The water witches on Lake Nokomis and the Lake of the Isles pencil creators are bringing whimsy and warmth to mid-autumn in Minnesota. The Twin Cities Paddle Club has organized successive gatherings to paddle out on stand-up boards at dusk in black pointy hats, swirling skirts, capes and even swimsuits. They make for an evocative, picturesque crew under the low-slung moons. Over on Isles, the 20-foot-tall pencil is blinged out as Minnesota Vikings superstar Justin Jefferson in a quadruple XL No. 18 jersey, tooth grill and giant golden necklaces. Love how these creative Minneapolitans and neighbors are helping us enjoy the witchy goodness of the season, no whiffs of pumpkin spice latte needed.
Talking without saying anything seems to be a job requirement for U administrators and communications staff. This is nothing new, but I had to catch my breath when I read President Rebecca Cunningham’s explanation for the sudden departure of University of Minnesota Morris Chancellor Janet Schrunk Ericksen. “This transition affords the opportunity to sustain the vitality of University of Minnesota Morris,” Cunningham wrote. Huh? The statement was incongruent with what we know are the long-term struggles of the campus, including declining enrollment and misguided critics including one former regent openly wondering if Morris was “too diverse.” As a public institution with a mission to serve the state’s taxpayers, we deserve, at minimum, the tiniest bit of transparency from the U’s leaders.
The former Minneapolis mayor talked about the personal emotional stress of being on the front line of the city’s high-profile tragedies in a recent interview. Rybak told John O’Sullivan about sitting down in 2002 with the parents of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, who was fatally shot, her heart pierced by a single bullet through a wall, as she did homework at a kitchen table in south Minneapolis. Rybak spoke of the need for support and compassion for political leaders on the front lines trying to help grieving families left behind. The former mayor said he sought therapy to cope. “We expect these people to be superhuman emotionally, and I wasn’t,” Rybak said. No one is superhuman, including our leaders who are expected to keep up flawless appearances and make pressure-filled decisions while privately absorbing the pain of grieving families.
He instituted a propaganda policy so heinous at the Pentagon this week that it led to an exodus of media organizations, including his conservative-leaning former employer Fox News. Some four dozen journalists turned in their badges at the end of the day Wednesday and left the building, meaning they’ll have to do their work further away from the agency they cover. The policy is so egregious that only the MAGA-friendly One American News Network signed on. Hegseth, who hasn’t bothered to hold a briefing with Pentagon reporters in four months, clearly wants reporters to publish only what the government allows. Thank goodness we still have a free press willing to stand up to him — for now.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is sparing travelers from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s blatantly political shutdown video. The Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates MSP, is reviewing the video, according to spokesman Jeff Lea. He added, “We’re grateful for the thousands of federal workers who are continuing to support air transportation at MSP and across the country during the government shutdown.” Those workers are always important, but especially during the MEA weekend, one of the busiest travel times at MSP. Wouldn’t it be swell if Noem, instead of filming a video blaming the Democrats for the shutdown, offered gratitude to the federal employees, some of whom are furloughed or working without pay?
And tears for D’Angelo, the generational R&B artist, who died from the disease at the age of 51, a passage that means his 2015 concert at First Avenue was his last act in the Twin Cities. I don’t get to a ton of concerts, but after the release of “Black Messiah,” I made sure to be there and so was Questlove, both on drums and spinning before the main act. Then D’Angelo came on and delivered a two-hour slice of bluesy, soul heaven. Prince was a disappointing no-show for his two protégés and he was then gone within the year. We can be grateful to live in a community with venues like First Avenue that attract artists like D’Angelo. May his passing be a reminder that our opportunities to experience art are abundant but not infinite. Get out there and see the artists who move you when you can.
The St. Paul DFLer called out Republican U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer on his repeated use of the word “terrorist” to describe Democratic opposition. He’s used the term in reference to the government shutdown and to describe participants in the planned “No Kings” rallies on Saturday. Murphy made a personal plea to Emmer, noting that he had served in the state House with both Sen. John Hoffman and the late Speaker Melissa Hortman, both of whom were shot in their homes last summer by an assailant. “It is unconscionable to me that, after all we have been through, you would choose rhetoric that incites and invites deep division and separates Americans in ways that endanger them for showing up and speaking out,” Murphy wrote. “We know each other, Tom. We have shared meals, challenges, and laughter together. … Your comments were out of character, out of line, and represent the worst in our politics, language that threatens people’s safety.” Emmer had yet to reply to Murphy, but Minnesotans deserve better. Violent language is dehumanizing and leads to violent acts. With his national platform, Emmer could be a hero if he worked to heal division rather than fan it.