JANUARY 17–23, 2018 | CITYPAGES.COM | FREE The UNKNOWABLE TRUTH Jurors believe Mariel Grimm nearly killed a baby. How she did it, no one could say. MULLEN Maplewood’s quiet comeback p. 6 DRINK Mocktail mayhem p. 17 MUSIC Owl City’s bassist has a few questions p. 31 Beer and a Bump MIXOLOGY: 2oz shot of Jameson Caskmates with a pint of local pale ale FDHIRONIBNDB KRIE OOSBF B: TCYrHa AOvTeICl:i nE3g:6 ,T7 ao5td tMeanyind: niMnegihn alnihveaea psAohvloieswn cusr,e a aifnnt dMb ecinehrne.ee Taroipnmogloi sfrorro twh:e w Fhaolc konnosw.s. 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Taste Responsibly. ©2018 Imported by John Jameson Import Company, Purchase, NY 2(cid:2)CITYPAGES.COM(cid:2)JANUARY 17–23, 2018 Editorial EDITOR Pete Kotz January 17-23, 2018 MANAGING EDITOR Hannah Sayle WEB EDITOR Jay Boller VOLUME 38 | NUMBER 1937 NEWS EDITOR Mike Mullen MUSIC EDITOR Keith Harris FOOD EDITOR Emily Cassel ARTS EDITOR Jessica Armbruster 17 STAFF WRITER Susan Du COPY CHIEF Bridgette Reinsmoen PROOFREADER Bryan Miller CLUBS EDITOR Erik Thompson CONTRIBUTING WRITERS  Jerard Fagerberg, Jay Gabler, Tony Libera, Michael Madden, Erica Rivera, Sheila Regan CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS  Galen Fletcher, Alma Guzman, Lucy Hawthorne, E. Katie Holm, Shelly Mosman, Tony Nelson, Colin Michael Simmons Art ART DIRECTOR Emily Utne LAYOUT EDITOR Holly Hilgenberg 31 Production DESIGN MANAGER Dana Holmay GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jackie Kilmer Publisher Mary Erickson Advertising SALES DIRECTOR Leah Parkinson SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Leah Carson, Kevin Lenhart, Nick Rupar, Brian Thunberg ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jackson Dougherty, Ashley Elumba, Luke Gildemeister, Jacob Johnston SENIOR MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Mike Yanke DIGITAL PRODUCT MANAGER Kibra Paulos 9 FEATURE ACCOUNT MANAGERS Madeline Burke, Carly Dabroski THE UNKNOWABLE TRUTH CP Digital CP DIGITAL DIRECTOR Anthony Englund Jurors believe Mariel Grimm nearly killed a baby. CP DIGITAL MANAGER Joey Ryan How she did it, no one could say. 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City Pages is a registered trademark of Star Tribune Media Company, LLC. 25 FILM cover credit HAPPY END PHOTO BY: Sad! Shelly Mosman JANUARY 17–23, 2018(cid:2)CITYPAGES.COM(cid:2)3(cid:2) THE SHORTLIST See deliriously joyous fans exit U.S. Bank Stadium after miracle win At citypages.com MIKE MADISON THE STAT SHEET $4,255 10,000 StubHub’s cheapest ticket for Number of tickets sold for the zipline the Super Bowl, located in the top deck that will cross the Mississippi River of the end zone during the Super Bowl $64,900 92 Most expensive ticket available, Number of women in the St. Paul in the Delta Sky360 Club Police Department, out of 630 officers “Can’t our geological features just get along?” Reader Michael Ulysses responds to “Lake Superior and Mount St. Helens have a Twit- POPULAR STORIES ter beef, and it is fierce,” at citypages.com. AT CITYPAGES.COM THE WELFARE MYTH Well this sucks: Stillwater’s beloved BBQ joint SMALLEY’S will close THE DISBELIEF IN SCIENCE is getting expen- this weekend sive. So discovered West Virginia, the lat- est state to make welfare contingent upon ‘OPE!’: People are talking about remaining drug-free. the non-word Minnesotans During the first three months of its new use for ‘Excuse me’ drug-testing program, only four people tested Why do BLOODY MARYS come positive— less than 1 percent. West Virginia with a tiny beer? We investigate legislators could have forecast this had they the Midwest phenomenon just Googled the stats from other states. IT’S GAME TIME So far, Utah has registered the highest rate, Sean Payton TAUNTED VIKINGS at just over 2 percent. Four states caught no FANS, summoning Stephon Diggs TIcasino.com | 1-800-222-7077 one at all. Compare this to the estimated miracle [PHOTOS] drug-use rate of the general population—9 Craigslist ad: percent—and the testing becomes a clear ‘SEXY’ ST. LOUIS PARK LOUNGE case of blind men throwing good money offers free shots, ‘ECSTASY!’ after bad. ©2018 Treasure Island Resort & Casino 4(cid:2)CITYPAGES.COM(cid:2)JANUARY 17–23, 2018 BLOTTER POVERTY ON THE PRAIRIE Mankato is Minnesota’s poorest city. The reason might surprise you. B R While outstate Minnesota those go-to villains suitable for blame IAN P E tends to view the Twin Cit- in any social situation. No, the anchor TE R ies as cauldrons of poverty, on the economies of Mankato and St. SO N decay, and untold misery, Cloud is... college kids? , S the stats say otherwise. Yes. TAR T Among Minnesota’s largest cities, the Greater Mankato Growth, the city’s RIB poorest aren’t Minneapolis and St. Paul. chamber of commerce, dug a little deeper UN E They’re Mankato and St. Cloud. into the stats. When it yanked students According to the U.S. Census, one out of every four Mankato residents lives in poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from the calculations, the city’s poverty But all is not hopeless on our southern prairie. nearly one of every four Mankato resi- rate