David Brauer
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dbrauer.net
David Brauer
@dbrauer.net
9.4K followers 1.2K following 18K posts
Former journalist, long-time Minneapolitan, curator of Uptown’s borders and chief rememberer, Halloween Blizzard of 1991. Posts too much about Minneapolis politics and knows it, but old professional habits die hard.
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dbrauer.net
Unspeakable things have happened to get us to this point.
Turkey with paprika-salt brine dry curing in a refrigerator
November 26, 2025 at 8:34 PM
dbrauer.net
St. Paul Ward 7 council member Cheniqua Johnson Annan issued a statement last night:
Yesterday was an awful and heartbreaking day for the East Side & our entire city. No matter the explanations offered or the intentions behind events, the impact remains the same: trust between our community, our Saint Paul Police Department & the City has been broken. Yes, Trump's HSI & ICE federal agents once again set out to terrorize. This time, however, what I hear loud and clear is the community vocalizing their anger, pain, hurt & trauma due to actions taken today by officers of our SPPD. We must hear them. We must acknowledge that. Throughout the day & evening, I received countless messages, videos & emails from community members. Leaders, City employees, school staff & residents all voiced their frustration, disbelief, and pain at our Council's Truth-in-Taxation hearing. Driving to the scene yesterday, several of my colleagues encouraged me to turn around because, at 39 weeks pregnant, I was told the situation had escalated so severely that it would have been too dangerous for me and my son. How? How did it get that far? That is completely unacceptable. Our City has ordinances, and SPPD has policies and standards in place truly designed to protect all of our residents. We have handled many protests—many tough days for our city-that simply do not turn into what we saw on the East Side yesterday. That is why yesterday felt so devastating. So many of the things I have seen and heard are in complete conflict with all of that. Harm was felt, damage was done, and our community deserves clarity, accountability & reassurance that their city sees them and stands with them. This cannot be our new norm. My office will be joining my colleagues in seeking answers to the questions our community has raised. We will work to ensure that a thorough review is conducted and that, where appropriate, accountability follows. Our separation ordinance and use-of-force policies exist for a reason-they reflect our values as a city-and they must always be upheld. They are not optional.
November 26, 2025 at 11:58 AM
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I’m not a hardcore Waymo opponent but I AM a hardcore opponent of Waymo PR tools … www.startribune.com/waymo-expand...
From the Star Tribune op-ed: The safety case for Waymo's autonomous vehicles is overwhelming. A December 2024 study by Waymo and Swiss Re
November 25, 2025 at 5:24 AM
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Don’t have to
Timberwolves playoff history 2005-2021, only one playoff appearance, no series win
November 25, 2025 at 4:09 AM
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2/ Here’s the top-line (1st choice) 2025 vote in Cedar-Riv. You don’t even have to do deep analysis to see the real story was how remarkably Fateh gained near-unanimous support DESPITE Frey opening a satellite office & his (legitimately) hard work for support.
Fateh got 1,428 votes to Frey’s 181.
November 24, 2025 at 12:53 PM
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A movie that takes place where you’re from.
“Cold Turkey,” 1971. Dick Van Dyke reading a book in bed called “Breathe Your Way to Non-Smoking.” It was shot in Greenfield, Iowa, about an hour outside of Des Moines.
November 24, 2025 at 2:41 AM
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Inside you are two wolves www.startribune.com/douglas-flan...
Star Tribune text: Flanders graduated from Minnehaha Academy in 1968 and worked odd jobs as a graphic designer for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Playboy Magazine.
November 22, 2025 at 4:58 AM
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Cunningham’s little tantrum over or did someone talk sense to the Regents?
Attorney General Keith Ellison @AGEllison § ... 1 am pleased to announce that the University of Minnesota, Fairview Health Services, and M Physicians are returning to the negotiating table in a process that I will continue to manage with a mutually agreed-upon mediator to be selected shortly.
November 21, 2025 at 7:10 PM
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Solid MPR story on Council‘s George Floyd Square vote. I don’t know what’s best but @jchavezmpls.bsky.social’s point that voters in all 4 GFS precincts backed critics of city plan is sound; Fateh won all 4; Chavez his 1 & @sorenwithward8.bsky.social handily won his 3 www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...
Chart showing Soren Stevenson with large majority of the 3 precincts bordering George Floyd Square; map showing the 4 precincts.
November 21, 2025 at 11:32 AM
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Been thinking about Lake Street raid & Bro-Tex — Lake St w/MPD on-site for “crowd control” & Bro-Tex w/no StP PD, & relative impact on protestors … but Strib notes Lake St — justified by Frey/Witt as a drug bust — has so far netted only an immigration conviction. www.startribune.com/federal-agen...
The confusion echoes that of five months ago during a June 3 raid of a Lake Street Mexican restaurant, which also sparked widespread protest over speculation that an immigration raid was underway. Federal prosecutors stated that the operation, which included searches at seven other locations, was a probe into a suspected criminal conspiracy tied to over 900 pounds of meth found in a Burnsville storage unit. Five months later, no other information has been released, nor have charges have been announced in connection to the alleged drug trafficking. The details of the investigation were not laid out in any court filing directly related to that case. Instead, they were included in the criminal complaint for obstruction and assault charges against Minneapolis protester Isabel Lopez, who had no connection to the federal investigation into drug trafficking. Francisco Estrada-Deltaro, the primary owner of the Las Cuatro Milpas restaurant on Lake Street that was the subject of the raid, was arrested at his home outside of the city and later sentenced to 8 months in prison for illegally re-entering the country three times. But he was never indicted in the "suspected criminal conspiracy" and it remains unclear if he ever will be. Estrada- Deltaro is slated to be deported after he completes his prison sentence
November 20, 2025 at 1:21 AM
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What perfect album came to it the year you turned 16?
