April 2006

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Please Homeless Anything Helps God Bless

Filed under: Minneapolis

Driving back from the Lake Of The Isles dog park just now, I saw a guy in a minivan give a couple bucks to a guy standing on the corner holding a cardboard sign. It struck me that it was one of the few times I've seen that happen since this or even this. It made me curious: When you see someone asking for money, do you give or not? Why or why not? Do you have rules? Does it depend on your mood? Your cash-in-pocket? How do you feel if you do or don't? Please do tell anything helps God bless.

Posted by Jim Walsh at April 30, 2006 3:36 PM | Comments (12)

 

Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga to drink beer with local bloggers

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Popular progressive bloggers Jerome Armstrong (MyDD) and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, left, (DailyKos) will be bending elbows and signing books at a special Tuesday edition of Drinking Liberally on May 2. The co-authors of a new book, Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics, will join the usual unsavories at the 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The confluence of local and national lefty bloggers is also rumored to be attracting the presence of Bitch Ph.D. and Pharyngula blogger PZ Myers.

 

UPDATE: Rew from Drinking Liberally has commented below that just Kos will be attending the festivities, and not Armstrong.

 

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 28, 2006 2:50 PM | Comments (3)

 

Twins Stadium: Verbatim testimony from the House

Filed under: Legislature

After all the amendments to the Twins stadium bill had been considered, members of the Minnesota House engaged in about an hour of debate, culminating a marathon, seven-hour session on the issue. What follows is the majority of that final testimony, with just a few gaps due to a tape running out and requiring replacement.

Rep. Al Juhnke (DFL) Willmar 5th Term
It is time to move on with this issue. I was here in 1997. Our first year 11 bills were introduced regarding a new professional baseball stadium. Arne Carlson called us in for a special session and we took our first vote. Members that was ten years ago. Every year since we've had bills, we've had meetings, we've had talks, we've had task forces.

You know Rep. Lenczewski and to my Hennepin County friends, I wish we did have something else here to vote on today aside from a tax on Hennepin County. But you know no one ever came to try and put this together.

Rep. Dean Urdahl (R- Grove City) 2nd Term
This may represent our last best chance to keep our team here for future generations to make their memories. Baseball contributes to our economy, provides jobs and tax dollars, but more than that, baseball has a way of identifying who we are, our quality of life. It is about heroes, past, present and future. Baseball is about us. Let's build this ballpark and keep baseball in Minnesota.

Rep. Paul Gazelka (R-Brainerd) 1st Term
For those of you that still may be on the fence, I want to give you some reasons why someone like me that was on the fence has made the decision to vote for the Twins stadium. The two questions I asked myself going into this is do the Twins benefit the state? And when you ask that question you have to say yes, both in revenues and jobs and in recreation. And the second question related to that is, Will the Twins leave? That's the part we've had great debate on and some people say yes they will and some say no way. Again I believe the risk is too great to take that chance. I wanted a referendum like many of you I voted for the referendum and I think that is the way to do it. But this is the final bill. This is the bill we have to deal with. We give money to Schubert, to Ordway, to other places that give a form of recreation. The Twins are another form. We try and help businesses too and this is a form of a business. In fact Job Z just had a report, and we invested $6 million in tax benefits to Job Z programs last year and we created 3,000 jobs and $80 million worth of salaries. So, in effect we are going to do some of the same things here. We're not going to get new jobs but we are going to keep jobs in Minnesota. Finally the Hennepin County Board has agreed to it; the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce has agreed to it; the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has decided to stay neutral because I think they know this will help our state and it is right for our state. So if you are on the fence like I was, I hope you'll vote yes.

Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL--Minneapolis) 10th Term
We've been talking about one tradition in Minnesota when we talk about the Twins, but there is another tradition in Minnesota that I want to talk to you about. I think you know as well as I do that Minnesota citizens have a long tradition of giving back to the community that gave them their start. Think about 3M and the McKnight Foundation, or Alan Page and the Page Education Foundation that supports minority students. The list is long and what it has in common is an understanding that one doesn't make a huge amount of money in this state, unless the larger community has provided a well-educated workforce and the infrastructure like roads and transit and airplanes get the goods and employees to their destination. Ordinary Minnesotans give back even more. It is just our tradition. Now along comes Carl Pohlad and his lobbyists, who want to change that tradition dramatically. They want you to endorse a new culture in Minnesota, a culture of greed. They have told you, those of you who are not in Hennepin County, that you can get something for nothing. It is very appealing, I understand that. And, by the by, Carl Pohlad would greatly increase the value of his investment in the Twins and giving as little as he possibly can back, a huge gift to Mr. Pohlad. That is what is so wrong. To give this gift, Mr. Pohlad wants us, the leaders of this state, to endorse the culture of greed. That is enough reason to vote no.

Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul) 9th Term
Way back when the author first introduced this bill early today, he introduced it by saying this is a simple, straightforward proposal. It is. And here is what that proposal is: Everyone on this floor loves the Twins, but no one wants to pay for them. That's what we've learned today after a long, long discussion. Rep. Gazelka just said he asked himself a question: Do the Twins benefit the state? And, he says, yes. But we conclude even then, no one wants to pay for it. We want only a small group of taxpayers--who are not us--to pay for it. So what do we have before us? What is coming to the Governor's desk? The Governor has coming to his desk with this bill, what a no new taxes era really means. And apparently he has even said that is okay. We have discovered that this no new taxes era really means no new taxes for my constituents but only for Hennepin County. That's what we have discovered today. This is passing, and everyone knows it, only because members can say to their constituents, you're not paying for it. Only the taxpayers of Hennepin County are paying for it. That is the only way this has been able to be packaged to pass. Everyone admits that. Not only that, we have been told very clearly over and over, if there is a referendum, it will be defeated. So we even know, everyone is acknowledging, that local taxpayers don't support this. And yet we are proceeding as if we are doing a great thing today. With this bill, we are funding a regressive sales tax on one-fourth of the state, we are not even using that tax revenue for funding education or transportation for the state. We used to dream about passing a half-cent sales tax to fund a system of public mass transit in the metro area. We lose that opportunity once we go forward with this bill. Members, those of you who have served with me for some time know that I am not classically a stadium opponent. In 1997 I think it was, I was recorded as a yes vote on a Twins bill. What has happened since then? Since then, we have cut the heck out of everything we can possibly get our hands on. We have cut the heck out of higher education, hundreds of millions; education, health care and on and on. And, we are unwilling to raise taxes for anything; transportation, even getting people to work, a transportation system that would get people to work. That is what we have come to. And so today, though not classically a stadium opponent, I have to say, what are my priorities for this state, and what is the timing of those priorities? And there is no way I can say yes today to this proposal. Unfair, singling out a single group of taxpayers, and certainly not in keeping with those priorities that the public is making so clear to us today that we are failing on. Members I encourage a no vote.

