u/Healingjoe

It looks just like a giant beehive.

The 10-foot-tall stone structure in St. Louis Park’s Lilac Park, near the Nordic Ware tower, sometimes puzzles drivers going by on Hwy. 100.

Mary Johnson drives by it frequently, and it makes her “so curious,” she said. “I am wondering if it is an old kiln.”

She asked Curious Minnesota, the Strib’s audience-powered reporting project: “What is this ‘beehive’ structure?”

The short answer: It’s not a kiln. But Johnson was close. It is an outdoor fireplace that was first built during the Great Depression.

A remnant of the time when this part of Hwy. 100 was a scenic byway called the Belt Line, the quirky structure was once one of four beehive fireplaces in a series of parks along the roadway, according to local historians and preservation advocates.

The beehives had three openings so that several groups could grill at the same time. Families out for a Sunday drive would pull off the highway to cook hot dogs, have a picnic and explore the parks.

Today, there’s just one other beehive left, in Robbinsdale’s Graeser Park.

The beehives were just one feature of a 12.5-mile “showcase” section of the Belt Line called Lilac Way, said Karen Laukkonen, who runs a civic project called Restore Lilac Way.

“It was lined with thousands of lilac bushes,” she said.

## The City Council is considering an ordinance that would require companies like Waymo to get a city license and have a “safety monitor” in autonomous vehicles.

Minneapolis may allow autonomous vehicles to roam the city, but only with someone in the driver’s seat as a “safety monitor” being paid at least minimum wage.

That staffing requirement is the centerpiece of the ordinance being considered by the City Council, and set for a public hearing Sept. 22.

Council members say the rules, which also require all autonomous vehicle companies to be licensed with the city, would be groundbreaking nationally. The “safety monitor” would need to have a driver’s license and “immediate access to controls for steering, braking, and acceleration.”

Last year, Waymo officials announced plans to move into the Minneapolis market and in November began testing the company’s signature white Jaguar I-Pace SUVs and Zeekr RT vehicles on the streets. The arrival of the driverless ride-hailing company’s white vehicles alarmed the ride-share community and a number of council members have been vocal about wanting to stop Waymo from bringing its fleet of autonomous electric vehicles to the city.

The four ordinance authors — Council Members Robin Wonsley, Aurin Chowdhury and Jason Chavez and Vice President Jamal Osman — released a statement saying without regulations, automated vehicles may create significant safety risks, disrupt traffic, hinder the city’s transportation and sustainability goals, and displace thousands of workers.

They say the Workers Drive Minneapolis ordinance will provide basic protection for workers and the public. If it passes, companies would have to get licensed by the city beginning in October 2027.

“Workers Drive Minneapolis is about public safety and protecting immigrant workers from losing their jobs to automation,” Wonsley said. “Without it, Minneapolis workers and residents are vulnerable to all the negative impacts of robotaxis without any regulations or accountability mechanisms in place.”

[...]

Osman represents Ward 6, which has a large East African community with many ride-share drivers. He has said Waymo would put thousands of people out of work, particularly immigrants and people of color.

[...]

Abdullahi Abshair, a rideshare driver and member of SEIU Local 26 union, helped block state legislation that would allow autonomous vehicles, saying human drivers are better for the community because they go the extra mile. For example, he makes sure people get to the right destination and helps elderly people with their groceries.

“Waymo would not do that,” he said during a June news conference.

As I've posted before:

Zero CAC doesn't mean zero risk: Why the keto crowd continues to move away from CAC scores | /r/KetoDuped

A new study just released yesterday adding even more evidence to support this:

ESC Press Release: Early imaging of atherosclerosis identifies silent disease

https://www.escardio.org/news/press/press-releases/early-imaging-of-atherosclerosis-identifies-silent-disease-not-captured-by-conventional-risk-assessment/

The keto and carnivore spaces continue to heavily rely on a very specific defense when they learn that they have sky-high ApoB / LDL: "My CAC is 0, therefore my arteries are completely clear and I'm immune to heart disease."

The new REACT trial, presented at ESC Congress 2026 and published in NEJM, evaluated around 17,000 asymptomatic adults across multiple age brackets using CCTA and 3D ultrasound (QAngio).

Key results:

• Atherosclerosis begins early and builds silently: Measurable plaque was found in 1 in 13 young adults (ages 18–29) and grew exponentially, reaching ~90% by age 60–70.
• Soft plaque precedes calcification by decades: Calcification is a late-stage "healing response". Young adults routinely develop extensive soft, non-calcified plaque and peripheral atherosclerosis (carotid and femoral) long before a Agatston calcium score (via CAC) turns positive.
• Clean coronaries does not mean a clean vascular system: Atherosclerosis is systemic. Plaque frequently appears in peripheral vascular beds first before showing up in coronary arteries.

Will this stop keto influencers from weaponizing the "Power of Zero" narrative? No, of course not. They'll continue to reference and misconstrue studies like SCAPIS, where CAC=0 predicted a lower 0.5% 10-year CV event rate to argue they don't have cardiovascular disease, conflating short term event risk with lifetime cumulative atherogenesis.

tl;dr: A CAC score of 0 does not mean zero disease. It only means plaque hasn't calcified yet. Letting ApoB run crazy wild for decades while clinging to a CAC=0 scan in your 20s, 30s, or even 40s is essentially letting the damage accumulate while celebrating that you haven't had a heart attack yet.

Norwitz remains a grifting, lying sack of shit.

It's the final curtain for El Sazon Cocina & Tragos. The south Minneapolis restaurant specializing in tacos, birria and other casual Mexican bites announced it will close in mid-August after a nearly three-year run.

"After many sleepless nights and difficult conversations, we've made the decision to close El Sazón Cocina & Tragos," owners Cristian and Karen de Leon posted on the restaurant's Facebook page. The last day of service will be Aug. 15.

When the restaurant opened in the fall of 2023, it was met with much fanfare. The de Leons built a cult following after launching El Sazon from a small kitchen inside an Eagan BP gas station, where their Night at the Gas Station dinners remain a hot ticket. The expansion into Minneapolis meant greater access for metro-area diners and the ability to offer cocktails. It would also give chef Cristian the chance to feature a larger menu of Latin American fare in a sit-down setting. The Cocina & Tragos concept evolved over the years, shifting from fancier fare to a more casual menu.

The couple has been forthcoming about the jarring experience of starting out in the suburbs and then opening a restaurant in Minneapolis, noting the higher costs of labor and permits. Those costs made profitablity a challenge, they said.

"We should have done better research," Karen de Leon told the Star Tribune in late 2024. "Unless it's a really good deal, I wouldn't open another place in Minneapolis."

## Introduction

​

The Cholesterol Code is a 2026 documentary film (directed by Jennifer Isenhart, built around citizen scientist Dave Feldman) arguing that high LDL cholesterol is harmless for lean, metabolically healthy people on ketogenic diets. In this scientific review, nutritionist TJ Waterfall and Dr Matthew Nagra weigh the film's claims against the evidence: it is right that metabolic health matters, but its central claim — that very high LDL is benign — runs against decades of genetics, epidemiology and randomised trials showing ApoB-containing lipoproteins cause heart disease.

​

## Who reviewed The Cholesterol Code for FoodFacts?

​

This scientific review was written by registered nutritionist TJ Waterfall and Dr Matthew Nagra, drawing on 29 peer-reviewed sources listed in the Resources section.