Great … again. Paul Walsh at the Star Tribune is reporting on overnight vandalism of a mosque in northeast Minneapolis: “[Council on American-Islamic Relations] released video surveillance time-stamped at 3:42 a.m. that shows someone in an entrance vestibule breaking the glass to one of doors by throwing something through one pane and then kicking out another. The perpetrator did not enter the mosque and fled the property.”
Food for thought. Tim Carman at the Washington Post has a profile of Twin Cities baker-turned-poet Klecko: “He’s been penning poems and stories for 20 years, many of them seeking to uplift others in the food business. Klecko’s most recent effort, however, is something different. It’s a personal, powerful collection of poems titled ‘Hitman-Baker-Casketmsker,’ in which he grapples with his feelings on a variety of topics, including baseball, family and the fallout of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement audit last year that found nearly half of his Saint Agnes Baking Co. staff were unauthorized to work in the United States.”
Who trains the staff to do this in the first place? Jana Shortal at KARE-11 on school lunchroom shaming, this time in Richfield: “As many as 40 students in the lunch line had their hot lunches taken off of their trays, thrown in the trash and replaced with a cold lunch when a lunchroom staff member at the register saw that they had outstanding lunch debts of more than $15. … Richfield High School Principal Latanya Daniels … admitted, fully, what happened to those students was wrong.”
Bitter harvest. Ann Bailey at Forum News Service reports on beet farmers paying the price for the difficult harvest season: “American Crystal Sugar Co. farmer shareholders who had to leave sugar beets in the field this fall will have to pay back the company $343 per acre for the unharvested acres, said growers for the company. … The Moorhead-based company told farmers Saturday, Nov. 9, that it was halting the harvest because it is not economical to process the sugar beets, which were in poor condition and had high levels of mud and leaves mixed in with them.”
U.S. border policy also a clue. WCCO-TV is reporting Rep. Ilhan Omar is feeling a sense of vindication after the release of White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller’s emails to Breitbart: “The emails were sent to Breitbart editors, and were characterized by the [Southern Poverty Law Center] as focusing almost exclusively on crimes committed by nonwhites, and were reportedly devoid of any ‘examples of Miller writing sympathetically or even in neutral tones about any person who is nonwhite or foreign-born.'”
“How can you call on those guys to help you when they don’t even like you?” Mel Reeves at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder analyzes reactions of Minneapolis citizens following Police Federation President Bob Kroll’s appearance during a recent Trump rally: “While asserting that he is not racist, Kroll very publicly supports a U.S. president who many view as racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic. Kroll has made public assertions about Black people and Black organizations that can be found on openly racist websites like Storm Front. Kroll has called Black Lives Matter a terrorist organization and MN Attorney General Keith Ellison a terrorist.“
In other news…
Made with vibranium, no doubt: “Lake Wakanda project construction underway on Kandiyohi County Road 8” [West Central Tribune]
The law removed Dakota people from Minnesota: “South Dakota tribe wants 1863 removal law changed” [MPR]
Affordable rent: “MOA Sears is long gone, but store’s $10/year rent — you read that right — lives on” [Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal]
Gouda what she does: “There are only 45 elite cheese experts in the world. One works at a Minnesota Hy-Vee.” [City Pages]
Back on the phones: “Minnesota sees ‘uptick’ in distracted driving despite new hands-free law” [Star Tribune]
RIPizza: “It appears Uptown Pizza has closed” [City Pages]
And, yes, available in red buffalo plaid: “Long Lake couple win $250K investment from Mark Cuban on ‘Shark Tank’” [Star Tribune]
Minneapolis police would do themselves and the city a great service by removing Kroll from his union position.