Rep. Randy Demmer (R-Hayfield) 2nd Term
Members what a day we had today! I have three points. The first is economic development. It has been very interesting to listen to the gnashing of teeth if you will, from the folks from Hennepin County and the greater metropolitan area, complaining about a $500 and some odd million investment your area. Those of us in Greater Minnesota have looked for programs that help draw investment a fraction of this size to our area to provide the jobs and the economic vitality and even the enjoyment that something like this could offer. So I find it very interesting that it is going to take a lot of us from outside the area to impose this economic boom, if you will, on your area. Your communities, your counties, your cities here in the metropolitan area use things like tax increment financing, tax abatement, probably have advocated at some time for sales tax exemptions to try and get businesses to grow and provide jobs. This is a three-year project or whatever it is going to take to build it, a tremendous economic development project for construction as well as the ongoing jobs, I just find that very interesting.

But I'm going to change tack a bit, and I'm going to talk about what this is going to mean. Representative Rukavina, you've got your Aunt Gloria; I've got my Aunt Irene. My Aunt Irene is over 90 years old and lives in Waseca. Irene never misses a Twins game. Ever. And I'm just glad that she's alive long enough for me to be part of making sure that she can see Twins baseball and listen to Twins baseball for the rest of her years because she just really relishes Twins games. So Irene this is for you if you're watching.

And the last thing: Someday I'm hoping to have an opportunity to sit with my daughters, hopefully my daughters' husbands, my grandkids, at this new ballpark. And I'm going to be able to look back, if we get this thing done, and I'm going to say we are here because of one day in April of 2006, when we had the opportunity and we seized that, and I was part of that, to make this happen and it is a good thing. The alternative, if we don't do this, is I might be sitting with my daughters, or my daughters' husbands or my grandchildren, watching the Las Vegas Twins on TV, and I can say I was part of them not being here. Aren't we happy? Members this is a great opportunity for us.

Rep. Neil Peterson (R-Bloomington) 1st Term
A number of years ago when I came to the Twin Cities, I was a young banker and I had the opportunity to go to a credit meeting at Marquette Bank. And the Chairman and the President of that bank, Mr. Carl Pohlad came in and gave we young lending officers a real lesson in credit administration and how to run a business. And I still remember that day; I was absolutely in awe of him, because I knew he had taken a small group of banks that was owned by [another] family and he had grown it into a very, very significant organization. And I learned later that he also was the founder and assembler of many, many large corporations, all of which have benefited this state and this community a great deal by offering jobs. And then last year as a new representative I received in the mail a copy of a new report of the Pohlad Foundation. And I was so impressed by what they had done as a benefactor for this community. So I think it is appropriate, I did not want us to walk out of here today having maligned the name of Carl Pohlad. Far be it. This is an honorable, wonderful family that has been a great credit to this community and we should be appreciating that we are still calling them the Minnesota Twins and not the Clark County Twins.

Rep. Mark Olson (R- Big Lake) 7th Term
Members we pledge allegiance to the flag of the republic for which we stand and we talk about ourselves as a democracy, and now today we have an opportunity to vote to make ourselves more of a plutocracy, by voting to add almost a billion dollars of revenue for a private entity, from a county that has almost $40 million in cuts in human services. A plutocracy. From a republic to a democracy to a plutocracy. Some of you will laugh at this, some of you will smirk at this and some of you will take it to heart. But consider that government debt in America--Medicare, Social Security, deficits, and household spending debt divided up per household, is over a half a million dollars per household nationwide. For the first time since the depression we have negative savings rates. Bankruptcy rates are at an alarming level. And we know what gas prices continue to do to the economy. I don't think this is the time nor the hour to support multimillion-dollar subsidies to millionaires and billionaires. A note that I received via email today from a constituent states: "We strongly urge you to vote against any bill that gives as much as a single penny of taxpayer money towards any stadium. It is not government's function to be entering into a private business. It is not the state's interest. If it were such a good moneymaker, why will the main beneficiary be Carl Pohlad when he goes to sell the team? There are so many other issues we should be spending money on: Schools, transportation, health care"--and let me add, the environment, as we noted yesterday. "We say no to taxpayer money for millionaires to play a game." If you total up the revenues to subsidize the Twins stadium, the Gophers stadium and the Vikings stadium, it is almost two billion dollars. If the life of those stadiums is 20 years, or a little longer, you know what that adds up to. I think this is a bit absurd. Or obscene. We've heard talk of job zones that benefit, or economic development that benefit, and we have heard from Representative Peterson the history of jobs from Mr. Pohlad. And that's a history I commend. Because that's a history where those jobs were earned. They were established by initiative, by credibility, by integrity, I trust. Those were jobs established in the marketplace. See, historically, members, we were a republic. We had property rights. We could take initiative. We could exercise ourselves in the free marketplace and make the world a better place for everybody. And we all benefited with tax revenues. All the benefits from this stadium could come to this state, as all the stadiums across the nation could benefit the states they are located in, and every owner and every players would still make millions of dollars. That's what's so obscene about this. The one amendment that should have gone that did not damage this bill at all is the amendment to move the attorney general in taking action that is vitally important so we are not back here in 20 years after spending millions of dollars every year to subsidize these stadiums that do not give us a return that exceeds the investment. See that is the guarantee of the free marketplace. Those marketplace decisions that Representative Peterson talked about guaranteed a return. And when the returns weren't there, other decisions were made. But today we turn to politics. When there is no return, come to the Legislature! We'll pay the bill! A republic to a democracy to a plutocracy. It's a travesty. It's a tragedy. It's fast becoming our history. I'm not a doomsdayist. I don't think things have to be bleak. If we vote no, we can turn the helm. We can turn about. I submit to you members that this a grave error, and I would urge a no vote.

Author of Twins Stadium Bill, Rep. Brad Finestad (R-New Ulm) 2nd Term
Thank you members. This has been a long hard process but it has been a great process. I was talking to some people and I was saying I'm 29 years old but I feel like I'm 55. Members we have an opportunity in front of us to solve a problem. I have to thank Hennepin County. They have taken the directions the state and the members of this body have given them over the last ten years and they have acted upon that and they have come to us with a negotiated agreement with the Twins to get the job done. You and I, with our green vote tonight, can put an issue behind us. We can move on to bigger and better things. This issue has been around the last five, six, seven election cycles. Wouldn't it be great to all run again on a post-stadium issue election, where we can talk about bigger and better things? Members, this is a proposal that gets the job done, this keeps the Twins in the state, and this is our opportunity to put our fingerprints on the future of baseball in Minnesota and the future of economic development in Minnesota and the future of quality of life issues in Minnesota. Members, I ask you for a green vote tonight. It is time for Minnesota and the legislators to play ball.