declined by half. Which, of course, dents lives in poverty. St. Cloud clocks in is good news. at a close second, with 23 percent. The Unlike the generational poor, or people Which leads us back to the Twin Cit- residents are foreign-born, mostly from Twin Towns finish third and fourth, both without the skills to measurably rise ies. Once students are removed from war-torn or impoverished nations. Or home to a little more than one out of every above their current station, students at the data, St. Paul becomes Minnesota’s both. And since the stats also say that five people living below the poverty line. least have a fighting chance to better poorest city at 20 percent, followed by immigrants’ economic status tends to But contrary to prevailing wisdom, the their prospects upon graduation. Poverty Minneapolis at two points lower. rise with each successive generation, culprit for outstate cities’ slumping fate for most—hopefully—has a reasonable Still, there’s hope buried in these they too shall likely soar. It might just isn’t the Mexicans or the East Africans, expectation of passing. stats as well. Twenty percent of St. Paul take a little more time. —PETE KOTZ JANUARY 17–23, 2018(cid:2)CITYPAGES.COM(cid:2)5(cid:2) OPINION A Suburb Quiets Its Critics Once the shame of the east metro, Maplewood grows up A s she campaigned for mayor of A demographic shift also arrived in then opened the phone lines for viewer Maplewood in 2013, Nora Slawik Maplewood, which lies north and east of comments. encountered a curious reaction St. Paul. About a third of its residents are In 2016, Maplewood withdrew from a from voters. Relief. now non-white, including sizable Somali multi-county cable commission, a move “They didn’t want it to go back to the and Hmong populations. that took those shows off the air, divert- Mike Mullen way it was,” Slawik says. Tou Xiong’s parents spent 15 years in a ing the $300,000 in annual fees toward Her opponent, Diana Longrie, had been Thai refugee camp before making it to St. government-produced media. mayor from 2006 to 2009. During that time, Paul. They saved to buy a home in Maple- “They are likening it to an in-house [pub- more than a dozen city employees were wood, telling young Tou they wanted him to lic relations] firm,” says Longrie. “They are administration. Schultz’s report said council fired or quit. grow up like the kids in his favorite movie, using that money to craft their message, members were regularly violating open Longrie canned the city manager, replac- The Sandlot, with a yard of his own, safe and only get out their message.” meetings laws, and that the city needed a ing him with a man with no government public parks, and good schools. Last year, Maplewood also cut the mic conflict-of-interest policy. experience—and no work experience In 2015, Xiong, a graduate of William in City Hall, ending public comments at Perhaps even more important, Schultz of any kind in the previous decade. His Mitchell College of Law, ran for one of council meetings. A staff review of “visitor wrote, the council demonstrated a lack of qualifications: He was a friend of Longrie’s two at-large City Council seats. Also on presentations” found the same speakers “basic civility and maturity.” As if to prove husband, and had been active in the Ross the ballot were Bob Cardinal, a former kept getting up, meeting after meeting, his point, the council dismissed Schultz’s Perot-aligned Reform Party. mayor, and Longrie, back for yet another to rail against city officials, which Slawik report out of hand. Maplewood went back A community center, supposedly break- election, this time campaigning to prevent contends was “intimidating” others from to making headlines for the wrong reasons. ing even, was later found to be running a the spillover of “crime & socioeconomic speaking up. If anything, Schultz says, asking what $750,000 deficit. wounds” from St. Paul, with its “changing Slawik contends officials are readily citizens want is even riskier than hiring At the time, City Pages suggested Maple- demographics.” The election was close, but available by other means. “I put my home an expert. “It’s easier to kick a consultant wood was the “worst run city in Minne- Xiong and Bryan Smith, another progres- number on the [city] website, and I do get around than it is to kick your constituents sota,” an assessment few residents cared sive, prevailed. calls.” She hasn’t heard complaints about around. I’m impressed by the fact they’re to dispute. Slawik and the new liberal cohort have the end of public comment. willing to take this kind of risk.” Once out of office, Longrie and a small passed a slate of progressive measures, Here’s one: “Seniors in the community, The idea was city manager Melinda Cole- group of people continued to appear at ordering a study of police use of force, and they think that is an absolute crime,” Lon- man’s. Coleman worked for the city from council meetings to needle officials about joining a multi-city racial equity project. grie says. “It serves to isolate everyone in 1995 until 2007, then left over concern for taxes, spending, and