Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily 1 p.m.(ish) digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
NY Times: Cheese-Deprived Minnesotan Throws Pathetic Fit
Congrats to the entitled local dumbass who made the lede of a Times story this weekend about customers behaving badly during COVID. Apparently a man at a store identified only as “in Minnesota“ was searching for Cambozola, some fancy-ass blue cheese I could eat entire handfuls of after reading this story. When neither he nor the store employees could find it, dude had a full meltdown. “Have you seen a man in his 60s have a full temper tantrum because we don’t have the expensive imported cheese he wants?” the story quotes employee Anna Luna as saying. “You’re looking at someone and thinking, ‘I don’t think this is about the cheese.’” First: Don’t freak out at anyone serving the public ever, but especially not during a pandemic, you absolute psychos. But now, on to the important questions: Does anyone know what store this is? Are you reading this, Anna Luna? Also, does anyone know where I can get this cheese because it sounds fucking delicious?
Famous TV Person Drinks in Minneapolis
It’s traditional to celebrate the new year with a ham. But with Jon Hamm? We all know the St. Louis native from TV as Don “Mad Man” Draper, the inventor of cigarettes, but this weekend folks in Minneapolis knew him as that hot middle-aged guy at the bar. At several bars, in fact: The Keeping Up With the Joneses (2016) star hung out at Dusty’s, the Bryant-Lake Bowl, and, after he missed his flight, Palmer’s, where the star of Million Dollar Arm (2014) snapped the sweet pic with owner Tony Zaccardi you see in the Strib story linked above. The Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) star was in town to watch his hometown Blues whoop the Minnesota Wild at Target Field outdoors in subzero temps, and by all accounts, the star of Tag (also 2018) was a cool guy and a big tipper. Local writer and radio host Cyn Collins even got to chat about music with the star of Wild Mountain Thyme (2020), who saw Prince’s final show in Atlanta. “We’re ‘mad’ about that ‘man!’” said one patron… possibly?
Ramsey Sheriff: ’90s Video Game Leads to Carjacking
Carjackings are up in the Twin Cities, with 112 attempts reported in November, and Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher has a theory why. "Part of it comes from the video game of Grand Theft Auto, and that bleeds over into real life," he told the Star Tribune. That seems … unlikely, since the game has been around since 1997 and carjackings were so rare hereabouts before 2019 that cops didn’t even track them statistically. But who are we to say that journalists shouldn’t print everything the police tell them? Maybe “gangsta rap” is also a culprit. Also, according to Fletcher, “about 50 juveniles” are behind most of the local carjackings and "we know who they are," but his hands are tied by permissive prosecutors who won’t lock these kids up and county officials who won’t let cops engage in high-speed chases that often end in death and destruction. Anyway, seems like Fletcher’s assertions could be fact-checked, if anyone is so inclined. A more timely hypothesis comes from University of Minnesota professor Chris Uggen: ”Young people are now disconnected and isolated during the pandemic, and violent crime has increased in general." In other words, same reason Boomers are flipping out about the lack of high-end dairy products.
MN Schools Apparently Resigned to Viral Spread
Are your kids gonna catch COVID? Maybe! Are their teachers? Maybe! The rest of the school staff? Maybe! That’s the word from various stressed administrators across the state as Minnesota public schools reopen today. While some school reps have their fingers crossed that vaccinations may limit the spread of the Omicron variant to “a bump,” others are significantly more concerned. “It doesn’t look good,” Rick Kaufman, community relations director for the Bloomington Public School district, tells MPR News. “School districts are going to see a challenge of more cases, staffing issues, and probably having to consider more quarantines because of the spread that likely will occur in school.” Seems like a problem a society should address. Too bad we don’t seem to have much of one.