Rep. Ron Erhardt (R-Edina) 8th Term
I have always believed that the Twins are a great asset to Minnesota and the metropolitan area and that's why in '97 I voted for the bill that was primarily fees and in 2002 I voted for the Twins bill, which was in addition to some fees it actually had a referendum required of the city that was going to put the Twins in place and it had some other things. But I am going to suggest to you that this bill is the biggest grab of someone else's property since the mid-1600s, when the Dutch settlers of New York bought Manhattan from the Native Americans for $26 and some trinkets. Then it was land and now it is money that will be stolen. You all want to pay a few trinkets in sales tax if you happen to come to Hennepin County. Let me tell you that the State raises $9.4 billion in sales and income tax. Thirty percent, or $2.8 billion, is raised in Hennepin County. And what happens to that money? The State spends $484 million in LGA [local government aid], of which 71 percent goes out of Hennepin County. Hennepin County receives $100 million, the rest of you people get $384 million. Of the $100 million we get, $93 million goes to Minneapolis, so the rest of Hennepin County gets $7 million out of sales and income tax. Now you have to remember also, to put another way, Hennepin County receives aids from the State of $2100 per capita, but it pays into the state $3200 per capita. And either to refine that a little more you will say that the sales taxes collected in Hennepin County are $1058 per capita. The State average is $689 dollars [per capita]. And now you want to lay some more sales tax on top of that. I think this bill is absolutely the most incredible exercise in selfishness on the part of you who live outside of Hennepin County and who are voting for the bill. You should be ashamed of yourselves for putting on the residents of Hennepin County the extra burden of the stadium tax. And I would suggest, Representative Demmer, wherever you are, that we have our Aunt Irenes and Aunt Glorias in Hennepin County as well. And they are going to be paying for this while yours are sitting out there and enjoying it on TV. I just think it is time that somebody stands up for the taxpayers of Hennepin County and here I stand.

Rep. Andrew Westerberg (R-Blaine) 4th Term
Members I want to take a couple minutes to talk about another stadium. I'll be real short, just three quick points. The Twins will leave the Metrodome and they are there 80 days a year as a tenant. And the Gophers are also leaving and I think the Metrodome's days are numbered. It can no longer compete on a national basis for national events. The Gophers and Twins are important to our state but I believe we are saving the best for last--the Anoka County Vikings stadium proposal. Just those three quick points. One, a public facility is what we're looking at that is actually open to the public with things like rock concerts and tractor pulls, prayer conferences, high school football. And this new facility would be climate controlled. Keep in mind that if the Metrodome does go away we'll lose the climate-controlled facility to hold many of the events that we need that technical facility for. And even though the Vikings will only play ten to fifteen games per year, the stadium will have a greater positive economic impact on our state than the other two stadiums and that is an important thing to keep in mind. Also it is not just a stadium, but a stadium with a billion dollars of private investment money.

Rep. Mary Liz Holberg (R-Lakeville) 4th Term
Earlier today I talked a little about the process I went through in trying to determine if I was going to support this bill. And I was looking for some kind of message or direction from the legislators from Hennepin County. In my eight years here, I cannot remember another situation in which we so totally ignored the local representatives' wishes on a particular issue. We generally turn to those people that represent that area of the state, or have expertise in that area for direction on how this body should act on a particular issue. When I look at the vote totals on the Lenczewski amendment [calling for the referendum to be put back in], I figured that there were 33 members of this body who represented at least part of Hennepin County. Of those 33 members, 27 of them wanted an opportunity for their taxpayers to vote on this issue. The body ignored that. I believe this is a major steamroller and I think it is so wrong. This is a process and this is an institution in which I've invested a lot of time and everybody in this room has also. I think we are breaking very dangerous ground here today. Hennepin County has nearly a quarter of the representatives in this body and we are steamrolling them. What's next? Olmstead County? Shall we impose a sales tax on Olmstead County to build a volleyball center or a bioscience center, or the Mayo expansion? Bemidji, I think Bemidji only has one representative. Shall we pass, ignore state law and pass a law that says they are going to tax themselves for a Bemidji arena? How about St. Cloud? The St. Cloud area has, what, four or five reps? Let's put a sales tax on them for their convention center. And while we're at it, St. Louis County, there's a handful of representatives there. Let's let them tax themselves for what they need for the DEC [a Duluth convention facility]. I think it's wrong, the wrong precedent. So what I am going to say to today, I am going to say to the taxpayers of Hennepin County, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that the whole of this body will likely ignore the wishes of your representatives and impose upon you against their wishes. I am sorry that four of your seven commissioners are completely comfortable in ignoring state law and imposing a sales tax on you against your wishes. And because the Lenczewski amendment failed, you will not have an opportunity to vote on this sales tax. But you will have an opportunity to vote in November and I recommend that you use that opportunity.

Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis) 2nd Term
Thank you. You know we have debated a lot of amendments today, but really the only reason we are here is because Hennepin County and the Twins don't want to do a referendum. That's what the issue is. We've debated a lot of peripheral issues, but the reason this is before us is because they want to circumvent state law. That is the one issue that we need to vote upon. It is problematic that Representative Lenczewski has to offer an amendment to preserve the status quo! That's what she did. And quite frankly I don't know what Hennepin County is so afraid of. When I talk to constituents, some of them oppose the stadium, but others say, you know I'm neutral on the stadium but just give us a chance to vote. And the history of referenda on stadiums is relatively positive. In Detroit they passed a referendum for Comerica Park, in Cincinnati Great American Ballpark passed with a referendum. In Houston, Minute Maid Park passed, San Francisco, Pacific Bell Park passed with a referendum. Many many football stadiums passed with referendums. The Browns, Ford Field for the Lions, Nashville, Tampa, San Francisco, Denver, Green Bay, Phoenix, all of them passed with referenda. So members, I think the public is concerned about the proposal and about the taxation, but they are also concerned about the process. It just seems like every time we have this it is our way or the highway; the steamroller as Representative Holberg said, and watch out Anoka County, because you're next.

Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis ) 17th Term
I can't resist all the stories the people have told about how much their aunts have loved baseball and so forth. Well first of all, I'm old enough that all my aunts are dead. And second of all, they didn't like baseball very much anyway, even though we grew up in the absolute center of the universe for baseball [New York City]. But so instead I'll talk about my grandchildren. I just came back, at the beginning of the year, from the birth of a new grandchild in Montreal. Montreal is the city you recall that just lost the Expos. So Montreal should be like a cold Omaha. But I'll tell you, Montreal is a spectacular city. And my grandkids have terrific health care, state-subsidized daycare where they are not only learning perfect French but even some English at the time. They've got terrific health care and event he streets and the sidewalks are plowed by the city. And I didn't hear anyone there tell me they missed the Expos.

Rep. Chris DeLaForest (R-Andover) 2nd Term
I couldn't let it go here without a brief bit of information to correct the record. I started hearing all sorts of talk now and the economic argument has started to rear its head. I just want the members of the media to know and the people watching at home, we don't know about the economic benefits of this stadium. One of the things I asked when the Twins came to visit me with their lobbyists a few months ago, I said, it appears to me that you are asking the public to invest its dollars and I want to know if you've done your cost-benefit, I want to see the numbers. I'm from a business background and that's what we do before we invest. That hasn't been done. So in other words, I just want the taxpayers to know that we are about to embark--or at least the taxpayers in Hennepin County are about to embark on an $850 million investment with no due diligence done. That's by the Twins' admission. No due diligence has been done. So let's make sure we know what we're talking about here. Somehow I get the feeling Representative Peterson, I have never met Mr. Pohlad, I am sure he is a nice man and I have to believe he is a good businessman. Nobody gets as wealthy as he does without some good due diligence on his own, so I imagine if I went to him and told him I had a great deal for him that would cost him about $850 million over the course of the next 30 years, somehow I get the feeling that the first words out of his mouth would be, Show me your numbers. Show me the due diligence. So members, I just want you to be aware of that. Representative Nelson, you talked about all the jobs that will be created. I can't help but think about all the jobs that won't be created. As Representative Krinkie pointed out, many businesses in Hennepin County will pay the freight, and that's dollars that they won't have to hire and engage in research and development and engage in expansion of their businesses. So it is very easy for advocates of this bill to show jobs that will be created. It is much harder to show but just as true that many jobs won't be created. Members you can't change the reality that government does not create wealth. We don't create jobs. We only take from one and give to another. I just wanted to correct the record today.

Rep. Phil Krinkie (R-Lino Lakes) 8th Term
Members I am going to be brief. Since we are talking about baseball I feel it is appropriate to use a baseball analogy. We already sent the Gopher stadium bill out of here at a cost of $254 million to the taxpayers of the State of Minnesota. We are about to embark on spending another $850 million in taxpayer spending on the Twins stadium bill. And Representative Westerberg has been talking about a Vikings stadium, and I'm sure before the session is over, people will have an opportunity to vote on a Vikings stadium. And members who is in the on deck circle? That's right, the Target Center! It opened for expansion in 1990 and is the seventh oldest arena in the NBA. Other buildings of the same vintage have been replaced or renovated. The City of Minneapolis, the Timberwolves and the arena management officials said that the Target Center needs more improvements to keep up.

Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville) 7th Term
This is the second strikeout for the students of our state. The first strikeout was the Gophers stadium. This was the second strikeout. And now Representative Westerberg tells us that the batter is up for the Vikings. Members, the next meeting I am going to as soon as we get done here is the Ways and Means Committee. We're discussing the Omnibus Finance Bill and it does not have a penny in it for education, early childhood, K-12 or higher ed. Not a penny. And I don't think we've spent a fraction of the time trying to figure out how to fund our schools and our students and our colleges and universities compared to what we've put into this stadium this session and today. It makes my heart heavy. Where are our priorities?

Rep. Peter Nelson (R-Lindstrom) 2nd Term
Mr. Speaker and members, about seven hours ago I introduced you to an all star and read you some of his statistics. Schoolboy Johnson led the league in home runs; that is one I didn't tell you about. And I think it is a good segue, Representative Dempsey, you may have heard this even shorter commencement: Touch 'em all, Kirby Puckett! Touch 'em all.

Posted by Britt Robson at April 28, 2006 12:46 PM | Comments (6)

 

4/28: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

A Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Secretary of State Cathy Cox, accepted the resignation of her campaign manager after he was accused of changing the Wikipedia biography of an opponent in an upcoming Democratic primary.

A recent survey discovered that British women find domestic chores "mentally therapeutic," and many prefer house cleaning to making love.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Find out for yourself what made a Pentagon employee spend over an hour combing through the archives at Saucy Dame Delux.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

From McSweeney's: Old Jokes, Updated to Make Them Even Older

Minnesota writer David Erickson has 2006 NFL draft prospects video highlights to get you prepped for this Saturday.

The theme to Hawaii 5-O played with hands

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"There were many people who said Apple would go bankrupt if they went ahead with the logo."

-- graphic designer Rob Janoff, credited with designing the now-famous multi-colored Apple Computer logo

"Minnesota is such a fabulous state to live and work, it's a stretch to think people would choose not to live in Minnesota because our laws continue to reflect that marriage is between a man and a woman."

-- State Sen. Michele Bachmann, dismissing the theory that a gay marriage ban in Minnesota would make it more difficult for businesses to recruit employees

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 28, 2006 6:36 AM | Comments (0)

 

Best Cheap Thrill: a postscript and, yes, an apology

Folks, I want to step in here again and say that I appreciate all the comments you've submitted to the thread from yesterday's post, the slams as well as the defenses of the item. But actually I have to disagree with one of our defenders, the commenter named Rob--I don't think people are, for the most part, stupid. I think that, in many respects, their instincts are ahead of those of most journalists most of the time. I would say instead that one of the biggest problems with the news media is that they usually presume their readers to be stupid.

Having read a lot of comments and emails in the last 12 hours from readers who've seen the lives of loved ones wrecked or ended by meth, I think the readers were ahead of us on this one. We believed that there was a legitimate point to be made about the dangers of overhyping meth or any other drug of the hour, as I said yesterday. That was why I approved the item. But if you're going to make that point regarding meth, it deserves some careful qualification--clearly, meth is not just any drug in the way it takes hold of many users--and in retrospect, casting it as a gag item in the Best of the Twin Cities issue was not the way to raise the point. For the record, we think it would be a bad idea to go out and try crystal meth, in much the same way it would be a bad idea to go out and try a round of Russian roulette.

