January 2006

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The shit hits the fangs

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

Pity poor Jonathon Sharkey, the vampire politico forced to live in a world where two staples of the bloodsucker's craft--escape and stalking--happen to violate the laws of the daylight-dwellers. Sharkey was arrested in Princeton yesterday on two Indiana felony warrants that turned up after a police dispatcher saw Sharkey's name in the news.

Read the AP story.

Read Blotter's "Intervyew with the Vampyre."

Posted by Steve Perry at January 31, 2006 4:51 PM | Comments (0)

 

John Lesch's Iraq adventure

Filed under: Iraq

The Pioneer Press and Checks & Balances both had stories yesterday reporting the departure of state Rep. John Lesch on a two-week backpacking trip to Iraq and Syria. But what exactly the St. Paul legislator hopes to accomplish on this journey remains somewhat murky.

"While it is true that most folks would choose more stable settings for their vacation, I believe the Iraq war is the seminal conflict for our age," Lesch wrote in announcing his departure. "What happens there today will affect many generations of Americans and Iraqis, and I seek to learn as much as possible in a short amount of time."

As both articles noted, Lesch's mission sounds a wee bit like that of Farris Hassan, the 16-year-old Florida rich kid who traveled to Iraq by himself and turned up at the Associated Press office inside the Green Zone.

Whatever Lesch's motives, you can follow his progress on his blog, Down the Rabbit Hole.

Posted by Paul Demko at January 31, 2006 12:41 PM | Comments (15)

 

1/31: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Karl Pearson-Cater wants to know what's on your iTunes Smart Playlist at Culture To Go.

Steve Monaco presents another edition if "My Movie Year (So Far)" at Couch Pundit.

An e-mail from Bruce Innes has Jack Sparks musing on Hunter S. Thompson and buying apes at the Other Side of Country.

Jim Walsh has the latest edition of his must-have Top 20 at the Walsh Files.

THESE DAYS

Coretta Scott King RIP

Larry Batson RIP

A printer that spits out ultra-fine droplets of cells instead of ink has been used to print live brain cells without causing them any apparent harm. The technique could open up the possibility of building replacement tissue cell by cell, giving doctors complete control over the tissue they graft.

Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway, is now drinking his own pee to promote his portable water filter.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Jason Motylinski blogs about A Million Little Pieces, local homophobic radio, his illin' pup, and taxes at Computer Jargon.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Demonic Tots and Deeply Disturbing Cuisine [via Boing Boing]

Whittling as a Hobby

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"This is the dark side of the reality of war. ...People don't want to know the Marlboro Man has PTSD."

-- Jessica Miller, wife of ex-Marine James Blake Miller, the famed "Marlboro Man" from a 2004 Fallujah photo, in a riveting SF Chronicle article

"If I had to pick right now and make a decision, I would say I'm not coming back."

-- Green Bay Packers Quarterback Brett Favre, interviewed on ESPN

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 31, 2006 6:47 AM | Comments (0)

 

Save the last lap dance for me

Filed under: Minneapolis

Anyone who has spent much time in Minneapolis knows that the city government can be mighty picky in matters of zoning. Commercial, industrial and residential uses are generally quarentined from one another, as if any intermingling might result in an outbreak of bubonic plague, Ebola or, worst of all, a downward spiral in property values. That's why when you travel through certain residential districts in south Minneapolis, you can cover block after block without encountering a single bar, restaurant or other commercial entity. In this regard, Minneapolis resembles the suburbs it so often seems stuck on emulating: we live under the tyranny of the homeowners.

Of course, this is not to say that there aren't some notable exceptions. And nowhere are such exceptions more striking than in the working class quarters of northeast Minneapolis, where every corner seems to have its own tavern, where ramshackle duplexes sit beside massive railroad switching yards, where enormous grain elevators cast shadows on nearby bungalows. And where, for more than two decades, a modest northeast bar called the 22nd Avenue Station has maintained its status as one of just two topless clubs located outside the city's designated downtown adult entertainment zone.

If the Minneapolis City Council has its way, those days are numbered. Last Friday, the council voted to accept a recommendation from administrative law judge Steve Mihalichcik to put an end to topless dancing at the bar. As part of the rationale for the decision, Mihalichick argued the bar's owner, Glenn Peterson, had failed to establish that his business "showed any increased revenue attributable to topless dancing"--and hence failed to justify the continuing "non-conforming use."

Of course, for regulars of the Double Deuce--as the club is affectionately known--such claims are patently laughable. That sentiment is echoed by attorney Randall Tigue. Tigue says the introduction of topless dancing at the establishment hasn't been just good business; it rescused bar owner Glenn Peterson from bankruptcy. "This is probably as outrageous a case of misuse of adult entertainment zoning powers as you're ever going to get," Tigue declares. "And if this ruling sticks, he's out of business."

Tigue is confident that he will be able to get a temporary injunction against the city in U.S. District Court. "As a matter of basic constitutional law, you don't treat one type of speech different from any other type," he explains. "In 1976 and then again in 1986, the Supreme Court made a limited exception for purpose of adult entertainment zoning. The basic reasoning was that you zone adult entertainment differently not because you object to the content of the speech but because of the adverse secondary effects caused by that speech--such as decline in property values, an increase in crime, general contribution to urban blight."

By those standards, Tigue insists, the Double Deuce ought to be spared. "No one on the city council ever bothered to ask whether the bar is in fact causing adverse secondary effects. If they had, the answer would be an overwhelmingly 'No," Tigue declares. "We are prepared to produce evidence--from the city's own police records and the city assessors records--that show that the 22nd Avenue Station has not contributed to a decline in property values and that when you compare it to other bars, it is probably produces fewer police calls than almost any other bar in the city."

In his six years as the executive director of the Holland Neighborhood Improvement Association, Kevin Reich says he has not heard a single complaint about the Double Deuce or the behavior of its patrons--a claim that cannot be made of many of the more "respectable" bars in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, according to Tigue, the only other topless club in Minneapolis located outside downtown--BJ's Lounge, on the corner of Washington Avenue and Broadway--has agreed to discontinue topless dancing by the end of the year.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at January 30, 2006 12:49 PM | Comments (4)

 

1/30: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has your Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

Factotum, the Matt Dillon film based on Charles Bukowski's second novel and filmed in Minneapolis, has found a distributor at Sundance. More info at Culture to Go.

THESE DAYS

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO), a co-sponsor of the 2005 Marriage Protection Amendment, has confirmed that Senate Majority leader Bill Frist (R-TN) will attempt to bring the anti-gay legislation to the floor this year for a full vote.

