Liquid gold? WCCO’s Marielle Mohs reports: “With bar service back open in Minneapolis and hours slightly extended, more customers are returning to the downtown dining scene. … But several popular restaurants have been hit by unwanted visitors. … A handful of restaurants along Marquette and Hennepin avenues say they’ve been burglarized in the last week. … In most cases, the thieves aren’t taking cash. They’re taking high-end liquor.”
Minnesota Legislature looks at regulating app stores. The Star Tribune’s Briana Bierschbach reports: “The battle over Big Tech has made its way to Minnesota, where unlikely alliances are forming in the divided Legislature over a bill that’s sparked intense opposition from Apple and Google. … The proposal — quietly introduced last week — would force the two tech giants to keep the products of Minnesota developers in their app stores even if those developers sell them directly or through other channels. … Supporters say it would level the playing field for developers and help them avoid sizable commissions collected by Apple and Google in their app stores. It’s part of a larger push making its way to state legislatures, including Arizona and Georgia, to chip away at the power just a few companies have over much of the digital landscape.”
Speaking of app ripoffs … KARE’s Sharon Yoo reports: “A year into the pandemic, we’ve gotten pretty familiar with online ordering, contactless delivery, and curbside pick up. … But this brave new world came with brazen new tactics when it comes to dining and dashing. … Brian Ingram, the owner of several Twin Cities restaurants, including Woodfired Cantina, The Gnome and Hope Breakfast Bar, said it all starts with an online order. … He explained that people will order, take the food and then contest the charges with their credit card companies in order to get a refund a few days later.”
Trapping at the end of its rope. In the Alexandria Echo Press, Eric Morken reports: “Todd Roggenkamp was 6-years-old when his dad gave him his first traps under the Christmas tree. He was hooked from there. … Roggenkamp’s father was a trapper for nearly 60 years. Now 50-years old, Roggenkamp has trapped most of his own life, running mink lines as big as 300 sets that required constant work from dawn until dusk. Trapping is something that has connected him to the outdoors from the first long-tailed weasel he and his father caught that Christmas break 44 years ago. … Roggenkamp [is] part of a small but dedicated group of trappers in Minnesota that has seen its participation numbers dwindle to concerning levels. … A total of 6,217 trapping licenses were sold in the state in 2019, the last year full numbers were available. That is the fewest licenses sold since 2009 (6,158).”
In other news…
This spice is nice: “Bring the Hailfire, Do Some Good” [Mpls.St.Paul]
Angling for your business: “Golden Valley startup selling fishing tackle, gear hooks $2.1M in investments” [Star Tribune]
Today on MinnPost
- Gov. Tim Walz made a nonspecific request for bonding money to beef up security at the Minnesota State Capitol. Here’s what that might entail.
- Minnesota released its most detailed timeline yet for which groups are next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine. What you need to know.
- 25 years and $563 million in arts funding later, Sheila Smith retires from Minnesota Citizens for the Arts.
- D.C. Memo: Hoping this email ends up in the right hands
- Community Voices commentary by Sheila Nezhad: “Governor should cancel planned use of National Guard during Chauvin trial”
- Eric Black on Ezra Klein on Texas, climate change, and ‘humanity’s superpower’
- Communty Voices commentary by Dick Schwartz: “Pandemic rekindles memories of scary times — and a vaccine that brought relief”