What I wrote in my initial note yesterday was prompted in part by the fact that of the first 10 or 11 responses we got at our office, no fewer than five were from TV reporters or radio producers looking to generate an easy one-day media story. I don't have a lot of respect for follow-the-leader feeding frenzies, in journalism or anywhere else.

But since I wrote that, as you can see from the Blotter comment thread below and the one attached to the item itself, we have heard from a number of people whose firsthand experience is palpable, horrendous, and undeniable. If you've read this paper to any extent at all, you know that there are plenty of people whose feet we relish putting to the fire. Drug casualties and their loved ones aren't among them. What makes me feel worse, frankly, is that we have always worked hard in our news and features section to avoid the class biases and blind spots that shape way too much of the news coverage available today. What I mean is that we try regularly to tell stories that cast a light on people most media don't bother with, since those people don't belong to the most desirable ad/demographic niches.

And we blew it on that score here, in my view. Would we have published a satiric item about meth if it were tearing through the city neighborhoods where we live in the way it's tearing through many small towns and suburbs? No, I can't imagine we would; I can't imagine it would even occur to us to do so. We're sorry for the blind spot we put on display, and for the pain it clearly caused for many readers.

Posted by Steve Perry at April 27, 2006 10:48 AM | Comments (58)

 

The business model fails the Minnesota Business Academy

Filed under: Education

Last summer, the St. Paul City Council voted to forgive a $750,000 loan to the Minnesota Business Academy, an experimental charter school that enjoyed the backing of many prominent politicians and business people. At the time, there was considerable skepticism voiced over the bail out. The school--which aimed to immerse its "associates" in the business culture--had struggled financially from its inception six years ago, largely because of the more than $9 million it expended on start up costs.

After the City Council came to the rescue, MBA executive director Jerry Neff expressed optimism about the future, telling worried parents, "We're here to stay." Some former students, staffers and others affiliated with the school were far less sanguine about the prospects. "I would not recommend this school to anyone," former MBA board chair Kathy Mirsch told City Pages at the time. "I think it's living on borrowed time."

As it turned out, Mirsch had the better crystal ball. Last night, the MBA board voted to shutter the operation at the end of the current school year. The main reason: the school could not consistently enroll enough students. Executive director Neff attributed the enrollment woes in part to media coverage of the MBA's financial difficulties.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at April 27, 2006 10:41 AM | Comments (21)

 

Kids Don't Follow

In what is being described by organizers as "the largest youth antiwar demonstration in Minnesota since the Vietnam era," thousands of students are planning to walk out of classes tomorrow in protest of the war in Iraq and military recruitment in schools. But at least two area schools (Central and Jefferson) are threatening students with suspension. The students will hold a press conference this afternoon at 3:30 at Minneapolis Technical and Community College (1501 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.), the site of a proposed peace concert for tomorrow that also got unplugged. Here are the students' statements:

Appeal from Jefferson High students

We are three students from Jefferson High School in Bloomington, MN. We are being threatened with suspension for passing out fliers advertising the April 28 walkout. We aren't allowed to wear shirts that say "I'm walking out for peace." We aren't even allowed to SAY the word walkout.

First we attempted to get posters approved through official ways. We got called in and told that advocating the walkout by distributing any material or voicing any knowledge of it happening was going to cause a disruption to the school learning environment.

We got a National Lawyers Guild lawyer to write a letter to our principal explaining that Tinker vs. Des Moines gives us the right to organize the walkout in school, but this made no difference. In our meeting with the Principal today [4/26] their lawyer had given them a response to the NLG letter, claiming that it does not fall under protected free speech.

Our right to free speech and protest, as well as the rights of our fellow Youth Against War and Racism chapter members, have been denied. Basically we refuse to be censored for our right to practice our political freedoms including telling people an event is going on. We will continue to pass out leaflets and they will probably continue confiscating or suspending people handing them out.

Here's what we'd like for you to do: call our administration. Demand that our rights are supported. Flood their offices with phone calls and emails reminding them that teenagers are people with rights, because they seem to have forgotten. The numbers are below.

Bloomington Schools Superintendent,
Gary Prest
952-681-6402
gprest@bloomington.k12.mn.us

Peace and Love,
Alex Uhrich, Libby Tousignant, Ben Zabel
Jefferson Youth Against War and Racism
Contact us at: nirvanaguy18@gmail.com

Appeal from Central High Students

At St. Paul Central High School, our chapter of Youth Against War and Racism has been planning for the antiwar walkout on Friday, April 28 in solidarity with other Twin Cities YAWR chapters. We are protesting against military recruiters in our schools as well as against the war as a whole.

We have produced a variety of leaflets explaining our cause and encouraging students to join us. Over the past week, we have begun to pass the fliers out more intensely. As a result, our school administrators and our principal, Mary Mackbee, have attempted to prevent us from passing them out.

On Wednesday, April 26, before school, many of our fliers were confiscated by Ms. Mackbee while they were being distributed. We were told that we would be punished if they were found passing out any more fliers. The school staff have been instructed to assign detention to any student caught distributing fliers. Later in the day, when we attempted to get back the fliers that had been confiscated, we were then told that, if we were found passing out leaflets, we would be suspended for "willful disobedience."

Our First Amendment rights cannot be ignored. Regardless of any claims made by the school that we are under their supervision, our fundamental democratic right to freedom of expression cannot be abridged. The schools might claim that we are creating a disruption, however a much greater disruption is being created for us by the military recruiters in our schools and by the loss of funding that our schools must deal with due to taxpayer money being spent on war instead of education.

We cannot allow them to continue to prevent us from expressing ourselves. For this reason, we ask that you help us to protect our democratic freedom and our right to free expression.

We ask that you call or e-mail our District Superintendent, Lou Kanavati, and demand that we be allowed to exercise our basic right to expression and distribute antiwar fliers, brochures, or other documents free of censorship or threats.

Superintendent Lou Kanavati
651/767-8150
Lou.Kanavati@spps.org

Thank you,
Sean Foltin and Shane Davis
Central High Youth Against War and Racism
Contact us at: acolyteofthecpc@yahoo.com

Posted by Jim Walsh at April 27, 2006 8:48 AM | Comments (2)

 

4/27: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore's son and three Democratic campaign workers were sentenced Wednesday to four to six months in jail for slashing tires outside a Milwaukee Bush-Cheney campaign office on Election Day 2004.

Telecom giant LM Ericsson AB is offering buyouts to up to 1,000 of its employees in Sweden, a voluntary package that is only being offered to employees between the ages of 35 and 50.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Outreach worker Kelly photographs and writes about the Twin Cities homeless population at No Permanent Address.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Average Homeboy: White Rapper

Web Comics in Tattoo Form

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I kind of have to get back to my life, go back to making some money."