The amount of money spent on pork barrel projects -- special state or local projects tacked onto federal legislation -- has almost tripled over the past 10 years, according to figures from the Congressional Research Service.

After 25 years and 1,500 versions of print ads built around the shape of its bottle, Absolut vodka is shelving the campaign that made it famous.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Mamluke is a Minneapolitan in the local GLBT chorus. He blogs about working at the U, rehearsals, and his friend grouchbutt at Late Late Antiquity.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Which sports car are you? I'm a Mazda. Jeez.

The Brian Peppers Song

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I genuinely care about people and life in general."

-- "Will & Grace" co-star Megan Mullally, touting her upcoming daytime talk show "The Megan Mullally Show" at the NATPE TV sales convention

"We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee. That's just a joke, for you in the media."

-- Political pundit Ann Coulter, taking a page from Pat Robertson's playbook

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 30, 2006 6:43 AM | Comments (0)

 

The Wal-Mart Effect: a Q & A with author Charles Fishman

Filed under: Business

Two years ago, while researching an article about Wal-Mart's presence in the Twin Cities, I read pretty much every substantive piece that had been written about the retailing behemoth in the previous year. By far the most revealing article was in Fast Company magazine by Charles Fishman. The piece peeked behind the curtains of Wal-Mart's operations, and scrutinized its seismic impact on the world economy, in a way that no previous journalist had managed. Fishman has now expanded his reporting into a book, The Wal-Mart Effect, published earlier this month by Penguin Press.

Fishman catalogues the impact and enormity of Wal-Mart in ways that are often astounding. For instance, he points out that more than half of all Americans now live within five miles of a Wal-Mart, with roughly one outlet for every 78,000 residents. Between 1997 and 2004, the country added 670,000 new retail jobs. More than two thirds of those jobs (some 480,000) were at Wal-Mart. The company is now the largest employer in Mexico, the largest retailer in Canada, and the second largest grocer in England.

Fishman's book is not a polemic. He's not on a crusade to convince readers that Wal-Mart is responsible for all of the evils of the world. In fact, Fishman acknowledges that he--like over 90 percent of Americans--is a Wal-Mart shopper. "I am both amazed by Wal-Mart, and appalled," he writes. "I am never bored."

But Fishman ultimately presents a damning portrait of the world's largest corporation. Owing to Wal-Mart's obsession with delivering low prices, the company has depressed wages and benefits across the country, accelerated the departure of manufacturing jobs overseas, and fostered deplorable working conditions in developing countries around the world.

Fishman will be in the Twin Cities for a reading at the University of Minnesota Bookstore on February 7th. I spoke with him by phone this morning.

City Pages: You talk a lot about how secretive and unhelpful to the media Wal-Mart is. What kind of cooperation, if any, did you get from the company in reporting this book?

Charles Fishman: I don't like the word unhelpful because I don't think it's their job to help us. But they don't have a constructive relationship with the media. And they don't think that newspapers and TV and news outlets of all kinds have any responsibility in terms of holding Wal-Mart accountable. And that's an area where Wal-Mart and I politely disagree. Wal-Mart is among the most powerful economic institutions in America today that's not in the hands of the federal government. It's not the Federal Reserve Bank. It's not the federal budget. But except for government action, it's easy to imagine that Wal-Mart is the single most powerful economic actor in the country. In my view that means it is in no sense a private organization. It operates across the economy, the economy is part of our society, and Wal-Mart has certain obligations given the level of its impact, and I think those obligations go well beyond what we require of Wal-Mart now.

They refused to participate at any level. I was so concerned to make sure that I was getting what I wrote right that I actually, on my own dime, hired a fact checker who went through the book after I wrote it and checked every fact of every sentence of every paragraph of every page. Because I feel an obligation, even though Wal-Mart wouldn't participate, to portray Wal-Mart in as truthful a light as I could muster given that they refused to cooperate at all.

CP: Since the book's release have you gotten any reaction from them about it?

CF: No. It's gotten a lot of press coverage in the last two weeks. I assume that they know about it. There are certainly people that I interviewed in Bentonville whom I have sent copies of the book.

CP: How did your perceptions of the company change during the reporting of this book?

CF: I'm surprised about the extent to which Wal-Mart does in fact touch our lives and shape the economy. I am surprised at how broad and deep and varied the Wal-Mart effect is. Wal-Mart changes the quality of merchandise. Wal-Mart changes the selection of what's on the shelves. Wal-Mart gets inside our brains and changes how we think about what things should cost and what their value is, and it changes our perception of quality. Wal-Mart selling a $39 microwave. If G.E. is selling a $199 microwave, we assume G.E. is ripping us off. What could the $199 microwave have that the $39 microwave doesn't? And even if the $199 microwave has a bunch of stuff, why isn't it just $99?

I feel like we've sort of lost track of quality as part of price. Wal-Mart didn't invent the idea that Americans really care about the lowest possible price. Let me introduce you to Ben Franklin: a penny saved is a penny earned. That's Sam Walton's central insight. We will do a lot of things to pay a little bit less for something we buy every day. I was amazed that Wal-Mart re-sets the bar about how we think about what products should cost, and Wal-Mart has managed to get us to care a lot less about quality. That is an amazing impact on the psychology of American consumers. But Wal-Mart reaches all the way into China and Bangladesh. Wal-Mart's operations shape the lives of people who live halfway around the world and will never see a Wal-Mart store. That's amazing.

Here's one way of thinking about it. Wal-Mart sells more guns than anybody in America. Wal-Mart sells more underarm deodorant than anybody in America. Wal-Mart sells more bikes than anybody in America. And Wal-Mart sells more movies than anybody in America. So if you work for Columbia or Huffy or Smith & Wesson or Ban deodorant, every one of the senior sales people at those companies wakes up every morning thinking about the same company--Wal-Mart--their number one customer. That kind of impact is astonishing.

One of the things I wanted to do in the book is connect the dots for Americans on something that we allow ourselves to ignore. When a factory that makes kitchen appliances or bicycles or textiles moves from Minnesota or Michigan or Ohio to China or to India, the products that come back to the store shelves look exactly the same. They've got the same brand name and the same packaging and it's the same product. It may be cheaper. The price certainly doesn't go up. But the factories that those products are made in operate in a way that would be illegal in this country. Part of the reason the stuff is cheap is that it's manufactured in a way that leaves behind 100 years of social progress--on pollution, on how people should be treated in the workplace, on safety and hours and all those kinds of things. The factories are illegal but the products remain legal.

