Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
ICE Is Bad For Business
Located right on Lake Street in south Minneapolis, Karmel Mall is usually a neighborhood hot spot, where friends check in over coffee, families run errands, and community events occur. But as Atra Mohamed writes for the Minnesota Reformer, these days businesses in the building are struggling to make rent as the immigrant community is in hiding. “[Customers] feel intimidated by ICE activities because we have seen cases where ICE does not discriminate in who they arrest,” says Basim Sabri, the mall’s owner.
And they have reason to be afraid for their safety. This Monday, ICE was in the area and, according to Fox 9, at least four people were detained, including a man witnesses say was accused of throwing a snowball. MPR did a great job capturing the incident at 29th and Pillsbury, where you can see protestors shouting at an agent as he drags a pregnant person on the ground. The video also includes a recording of the call an ICE agent made to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office saying he’s “got officers getting attacked,” presumably by snow.
Developer Wants Tax Break for Blighted Grand Avenue
What constitutes a blight? That’s what St. Paul City Council is grappling with, as developer Ari Parritz of Afton Park Development is pitching a new project at the corner of Grand and Victoria Avenue and requesting $2.95 million in tax-increment financing—something usually reserved for areas in dire need.
“[Parritz] wants to tear down the single-story Victoria Crossing East shopping plaza and a neighboring house on Grand Avenue,” writes Josie Albertson-Grove for the Star Tribune. “In its place, he wants to build a six-story building with shops and restaurants on the ground floor, 90 apartments upstairs—and plenty of parking for residents and shoppers.”…