-- "Lost" actress Michelle Rodriguez outside a courtroom after pleading guilty to driving under the influence. Rodriguez has opted to pay a $500 fine and spend five days in jail versus 240 hours of community service.

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 27, 2006 6:37 AM | Comments (0)

 

Editor's note on Best Cheap Thrill item

Filed under: Media

In response to a series of inquiries and complaints--a vastly disproportionate share of them from reporters in other media--City Pages editor Steve Perry made the following statement about this week's Best of the Twin Cities blurb for Best Cheap Thrill, which named crystal meth the winner:

"Though it may come as a shock to talk radio tubthumpers and even a few of our readers, every Best of the Twin Cities issue we've ever done has contained items that were mainly satiric in intent. This is one. If you actually read the item, you can see that it calls methamphetamine a nasty drug we'd be better off without. In May 2003, City Pages published the first extensive local print feature [1] [2] on the toll meth has taken in rural Minnesota.

"The point of the item is not to advocate that people consider trying crystal meth when they're planning a cheap evening's worth of fun, and we think only a seriously dense person could conclude that it was. (That probably explains why the topic was such a hit on Twin Cities drive-time talk radio this morning.) The point of the item was that it's possible to make entirely too much of the drug hype of the hour--unless you're in radio or television, of course."

UPDATE: Best Cheap Thrill: a postscript and, yes, an apology

Posted by Steve Perry at April 26, 2006 1:47 PM | Comments (122)

 

4/26: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

The Best of the Twin Cities 2006 issue is live!

THESE DAYS

Del Mar College in Texas has blocked MySpace.com in response to complaints about sluggish Internet speed on campus computers.

A recent study by economists of the Bank of England and the universities of Heidelberg and Bonn showed psychologists displaying greater success at picking stocks than physicists, mathematicians, and economists. [via Undernews]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Raven had the flu and has an IMDB listing. Maybe you can figure out who Raven really is by reading her blog, Narcoleptic Squirrel.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

1984 Newsweek advertising insert from Apple (go to page 10 to see a certain Microsoft founder giving his endorsement)

Fluffer Nutter: the six-toed kitten

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Democrats are trying to stir up crap."

-- Republican consultant Joe Gaylord, commenting on the New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal that continues to reverberate after more than three years

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 26, 2006 1:20 AM | Comments (0)

 

Ngo settlement

Filed under: Minneapolis

It's been more than three years since Minneapolis police officer Duy Ngo was shot numerous times by a fellow officer while working undercover. (See my 2003 CP cover story for the full background.)

Ngo filed suit against the city and Charles Storlie, the officer who shot him, in June of 2003, seeking $9 million. After months of gathering evidence and taking depositions, the case has reached a climactic point.

A settlement conference is slated for May 24th. "We're ordered to to do that and we intend to do that in good faith," says Robert Bennett, the attorney representing Ngo. If no settlement is reached the case is slated to go to trial sometime this summer.

Minneapolis has paid out more than $10 million in damages stemming from lawsuits involving the MPD over the last decade. The largest payout so far on record: $995,000 collected by Michael Polley after a run-in with the cops in March, 2003 that left him with a bruised spleen and a torn colon.

Bennett declines to name a dollar figure that would satisfy his client or handicap the odds on whether the suit will ultimately be settled out of court.

"This is a hard case," he notes. "It's a new city council. They've never dealt with anything this big."

Posted by Paul Demko at April 25, 2006 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

 

The best legislature money can buy: Stadium edition

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

There is hardly a shortage of speculation as to how the Minnesota Twins managed to convince so many lawmakers to finally grease the skids for a publicly funded ballpark. In one commonly held view, the Twins owe their success mainly to their freakish persistence. Returning to the Capitol year after year, the thinking goes, the Twins simply wore down exasperated legislators until they caved, battered palookas too weary to go another round. But there is a much more unseemly--and likely--explanation, too: the gobs of money the Pohlad clan has stuffed into politicians' coffers in recent years.

State Senator John Marty (DFL-Roseville), who can always counted on to shine a welcome light on St. Paul's other red light district, nails the point in a column he penned for the taxpayer watchdog group, the Apple Pie Alliance. Writes Marty:

You don't even need to count the contributions from the Twins' lobbyists. The Pohlad family, which owns the Minnesota Twins, contributed to Governor Pawlenty and to one of his DFL challengers. The Pohlad family gave to the Republican Senate Caucus and to the DFL Senate Caucus. They gave to the DFL and Republican House caucuses.

Carl Pohlad and his sons gave to legislative leaders of both parties -- they even gave to candidates running against each other. In the 2002 gubernatorial race they contributed to two Republican candidates for governor, two DFL candidates, and the Independence party candidate -- they had all the bases covered, regardless of who won the election. The Pohlad family has given well over $200,000 in campaign contributions since 2000!

In other words, they gave money to everyone they thought might do them the favor and, whaddya know, it worked.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at April 25, 2006 9:46 AM | Comments (5)

 

4/25: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes discusses the 1961 debate between James Baldwin and Malcolm X at Complicated Fun.

A call for comment on the recent CMT Awards sends Jack Sparks on a rant at the Other Side of Country.

THESE DAYS

The Vatican is preparing to publish a statement on the use of condoms by people who have AIDS, a senior Roman Catholic official has said.

Statistics from security firm Sophos show that China will soon surpass the U.S. as the largest source of junk e-mail.

A South Carolina bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Ralph Davenport, would make it a felony to sell devices used primarily for sexual stimulation and allow law enforcement to seize sex toys from raided businesses.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Minneapolitan Paul Schmelzer blogs on net neutrality, rising oil costs, and architecture at Eyeteeth: A journal of incisive ideas.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Draw a little sketch, and Retrievr will do lousy job of finding Flickr photos that match.

Featuring performances by U2 and Rufus Wainwright et al, director Lian Lunson profiles a musical icon in the documentary Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, coming in June.

The evolution of the Netflix envelope

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"The facts are there that we have created, man has, a self-inflicted wound that man has created through global warming."

-- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, discussing climate change on the Earth Day edition of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos"

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 25, 2006 6:38 AM | Comments (0)

 

4/24: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has your Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

Jack Sparks discusses country music heirs Hank III and Shooter Jennings at the Other Side of Country.

THESE DAYS

Sex is more satisfying in countries where women and men are considered equal, according to an international study of people between the ages of 40 and 80 by researchers at the University of Chicago.

