Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

Too hot for Huffington Post

​A post by Jesse Ventura has been removed from the Huffington Post for violating a policy against spreading conspiracy theories.

Considering that the post identifies Ventura as the author of a book called Conspiracy Theories, you'd think HuffPo would have known what to expect from the former Minnesota governor.

Apparently not:

Editor's Note: The Huffington Post's editorial policy, laid out in our blogger guidelines, prohibits the promotion and promulgation of conspiracy theories -- including those about 9/11. As such, we have removed this post.

The Maestro of the Shotgun

Courtesy Benelli

​Tom Knapp is a name likely recognized by few - but in the exhibition shooting circuit, the Elk River, Minnesota man is a legend, holding three world records for clay pigeon eradication, including one in which he shot 10 targets out of the air in 2.2 seconds. For the past 20 years he's been doing his crazy gun tricks with a Benelli shotgun.

Via MPR

Jeff Horwich

​Minnesota Public Radio has reached the end of the rope with In The Loop: Jeff Horwich and Sanden Totten told fans via Facebook today that they expect the last podcast of their quirky docu-info-journo production will air on March 19.

The pair will keep their jobs, they said, but they're not sure yet about their assignments.

Q: What??? WHY???

A: There's no simple answer to this, and accounts would surely vary. But basically MPR looked at all of its many priorities going forward, and In The Loop is not one of them. A year ago, as most of you know, we left the radio and reemerged as a podcast/Facebook thing. While we grew steadily in Digi-Land, we did not build the size audience we needed to make an airtight case for our continued existence.

Q: Will you emerge again in some other form?

A: Unlikely this time, though we are thinking about how to continue relating to the strong community around the show, including here on Facebook.

The program started as a radio show in 2005, recorded with a studio audience.

Photo: newtype2011/Flickr

​Thirteen-year-old Alexander Aiken died of a drug overdose on Feb. 9. The kid, who lived in Milton, Wis., evidently took a lethal dose of oxycodone that a 14-year-old girl gave him after stealing the pills from her grandmother's purse.

That's tragedy enough, but there's also this: The girl had been tossed out of Edgerton Middle School -- the same school Alexander attended -- in 2009 after she brought 27 half tablets of oxycodone to school.

​Bruce McIlquham admits it: He sexually assaulted a 45-year-old woman who suffered brain injuries in a long-ago car crash years ago -- and he committed the crime at the assisted living facility he ran in Eau Claire.

According to a report on WQOW, the victim said McIlquham assaulted her at least three or four times, each time after McIlquham's would leave for work.

He'll be sentenced in May.

​Joe Nathan, who went under the scalpel in the off season to get painful bone chips removed from his elbow, may be looking at a very premature end to his 2010 season with the Twins. The 35-year-old All-Star closer -- 47 saves last year -- has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

UPDATED: Via Twitter, WCCO's Mike Rosen says things don't look good:

Just did tv interview with an emotional joe nathan in ft.myers. trying to stay optimistic but resigned to liklihood of season ending surgery

Doctors performed scans of Nathan's elbow on Monday after he complained about the joint tightening up in a pre-season game against Boston on Saturday, and that the club will provide an update on his status today. At the very least, he's off the roster for a couple of weeks to rest his elbow.

There's speculation that Nathan may elect to have "Tommy John surgery," in which the damaged UCL is replaced with a tendon from somewhere else in the body. It's named for the former L.A. Dodgers pitching great, on whom the surgery was first performed.

Photo: Hamed Parham

​Latte with your Beretta?

Hamline University Professor Joseph Olson, who played a key role in drafting Minnesota's current concealed-carry firearms laws, has given Starbucks a big long-distance pat on the back in its growing battle with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

The national gun control advocacy group has been hounding the gourmet coffee retailer for more than a month with a letter-writing campaign aimed at getting the company to ban guns in its stores. They got fired up after some members of the gun rights group OpenCarry.org started bringing their weapons into California Starbucks stores and other retailers.

No? Forget I asked ...

​Back in early February, drivers on 35W were greeted with a bizarre sight: the grinning visage of George W. Bush next to the slogan, "Miss me yet?"

The billboards--sponsored by two local businessmen-- garnered national attention and even inspired us to suggest some alternate slogans. But the billboard's central question remained unanswered:

Do we miss George W. Bush yet?

Now we have the answer, thanks to Zogby, and it is a resounding, "Not really."

​A 22-year-old Lakeville man is suing the CBS show "The Doctors" after he says he was tricked into appearing to discuss his embarrassing penis blemishes in front of a studio audience. Tyler Bowling says the procedure he got for free in exchange for his appearance didn't even work and now he is being teased and harassed by people who saw him on the show.

Bowling has pearly penile papules, which are harmless bumps on the penis that resemble small pimples. They are not contagious.

Bowling contacted Dr. William Groff in January 2009 to ask about the laser treatment for PPP. He made an appointment with the doctor for the next month and planned to spend $4,500 for the laser procedure. After he made the appointment, Bowling says a secretary called him and said he could get the treatment for free if he would discuss his condition on "The Doctors."

Just minutes later, a producer from the show called about his appearance, but Bowling says he never signed a waiver giving the show permission to view his medical records. Despite a number of red flags, Bowling got on a plane to Los Angeles that day.

When Bowling arrived and started to show unease with appearing on the show, he says the secretary told him only doctors and medical students tuned into the show. He says he was never told he would be appearing in front of a live 200-person audience.

Photo by tienvijftien

​A bill in the Minnesota legislature would give families more control over the bodies of deceased loved ones. Current state law requires the embalming of dead bodies, but the proposed legislation would allow families to display the body at home over dry ice.

The bill has been brought to a House committee hearing by Rep. Carolyn Laine, a Democrat from Columbia Heights. She says there are no health risks for up to four days after the death.

The embalming process involves replacing a body's blood with formaldehyde. Some religions oppose the practice. The increasing popularity of "green" burials is also bringing attention to the issue. People seeking green burials want to avoid the use of the chemical along with toxins used in caskets that are put into the ground.