Why Is a Cargill Heir Buying Up Duluth’s Park Point?

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.

Zenith City Land-Grab

As the world’s largest freshwater sandbar, Park Point in Duluth is obviously a unique place to live. Dozens of homes, condos, and hotels dot the seven-mile stretch of land that juts into Lake Superior, and as reported by Jimmy Lovrien of the Duluth News Tribune, a member of an obscenely rich family has snapped seven addresses for a combined $4.6 million over the past year. That figure is reportedly $2 million over market value, per St. Louis County tax data. 

So what does Kathy Cargill, heir to the vast fortune provided by the “evil” agribusiness company that bears her husband’s name, plan to do with the parcels now that her LLC, North Shore LS, has razed the houses atop ‘em? She wouldn’t tell Lovrien, but she did threaten to sue his newspaper for writing about her hoovering of Park Point properties. “The homes that we bought were pieces of crap,” the billionaire told the reporter. “I couldn’t imagine living in any of them.” (This 117-year-old lakeside cottage, now rubble, looks plenty nice to us, though we're not blue-blood real estate speculators.)

Neighbor Carol McDonnell says there’s “a lot of curiosity” and “a lot of worry” about what Cargill is up to. Another neighbor, Brooks Anderson, expressed concern that Park Point is transforming into a “part-time playground for rich folks” but tempered that observation with, “we’ll be happy to have [the Cargills] next door.” Dave Poulin, yet another neighbor that spoke to the News Tribune, says he hates seeing the sandbar’s older, modest homes getting demolished to make way for flashy mansions. His gentrification concerns outweigh his architectural ones, however, adding: “The issue is not the homes themselves… it’s less accessible for the average person to live in this place, and this was a very unusual place to live in.”

We’re sure the Cargills worry about that stuff, too. 

Omar Foes Competing for AIPAC Dough

“Four million would be more than enough for us to do what we need to do,” says beloved Minnesota DFL operative Joe Radinovich, quoted in the New York Times today. Radinovich, who’s Don Samuels’s campaign manager, is hoping that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee can provide the four milli he thinks it’ll take to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar in 2024. And the Samuels campaign isn’t alone—Omar challengers Sarah Gad and Tim Peterson wouldn’t turn down an AIPAC cash infusion either. “Eight months before Democratic voters decide, a pre-primary primary has begun,” according to the Call it the AIPAC primary, with each of Ms. Omar’s opponents making a case for why they deserve a boost.” 

AIPAC is targeting progressive Democrats across the country who it deems insufficiently pro-Israel, and centrists are seeing an opportunity to drive out lawmakers they’ve never liked anyhow. The Radinoviches aren't troubled by the fact that much of AIPAC’s funding comes from Republican sources, or that their focus on Israel has led them to back some unsavory candidates, including 100 who disputed the outcome 2020 elections. Now, none of us at Racket happens to be a Radinovich-level political savant, but it does seem like questionable tactics for the DFL to primary an incumbent from the right in a year they’re going to need progressive votes in a hotly contested presidential election. Just another reminder that centrists really only prize party unity when it’s their own candidates that are being challenged.

Huh, Some States' Pornhub Searches are Kinda Wholesome?

Forget those Spotify roundups everyone is so quick to share. Pornhub recently released its 2023 top searches by state and it’s… really something. Minnesota’s top searched term when compared to other states was “tickling,” which is kinda cute! Our neighbors, meanwhile, are interested in swingers’ porn (you do you, Wisconsin), South Dakota keeps it kinda clean with shower sex, and North Dakota is looking for “loud wet sex” (because it’s pretty quiet and dry out there?). Other takeaways: Nevada is the most boring (they’re searching for "Vegas"—lame), Washington wants to be romanced (they're looking for "sensual sex"), and Resident Evil’s Lady Dimitrescu must’ve really done a number on Tennessee, because they’re looking for “giantesse.” The most haunting result? Texas is searching for “creamy” porn, and no, we’re not going to Google what that means.

Do You Know This 'Local Hero'?

Fawkes Alley Coffee, the new nonprofit Loring Park shop that supports youth futsal, is a little delight, located in perhaps the most charming little brick alley in all of Minneapolis. But the scene at the cafe went from calm to chaotic recently, when... well, see for yourself in footage Fawkes Alley tweeted yesterday afternoon:

The flowing water, the mounting tension, the dramatic music, the third-act arrival of the hero herself—it's all so captivating, so stirring, so satisfying. We'll just kick off the weekend by wishing that all your crises come to such a happy ending.