Police in Colombia are training Lola and Espejo, two whiskered, red-eyed rats, to sniff out bombs and land mines.

Malaysia's National Space Agency is trying to determine how its astronaut candidates will practice Islam in space. Three of its four astronaut candidates are Muslim, and two will be selected for a future Russian space flight.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Forty-three-year-old Minneapolitan Randy Wylde blogs about GLBT issues, the effects of online arguing, and scootering at Too Much Information.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

All 29 episodes of Chris Ware's NYT Magazine serial, Building Stories, are available for download in PDF form.

A graphical look at the state of the planet

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I picked her because she knew the whole alphabet."

-- Merv Griffin, on Vanna White, who was recently honored with the 2,309th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 24, 2006 6:28 AM | Comments (0)

 

Pawlenty vs. MPLS: Nice try, governor

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

City's budget guru dispels the myths behind T-Paw's bashing

Governor Tim Pawlenty was in full campaign mode this week, popping up on talk-radio shows of all kinds. Aside from hitting his talking points for re-election--calling for immigration reform, walking a fine line on any new stadiums, pumping up the state's employment numbers--Governor HockeyPuck gently poked at evil Minneapolis, always good for shoring up the state's conservative base.

Appearing on MPR on Tuesday, Pawlenty got specific on how Minneapolis should save money and put more cops on the street. Trouble is, the Governor's spouting had almost no relation to reality, let alone good governance.

Every politician under the sun has to play the public safety card these days, so it was no surprise that Pawlenty used a couple of recent murders--Uptown and downtown--to opine that what Minneapolis really needs is more cops and now.

Pawlenty disingenously insisted that cuts to Local Government Aid at his direction the last few years isn't what has caused a budget crunch in Minneapolis--forcing city leaders to shrink the MPD. Instead it was simply poor fiscal management. In short, he sang the GOP refrain heard 'round the state these days: Liberal leaders in the state's largest city are soft on crime and bad with checkbooks.

So Pawlenty offered a solution: The city should do away with its Civil Rights Department and Civil Service Commission, eliminate or consolidate its park police, and figure out a way to merge its library system with Hennepin County's.

Pat Born, the city's CFO who has helped steer the city away from financial catastrophe the last few years, reacts with bemusement: "If the governor is saying he sees ways in which that will save money, I'll gladly sit down with him."

For starters, according to Born, the city figures it will spend $75,000 a year on each new cop hired, allowing for salary and benefits, not counting equipment. The city's 2006 budget is $1.2 billion, with a general fund of $318 million. Of that, $107.5 million, or 35 percent, goes to the MPD.

"Police are already our highest priority," notes Born, who is more an apolitical number-cruncher than a political partisan.

On the issue of the Civil Service Commission, a body that oversees fair hiring and promotion practices, Born says there's no cop money to be found there. "I suppose a case could be made that it's arguably redundant," Born notes. "But the budget is negligible. There's not enough there to hire even one officer."

The Civil Rights Department has a 2006 budget of $2.9 million, which theoretically could be used to hire about 35 new cops. "We could certainly consider getting rid of the department," Born says, noting that the track record there has been less than stellar. "But we're not the only city that has one. Most cities our size and even smaller have such an office. The reason Minneapolis, St. Paul and a host of suburbs have such departments is because the state has not served the needs of those folks who feel they've had a civil rights issue."

So it may be a choice of what is politically palatable; perhaps the Governor doesn't care much for civil rights on a local level. "If we woke up one day and decided that department should be gone," Born concludes, "it would be a significant reduction in services."

The park police question vexes Born. "I don't know how eliminating or merging them with the Minneapolis police would save money," Born says. The park police department is funded by the Minneapolis Park and Rec board, and has 58 full-time employees, most of whom are sworn police officers. "I'm not sure the city would be safer by losing them."

The library question is "a little murkier," Born says. The Minneapolis library system has a 2006 operating budget of $22 million, and another $10 million in debt service because of the new central library downtown and upgrades to neighborhood libraries. "And that $10 million isn't going away," Born notes.

The taxpayers of Minneapolis don't pay for libraries in Hennepin County outside of the city, and suburban residents don't pay for the city system. There has been talk for some time about merging the two systems, but nobody is really sure what the benefit would be.

"If you consolidated the two systems, would there be savings to retain and hire police?" Born asks. "That's something we'd have to negotiate with the county. But it's not like we suddenly wouldn't be spending any money."

Born allows that there might be some savings on administrative costs, but in the end, someone would have to fund the Minneapolis libraries--and any plan to shutter the system would be political suicide, not to mention public policy of the worst sort.

That aside, does he see savings significant enough in the library-merger theory to hire more cops? "No," Born says. "And I'd add that we've already cut way down on hours because of the LGA cuts.

"If [Pawlenty is] suggesting that we spend less money on services we've already cut thanks to the LGA cuts, then I'd counter that we're not going to see much in the way of savings," Born concludes. "We've already cut everywhere to bring back police officers."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at April 21, 2006 12:06 PM | Comments (2)

 

An execrable fetish at Powerline

The boys at Powerline have fallen in love with the adjective "execrable." They just can't stop, um, excreting the word. Maybe this is due to a garden variety case of pundit fatigue. Between their daily blog posts, regular cable TV appearances and ceaseless efforts to combat the sinister forces of liberalism (not to mention their day jobs as high powered attorneys), Minnesota's leading conservative bloggers certainly keep a very busy schedule. They probably don't have the time to pry open a thesaurus in search of a synonym. Or maybe their use of the term is simply symptomatic of being in a state of constant indignation--an affliction evident to even the most casual Powerline reader.

Whatever the explanation, there can be no question that the Powerliners have developed a peculiar and extreme reliance on this ten dollar swear word. Scott Johnson--aka "the Big Trunk"--was the latest to deploy it. In a post yesterday, he angrily denounced an "execrable paper" about the Israel lobby penned by professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. It was, it turned out, the second time in as many days the Big Trunk used the word as a descriptor of the Mearsheimer/Walt paper.

But Johnson and fellow Powerliner John "Hindrocket" Hinderaker have lobbed their favorite verbal grenade at a host of other targets as well. Below is a list, no doubt incomplete, of execrable quotes from these titans of the blogosphere:

"We are late getting on to the story of the execrable Garrison Keillor and his hysterical jeremiad on Minnesota's election of Norm Coleman to the United States Senate."

"Minneapolis's execrable Mayor Rybak has 'clarified' his day-old ban on unmonitored communications between the police and the media."