crime. The city’s critics are still out there, Maplewood, so they never have any concept the “stewardship of the city.” She returned After clashing with the group for years, though they make less noise now. Longrie what other people are thinking.” in 2013 to the shock of some who knew the Mayor Will Rossbach decided not to run and others had regularly aired their views That might be about to change. Maple- city only by its old reputation. for re-election. Longrie, meanwhile, sought on cable-access television shows, cheaply wood has brought in Hamline Law School “I would go to these meetings, and differ- a sequel to her chaotic term as mayor. produced affairs that existed principally professor David Schultz, who received a ent county, and local, and state government Rossbach recruited Slawik, a Democrat to warn viewers they’d been forgotten by grant to ask citizens what their local govern- people would say, ‘Why did you come back? who’d won seven elections to the Min- City Hall. ments could do to “enhance governance, Are you crazy?’ And I had to tell them, it’s nesota House. To the relief of residents, In a typical moment from 2014, host representation, accountability.” Schultz different now. It’s better.” ç Slawik won with 67 percent of the vote. Bob Zick ran a clip of his own testimony and his team have conducted efforts in She took over a different city than the one before the City Council about the threat Red Wing, Brooklyn Park, and Willmar. she’d moved to two decades before. Maple- “low-life... sex offenders, criminals, gangs,” The ethics expert couldn’t help but think wood’s population had swelled from about and other “outcasts from St. Paul” posed back to a dozen years ago, when he’d been [email protected] 31,000 in 1990 to close to 40,000 in 2010. to Maplewood. Back in the studio, Zick hired to consult with Diana Longrie’s new Follow Mike on Twitter: @mikemullen_ 6(cid:2)CITYPAGES.COM(cid:2)JANUARY 17–23, 2018 JANUARY 17–23, 2018(cid:2)CITYPAGES.COM(cid:2)7(cid:2) JAKE HEGGIE | JAN 27–FEB 3 “... a gripping, enormously skillful marriage of words and music to tell a story of love, suffering and spiritual redemption.” – The San Francisco Chronicle Tickets from $25 BUY TODAY mnopera.org 612-333-6669 8(cid:2)CITYPAGES.COM(cid:2)JANUARY 17–23, 2018 The BY SUSAN DU T he day Mariel Grimm was sen- tenced for abusing a baby to UNK NOWABLE near death, the Dakota County prosecutor had prepared a biting sermon, demanding this babysitter get nearly five years in prison. TRUTH “Mariel Grimm imposed a life sentence on... a baby who cried because he had a soiled diaper,” said County Attorney Heather Pipen- hagen, a veteran crusader against crimes tar- geting children. “Ms. Grimm asks you for mercy. She showed Jurors believe Mariel Grimm nearly killed a baby. no mercy on September 22 of last year. For that unforgiveable, irreversible act, she deserves How she did it, no one could say. the presumptive guideline sentence. “ Each word was a lashing to the 33-year-old Mariel, a diminutive mother of four. As she sat with her hands clenched in her lap, look- ing like a kicked dog, it seemed she wanted badly to speak up for herself. The prosecutor evoked a vision of unthink- able brutality. Yet observers in the gallery were left genuinely wondering what Mariel had actually done. Even by this final stage in her trial, the state could not explain how the baby got his injuries. The nightmare began on the morning of September 22, 2016, when the 13-month-old woke wailing from a nap. His cries summoned Mariel, his daycare provider since infancy, whose Eagan home was a lively menagerie of child’s play. In addition to the boy—whom we’ll call Will to protect his privacy—Mariel looked after a church friend’s little girl and her own children, whom she homeschooled. Will loathed dirty diapers. As Mariel changed him into a new one, she says the little boy suddenly went stiff. His head turned robotically to the right. His right arm flew up into the air. He lost consciousness. Mariel splashed handfuls of cold water on his face. The baby didn’t wake. She called Will’s mother, Jessica, in hyster- ics. Jessica yelled at her to call 911. On the phone with dispatch, Mariel was barely audible over her mounting panic. She could be heard pleading, “What is happen- ing?” “What should I do?” “Baby, wake up, baby, please.” Paramedics arrived to discover one of Will’s eyes dilated, the other pinpointed—a sign of critical pressure building inside his head. When Jessica appeared, Mariel faded into the background as paramedics began to inter- rogate the mother, trying to uncover any recent injuries that could explain his condition. Will had fallen at least three times at home the day before, Jessica offered. He’d tripped once. Then he’d fallen back- ward on the wooden floor while trying to pull an item from the laundry basket. That morning, prior to being dropped off at the babysitter’s house, he’d knocked heads with his father while playing in the pre-dawn dark- ness of their bed. Those minor collisions didn’t seem enough to explain his condition. 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