Twin Lakes Has 134 Residents and Almost as Many Scandals

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.

Checking in on Crazy Town

We’re not talking about the ‘90s band who gave us the rap-rock classic “Butterfly" (RIP Shifty Shellshock). We’re talking about a legit crazy Minnesota town called Twin Lakes.

Located near the Iowa border in Freeborn County, Twin Lakes has a population of 134—the perfect size for all-consuming small-town bullshit. Reporter Trey Mewes details the chaos for the Star Tribune (gift link), where we learn that the town has almost every type of scandal happening concurrently. There’s the fire department, which voted to disband following some shady pension fund dealings; a water supply with radiation issues and no water technician; and a guy who has been ejected from six consecutive City Council meetings, most notably bringing in a dead rat as proof of a local rodent infestation. 

Then there’s outgoing Mayor David “Baretrap” Prestholt, who riled his constituents up after appointing his sister to City Council. “I’m 79 years old and I just can’t take this anymore,” he tells Mewes.

Of course the mayoral race is also a doozy. Candidate Pat Gavle has a restraining order against mayoral hopeful Keith Haskell. According to the Strib, Haskell has been arrested twice for violating the TRO and failed to show up to a court hearing last week. (Haskell, a former pastor, was also convicted in 2018 of impersonating a police officer after pepper spraying two teens shoplifting $10 worth of junk food from a grocery store.)

In 2025, 34 of the town's residents lost the will to live, municipally speaking, signing a petition advocating for the dissolution of Twin Lakes. 

Data Centers Help Construction Workers Avoid Career Frustration

Data centers are a hot topic this election season; voters are mostly against ‘em while politicians would rather not talk about them. For the most recent episode of American Public Radio’s Marketplace, reporter Nancy Marshall-Genzer takes a closer look at the fight to stop a data center from being built on a golf course in Farmington.

Residents Cathy and Gary Johnson were once leading the way with a lawsuit attempting to block its construction, but that effort has slowed since they've run out of money. Meanwhile, their neighbor Terrie Pearson is trying to sell her house as quickly as possible. “If we wait until the digging starts, it’ll be $100,000 less,” she says.

Kevin Pranis from the Laborers International Union of North America, who is tasked with defending data center projects to protect potential construction jobs, warns, “Either we can keep training new people in the craft or training fewer people, because we don't want people unemployed and frustrated with their careers.” Not career frustration!

Pranis also suggests nearby residents spend money upgrading their homes with thicker walls and better insulation. That doesn’t, of course, protect nearby wildlife from sound pollution, which has been shown to raise animal heart rates, lessen mating calls, and disrupt bats’ sonar, while also leading to animal migrations. 

Trump Didn’t Drain the Swamp in MN

In fact, lobbying is up everywhere, especially in Minnesota. “According to LegiStorm, a public affairs financial tracker, Minnesota corporations, nonprofits, and state and local governments spent more than ever—about $72 million—on lobbying in the capital last year and are on track to surpass that figure this year,” Ana Radelat reports for MinnPost.

Big spenders include UnitedHealth Group, Cargill, and other local Fortune 500 companies. Many employ major lobbying firms, like Ballard Partners and BRG Group, whose lobbying alumni include several former staffers now in Trump’s cabinet. 

“Lobbying can be exceedingly effective today,” Public Citizen’s Craig Holman tells Radelat. “You just have to have a lot of money.”

Fire at Resource Mpls

Part event space, part entertainment venue, part resource center, Resource Mpls has been hosting workshops, skillshares, music nights, and improv sessions from its space at 512 E. 24th St. for the past few years. But, according to its website, its future is uncertain.

“So sorry to tell you that there was a fire in Resource last night and we will be closed for the foreseeable future,” an Instagram post states. “We, along with the other tenants, are currently displaced from our homes and are taking everything one step at a time."

A SupportNow page has been set up; so far it has reached a little over $20,000 of its $30,000 goal. While the fire was contained to the first floor, tenants living on the second floor are also currently displaced while damage and safety are being assessed.