That's sort of what I did with salmon [imported from Chile]. How does Wal-Mart deliver salmon for this astonishing price of $4.84 a pound? The costs of raising and delivering that salmon aren't in the price. The pollution is left for the Chileans to worry about. The people who raise it and filet it and prepare it for shipping, they are not treated in the way that we have agreed in this country that people should be treated. That's one of the most important reasons that it's so cheap.

CP: Do you see any evidence that Wal-Mart is willing to take any steps to deal with environmental issues related to over-farming of the salmon population in Chile?

CF: What I was told by the people who were involved is that salmon happens to be an area where they are trying to come up with a way of imposing environmental rules that will change the way that salmon is raised in Chile. There are private talks between Wal-Mart and the U.S. and international environmental groups. Wal-Mart, this fall, announced a huge environmental initiative in the United States. They're going to make their stores more environmentally friendly in the way they're constructed. They talked about a drive to double the gas mileage of their truck fleet.

CP: They operate the largest trucking fleet in the country, right?

CF: Yes. They run the largest trucking fleet in the country. If they can double the gas mileage of their trucks--and then by the way every other trucking company in American can follow suit, because Wal-Mart has used its buying power to say to diesel engine makers let's do this--that would be huge. But, you know what, there was a huge environmental push on their stores in the late 80s, and it came to nothing. And then we had the "Made in the USA" campaign. There are all kinds of reasons that didn't play out. I'm not accusing them specifically of being cynical. But it's easy to talk about this stuff. Results matter a lot more than talk. It's nice to have the goal of doubling your truck fleet gas mileage, but tell us how you're doing a year from now.

The reason I'm skeptical is they have imposed a factory inspections program, and they talk about how proud they are of their factory inspections program. But the factory inspections program, when you go over their numbers, is essentially a flimsy public relations effort. It's a fraud. They do 12,500 factory inspections a year. 11,500 of those inspections last year were announced. They were by appointment. At the factory inspections that were announced, more than 60 percent of the factories that they inspected by appointment had violations that Wal-Mart considered serious. So let's see how seriously their suppliers are taking the factory inspection program. The factory managers and owners are required to sign the code of conduct. The code of conduct is posted on the wall, in the local language, no matter what country you're talking about. It's translated into 32 languages. Even the workers have read the factory inspection program. The factory manager knows that Wal-Mart inspectors are coming and more than 60 percent of their factories have violations. I wonder what those factories are like on the days when the factory inspectors aren't coming.

CP: You discuss in the book a lawsuit brought against Wal-Mart in the United States by factory workers overseas. Has anything become of that suit?

CF: It's a fascinating lawsuit. It's a lawsuit that involves 15 workers from five countries who are suing Wal-Mart in California court for failing to enforce its own code of conduct, for violating the laws of the local countries, and for violating Wal-Mart's own rules about how it should operate. It's hard to know what's going to happen with that lawsuit. It's hard to understand why citizens of China and Bangladesh and Nicaragua would have standing to sue in California court. But there is some possibility that the suit will go forward. Even if it only goes forward a little ways, then they can begin asking under oath all kinds of very hard questions about how Wal-Mart operates overseas and that is clearly something that would make Wal-Mart uncomfortable.

CP: You mention that Wal-Mart's same store sales growth has dropped fairly dramatically in the last six or seven years, from nine percent average annual growth to roughly three percent last year. Is that simply an indication of market saturation, or perhaps some kind of backlash against Wal-Mart because of the questionable business practices that they engage in?

CF: It's impossible to know. I think there's no question that America is full up of Wal-Marts. I had this market research company do a mapping exercise in which they mapped every Wal-Mart store and then drew a circle around it to see how close we live to Wal-Mart. And 54 percent of Americans live within five miles of a Wal-Mart, less than a ten-minute ride away. Ninety percent of the population lives within 15 miles. And that 90 percent includes no Wal-Marts in New York City. If you put a Wal-Mart in Harlem and a Wal-Mart in Greenwich Village, the 90 percent would be 94 percent.

Wal-Mart specializes in selling consumables. Wal-Mart sells groceries and paper towels and diapers and cleaning fluids. The kinds of things you use up and go back the next month and need again. You don't buy more dog food because it's cheaper. You don't buy more toilet paper because it's cheaper. You switch where you're buying it, but you don't consume more of it. Once you've filled the country with Wal-Mart's, the only way to grow is to take market share from other people. Wal-Mart already sells 20 percent of the toys, 30 percent of the housewares, 30 percent of the dog food, so it's hard to take more market share.

It's much harder to grow when you're a $300-billion company then when you're a $300-million company, right? Wal-Mart still grew in the last three years by the size of Target. People say Target's coming on strong. Target's doing very well. Target has a great competitive strategy. Target has done a very good job of differentiating itself from Wal-Mart, even though they're basically in exactly the same business. But Wal-Mart grew by Target, including all of Target's growth. So it's not as if Target's about to take down Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is looking at a couple of very interesting arenas. Wal-Mart would like to get into the banking business. That's a pretty big business in America, financial services. Wal-Mart would like to get into the healthcare business. They have opened doctor's clinics in 12 stores. Imagine what Wal-Mart could do to healthcare. Do you want to buy your healthcare from the low-price leader? I don't know. Buying it from the high price leader hasn't always worked out (laughs).

There's only 45 Wal-Marts in China. China's the largest nation in the world and has four times the population of the United States. There are zero Wal-Marts in India. India is the second largest country in the world. I don't think Wal-Mart's going to see a return to those dramatic growth numbers in the U.S. They'd have to find a whole new business to go into. There's no way of changing the game in bicycles or hair care products or toothpaste anymore. They've conquered those markets.

CP: In markets where Wal-Mart has such an overwhelming share of the marketplace--I'm thinking primarily in the south--is there any evidence that their commitment to low prices wanes?

CF: I haven't found any. My understanding is that Wal-Mart sets a national price for every product that it carries. Local managers are permitted to reduce the price to compete with nearby stores. So they'll take the price of a box of cereal or a pair of blue jeans down to match a special that a local store is running. But at least according to Wal-Mart's internal rules, they're only allowed to do that temporarily. I think that if Wal-Mart practiced any kind of systematic predatory pricing--go in with low prices, put the local competition out of business, and raise the prices back--that the very well organized groups that oppose Wal-Mart would be pouring forth data on that, as would their competitors, as would the people they put out of business.

