Star Tribune
Fishy-smelling corpse flower blooms at Gustavus Adolphus College
ST. PETER, Minn. – The corpse flower at Gustavus Adolphus College is in full bloom, and the air Sunday was fetid with the stench of dead fish.
The flower, known as Gemini, opened up late Saturday night, said Amy Kochsiek, a continuing assistant professor of biology at Gustavus.
The brief and infrequent blooms of a corpse flower can sometimes only last a few hours, and by Sunday afternoon the plant already smelled like fish, one of the last odors in the cycle, Kochsiek said.
The Biology Department set up a livestream for curious Minnesotans to watch the plant bloom. Signs directed visitors to the greenhouse on the third floor of the campus’ Nobel Hall of Science, where on Sunday visitors could observe the plant through a window.
The endangered corpse flower species has adopted a strategy of emitting the smell of rotting flesh and other smells that attract flies, beetles and other insects that can help spread its pollen, said Brian O’Brien, a professor emeritus in chemistry at Gustavus, last week.
The flowers originate in Sumatra, Indonesia, and their pungent odors start off identical to rotting flesh before cycling through notes of fecal matter, decaying fish and sauerkraut, O’Brien said.
Gustavus saw the first flowering of the plant in Minnesota in 2007, according to the college. Other plants in Minnesota have also begun to sprout, such as one that bloomed earlier this year at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in May.
Over the course of the corpse flower’s bloom, the plant will heat up by 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit, which helps the smell spread and attract pollinators, the professor said. The immense energy required to heat up the flower and release its stinky aromas are part of the reason why the plant blooms so infrequently.
By late afternoon Sunday, the corpse flower had already started to wilt, the scent had faded and the plant had gone cold. Soon, professors at the college will open a hole in the plant’s exterior, hard as a watermelon rind. They’ll scoop out its pollen with a teaspoon to store for posterity, as part of efforts to preserve the species.
There’s a still chance Gustavus will see another bloom this year, said Kochsiek. A second plant, genetically identical to the one that bloomed, has about a coin flip’s chance of either flowering or becoming a leaf.
So far, though, the plant is still “unsure,” Kochsiek said.
Star Tribune
Trump is set to respond to Harris on immigration during his visit to a small Wisconsin town
Republicans including U.S. Sen. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.
Michelle Marie Dietrich, a public defender representing Coronel Zarate in the Prairie du Chien case, declined to comment. Charlotte Wynes, another public defender representing him in Prairie du Chien along with Dietrich, didn’t respond to a voicemail seeking comment. Michelle Brandemuehl, a public defender representing him in Madison, also didn’t respond to a voicemail message seeking comment.
Trump has repeatedly portrayed migrants as criminals and blamed Harris for failing to stem an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, though border crossings have fallen since President Joe Biden instituted an executive order limiting asylum claims. Democrats, in turn, have blamed Trump for persuading allies in Congress to kill bipartisan legislation that would have funded more border agents and given the Homeland Security secretary authority to prohibit entry for most people over a daily limit.
One option presented to some vendors has been to register for the state’s Cottage Food Producer permit, based on a 2015 law that allows people to “make and sell certain nonpotentially hazardous food and canned goods in Minnesota without a license.”
Chavez said that’s a step in the wrong direction. Such a permit would allow vendors to sell homemade baked goods and pickled fruits and vegetables, but still wouldn’t allow them to operate on city sidewalks or in traffic.
“People might apply, but it isn’t actually going to address the root issue that people are struggling with,” he said.
The issue is one of equity according to Chowdhury, who said some vendors don’t have the necessary knowledge or resources because they’re still new to the country. Licensing or permit fees become barriers for new vendors trying to become compliant.
“When it comes to folks that are immigrants, new to our community, that’s an incredible barrier. So if we’re going to do economic empowerment, that’s the barrier that we want to help resolve, and so I’m 100 percent supportive of waiving these fees,” she said.
A street vendor near Lake Street and Portland Avenue in south Minneapolis. (Dymanh Chhoun, Sahan Journal)
Claudia Lainez, workers’ center director at COPAL, a Latino advocacy organization, said they have been monitoring the growth of street vendors across the metro area specifically because many are undocumented. She said vendors tend to be women because men, even undocumented, typically struggle less to find work.
A Minneapolis family is grieving after their 34-year-old husband and father died Thursday when he was struck by an SUV while riding an electric scooter.
Benjamin Nyman Walker was weaving through traffic while headed south on Nicollet Avenue near Interstate 494 when he was struck by a southbound Jeep Wrangler at 5:44 p.m., Richfield police said. Police, emergency workers and HCMC paramedics tried to save Walker, but he died at the scene.
An organizer collecting funds to support the family said Walker was on his way home from work when he was killed. Walker’s wife, Crystal, said he was a loving man who was quick to tell dad jokes and quicker to help others.
“He would give you the shirt off of his back in times of need. He was someone who was there to listen and give his truth,” said Crystal Walker, adding that the two had been planning to move to Wisconsin. “He was the light in any room when he was happy, and he tried his hardest to always make sure he kept everyone’s spirits up.”
“Being without him is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be,” said Walker’s daughter, Karissa. “He was so sweet and he always cared about other people’s feelings.”
A similar scooter accident led authorities to arrest a woman in Texas for fatally injuring 52-year-old Andre Zedrick Steward in a July hit-and-run collision in Minneapolis. The woman told a witness that she was driving drunk when she hit a man, adding that she and her sister had fled the scene and flown to Las Vegas.
Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.
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