starry Stonewort, the Lake Killer
Nope, that's not the title of a hot new romantasy series (though it could be... publishers of A Court of Thorns and Roses, you know how to reach me).
Starry stonewort is actually the name of an invasive species of fast-growing algae that was first found in Minnesota lakes 11 years ago. For MPR News, Kirsti Marohn writes that the "lake killer," as the plant is nicknamed, is taking a toll both ecological and economic on local lakes. The species has spread to 40 bodies of water statewide over the last decade-plus, which is a problem because it forms thick, dense mats that can pose a risk to swimmers and boats while choking out native plants. And though it's not the death sentence it once was, starry stonewort has also never been eradicated from a single U.S. lake or river after being discovered.
The problem is that starry stonewort is incredibly hard to kill; every single branch of the plant is a single cell, which means you have to coat every cell in algaecide to really wipe it out. Wow... unrelenting... thick... choking... maybe there is a romantasy plot in there after all.
St. Louis Park to Residents: "Let It Flow"
At the Eco Experience building at the Minnesota State Fair this year, I learned all about the three p's: pee, poop, and paper. It was an illuminating (eco) experience, and if you have not yet heard the good word about the three p's... well, I encourage you to let the good folks of the St. Louis Park Public Works Department tell, or rather sing, all about it in a Frozen-inspired number about the importance of not flushing trash down the toilet.