My anecdotal look at it is that they are true to their philosophy. They don't raise prices. They just don't. That's the problem to be honest. It's one of the reasons that I think they're out of control. Normal economic behavior would be to raise prices back, giving room for people to come back into the market, giving your competitors some edge. When Wal-Mart runs 30 percent of the grocery market in a town, or when Wal-Mart owns 30 percent of a product category, that is not market capitalism. That is running the market. You can't be a serious player in deodorant or bicycles or guns or DVDs unless you're selling them at Wal-Mart. And then you're selling them on Wal-Mart's terms. Wal-Mart tells you what your barbeque sauce is going to cost. Wal-Mart tells you what your pickles are going to cost. Those prices often don't bare any relationship to the price that the market would set. Prices are supposed to be set by the market. Supply of natural resources, supply of the product, demand from customers. Wal-Mart's imposing prices in those markets--and they're often very low prices, that's how it wins market share--but that's also how it distorts the idea of market capitalism.

CP: You conclude that one necessary reform that can be implemented is to require much greater financial disclosure by large corporations such as Wal-Mart. Can you give an example of what kind of financial data you're talking about?

CF: I think you can start with the healthcare debate. The SEC has a set of rules about what data publicly traded companies are required to reveal and I think those rules are 50 or 100 years out of date. I think we should know what they spend on healthcare, how many of their own employees are on their health insurance plan, what the waiting periods are on those health insurance plans to be eligible, where the people who aren't insured by the employer get their insurance--if they get it. Do they get it from a spouse? Or do they get it from the government? What percentage of employees and their relatives are uninsured? That's data that exists in all the databases of these large companies anyway.

They just had a year-long debate about Wal-Mart and healthcare in Maryland during which one piece of data Wal-Mart refused to supply is how much it spends on healthcare for its Maryland employees. That debate operated in a complete information fog.

Here in the last month the SEC has announced new disclosure requirements for pay for senior officials in publicly traded corporations. The publicly traded corporations are squawking. But guess what? The Wall Street Journal just discovered that the pay that many companies announce for their senior executives is wrong because the companies pay them those salaries and then they pay the taxes on those salaries as well. If you're making $10 million a year, your tax bill is $5 million. So those people aren't making $10 million, they're making $15 million. Just for shareholders that information is important, but it's also important for the rest of us. Many states in the union won't tell you what companies have employees on public health insurance or public support programs. They won't even tell you who the largest employers in the state are and how many people they employ. I cannot imagine information that is more public than a simple point of data: Who are the fifty largest employers in this state and how many employees do they have?

We have a responsibility as a country, as citizens, to hold companies the scale of Wal-Mart accountable for their operations. Companies didn't want child labor laws, companies didn't want minimum wage laws, car companies didn't want fuel mileage requirements or catalytic converters. Nobody's arguing for a return to an economy where there is no minimum wage, or for a return to an economy where we take the catalytic converters off of cars. Not all government rules are bad. Many of them, in fact, benefit the very businesses that squawk the loudest to begin with. A fresh wave of information would really open up our understanding of how this new kind of economic power affects our lives. Wal-Mart couldn't do what it does without the United States of America and every one of the government entities in the United States. In return for that, for what we as citizens provide, we are entitled to a sense of what the impact is.

CP: There was a bill introduced last year in the Minnesota legislature that would have required disclosure of how many of a company's employees are on the public health care rolls. Wal-Mart lobbied vigorously against the proposal and it ultimately did not pass.

CF: That's what I'm talking about. Look how hard Wal-Mart fought in Minnesota just about a little piece of information that wouldn't have even cost Wal-Mart any money to release? Do you think Wal-Mart's fighting the release of that information because the news is going to be good.

CP: The statistics in Georgia, as cited in your book, are astounding: one person on the public health care rolls for every four Wal-Mart employees.

CF: That is in fact a cost of low prices. Sometimes the prices are low because of Wal-Mart's brilliant efficiencies. Sometimes the prices are so low because Wal-Mart is so good at outsourcing their costs to other actors. Here's the easiest example for people to understand. You can buy a dining room set--a dining room table and four chairs--from Wal-Mart for less than $200. Unfortunately it comes in a box of pieces. So they've outsourced the cost of the actual manufacturing of it, the assembly of it, to your living room (laughs). That's as vivid as you can get. No wonder it's so cheap. You make it. Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that there's no cost to a good deal.

Posted by Paul Demko at January 27, 2006 1:05 PM | Comments (0)

 

Three murders and one reaction

Filed under: Crime

Up until September 2004, I lived across the street from where Victor Garma lived. That's why when news broke earlier this week of his murder in a botched robbery in his townhome, I couldn't help but feel a little shaken.

And others in my social circle clearly felt the same way: Info on Garma's Ford Explorer, which the assailants used as a get-away, circulated via e-mail at work. My best friend, who lives on the block with his wife and three-year-old daughter, called me to express some well-founded anxiety and some barely calibrated fear. Televison news crews pumped the story beyond the 24-hour news cycle.

This was a "good" neighborhood, the conventional wisdom was saying--and because of that, this was an outrageous crime.

So it was with a sense of my own hypocrisy that I called MPD spokesman Ron Reier to find out a little more about Garma. After getting what little info there was on him--26 years old, African American male--I mentioned to Reier that I thought it was telling how much the attention this crime was getting compared to two other homicides that happened around the same time.

"There is the feeling that this means more because of where it happened," Reier offered. "Do you know how many calls I got on this? It's been incredible. The other two murders, we barely got any calls or media on those. It's like they barely registered."

Those "other two murders" were no less harrowing than the killing of Garma, who was repeatedly stabbed. The city's first homicide of 2006 took place last Sunday, when Janaya Allen, a 20-year-old woman from St. Paul, was dropped off at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, where she was pronounced dead. She had been shot in the head.

(Investigators, according to Reier, initially thought that perhaps the shooting took place in Fridley, but the MPD now believes it happened somewhere in north Minneapolis.)

The second took place the next day, Monday, at 6 p.m., about 90 minutes before the Garma murder. Jesse J. Maynor III, 17 years old, was standing on the corner of 34th and Girard Avenue North when a car pulled up, someone jumped out, and shot him repeatedly. Grief counselors were called into North High, where Maynor was a student.

Beyond one Star Tribune story by David Chanen, Reier said not much was asked about the other two murders, since they happened on the North Side, where apparently these killings have become so routine that we generally don't acknowledge them much beyond the fact that they happened.

"Do you know how many incidents are logged on the Watch Command Report overnight?" Reier asked rhetorically. ""I read them every morning. Here's one: 9:15 p.m., multiple shots fired at Henry High School. 9:25, ten minutes later, uncooperative victim at North Memorial. It's noted that's not tied to the shots at Henry. Midnight, uncooperative gunshot-wound victim, north side. That's one evening.

