Star Tribune
Duluth mayor posts cheeky reply after Kathy Cargill rips up plans for Park Point
DULUTH — Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert, described as peeing “in his Cheerios” by Kathy Cargill in a story that ran this weekend in the Wall Street Journal, took to social media with a clarification.
“For the record … I’m more of a pancake guy #IYKYK,” he posted to X, formerly Twitter, alongside a photo of a lone cake with a pat of butter and a strip of bacon.
Cargill, who has bought more than a dozen properties in Duluth’s Park Point neighborhood broke her public silence on plans for the land in a Wall Street Journal story that went online Saturday. She was going to beautify and modernize this stretch of land that separates Lake Superior from the Duluth-Superior Harbor, she told the publication. She was going to build homes for her relatives, a coffee shop and a sports complex.
A lot of Duluthians have kept an eye on her purchases and wondered aloud about her intentions.
Reinert, who started his term as mayor in January, was among those questioning Cargill’s plans for his former neighborhood. He sent her a letter asking to meet, he told Duluth’s City Council recently. When he didn’t immediately hear back, he said he would ask councilors to also sign off on a letter.
Cargill, a member of the billionaire family, turned to cereal to describe the mayor’s response.
“I think an expression that we all know — don’t pee in your Cheerios — well, he kind of peed in his Cheerios right there, and definitely I’m not going to do anything to benefit that community,” Cargill said of Reinert in the interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Reinert’s post on X didn’t directly address Cargill’s statement, but his hashtag — meaning “if you know you know” — was a strong hint. It was part of a longer note about how he would be riding with local snowplow drivers during the snowstorm.
Meanwhile in Duluth, “Cheerios” has become a buzzword. An anonymous group of residents has issued a challenge to locals (or anyone else) to donate a box or more of Cheerios (or, say, cornflakes) at Duluth Labor Temple or North East Area Labor Council Office between March 27-29. The boxes will be donated to Duluth food shelves participating in Minnesota FoodShare campaign.
The Facebook group, Duluth Cheerio Challenge, is behind the push. It had more than 100 members by Monday evening and describes itself as “community response from a ‘small-minded community that peed in its Cheerios.'”
Although the final vote on the levy was 12-1, with only Council Member Linea Palmisano voting “no,” many of the budget amendments over the past three days were approved by the council’s more progressive majority over the sometimes heated objections of other members more aligned with Frey. Council Member Andrea Jenkins, expressed frustration at “all of these new programs and new spending.”
“Our taxpayers are feeling completely over-burdened,” Jenkins said.
The council rejected raises for one group of employees, voting against giving 4% cost-of-living raises to 161 appointed city employees (typically directors) that are among the city’s highest-paid workers, with salaries ranging from about $90,000 to $390,000. The council voted 7-5 to make the cut, saving $1.1 million.
Palmisano called the decision to deny raises to just one group of employees “just plain wrong” and suggested “If we do this, maybe we need to take a look at our own salaries.” The 13 Minneapolis council members are paid $109,846 annually. Council Member Katie Cashman said denying raises is better than cutting jobs.
Most of the budget revisions moved money around to fund programs the council wants or to beef up public safety in certain areas of the city. The council directed the Neighborhood Safety Department to do safety initiatives in the neighborhoods of Hiawatha, Whittier, Longfellow and Midtown Phillips. Palmisano likened them to pork-barrel projects rather than a data-driven public safety strategy, saying, “This should not be a free-for-all for people to grab things for their neighborhoods.”
Chief Operations Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher said Frey was concerned such earmarks would chip away at the city’s overall public safety strategy.
The new concert venue is expected to create 700 jobs and serve as an anchor for other businesses in the upcoming Canterbury Commons, a $400 million entertainment district in development near Canterbury Park.
Those behind the project, Swervo Development Corp., also released new renderings and details about the facility on Monday. Those include: a sloped, artificial turf lawn with space for more than 5,000 people, two elevated beer gardens with standing room and VIP skyboxes that can seat 500 people.
“This partnership is an incredible opportunity to create a venue that meets the needs of artists and fans. Live Nation supports artists with deep expertise that will bring many more amazing shows in our region,” Ned Abdul, president and CEO of Swervo, said in a statement.
Live Nation owns or operates more than 265 concert venues in North America, including 60 of the top 100 amphitheaters in the country. The Fillmore in downtown Minneapolis is owned by Live Nation. The U.S. Justice Department filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, earlier this year as fans have complained about high event ticket prices.
The Shakopee venue is expected to host more than 30 events every summer.
Star Tribune
New details about life, background of Luigi Mangione, UnitedHealthcare shooting suspect
Luigi Mangione’s face is now familiar worldwide, following his arrest for allegedly murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week in Manhattan. But new details on the life and background of the Ivy League-educated 26-year-old are still emerging by the hour.
Mangione, in custody in Pennsylvania following a five-day manhunt and facing a second-degree murder charge in New York, struggled with police and yelled out as he entered an extradition hearing on Tuesday.
Those who knew Mangione are now trying to reconcile the friendly computer science major with the suspect who allegedly shot and killed Thompson last week, and was arrested carrying a short manifesto criticizing health insurance companies for putting profits above care and specifically singling out UnitedHealthcare, according to the New York Times and CNN.
Luigi Mangione was born in 1998 to Louis and Kathleen Mangione, and was part of a well-known family in Maryland that owned a wide range of businesses. Luigi’s grandfather, Nick Mangione Sr., and his wife purchased a golf course and country club in Howard County in the 1970s. It included a 220-room hotel, a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, and an 85-seat amphitheater, according to the Washington Post. They had five daughters and five sons, including Luigi’s father Louis.
They later bought another country club and a radio station in the 1980s. Mangione Sr. died in 2008, but his children have continued to run the family businesses.
Thomas J. Maronick Jr., a lawyer and radio host who knew Mangione Sr., praised the family, describing them as “incredibly generous.” He said they were generous with charities.
Maronick Jr. said he was shocked that Luigi Mangione has been named as the shooter. “Given the family, and how generous and supportive of charity they are, and the esteem their name carries in Maryland, it’s the last person you’d expect,” he said.
Former classmates at the Gilman School, an all-boys, $37,000 a year private school in Baltimore, told the New York Times that Luigi Mangione was intelligent. They said he made mobile apps before college, and participated in clubs including model UN and robotics.
