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Cheers to the roof on U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings, for surviving 10 winters without incident. The building opened in August 2016, but the clear ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) roof was in place by December 2015. Remember when we wondered if the polymer roof could withstand Minnesota winters? There was reason for suspicion given how a severe thunderstorm ripped the lid off the Metrodome in 1986 and how the dome’s roof gave way to heavy snow in December 2010. Unlike the dome’s inflated ceiling, the snow slides right off the ETFE roof. So let’s hear it for the engineers at New York-based Thornton Tomasetti and the project manager, Mortenson Construction, who were certain the roof could carry all that winter threw at it. Yes, the black zinc panel siding flapped loose when the building was first open, but those have since been replaced and/or firmly secured.
Jeers to the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), which represents 18,000 state workers for their rage, threats of lawsuits and a strike because they’ve been ordered to return to work 50% of the time. MAPE President Megan Dayton called the change, that came from Gov. Tim Walz, a shock. “Five years ago, we all went home and we completely changed our lives to accommodate the new reality of the workplace, which is hybrid,” Dayton said. Hey, 50% is a hybrid home and office scenario. By the way, most of us have been back in the office part-time for years now. I suppose Walz could have consulted or given notice to the unions, but judging by MAPE’s angry reaction, the home-based workers weren’t amenable to productive conversation. It’s time to get back to the office 2-3 days a week because there are much bigger challenges ahead for all of us in President Donald Trump’s America than fighting for the right to work from a couch in yoga pants, accompanied by barking dogs and pouncing kids during a workday.
Cheers and make it a double for former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman for his commitment to open government as evidenced by his support for U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The secretary, a proud son of Forest Lake, included a journalist on what should have been a highly classified national security discussion about war plans on a communications app. Democrats called for Hegseth’s resignation, saying his negligence was unacceptable. Even some high-placed Republicans called Hegseth’s decision an unforced error. Coleman, however, had an interesting and, surprisingly, supportive take: “What you got here was, in the end, a public reveal of some very good policy and thoughtful policy discussions. So, no downside in that.” Historical Cheers as well to Coleman for his vertiginous route through the political spectrum that he began when he was a passionate Vietnam War protester with a megaphone during his undergrad years at Hofstra University. Recruited out of the University of Iowa College of Law, Coleman became a protege of DFL Attorney General Hubert “Skip” Humphrey III. Coleman was elected mayor of St. Paul as DFLer before switching parties and becoming a Republican St. Paul mayor and a U.S. senator. For more than a decade now, he’s been a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia and is unabashedly all-in for Trump. What a long, strange political trip it’s been for the native New Yorker.
Jeers to state Reps. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, and Ben Bakeberg, R-Jordan, for shamelessly trying to bring home $7 million in bacon, including direct subsidies for the owners of thoroughbred racehorses. In a brash show of bipartisanship, Tabke and Bakeberg, whose constituency includes the financially troubled Canterbury Park track, have proposed giving $750 to the owners of registered horses every time a thoroughbred starts a race. No need to win, place or show for that cash. The Bacon Buddies are calling the two-year pilot the Racehorse Residency, Aftercare and Benevolence program. The pair argue the program will benefit the state’s agriculture industry. It also looks like a brazen attempt to save Canterbury after the sports betting bill fizzled out earlier this session. Can’t blame them for trying to expand the financial starting gate to any nag standing on four legs, I suppose.
Jeers to University of Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle, who seems to enjoy spinning the revolving coaching door on the Gophers’ basketball programs. Coyle was all smiles as he welcomed his latest hire for the men’s team, Niko Medved. It’s a fresh start for the program! It’s Medved’s dream job! We’ve heard it all before. Many times. Come summer, Coyle will have overseen Gophers athletics for a decade. He’s now earning an average of $1.4 million a year with the extension and raise recently bequeathed to him by the Board of Regents. Here’s hoping Coyle’s tenure at some point includes a deep March Madness run and a bowl game worth attention. Coyle’s legacy thus far is unremarkable beyond his unfortunate dumping of the acclaimed men’s gymnastics program and his inscrutable and unforgivable decision to end the tenure of women’s basketball coach, forever Minnesota legend Lindsay Whalen, at the outset of the Big 10 tournament at Target Center in 2023. Time for Coyle to show Minnesotans he can do more than hire and fire coaches who maintain mediocrity. As multimillionaire men’s football coach P.J. Fleck likes to say at the end of every appearance, “Ski-U-mah.”
Jeers to Nisswa Mayor and former state Republican Party Chair Jennifer Carnahan, who is running for the north central Minnesota seat vacated with the resignation of former Sen. Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids. Eichorn was arrested almost two weeks ago in a federal sting after allegedly soliciting a minor for sex. Carnahan says she was encouraged to run by those “tired of the same career politicians.” Consider me skeptical of that claim, because Carnahan is a noted bridge-burner, not a builder. She was forced out as GOP chair in 2021, partly because of her pal-ship with donor Anton “Tony” Lazzaro, who is serving a 21-year sentence for sex trafficking minors. Less ignominious but still an affront to good government was how Carnahan, then married to the late U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn of Minnesota’s First District, sought to secure free entry and guided tours through U.S. National Parks in Arizona on a moment’s notice. There are already other qualified Republicans in the race, so Mayor Carnahan can properly focus on the pressing needs of the 2,000 or so Minnesotans who call Nisswa home.
