Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Uptown Needs to Stop Trying To Be Cool?
Trying to pinpoint what caused Uptown to die is like attempting to decisively determine a single cause for the fall of the Roman Empire—Visigoths, Romulus Augustulus, losing the Uptown Bar? But, at the very least, we can all agree that Uptown is not cool right now. But what if it didn’t aspire to be cool? Or, as Molly Mogren Katt suggests in Twin Cities Business, “it’s time to make Uptown a place for the middle-aged.” Hm, intriguing. We’re listening...
Her ideas include some good stuff, like opening a community center with a pool and pickleball courts. It might be hard to find a space big enough to house something like that, however; the former YWCA on Hennepin Avenue is currently being used as office space for a group of nonprofits.
Folks may have mixed feelings about this: “Imagine this: ‘Calhoun Square’ (er… Seven Points…) with an indoor/outdoor play area, surrounded by a food hall serving great food, drinks, and good coffee.” Food halls, while a bit played out conceptually, can be fun! But the biggest hurdle would be getting Northpond Partners, the Chicago-based company that owns the building, to care.
And there’s already going to be a lot of coffee in Uptown this year: Mosaic and Moona Moono are coming soon and Queermunity’s cafe is already open. Whether or not Uptown has the bandwidth for a play area is questionable (those things require a lot of parking!), but something has to go into the old GAP/Victoria’s Secret space eventually… right?
Mora Family Still Fighting for a Road to Their Home
A few years ago, we at Racket were absolutely riveted by Strib journalist John Reinan’s coverage of one Kanabec County family who were fighting the township to recognize and maintain the gravel road to their farm. Area officials claimed the road had been neglected to the point where it technically didn’t exist; the Crisman family begged to differ. When Reinan retired in 2023, we were left wondering whether the saga's resolution would go uncovered.
Thankfully, Reid Forgrave has an update for us: The situation is still in limbo, but this week a district court will decide if the road falls under township jurisdiction or private property. As detailed in the story, it’s been a bitter battle for years now, with accusations of bullying, power plays, and cronyism.
“The last 120 years, it’s never been a problem until the Crismans created a problem,” says Dan Schmoll, who owns property in the area. “They think they’re smarter than everybody else and should get whatever they want.”
Meanwhile, the Crismans point out that there are at least six stretches of maintained road leading to nowhere in the area, and their lack of a road to their home impacts their access to things like the internet, the U.S. Postal Service, and snow plows that clear the way for vehicles like school buses.
Walz Watch 2025: White House Employee Calls Walz a Cuck
Gov. Tim Walz sure doesn’t seem worried about getting sued by Elon Musk for describing the Nazi salute he did at Trump’s inauguration as a Nazi salute. In fact, Walz continues to troll Musk, tweeting that the “special government employee” is “a terrible president.” This summoned Steven Cheung, White House communications director, who retweeted the post with his own hot take: “Tim Walz is a cuck.” Ah yes, good old right-wing internet misogyny. Should’ve gone for a “yo mama” joke.
Meanwhile, the Strib reports that Walz is sitting on a pile of campaign funds—at least $1 million—should he choose to run for a third term as governor of Minnesota. That’s mostly money raised before he was picked to run for VP with Kamala Harris, though, while he hasn't committed to running again, he has hosted fundraisers since returning from the presidential campaign trail. No update on whether Walz is still on the Flanag-outs, as Racket phrased it, with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
Mall of America’s Gas Station Bids Adieu
Did you know that the Mall of America has a gas station? Well, it’s not quite a gas station, but it is an actual Holiday convenience store, where you can use an ATM, buy cheap coffee and cigarettes, purchase lottery tickets, and snack on chips and breakfast sammies. OK, now that you know that it has quietly existed for years, I gotta tell you: It closed on January 31. “Many of you have filled our lives with laughter and joy and we shall miss you all,” reads the shop’s closing announcement, found taped to a hand sanitation dispenser at the entrance. RIP, sweet prince.