"Almost every day or night, this goes on," Reier continued, "And 80 percent of it is on the north side. The rest are mostly out of the 3rd Precinct [south central]. It's only when it happens somewhere elsed you hear about it."

UPDATE: The MPD has a suspect in the Janaya Allen murder. Here's the press release, which came over the transom just seconds ago:

(Minneapolis, MN January 27, 2006) Andre Tyrone JOHNSON, DOB: 4/14/1986, has been charged by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office with 2 counts of First Degree Murder in the death of Janaya Nicole ALLEN, DOB: 5/30/1985.

ALLEN was murdered during the early morning hours of January 22, 2006. It is believed the shooting took place in the area of 14th/Queen Avenue North in Minneapolis. ALLEN was then driven to North Memorial Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

JOHNSON was taken into custody by the Minneapolis Police upon his release on bail from the Ramsey County Jail on Wednesday, January 25, 2005.

JOHNSON is currently in custody at the Hennepin County Jail.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at January 27, 2006 10:57 AM | Comments (9)

 

1/27: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Join in the Szczerbiak trade discussion at Balls!

Meet Ernie, the newest occupant of the Pussy Ranch.

THESE DAYS

The ACLU of Georgia released copies of government files that illustrate the extent to which the FBI, the DeKalb County Division of Homeland Security and other government agencies have gone to compile information on Georgians suspected of being threats simply for expressing controversial opinions, including vegans picketing against meat eating.

Happy 250, Amadeus! It's all Mozart all day on Minnesota Public Radio.

A BBC survey into Brits' views on evolution has found that while 48 percent of people opted for evolution as that which "best described their view of the origin and development of life," 22 percent opted for creationism and 17 percent for intelligent design.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

The folks at McHale Must Go appear to have a few points of contention with the Minnesota Timberwolves current vice president of basketball operations.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Stuff you shouldn't put in your microwave

Another episode of Cedric & Gerard

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"And yet we have brave men and women who are willing to step forward because they know what's at stake. They're willing to sacrifice their lives for this great country. What I'm asking all of you tonight is not to put on a uniform. Put on a bumper sticker. Is it that much to ask? Is it that much to ask to step up and serve your country?"

-- Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), calling Americans to serve

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 27, 2006 6:21 AM | Comments (0)

 

1/26: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Paging Dr. Freud, Dr. Freud to the Pussy Ranch stat.

THESE DAYS

Defense, engineering and construction services contractor Halliburton Co. said its KBR subsidiary received a five-year, $385 million contract from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department for establishing temporary detention, processing and deportation facilities.

West Virginia, which has one of the nation's worst obesity problems, is expanding a project that uses a video game to boost students' physical activity.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Wall Street Journal reporters read Elana Centor's business culture blog, Funny Business. Shouldn't you?

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Fill out the Holmes-Rahe Scale to gauge the stress in your life. Over 300 is trouble. [via Tild]

Create your own Simpson character with the Simpsonmaker! Yours truly has been fashioned here.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I don't think he's conservative, pure and simple."

-- Political pundit Rush Limbaugh, on why he doesn't support the presidential aspirations of Sen. John McCain. Limbaugh is quoted in The Desert Sun as "liking" Sen. George Allen (R-VA)

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 26, 2006 6:44 AM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: repeat customer

Filed under: Crime

On November 30th, at approximately 5:40 p.m., police officers were summoned to investigate a robbery at the Blink Bonnie sandwich shop on E. 7th Street in downtown St. Paul. The clerk told responding officers that a black male wearing a camouflage jacket with black sleeves and a black stocking cap had just robbed the place. According to court records, the perpetrator stated that he had a gun and demanded all the money from the register. He made off with less than $100.

Roughly seven weeks later, on January 18th, the sandwich shop was robbed again. The details were almost identical. At approximately 5:40 p.m., a black male wearing a camouflage jacket with black sleeves entered the store claiming to have a gun and escaped with under $100.

Two days later the Blink Bonnie bandit hit again. This time he entered the store just before 8 p.m., according to court records, but was wearing the same camouflage jacket as in the previous two heists. The take once again was less than a sawbuck. This time the store manager noticed that the robber had the word "love" tattooed across the fingers of his left hand.

Less than 24 hours later, St. Paul police officers picked up a man matching the description of the serial robber at the intersection of E. 10th and Robert streets. Wardell Williams Smith was allegedly dressed in a camouflage jacket with black sleeves and a black stocking cap. In addition, the 33-year-old had the word "love" tattooed on the fingers of his left hand and a plastic toy gun in his jacket pocket. According to a criminal complaint subsequently filed in Ramsey County District Court, a security videotape recorded at Blink Bonnie shows Smith committing the pair of January robberies.

"Even when confronted with evidence, he denied everything," says police spokesman Pete Crum. "He has a criminal history and did not appear to be overly concerned when he was being questioned about it."

Smith is currently incarcerated in the Ramsey County Jail, charged with second degree aggravated robbery. If convicted he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. According to Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension records, Smith has two previous criminal convictions in the state, for assault and carrying a weapon without a permit.

Posted by Paul Demko at January 25, 2006 2:26 PM | Comments (1)

 

Class warfare

Filed under: Economy

The incomes of the poorest fifth and the middle fifth of Minnesota families have grown about half as much as the wealthiest fifth since the early 1980s, according to a recent study by the Minnesota Budget Project, a branch of the Minnesota Council on Nonprofits. The average incomes of the poorest fifth grew 47%, or $7,171, since the early 1980s, after adjustments for inflation. For the middle fifth, the rise was 49%, or an inflation-adjusted $18,847. Compare that to the 85% bump enjoyed by the richest fifth, amounting to an inflation-factored $60,449.

One reason for this disparity is the recent emphasis on business profits over labor wages in apportioning corporate income. According to the MBP study, an average of 21% of corporate income growth went to corporate profits, versus 79% to compensate workers, over the past eight business cycles. But in the current business cycle, 85% of the income growth has gone to corporate profits and just 15% to workers.

We frequently hear that unionized workers and Northwest Airlines and Ford must take a hit when a corporation is beseiged in red ink. The MBP study, which uses the latest census data to draw its conclusions, demonstrates that when times are flush for corporations, Minnesota workers are not adequately sharing the rewards.

Wage inequality increased during the 1980s, with low-wage workers actually earning less at the end of the decade than they did at the beginning, once inflation was factored in, according to the MBP study. During the 1990s, wages rose across across the economic spectrum, but thus far in the 2000s, the inequality has returned.

Wages alone do not tell the entire story. In 2003, only 15% of the nation's private sector workers earning less than $15 an hour had access to employer-provided retirement benefits such as traditional pension plans and 401K programs, and just 51 percent had access to health care benefits. By contrast, 76% of the workers making over $15 an hour had access to retirement benefits and 74% had access to health care.

