Union Says Wedge Co-Op Is Stifling Workers’ Free Expression

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

Wedge Workers Wary of Waffling Bosses

If you scan the Wedge Community Co-ops social channels, you'll find plenty of political and social activism. That stands to reason, considering the Twin Cities co-op movement was built on a bedrock of radicalism. But workers inside the 41-year-old grocery store say their freedom of expression is being stifled by management. A Racket reader passed along a flier, which reads:

After years of allowing, and even encouraging, workers to express their beliefs at work, Wedge Community Co-ops leadership suddenly changed its dress code policy to stop workers from expressing political views. This comes at a time when people across the nation are experiencing oppression at unprecedented levels. There was no discussion with workers, and people have been written up for even wearing the flag of a country.

Now, you might be asking yourself: What types of messages are rankling Wedge bosses, which flag could that possibly be?

We're hearing chatter that pro-Palestine sentiments amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza are to blame, though workers politely declined to speak on the record. If true, that's especially spineless considering Baba's, a proud Palestinian-owned restaurant, sits right across Lyndale Avenue from the Wedge, as our tipster points out. Buy hey, we're living in the era of peak corporate spinelessness. The flier (here's the digital version) is being distributed by the store's union, UFCW Local 1189, and it encourages Wedge members to attend the next Zoom board meeting (5:30 p.m. on April 28) to express solidarity with workers. (The union didn't immediately respond to our request for comment.)

A Wedge spokesperson provided the following statement to Racket:

The staff of Wedge Community Co-ops are unionized, and we are working within those channels to hear and resolve concerns related to our updated Dress Code. Under the updated Dress Code our staff are allowed to wear expressions of support for causes the co-op explicitly supports. We remain committed to our mission of Build Community by Developing a Strong Local Food System and providing opportunities for our staff to express themselves around it.

MN Republicans Elect Far-Out Flat Earther to Party Leadership

We were under the impression Minnesota Reformer's Christopher Ingraham was skipping town, but the reporter just keeps delivering bangers. (Not complaining!) On Wednesday, Ingraham published yet another one: Bret Bussman, who Republicans in Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District recently elected as their district's party chairman, is apparently a certified kook.

Among Bussman's views expressed via social media: “satanic chemtrails” litter our skies; 9/11 came about through "cruise missiles" and "controlled demolitions" rather than outside terrorism; the moon landing and other, more recent outer space missions were staged; and, down here on Earth, we walk on a flat planet, as explained in a video titled “5 Reasons Why I BELIEVE in the Flat Earth (And You Should Too!)."

When contacted by the Reformer, Bussman didn't deny his support of those ultra-fringe conspiracy theories; instead he simply stated, "You can print whatever you want." (Kudos where it's due: Believing in a free press is far less controversial, by most standards.) Political commentator Michael Brodkorb, who just discussed Maddie Roth's excellent Racket article on his podcast, says nutjobs like Bussman damage the party.

“It’s bad for Republicans who want to win,” the one-time deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP says. "This is what happens when party leadership opens the gates of the insane asylum, and people come in off the streets and the inmates run it.”

Lowertown Sounds Drops 2025 Lineup

Downtown St. Paul could use a flicker of good news, and that's what we're here to provide: Organizers behind Lowertown Sounds, the reliably terrific—and free!—summertime concert series at Mears Park, just revealed the full 2025 lineup. More than half of this year's genre-spanning local performers are LTS first-timers, according to today's press release. Music is scheduled to run from 6-10 p.m. every Thursday from June 12 through August 14 (minus July 3), and each week craft bev vendors (Gambit Brewing, Pryes Brewing, Utepils Brewing, Alexis Bailly Vineyard) will join a rotating fleet of "almost 10 food trucks."

Here's the full '25 lineup...

• June 12: Flamin’ Oh’s, Faith Boblett, Lonesome Dan Kase 
• June 19: The New Standards & Friends, Tina Schlieske
• June 26: Dr. Mambo’s Combo, Purple Funk Metropolis
• July 3: No show due to the holiday
• July 10: Dan Rodriguez, Becky Kapell
• July 17: Annie and the Bang Bang, Maria and the Coins
• July 24: Turn Turn Turn, Molly Brandt
• July 31: Salsa del Soul, Alma Andina
• August 7: Kiss the Tiger, Keep for Cheap
• August 14: Yam Haus, The Thirsty River, Haley E Ryde

Bad Product Selling Poorly

The Twins? They stink. This year's squad, which opened the 2025 season with high expectations, tripped outta the gate and has since staggered to a 7-12 start—tied for second-worst in the American League. And as we discussed earlier this week, fan attendance has plummeted, with Monday's figure (10,240) representing the lowest in Target Field's 16-year history.

In fact, writes Aaron Gleeman for The Athletic, a Twins ballpark hasn't been that empty since April, 30, 2002, when just 10,205 fans slinked into the Metrodome to watch the Twins beat Tampa Bay. For a franchise that hit the market last fall—and remains there, no buyer in sight—that nosediving level of fan enthusiasm, with ticket sales lagging 9% behind last year, is... less than ideal. Writes Gleeman:

In timing so bad it could be studied in business school as a cautionary tale, the Pohlad family slashed payroll by $30 million coming off the first playoff success in 20 years, weakening the roster and halting momentum—as well as ticket sales—for a fan base that was just starting to believe again... And, quite frankly, the product being offered by the Twins hasn’t been good enough to entice potential customers to spend money to watch a struggling roster built by an inactive front office hindered by lame-duck owners who set this whole downward spiral in motion with a “business decision.”