Springsteen Born To Run Patti Smith Horses Dictators Go Girl Crazy Al Green Greatest Hits
November 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM
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Looks like Aurin’s “worst” precincts (<60%) were 6, 9 10 & 12 though she won them all with 56%+.
Ward 12 SE Mpls
November 17, 2025 at 3:46 PM
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5/ Meanwhile, Ward 12 was the mayor-council exception. @aurinmpls.bsky.social smashed Frey ally Becka Thompson, even tho Frey took 55% of the final vote. Aurin overwhelmed Becka among the “rank 3” slate, getting 90/80/70% shares from Fateh/Davis/Jazz. But she also got a third of Frey 1st choices.
Mayor-council Ward 12 cross tabs described in thread. Minneapolis Ward map, Ward 12 in SE corner of the city.
November 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
dbrauer.net
3/ Ward 8 first. It qualifies as a ‘flip,“ going from a Frey ally to DFL-DSA endorsee @sorenwithward8.bsky.social. Ward 8 voted 55-45% Fateh in final 2-way; 56% Soren on 1st ballot. Crosstab shows strong mayoral correlation: Soren getting 85% of Fateh vote & opponent Josh Bassais 2/3rds of Frey vote
Crosstab chart, described in the thread. Minneapolis Ward map. Ward 8 is in the south center of the city.
November 17, 2025 at 3:04 PM
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Anyway, NEVER FORGET:
Tweet from Last doll on the left @CrisSelup • We would do better with lifelong Minneapolitan, Josh Bassais. Soren is a hipster from Portland. JOSH BASSAIS WARD 8 CITY COUNCIL BUILDING A THRIVING MINNEAPOLIS TOGETHER Home | JoshBassaisforWard8 From joshbforward8.org ...
November 16, 2025 at 2:21 PM
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I saw the little dude do his motorcycle scene about a block from here 42 years ago
Purple rain logo on State theater stage curtain.
November 15, 2025 at 1:23 AM
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After @maggiek.bsky.social brought it up this morning, I biked to the Lyn Park neighborhood, one of the few I’ve never visited in 46 years here. It truly is a suburb in the city: big 1977-79 push to make home-owning more achievable for the black community. Promptly got my first flat of 2025 there!
Neighborhood bordered by 18th, I-94 & Lyndale Ave over north.
November 14, 2025 at 9:55 PM
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Then there’s Don Samuels’ Hillside gridbreaker, also home to @snipy.bsky.social i think?
The Hillside Ave district of North Minneapolis, which breaks the street grid just north of Broadway Avenue and west of Girard Avenue.
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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What New York Times calls “a light resume” for Seattle’s new progressive mayor turns out to be leading successful campaigns that expanded mass transit & housing & helped the city balance its budget. What a lightweight! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
Headline: The New Hork Cimes Account v Seattle Elects a Left- Wing Mayor With a Light Résumé but Mamdani Appeal Katie Wilson, who narrowly defeated the incumbent, Bruce Harrell, emerged from the city's left-wing activist class and brings with her little experience in governing Body copy: Ms. Wilson had never run for public office before, but she had led a series of campaigns over the past decade to expand access to mass transit, raise local minimum wages and add protections for renters — often through some form of taxing the rich. Body copy: As co-founder of the Transit Riders Union, an advocacy group, Ms. Wilson built a network of fellow organizers and won a string of campaigns to expand access to public services and fight the growing gap between the ultra rich and everyone else in the Seattle region. Ms. Wilson played a key role in convincing the Seattle City Council to create what's known as the "JumpStart Tax," a levy of 0.75 percent to 2.5 percent on the salaries of the highest-paid employees at about 500 of the city's largest businesses. Revenue from the tax is supposed to fund affordable housing, small-business support and climate-change programs, though in recent years, the city has also used it to help balance its general fund
November 13, 2025 at 10:33 PM
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Final blue shingles being put on the Lake Harriet Bandshell outbuildings
A pavilion by a lake with a mechanical loader in front & no shingles on the roof.
November 13, 2025 at 8:40 PM
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Deleted the post about Minneapolis voting at 2x Seattle’s rate because Bloomberg only counted the leader’s total. If you go by that, Jacob Frey got fewer than 80,000 votes in a 3+ million vote region! A dumb way to formulate it! Seattle mayor will get more votes per capita than Mamdani!
With a population of roughly 800,000, Seattle is a relatively small part of the larger Puget Sound region, which has about 4.5 million people and includes the headquarters of Microsoft Corp. and Costco Wholesale Corp., plus major Boeing Co. factories. In contrast to New York City, where more than 1 million people cast ballots for Mamdani, Seattle's next mayor will have been chosen by fewer than 150,000 voters.
November 12, 2025 at 4:05 PM
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This is DUE SOUTH
November 12, 2025 at 3:18 AM
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Honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen red pillars this massive (10-second exposure but naked-eye visible)
November 12, 2025 at 2:40 AM
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Honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen red pillars this massive (10-second exposure but naked-eye visible)
November 12, 2025 at 2:39 AM
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2/ 53 precincts weren’t redistricted 2021 to 2025; in 47, there was no change in the winner. (This assumes a precinct won by Kate Knuth in 2021 and Fateh in 2025 isn’t a flip). Only 1 flipped to Frey: South Kingfield 8-4 went from 51% Knuth to 53% Frey. 5 flipped to Fateh: 6-3, 6-6, 6-9, 8-1 & 9-3.
Minneapolis Ward map
November 10, 2025 at 8:16 PM