Here is the link to the MBP study.

And here's my editorial coda: When these sorts of disparities are revealed, some wealthy doofus invariably shouts "class warfare." This kind of braying goes beyond irony, and become Orwellian moments with a particularly nasty twist.

Posted by Britt Robson at January 25, 2006 2:08 PM | Comments (2)

 

Hacking returns to Minnesota to oversee the teachers' pension program

Filed under: Education

Laurie Fiori Hacking is leaving the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System at the end of February to oversee the teachers' pension program in Minnesota. Hacking was executive director of Minnesota's public employees fund from 1991 to 1996. The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System is that state's largest public pension fund, covering 370,000 workers, 315,000 former public employees who still have retirement accounts, and 150,000 retirees. The fund has assests of $68.6 billion, from $56.6 billion when Hacking became the executive director in 2000.

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 25, 2006 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

 

1/25: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson breaks down Timberwolves games at Balls!

THESE DAYS

"Reservoir Dogs" actor Chris Penn, younger brother of Oscar-winner Sean Penn, was found dead on Tuesday at an apartment near the Pacific Ocean in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica.

Church and state collided in the Nebraska Capitol yesterday when the opening prayer in the Unicameral asked forgiveness for abortions and the teaching of evolution.

Only about one-third of New Orleans' half-million residents have returned since Katrina struck, leaving its famed restaurants understaffed.

"Brokeback Mountain," the gay cowboy movie that recently won four Golden Globe Awards, will not play in any U.S. military theaters in Europe due to lack of copies.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Darrell Schulte blogs about the Vikings, high school hockey, and his three-year-old's potty concerns at Schulte in Minnesota.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

What happens when you add a bottle of butane to a campfire?

The BEAST 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2005

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"The same brutal cold fronts that stopped Napoleon and Hitler's armies in their tracks resulted in some comical stories."

-- Meteorologist Paul Douglas, setting up a few humorous anecdotes about the frigid Moscow temperatures and its affect on zoo animals in yesterday's Strib

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 25, 2006 6:46 AM | Comments (1)

 

1/24: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson breaks down Sunday night's Timberwolves game at Balls!

Steve Monaco has last week's movie quiz winners at Couch Pundit.

Diablo Cody's got roller derby fever at Pussy Ranch.

THESE DAYS

The old switcheroo: High-level executives at Sirius Satellite Radio are developing an internal standards-and-practices document that will set boundaries for Howard Stern and their other shock jocks.

For the first time all papal documents, including encyclicals, will be governed by copyright invested in the official Vatican publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Rasta hats and enormous scarves are just a few of the crocheted works on display at Burnsville resident Pam Gillette's Knotty Generation.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

The finalists have been chosen for the Sixth Annual Weblog Awards. Click here to vote for your favorites.

David Byrne's blog

The latest adventure of the Keyboard Kommandos

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It was silly fun. I can't believe he was upset."

-- Beaver Area Senior High School (PA) teacher John Kelly, who forced 17-year-old student Joshua Vannoy to sit on the floor to take a test in his ethnicity class for wearing a Denver Broncos jersey prior to the AFC championship game

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 24, 2006 7:01 AM | Comments (1)

 

Spotted: Norm and his morning cup

Filed under: Spotted

"He looks like I just poured ice water down his undies"

One of the (sometimes) nice things about living in the Twin Cities is how aw-shucks small town it really is. Case in point is this recent run-in citizen Jeff Johnson had with Norman Coleman, junior U.S. Senator from the great state of Minnesota (Johnson assures blotter it is absoluely 100 percent true):

So every morning I do a dumb thing.

I work just 5 blocks from my house in Minneapolis, but I drive a mile across the Mississippi River gorge to St. Paul to get coffee, just because I like the view. But during this particluarly dumb pre-6 a.m. morning, who do run into at my local Caribou Coffee? None other than my freshman Senator Norm Coleman! Who, like when you meet rock stars, is a suprisingly small dude.

He's alone with me waiting for our disposable income drinks, and I approach him with big hearty smile and handshake. Really kind of stoked about the whole deal, I give Norm props for not learning a southern accent like most Senators do after a few months in Washington and he laughs hard. I rib him some more about living in the ungodly heat of D.C., and we yuk it up about the weather. I swear to God, I actually start to like this guy--a perfect politician.

As we get our coffee and get ready to leave, I drop the zinger with a smile and tell I can't let him off the hook for the Jack Abramoff mess and I ask him if he's gonna help clean it up. I'm looking at him straight in the eye and his face turns to a pre-dawn stone and he looks like I just poured ice water down his undies. Norm actually started to stutter and mumble as he escapes out the door into the Ford Avenue dark. I don't think he was expecting anyone to drop the A-word so early and so far from the beltway.

I think of the quote by Buckminster Fuller, "Chance favors the prepared mind."

jj

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at January 23, 2006 4:49 PM | Comments (6)

 

1/23: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson breaks down last night's Timberwolves game at Balls!

Steve Monaco has the Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

Water supplied to a U.S. base in Iraq was contaminated and the contractor in charge, Halliburton, failed to tell troops and civilians at the facility.

After 82-year-old caricaturist Bill "Weg" Green's home was broken into, a quick (and goofy) sketch of the perpetrator was scribbled by Green and used to apprehend the suspect.

Ken Ortmann, an alderman who owns a Missouri tavern wants to lower the penalties for public urination before the Feb. 25 Mardi Gras Parade.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

St. Paulite Matthew Wolff has a striking profile as well as dissertations on "Project Runway," the End Times, and the Iraq War at Atheist Seeker.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Top ten reasons why nobody reads your blog

Bert gives us the finger.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"If you're not involved in suspicious activities or infidelity, and you are not trying to hide from someone because of debt, or involved in a criminal activity, there really is no reason to be concerned about your call records."

-- a statment from bestpeoplesearch.com, regarding the selling of cell phone records [via AmericaBlog]

"Now we're going to say you can't have a meal for more than 20 bucks. Where are you going, to McDonald's?"

-- Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), on proposed ethics reforms in Washington

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 23, 2006 6:33 AM | Comments (1)

 

St. Paul Ford plant still in limbo

Filed under: Business

Today's Wall Street Journal has the inside dope on impending layoffs and plant closings at Ford. Reporter Jeffrey McCracken writes that the automaker will ultimately shed some 30,000 jobs, with 10 plants closing, including assembly plants in Atlanta and St. Louis. Ford is scheduled to make an official announcement about its plans on Monday.

