Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Meet Joe Rosenthal, Food Instagrammer and Instigator
Racket readers may have encountered the name Joe Rosenthal in last month's feature on the unionizing restaurants of high-profile chefs Ann Kim and Daniel del Prado. The popular food industry Instagrammer had published leaked anti-union messaging from Kim, a juicy scoop that got picked up by us, the Star Tribune, and others. (Related: Rosenthal is currently at war with the Strib legal team over photo rights related to the Kim saga.)
But who is this fellow with 34K Insta followers and an appetite for online troublemaking? Our buddy James Norton at Heavy Table got to the bottom of it with this profile of Rosenthal, a nice primer on the native New Yorker who's now a locally based medical mathematician. In his free time, Norton writes, Rosenthal "goes on the attack [when] he pursues targets—restaurateurs, Internet celebrities, major newspapers—who are able to look after themselves, and have the fans and/or lawyers and/or friends in the media to do so." Less contentiously, he also beautifully documents/photographs the various comfort foods (especially pizza) that he cooks up at home.
“I will always support [employees’] right to vote, unimpeded,” Rosenthal tells Heavy Table. “That doesn’t mean that unions are always the answer, but we know where the power is.”
Speaking of local restaurant labor news: It appears the union drive at Daniel del Prado's Colita fell short last Thursday, with Unite Here Local 17 arguing that contested ballots from the NLRB-overseen election should be counted as the outcome remains in limbo.
👀 WALZ VP WATCH 👀
As you may have heard, President Joe Biden dropped out of the U.S. presidential race Sunday and (almost) immediately endorsed his VP, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic candidate to take on ex-President Donald Trump in November. The general consensus outta D.C.: Harris will likely select a blindingly white, moderate, older, fatherly, flyover dude as her running mate—bonus points for past military service. Sound like anyone you know, Minnesota?
Sure enough, Gov. Tim Walz—a man who takes his cinnamon rolls with a heaping scoop of chili—is watching his name get bandied about by the politico chattering class. Walz endorsed Harris this morning with language that's very possible to read into, further churning VP speculation that Racket got a huge head start on earlier this month.
Yamiche Alcindor of NBC News named-checked Walz in the VP conversation; Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said he "wouldn't be surprised" to see Walz on the eventual short list of VP candidates; and U.S. Rep. McCollum (DFL-Minnesota) said, "Vice President Harris will need a strong Midwestern running mate and I encourage her and the Democratic delegates to consider a successful leader who has been a teacher, soldier, football coach, former member of Congress, and a proven winner—Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz."
Asked directly about a potential VP gig today by MPR's Cathy Wurzer, Walz offered the following...
“She mentioned she would need my help. And I said she has it in any way that she sees fit. If that’s the direction she goes, I guess that’s fine.”
I guess that's fine!!! How's that for Midwestern effusiveness?
MN Cop Spoils Plot to Kill U.K. TV Personality
It's OK if you don't know who Holly Willoughby is. Lots of Europeans are familiar with the English TV presenter/model/author, and thankfully a Minnesota detective became aware of her via the "Abduct Lovers" chatroom last fall. That's how, while using the alias David Nelson, the undercover detective uncovered Gavin Plumb's plot to kidnap and murder the 43-year-old TV star.
Plumb, 37, thought he was communicating his violent "fantasy" anonymously, but the Minnesota lawman who engaged with him managed to alert "FBI authorities who contacted London Metropolitan Police and Essex Police... The coordination and quick action by law enforcement officials in both countries demonstrate the gravity of this situation and the effective teamwork this case presents," Owatonna Police Chief Jeff Mundale tells Fox News.
Plumb was arrested and convicted of planning Willoughby's murder, which he admitted to during an eight-day trial; Plumb, who spent "99.9% of his time online," per the Guardian, had previously been convicted of charges related to the attempted kidnapping of two teen girls, according to Essex police. "Today, we're extremely grateful to our law enforcement colleagues in America, who not only brought Gavin to our attention but helped gather the vital evidence that secured his conviction," Essex Detective Chief Inspector Greg Wood said during a July 4 press conference.
Holy Shit: Car Careens Through Roof in SE MN
We rarely wade into TV news territory here, leaving the pro-forma traffic/crime/weather reporting to the many other outlets who handle it daily. But this wild car-crash aftermath from La Crescent, Minnesota, somehow hasn't made the rounds, so give it a watch below! (Only 'CCO, CNN, and tiny regional outlets appear to have covered it.) We'll echo this aggressively Minnesotan-sounding YouTube commenter: "For Pete's sake! That's terrible!"
