Plus: Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane is now in federal custody in Colorado; the Minnesota Zoo asks birders to look for escaped magpies; one of Wisconsin’s “fake electors” has been working as a staffer for Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s campaign; and more.

Welcome to the Glean, MinnPost’s twice-daily roundup of Minnesota news.

For MPR News Dan Kraker says, “Jacob Muus first noticed something was amiss late Friday morning when a customer tried to use a gift card. ‘And I was kind of stumped by why it wasn’t going through,’ recalled Muus, a co-owner of Johnson’s Foods grocery store in Grand Marais. ‘I tried using different cash registers and seeing if it would work on those, but it didn’t.’ … Those headaches began at 11:19 a.m. on Friday morning, when a company installing an underground cable about three miles north of Silver Bay accidentally cut the main fiber optic trunk line that runs from Duluth up the North Shore.”

For KSTP-TV Krystal Fasier reports, “Federal records show a former Minneapolis officer who was found guilty in connection to the murder of George Floyd is now in a federal prison. Thomas Lane is now in custody at Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in Littleton, Colorado, just outside of Denver.”

For the Business Journal Caitlin Anderson says, “While sales of $1 million homes have more than doubled nationwide over the past three years, buyers are getting less bang – or more precisely, less square footage – for their buck, according to new analysis by Zillow. Nearly every major U.S. metropolitan area saw a ‘shrinkage’ effect on million-dollar homes between pre-pandemic 2019 to 2022. There were two exceptions were Minneapolis/St. Paul and St. Louis; both those regions saw home footprints grow for such properties, according to a press release by the Seattle-based real estate website.”

For The Racket Jay Boller writes, “Jordan. LeBron. Doerr? Yesterday, a Racket reader messaged us about Terri Doerr’s ‘absolute DOMINATION’ in the Minnesota State Fair’s vegetable contests. They wondered: What is her champion-caliber garden like? Does she inspire fear among her rivals? Over the past 15 years, in the heated world of State Fair vegetable competitions, the name Doerr has indeed carried superstar significance. The veggie-growing great from Harris, Minnesota, has racked up eight Sweepstakes — the aggregate category that tallies the most yearly points via ribbons — through the past 10 fairs. With help from her husband Bob, she’s gunning for a ninth this year. That’s rarefied air, considering the title has only been bestowed around 150 times in fair history.”

At Mashed Rebecca Cherico writes, “New York-born, Minnesota-based Andrew Zimmern adores one State Fair delight that many others miss. It’s a hearty sandwich that was so popular at the Iowa State Fair that it came over to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, much to the ‘Bizzare Foods’ star’s excitement. What is this creation, so good that Zimmern refers to it as a ‘meat torpedo of delight’? It’s called the Gizmo.”

This from KMSP-TV, “The Minnesota Zoo is asking for birdwatchers to keep an eye on the sky after four magpie shrikes escaped from their enclosure in July. A zoo spokesperson said four magpie shrikes, also known as the African long-tailed shrike, flew out of the zoo last month after a door had been left open. One of the four birds was found and returned safely to its habitat.”

A BringMeTheNews story by Tommy Wiita says, “Bed Bath & Beyond is closing 150 stores across the United States, as it continues to try and rescue itself from going into bankruptcy. Additionally, roughly 20% of its corporate employees will be laid off and several of its in-house brands will be slashed. Bring Me The News reached out to Bed Bath & Beyond to see if any of the closures include Minnesota stores. There are eight remaining in Minnesota:

Earlier this year, Bed Bath & Beyond stores in Eagan (1295 Promenade Place) and Duluth (1303 Miller Trunk Highway) were shuttered, as was one in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.”

Another MPR News story says, “An audit of the state office that provides housing support for people who are homeless found that it did not properly make sure grant money was legally distributed and tracked. The performance audit by the Office of the Legislative Auditor found several issues with the Department of Human Services’ internal controls over grants for homelessness and housing support, and its compliance with certain legal requirements between July 2019 and December of 2021.”

For NBC News Natasha Korecki writes, “One of Wisconsin’s ‘fake electors’ has been working as a paid staffer for Sen. Ron Johnson’s re-election campaign.  Alexa Henning, a spokeswoman for Johnson, R-Wis., confirmed to NBC News Wednesday the campaign’s employment of Pam Travis, one of 10 Wisconsin Republicans who signed bogus paperwork claiming to be an elector backing then-President Donald Trump in an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Travis’s LinkedIn page indicates she’s worked for Johnson since March, and Federal Election Commission financial reports show the campaign has paid her just over $10,200 since April, as well as more than $3,500 in reimbursements for mileage costs between May and July. Travis, an active member of the Wisconsin GOP, is serving as the vice chair of the 7th Congressional District.”

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Longtime Twin Cities journalist Brian Lambert writes The Glean for MinnPost. He also blogs with Joe Loveland at Wry Wing Politics.

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