Conspicuously not named in today's article (available only to subscribers) as slated for closure is the St. Paul Ford plant, which the WSJ reported last month was among the facilities to be shuttered. Also of significance, the article states that no vehicle brands will be eliminated. The St. Paul plant is the only North American manufacturer of Ford Rangers. With sales of the compact pick-up truck slack, it was thought to be a candidate for elimination. (Sales of the truck have dropped by roughly a quarter each of the last two years.)

This enigmatic graf would seem to be the most relevant locally:

Some specific plants will be named, but other plants such as one in Wixom, Mich. that Ford plans to close, won't be announced yet as the auto maker deals with government bodies and decides where to move certain products.

In other words, the St. Paul plant's ultimate fate could still be up in the air after Monday's announcement.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty led a delegation to Detroit earlier this month in an attempt to convince Ford officials to keep the plant open. His pitch was to convert the St. Paul facility into a research center dedicated to developing alternative fuel vehicles.

Posted by Paul Demko at January 20, 2006 1:02 PM | Comments (0)

 

Debtor Nation

Filed under: Economy

So much for those wealthy debtors Congress feared abused bankruptcy

Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren's always excellent group blog on the economics of being middle class this week offers a link and a nice little teaser to a Washington Post story on the squalid situations of the bankrupt. We're not talking about yuppies trying to skate out from under their Capital One cards here.

The first reports on the new bankruptcy law are trickling in, and they are embarrassing those who said that bankruptcy was loaded with deadbeats. The new law requires everyone--no matter the reason for filing bankruptcy and no matter how low their incomes--must take a credit counseling session before they can file for bankruptcy. The idea was to pressure those who could repay their debts into debt management plans and away from bankruptcy.

But who is showing up for credit counseling? A new report from the Washington Post this morning says that credit counselors report that most of the people who come to them before filing for bankruptcy are in terrible financial shape, "people with true hardship, such as lost jobs or disabilities that cut their incomes." According to a credit counseling spokesman, "virtually none" qualified to pay anything. Many couldn't even afford the $20-75 counseling fee.

Warren's blog is truly worth a bookmark, but if you want the Post story without her read, click here.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at January 20, 2006 10:56 AM | Comments (0)

 

Rosario on Parricide

Filed under: Crime

Perspective and Context: Endangered Species in Newsrooms

Public Safety columnist Ruben Rosario chimes in on the case getting saturation coverage in local news media this week, a Chaska man's alleged murder-for-inheritance of his mother. With the rest of the news media busy trying to flesh out the script in these cases--wayward, feral youth, often fueled by the It Drug of the moment, turn on the hands that feed them--Rosario's bird's eye view of the case is particularly welcome.

Matricide. Patricide. Parricide. Whatever phrase you choose, we're talking children killing parents here. Though statistically rare, such murders happen roughly 300 times a year in this country.

Before we get all lathered up about today's wayward youth, though, keep this in mind: The reverse -- parents who kill their children -- happens twice as often.

But given recent local incidents dominating headlines, perhaps it's time for a quick tutorial on a particular homicide that literally hits home.

Earlier this week, the Star Tribune's Kim Ode took a swing at the same topic in the paper's Signature lifestyle section. If you harbored a moment's doubt that what we're talking about here is a prettified version of the old women's pages, you need read no further to find your illusions vanquished: Predictably, her exploration is heavy on words like "chilling," "horrific," and "disbelief".

But hey--nothing moves those Sunday grocery circulars like a new fear
for the security moms to gnash over at the next Pampered Chef party, you know?

Posted by Beth Hawkins at January 20, 2006 9:59 AM | Comments (1)

 

1/20: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

The average American worker got squeezed in 2005 between the biggest rise in energy prices in 15 years and wages that failed to keep up with inflation. As a result, hourly earnings after adjusting for inflation fell by 0.5 percent in December compared with what workers were earning in December 2004, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

Former "X-Files" star David Duchovny is set to become the new Incredible Hulk after Australian actor Eric Bana pulled out of the straight-to-DVD sequel project. [via Defamer]

The Roman Catholic Church has restated its support for evolution with an article praising a U.S. court decision that rejects the "intelligent design" theory as non-scientific.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Wick's been blogging since last June on topics ranging from job hunting to Conan O'Brien's influence in the world at I've stared straight into the sun.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Happy birthday, Trogdor!

David Hasselhoff singing Hooked on a Feeling in one of the worst videos since American We Stand As One.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We just keep working on it. You know, we just write and write and write and write and write."

-- writer-producer George Lucas, about the impending and unnecessary Indiana Jones IV

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 20, 2006 6:40 AM | Comments (0)

 

Pomposity reigns at Zimmermann indictment press conference

Filed under: Media

As former Minneapolis City Councilman Dean Zimmermann was busy installing a new basement ceiling in the home of current Hennepin County Commissioner and ex-mayoral candidate Peter McLaughlin Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger was bringing forth a four-count indictment against Zimmermann for allegedly accepting bribes while a member of the council's zoning commission.

It was a rich contrast. The 63-year old Zimmermann--who ranks among the more impoverished and least pompous public servants in the long history of Minneapolis city government--was banging in nails to try and make ends meet in partnership with his wife, Jenny Heiser, who now cleans houses for a living. ("We're nonpartisan workers," says Heiser, referring to her Green Party husband doing work for DFL-er McLaughlin.) Meanwhile, Heffelfinger, a little bantam rooster dandy of a man, tugged at his cuffs and announced to a mostly well-heeled squadron of assembled media that Zimmermann could be sentenced to up to 40 years in jail for enriching himself at the public's expense.

No one disputes, by the way, that Zimmermann voted against the statute that the developer allegedly paid him thousands of dollars to support. Or that the retaining wall Zimmermann allegedly asked a nonprofit group to construct for him, in exchange for his signature on a city document, was never built.

But that didn't stop Heffelfinger and the media from putting on a self-aggrandizing show as staunch sentries of the public interest. Asked if he felt there was "a culture of corruption" on the Minneapolis City Council, where three members have now been indicted over the past four-and-a-half years, Heffelfinger replied to the media that he would "leave that up to your eloquence" to determine, but that he took the whole thing "very personally."

Are there other investigations going on regarding Minneapolis City Council members? Heffelfinger was asked. "I'm not going to tell you," he scolded, and everybody had a big laugh, the bulldog attorney holding off the tenacious media in their quest to unearth more unholy corruption on the city council. Still grinning, Heffelfinger continued, "Obviously I am disappointed that it happened three times on my watch."

