Strib newsroom executives are blindsided by CEO Grove’s big book deal

Strib newsroom executives are blindsided by CEO Grove’s big book deal

Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked and/or interesting Minnesota news.

How much of Grove’s book will revolve around his very powerful old boss?

Steve Grove’s honeymoon could be over. For about a month, Racket has been receiving anonymous messages, apparently from the Star Tribune newsroom, about growing frustration with the CEO/publisher. We didn’t manage to get Stribbers on the record, but today the Minnesota Reformer’s Patrick Coolican – himself a former Strib guy whose wife still works there – brought some astute media gossip to the surface.

At a recent company meeting, a reporter asked Grove about a rumored book deal he had signed with Simon & Schuster. Specifically, how much of it would revolve around his old boss, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Writes Coolican via the Reformer newsletter:

[Grove] Strib seemed to agree Journos announced at a recent staff meeting that he was working on a book – but assured them that it would not be primarily about the governor, according to several Strib employees at the meeting. The assembled journalists were surprised by Grove’s apparent side business, heightening concerns that Grove’s connection to a potential vice president of the United States could undermine the trust of readers who expect a clearer line between media outlets and their subjects.

After being questioned directly by his newsroom, Grove declined to elaborate on his budding writing career, according to those in attendance. Here’s the really good part: Unnamed newsroom sources tell Coolican that the paper’s top editors were “blindsided by the news, which could require decisions about how to handle any rolling news nuggets that might turn up in the tome.”

Strib publisher Suki Dardarian, Grove and Simon & Schuster all declined to speak to the Reformer.

If you delve into the far-right, crazy fringes of Twitter (well, more than just the fringes these days…) you’ll see that local conservatives have long been convinced that Grove, who took over the Strib early last year, was taking advantage of this has to work in Walz’s cabinet. (Grove and Walz couldn’t stop texting each other after that.) Their concerns about a former DFL politician running the Upper Midwest’s largest media organization seem less unfounded. Meanwhile, there have been rumblings in the Strib about whether things like a national listening tour and now a book might help Grove use his high-profile gig as a springboard back into politics. He definitely seems to be keeping the door open.

Mickey’s Diner is back!

It’s a Halloween miracle! After more than four years, downtown St. Paul’s landmark Mickey’s Diner has gently but smoothly reopened! Word broke this morning when a Minnesota Children’s Museum employee tweeted that the restaurant’s dining car-style signage was lit, and local news outlets soon confirmed it was back in operation.

Mickey’s co-manager Sam Hashish tells Joy Summers at the Strib that the menu favorites are back, but there are also some changes: thanks to a new machine, there are lattes and an expanded coffee menu, additional halal/kosher beef options, and baklava has been added to the dessert box added. Axios’ Kyle Stokes reports that they will be open at 6 a.m. daily “until they run out of food” (the folks at MPR estimate this will be between 5 and 6 p.m.).

When the pandemic hit, Mickey’s was forced to close for the first time since it opened in 1939. For the next four years, there was little news about the fate of the former 24-hour restaurant. In 2021, the owners managed to raise over $72,000 on Kickstarter for renovations and a new HVAC system. A few months ago, Charlie Walters of the Pioneer Press published a BI in which he suggested that Mickey’s would soon be “purchased by a local sports family and moved several blocks closer to Kellogg Ave.” “could be relocated”. Currently, the historic landmark still stands at West Seventh Street and St. Peter Street and is still owned by the Mattson family after over 80 years.

“Mickeys can’t die,” Hashish tells Axios. Amen.

Follow the Money (with cool graphics)

How has the DFL continued to dominate Minnesota politics while our neighbors succumb to GOP rule? Did I hear someone say, “Why is it our good-natured Scandinavian populism that just makes us better people than people from Iowa or Wisconsin?”? Hmm, not quite, and it’s not like our Republicans are any crazier than the national norm. As seen in the MinnPost details today, the DFL has built an efficient fundraising machine with really engaging graphics that brings together multiple sources into an effective coalition. Union contributions to the DFL are stable in Minnesota and there are numerous wealthy liberal donors. Of course, people don’t like to support losers. As DFL Chairman Ken Martin puts it: “If we stop winning, will people stop giving?”

The Agate Hunters of Moose Lake

Did you know that Moose Lake, Minnesota is the Agate Capital of the World? But this delightful little WCCO news segment says it is, and who were we to dispute such a claim?

Shots of people literally staring at the ground and kicking rocks might not always be a captivating sight, but the rock hounds here are after agates, those beautiful, waxy, wavy, banded trees. The semiprecious stones are common throughout Minnesota (and fun to find!), but Moose Lake is apparently a breeding ground for them, and stone hunters have taken notice. “You used to see no one on the unpaved roads. Now after a rain you might see eight or ten cars. It’s become really popular,” Roger Beibl of the Carlton County Gem and Mineral Club tells CCO .

Maybe one of these hunters will even come home with a record breaker; According to the city’s Chamber of Commerce, Moose Lake is home to the largest agate in the world, a 108-pounder on display at the First National Bank of Moose Lake.