Star Tribune
Katy Perry’s teaming with Dr. Luke fails to yield fireworks
When in doubt, call in the kid. That’s the unfortunate stratagem Perry resorts to at the end of her new album, “143,” in a groaner of a closer called “Wonder” that features a guest turn by the singer’s 4-year-old daughter, Daisy.
Like a copy of a copy of her decade-and-a-half-old “Firework,” “Wonder” has Perry exhorting Daisy to stay innocent in a cynical world — to keep the fire lit in her heart, to keep the weight of reality off her wings, to resist letting “the envious ones say that you’re just a weed.” (No, really.) By spotlighting her child’s untrained warble, Perry is attempting to demonstrate the human stakes of that undertaking while showing us that, as a record maker, she’s living by her own advice. However, on an album slick with flop sweat, poor little Daisy comes across not as a beneficiary of Perry’s motherly encouragement but as a victim of her mom’s creative desperation.
Anyone could understand why Perry was feeling adrift going into “143,” which comes a few months after she wrapped her seven-season run as a judge on “American Idol.” At 39 — and with a pair of largely unsuccessful LPs behind her in 2020′s “Smile” and 2017′s “Witness” — Perry is already past the age when female pop stars encounter the brutal disinterest of a music business preoccupied with novelty and youth; indeed, she was battling the perception of obsolescence even before the emergence this past summer of Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, both of whom no doubt put the scare into a superstar like 31-year-old Ariana Grande.
Perry’s determination to get back in the game is clearly what led her to reteam with Dr. Luke, the songwriter/producer with whom she made many of her biggest hits in spite of a rape accusation Kesha made against him in 2014. (Last year, Kesha and Dr. Luke announced that they’d reached a settlement in their long-running legal drama.)
Whether or not Perry anticipated the considerable blowback triggered by her and Luke’s reunion, she was right to bet that audiences would forgive her decision provided she came with bangers: Just look at the relative lack of outrage over Doja Cat’s work with Luke on her smash “Say So” and Latto’s work with him on “Big Energy.”
The problem for Perry is that these songs are bad, and not even in a fun way. “143″ is an oddly cold dance-pop album with boring melodies, utilitarian grooves and vocal performances that feel vaguely AI-derived; Perry writes and sings with none of the genuine emotional yearning or the sharp sense of humor that defined classics like “California Gurls” and the title track from “Teenage Dream,” which is probably why 21 Savage felt entitled to show up in “Gimme Gimme” and rhyme “I heard you gotta jump just to put on your jeans” (OK) with “I’m like Amazon ‘cause I got what you need” (jeez).
Star Tribune
Burning wood and trash might qualify as carbon free under 2040 climate law, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rules
The commission drew hundreds of public comments, including input from electric utilities, state lawmakers, local elected officials, environmental nonprofits, Gov. Tim Walz’s pollution regulators, North Dakota’s governor, the forestry and paper industry and labor unions.
Wind, solar and nuclear power drew broad support as the PUC considered the issue. Wood and garbage burning were more controversial.
A dozen environmental organizations and some DFL lawmakers wanted the PUC to decide any electric plant that emits carbon at the point of generation — such as incinerating wood and garbage — would not be considered carbon free.
The state’s biggest electric utilities, as well as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the state Department of Commerce, said the law should take other factors into consideration.
They backed a “life-cycle analysis” of net emissions. Supporters of wood burning argue it can be carbon neutral, since wood would emit greenhouse gases as it decomposes or if it burned in a wildfire.
Do not pass the State Capitol dome, do not collect $200. Yes, Monopoly board games fans of St. Paul, you’re in luck.
Monopoly is set to release a special St. Paul edition of its classic board game next June.And for anyone who ever had an opinion about Minnesota’s second largest city, the game’s makers are seeking input on what businesses, restaurants and landmarks to include in the game.
Tim Barney, in charge of creating the city editions for Monopoly, says public involvement is essential to creating an authentic city-themed game.
“We really want the public to get involved,” Barney said. “If you live here, you used to live here, you like to visit. Whatever it is, if you’ve got a strong opinion about what makes St. Paul perfect, then that’s what we want to include.”
So instead of Park Place or Pennsylvania Avenue, the James J. Hill House or the St. Paul Hotel could take its place. It’s that type of local favorite that Barney and his team are looking for.
Jack Stransky, co-owner of Midway Book Store, said it’d be cool if businesses like his could be featured in the game.
“I think it’s cool,” Stransky said of the game. “If we get in it, it’s free advertising for us. We can’t deny that.”
Stransky hopes some lesser-known St. Paul staples might be included.
Star Tribune
In a first, Destination Medical Center rejects funding for proposed Rochester apartment project
Affordable housing rents are based on an area’s median household income, with lower rent caps for people making less than the median income — in Rochester, about $118,000 for a family of four. DMC officials are looking for rental units with caps for residents who make half to 80% of that amount, while Quaye and R&R Properties want to set rents slightly higher to cater to Mayo Clinic workers.
Quaye said she and her staff were frustrated by DMC’s process. She pointed out that R&R Properties’ funding request changed to $6 million last month after resizing a federal housing loan for the project, and later offered to cap the rent of 18 units at 110% of the area median income.
The board unanimously voted against funding the project, arguing it would take up too much of DMC’s project budget when larger apartment projects had received less money.
“In this case … I think it sets a precedent that could be very dangerous,” DMC Board Member R.T. Rybak said. “I want to look at a far lower level of subsidy that would be sustainable for the many other housing projects we have to be part of.”
But members also noted it was important to work with the developer. The property along 2nd Avenue is “critical” to the Discovery Walk corridor as it takes shape over the next few years.
Rochester is facing a growing housing crisis. A 2020 housing study found the city needed about 14,000 new housing units — a mix of multi-family, single-family, townhomes and condo developments — to keep up with the city’s expected population increase. Demand will be compounded as Mayo Clinic’s $5 billion downtown expansion gets underway over the next few years.