Only the most naive observer in the room would believe this. The position of U.S. Attorney is a political appointment. Heffelfinger has been the person of choice when Republicans have been in the White House (tapped for the job by both Bush the father and Bush the son) and out of office when a Democrat is President. Watching over the indictment of a pair of DFL-ers and a Green from the lefty-friendly city council--where even the Republicans stay in the closet as Independents--is hardly disappointing for Heffelfinger, whose party needs all the help it can get counterbalancing the Jack Abramoff scandal in Washington. In any case, the broad smile on his face belied the crocodile tears in his words.

But at least Heffelfinger is officially a hack, a relatively exalted position in this room full of Buzz Lightyears. (Present company excepted, of course. I have a very small ego and never grandstand with my prose or political leanings.) Against stiff competition, my favorite of the questions posed to Heffelfinger came from Brad Woodard of KARE-11, who hit the redline on the pomposity meter the moment he referred to the U.S. Attorney by his first name, and resolutely remained there until he concluded his howler of a follow-up.

"Tom, given today's climate and given your role as a public servant, as U.S. Attorney, what disturbs you most about this type of corruption?" Woodard asked. Unfortunately, Heff offered pablum in response, compelling Woodard to be more explicit in what he was really after. "Can you put in perspective, within the context of a post-9/11 world, the importance of rooting out this type of corruption?"

For some reason, Heffelfinger demurred on this marvelous opportunity to conflate Dean Zimmermann and Osama bin Laden. To complete the scene, about 15 yards away from where Woodard was sitting, a color portrait of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, probably best known now for legally justifying America's use of torture, smiled beneficently over the proceedings.

On the crowded elevator after the press conference, Channel 5's Tom Hauser surveyed the plethora of talking heads and proclaimed, "if this gets stuck between floors, the news won't go on tonight." This fine reminder of our self-importance was met with more than a few appreciative chuckles, and people were feeling pretty good about themselves as we hit the ground floor, Hauser perhaps foremost among them for his bon mot. But just before he hit the lobby, the smirk vanished and he was quickly chatting up the security guard. He'd forgotten his cell phone and needed to retrieve it. Fortunately the elevators remained reliable, and Channel 5's news went off without a hitch.

Posted by Britt Robson at January 19, 2006 3:33 PM | Comments (5)

 

Sharkey on Sharkey: Vampires are hard to find these days

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

It was only a matter of time before Eddie Sharkey and Jonathon Sharkey hooked up. The former is the long time Twin Cities wrestling promoter. The latter, of course, is the self-described "vampyre" who is running for governor of Minnesota under a platform that calls for impaling Osama Bin Laden, child molesters and, possibly, George W. Bush.

Aside from the common name, the promoter and the vampire have something else in common: a background in professional wrestling. After learning of the political hopeful's ring experience, Eddie Sharkey, who can always be counted on to work an angle, invited the Impaler to appear on a January 31 wrestling card at First Avenue. The answer, Eddie says, was an unequivocal "yes."

"I talked to him for a while last night. Nice enough guy. Very friendly," he reports. "I've never seen him in action. But he seemed quite excited about the wrestling thing."

So did the two come to financial terms? Not yet. But the promoter doesn't think it will be a problem. "He's worked independent shows down in Florida. He knows there's not much money. I imagine I'll give him $40 or $50 bucks. If it was Halloween, maybe I'd give him $60."

After pausing a moment, he seems to reconsider. "Vampires are hard to find these days. Maybe I should give him a little more."

Posted by Mike Mosedale at January 19, 2006 2:29 PM | Comments (1)

 

Bar owner butts into governor's race

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty may have a challenger for the Republican Party endorsement in his re-election bid. Sue Jeffers, owner of the Minneapolis bar Stub & Herbs, will officially announce Monday that she is running for governor.

Although Jeffers is seeking the state's top office as a Libertarian Party candidate, she may bid for the GOP endorsement as well. "Let's not give Pawlenty a free pass just because he is our sitting governor," she says. "I think he's let us down."

While the chances of Jeffers actually succeeding in wresting the GOP endorsement away from Pawlenty are pretty much nil, she could prove meddlesome to the Governor's re-election plans. She describes herself as a "lifelong Republican" who has grown disaffected with the party's inability to control spending. "I met with so many Republicans who were trying to get me to run as a Republican," she says. "And I was too embarrassed. The Republicans have let us down."

Jeffers is best known as one of the most vocal opponents of a smoking ban in Minneapolis. But she also cites the government's seizure of private property through eminent domain and high taxes as primary reasons for running.

She argues that the two major parties are largely indistinguishable. "You can't even tell who's a Republican and who's a Democratic," she says. "It boils down to is it a faster road to hell or a slower road to hell."

Jeffers acknowledges that her lack of experience in electoral politics could be an obstacle. "I'm 49 years old," she notes. "I don't have the time to start at the bottom. I thought I'd start at the top."

Posted by Paul Demko at January 19, 2006 1:01 PM | Comments (20)

 

Local judicial nominee also local political donor

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

After Patrick J. Schiltz received a nomination to the United States District Court, he thanked Senator Norm Coleman for having forwarded his name to the president for consideration.

"I am deeply honored by the president's decision and by Sen. Coleman's recommendation and look forward to the confirmation process," Schiltz said in December, as quoted in the Star Tribune.

Coleman returned the kind words, sending out a press release that highlighted the St. Thomas law school professor's sparkling resume. "Mr. Schiltz's experience in the law spanning 20 years as a clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court, an accomplished attorney in private practice, and a nationally acclaimed professor of law make [sic] him an excellent choice," Coleman said.

Senator Coleman did not add the following: "Over the last five years, Mr. Schiltz has also donated $1,000 to my election war chest."

Before the year 2001, Schiltz made no political donations that show up on the tracking site Opensecrets.org, whose records go back to 1990. Since then, he backed Senator Coleman four times, and donated $250 to the Bush campaign in July, 2004. Most recently, Schiltz supported the senatorial campaign of Republican Mark Kennedy with another $250 donation.

Despite Schiltz's conservative pedigree (he clerked for Antonin Scalia) and his work defending the Catholic Church against sex abuse litigation, the lawyer seems to enjoy the respect of peers from across the political spectrum. At the time of Schiltz's nomination, no less a source than DFL chair Brian Melendez, speaking unofficially and as a lawyer himself, praised the nominee's intellect and judicial temperament.

"There probably are several very competent qualified individuals in Minnesota to sit on the federal bench," says David Schultz, a professor and lawyer who teaches government and ethics at Hamline, and is an expert in campaign finance. "This [series of donations] is maybe what it took for him to rise