Poking the Orono Bear with a Popular YouTube Channel (and Apparently Some Genuine Legal Axes to Grind)
Multiple Choice Picks.
Jay Nygard is:
a) An Orono citizen concerned about city government
b) A staunch environmentalist also concerned about the area’s lakes and lands
c) A Green business owner-entrepreneur
d) The man who’s filed three criminal complaints against Orono City Council members
e) Also known on his YouTube channel as” The Turbine Guy”
If you checked all the boxes, you deserve a prize. Nygard has become one of Orono’s more visible – and audible – citizen watchdogs, largely due to his fairly popular “Turbine Guy” YouTube channel and his tireless vigilance at City Hall. Or, if you’re a sitting member of the current and questionable city council, one of the biggest thorns and pains-in-the-arse of the body politic.
But Nygard is not always poking the Orono Bear, wearing his trademark Crocodile Dundee hat and wielding his busy iPhone stick. One of his popular vids, simply (or not) demonstrates how to wire a “PV solar system with Enphase Micro Inverters and Envoy/Combiner Box“ (#6 below, with almost 16,000 views since March of this year!) Like the machinations of city government, it’s complicated, especially if this isn’t your style of This Old House. But it does reflect Nygard’s expertise in solar energy as the owner of Go Green Energy (GGE).
A Navy Vet Turned Chronicler of (mis)Deeds and Other Area Experiences
The former Navy vet and holder of a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota has also produced informative, informal pieces about intriguing places in Orono such as Seven Nations Natural Park. Like Summit Beach Park, a property donated by the Bruce Dayton family in 1978, Seven Nations was generously donated by the Dickey family. Legend has it that prior to colonial settlement, tribes from nearby Indigenous nations would gather to smoke a peace pipe.
According to the city’s website, the Dickey’s gave the park to the people “so as to be used to educate the community about Native Americans and the early Orono settlers.” But unfortunately, there’s not much else by way of historical information. And even Nygard says, “It’s hard to prove the peace pipe story.” Still the anecdote captures the imagination – and begs for digging for more facts. A good place to start would be with area Native elders.
Seven Nations Natural Park: One of many topics covered on Nygard’s YouTube channel
Another video story by the intrepid chronicler of the far west metro – see #3 – revisits the tragic death of a young boy, Eli Hart, who may soon have a bridge named after him, due largely to Nygard’s efforts.
Turbine Guy’s Greatest Hits?
Nygard says he has over 1,000 videos and livestreams combined on his YouTube channel, including one about security camera and privacy (#5). The cryptic Anonymous site syndicated that one and delivered 2 million hits! So, when asked to pick a Best Of list, he understandably admitted “it’s tough to pick a few. The best way to show my effectiveness is to show you a combination of videos and playlists. The playlists include a list of videos in a series.”
Videos and playlists aside, Turbine Guy also has three criminal complaints filed against select council members – some very serious – that point to what he calls outright “corruption” (See #2) This blog won’t get into those details – yet – and most likely there will be media stories coming soon that we can recap.
Check out some of Turbine Guy’s Greatest Hits, so far.
1. The Sea Note Playlist : It includes 100+ videos documenting the trials and tribulations of a 58-foot, 1970 Chris Craft boat that had to chop through the ice to get to a landing, then was stuck there for months until Hennepin County sued the owners. “It’s my Best video, other than the first 3 live streams which were watched worldwide, and when I called out the state trooper who testified for the county for committing perjury video.”
2. The Corruption at Orono City Hall Playlist. “It’s rife with good videos calling out the corruption on the council,” he says. The latest one posted on August 10, 2022, about the criminal police complaints filed against Mayor Walsh and others should raise some eyebrows. One complaint against Hizhonor is allegedly under investigation by the Hennepin County Sherriff’s office.
3. The playlist for "Murder at Shell Station" tells of the tragic shooting of 6-year- old Eli Hart. The best video here in this playlist, he notes, is when Mound City Council passed a resolution supporting Nygard’s petition to name a bridge after Eli Hart as a permanent memorial.
4. “My recent video on public events is where I dissect Biden's inflation bill to see what positive green energy benefits are in the new package.” Nygard’s insights on methane as a main culprit in climate deterioration are important.
5. “My biggest playlist where I have well over 2 million views is my security camera playlist. I made these videos to show how wrong it is to allow anyone to film your neighbors — and that you actually can fight back.” This is the vid that Anonymous syndicated, giving Nygard all those clicks!
6. “My DIY playlist and PV instructional playlist are really popular and where I help others help themselves. The most popular is how to wire a PV system.
Orononoites, the man in the hat with his iPhone, possibly cocking it in your direction – and or at one of our lovely public places – just might capture you on camera. Or in the court of public opinion.
Jay Nygard: Provocateur, just a pain, or a good public watchdog?
Weigh in by emailing us. We’ll consider running the responses, however, good, bad or ugly.
