Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Orb Stunt = World Series?
Ever notice the strange orb, pictured above, that’s perched inside Target Field? Twins fans Michael Haas, Joel Gillespie, and Tom Johnson—who you might remember from their 2019 Twins shrine hijinks—certainly have, and they intend to use it for the harnessing of vibes. The crew recently installed something they’re calling the Vibes Transmitter 800 near the bar at Stilheart Distillery, about four blocks from Target Field. Using the boxy device, which is connected to a replica orb (patent pending, they note), the inventors intend to transmit good vibes to the sister orb at Target Field, thus stoking on-field success. Or so they hope. “Fans this season are invited to present themselves in front of the sphere and vibe with it; they could take a shot, whisper prayers/wishes or just stand in reverence. Then shortly before each game, staff at Stilheart will activate the Vibes Transmitter 800 to send the vibes from the shrine orb to the Target Field orb,” they write via press release, noting that there’s no current plan for boosting the team during road games.
This Friday, right before the 6:10 p.m. first pitch against the Detroit Tigers, Haas, Gillespie, and Johnson invite fans to the first-ever activation of their machine, which they claim “creates a powerful cosmic gateway from Twins Territory hopes and prayers directly into Target Field.” You can’t miss it: The orb is surrounded by two zen gardens featuring "real Metrodome dirt," Homer Hanky Tibetan prayer flags, commemorative orb programs, and other ephemera contributed by fans. Haas, who operates the website Metrodome Dreamscapes, is quoted extensively in our 2021 deep-dive on Dome Dogs. We weren’t able to reach him this afternoon*, meaning you’ll have to wait on the A to our biggest Q: Is the Twins organization aware that vibe tinkering is afoot? Sitting atop the lousy AL Central, this year’s 35-33 squad currently have a 74.8% chance of making the postseason as we approach the All-Star break, per Fangraphs, so any additional good vibes couldn’t hurt the cause.
*Update: We connected with Haas who told us...
The old baseball concept of team chemistry and intangibles is something we are bringing into the 21st century through the concept of vibes. It'll be on view all season, and nope the Twins organization doesn't know. We like to keep it kind of unofficial and unsanctioned, but we'd welcome a Twins player down if they'd to procure some vibes.
Accused of Domestic Violence in Minneapolis? Just Run.
As the city of Minneapolis waits for the results of the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into its use of excessive force to be announced tomorrow, with the possibility of a federal consent decree looming, another report from a locally based nonprofit has identified specific shortcomings with how the department responds to certain calls. According to the nonprofit Global Rights for Women, the MPD is failing victims of domestic violence, Andy Mannix reports over at the Star Tribune. Among the report’s findings: Officers often fail to interview witnesses or secure the correct documentation, hobbling prosecution, and fail to investigate habitual offenders, particularly those who flee the scene before the cops arrive. "It's almost like abusers in Minneapolis have figured out if you're not there when the cops come they're never going to come looking for you," according to study director Melissa Petrangelo Scaia.
Rights for Renters
It feels like we'll be spending the next several weeks unpacking just how many changes the Minnesota Legislature made during this groundbreaking, nationally heralded session. Today at MinnPost, Peter Callaghan takes us inside the "sweeping" tenant right changes contained in the Judiciary and Public Safety omnibus bill, which the nonprofit HOME Line calls “the most substantial change in Minnesota tenant/landlord law in a single session of the Legislature in the 165-year history of the state.” Well goddamn! Among the reforms: Landlords now need to give written notice 14 days before they can file for eviction due to rent nonpayment (cities can make that even longer); any non-optional fees have to be listed in advertisements and on the first page of the lease; and tenants can end leases for medical reasons. And that's not even most of it! Head on over to MinnPost to check out the whole thing.
All Right, Let’s Talk About the Damn Pea Guac…
Are the Star Tribune and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture conspiring to make pea-based guacamole "a thing"? Impossible to say for certain, but this much we know: On Wednesday, the Strib published a recipe for pea guac, with author Beth Dooley writing, "This is lighter and spicier than the original and holds its pretty green hue for days in the fridge without turning brown around the edges." The Ag Dept. seized on it via Twitter, prompting the Strib's own Jennifer Brooks to respond, "My god, what have we done, @StarTribune?" Brooks linked to a 2015 Gothamist article headlined "NY Times Ruins Guacamole With Green Peas," which, as we pray you don't recall, was part of a media maelstrom set off by the publication of a similar recipe. So far? Seems our localized swirl of similar, potentially discourse-dominating ingredients hasn't yielded any sort of drama on par with the one eight years ago out East; only your Jason DeRusha types and now, it seems, Racket, have weighed in. And ya know what? Fuck it, we say pea guac sounds just fine! Will we try it? No. But will we ask you to sound off in the comments about it? Absolutely.