"The execrable Cynthia McKinney appears to have gone down to defeat. Good riddance to one of our most disgraceful politicians."

"My favorite quote came from the execrable Pat Leahy."

"It's always reassuring to know that we are on the opposite side from Sweden and the United Nations. The same Arab News article quotes the execrable Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh..."

"[O]n the list of those whose disapproval of President Bush's speech must encourage us to think highly of it, I should have added the truly, deeply execrable Kofi Annan."

"The caravan has moved on, and no one has been talking much about the execrable Ms. Plame lately."

"Now the Republicans are treating the execrable Robert Byrd like a hero! Unbelievable. What a low moment."

"In his performance at Mrs. King's funeral this week, the execrable Jimmy Carter obviously chided President Bush by reference to the "secret government wiretapping" of Martin Luther King."

"America's worst DA, the execrable Ronnie Earle, admitted today that he went grand jury shopping."

Posted by Mike Mosedale at April 21, 2006 9:28 AM | Comments (6)

 

4/21: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

What news won't send oil prices soaring? Find out at American Idle.

THESE DAYS

A 76-year-old man has been arrested in Florida after alleged victims said he told them he was a doctor and offered them free breast exams.

The boyfriend of a Kentucky college student expelled for declaring his homosexuality on the Internet called Wednesday for a halt to $10 million in state funding for the private Baptist school.

A constituent of Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) received a letter from Emerson's office that contained the sentence "I think you're an asshole."

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Help local alt-country rocker Marlee MacLeod ease into her forties by checking out her blog at Marlee MacLeod's "In Other News..." Acknowledge The Peeper while you're there.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

100 interesting science facts... for those of you still interested in science.

Chinese-Canadian Baun Mah examines ethnic stereotypes in cosmopolitan Toronto in the documentary A Chink in the Armour. Those Canadians... what word won't they add a "u" to?

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"[It] was a creative workplace focused on generating scripts for an adult-oriented comic show featuring sexual themes."

-- California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter, in a 7-0 decision to throw out a sexual harrassment case by a former assistant on "Friends" predicated on the vulgar language used by the sitcom's writers

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 21, 2006 6:41 AM | Comments (1)

 

4/20: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson breaks down the final game of the Timberwolves's sorry season at Balls!

Chuck Terhark shares a couple of thoughts about last night's Twins game at Balls!

Condoleezza Rice demands Iranian compliance and braaaains at American Idle.

THESE DAYS

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the world economy would expand by 4.9% this year.

The majority of web users don't participate online, preferring just to passively read information presented to them, according to new research.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Mat Ollig will be attending my alma mater MCAD this fall. Check out his art and his words at Mat Ollig's Blog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Cool items for sale at Cartoon Network's online auction [via Boing Boing]

Put yourself in a vintage Chinese propaganda poster [via Sploid]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I'm the decider, and I decide what is best."

-- President George W. Bush, defending Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 20, 2006 6:32 AM | Comments (0)

 

MN: Likes Pawlenty, lets Bush go to voicemail

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

The latest numbers from SurveyUSA show Gov. Tim Pawlenty with a 52% approval rating from the citizens of Minnesota. Forty-two percent of those polled disapprove of the job T-Paw is doing. The most popular governor in the U.S. appears to be Jon Huntsman (R-UT) with an astounding 76% approval rating and a 16% disapproval rating. The numbers aren't so rosy for Fearless Leader, as Bush's numbers in Minnesota hover at 36% approval/61% disapproval. New York and Rhode Island tie Bush's lowest approval ratings at 24%. Bush can seek comfort in Utah and Wyoming, where his approval ratings are 55% and 54% respectively.

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 19, 2006 2:39 PM | Comments (0)

 

Ballpark battle: Fait accompli edition

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

County commissioners delay the inevitable

At the Hennepin County Board meeting yesterday afternoon, commissioners Penny Steele and Linda Koblick offered no fewer than 13 amendments to the county's proposed ballpark deal with the Twins. The idea was to derail the plan. It didn't work.

For more than three hours, Steele offered up printouts of proposed changes to the "principles of agreement" between the county and the team that will be the basis for legislative hearings slated to start today and sure to run over the next two weeks. Each time the "main motion"--that is, the proposed agreement--came before the body, Steele (pictured left) chimed in with her refrain of the day: "Mr. Chair, I have an amendment."

This prompted Commissioner Peter McLaughlin to quip about colleague Mike Opat at the other end of the bench: "He's over there reading Gone with the Wind."

McLaughlin and Opat could joke because they were in the 4-3 majority (boys against girls, naturally) that approved the county's deal last year, and would surely re-approve the same (if more costly) deal this year. And that majority ensured that most of Steele's amendments would get shot down.

Though Steele's gambit was largely symbolic, that didn't mean that her roughly dozen quibbles and misgivings (even she lost count) didn't raise some good questions. (Fellow anti-ballpark Commissioner Koblick tried to amend the language of the principles of the agreement when Steele was finished--again, to mostly no avail.)

For instance, Steele wanted to make sure that any money that came to the project from the proposed county sales tax would go solely to the construction of the project, and not to any slush fund for the Twins to manage its lease agreement.

Steele also wondered aloud who would really oversee the use and maintenance of the facility. There will be a "ballpark commission" created--with two county appointees, two city appointees and one from the governor's office--but it remains unclear what kind of control that commission will have over the stadium.

More saliently, Steele wanted to know quite a bit about parking revenue. The Target Center ramps are maintained by the city of Minneapolis, but owned by MnDot: a silly deal that gives most of the revenues to the state, very little to the city, and none to the county. It's still unclear how much "revenue-sharing" will go on if the Twins do indeed come to the nearby Rapid Park site.

And for that, Steele was keenly aware that two stretches of "flat-surface" parking nearby were indeed on county land. And what sort of revenue would the county get from these spots?

Steele also introduced a measure requiring that the Twins provide "affordable tickets"--a proposal that was doomed from the start, but raised a good point: How much of the team's $125 million toward this project will be paid back by inflated ticket prices?

Many of Steele's questions and amendments were pooh-poohed, with main negotiator Opat repeatedly pointing out that this is merely a proposal; the legislature will essentially dictate the details of any real deal--provided the stadium bill clears significant hurdles this week.

Which may be true on the one hand. But on the other, it's clear that any number of issues are being sidelined for now--something that's sure to create logjams and cost overruns down the line, should any ballpark deal come to fruition.

At one point, Steele, a staunch fiscal conservative who represents the western chunk of Hennepin County, admitted that as a kid, one of her dreams was to be a major-league baseball player. It was a foolish notion for a girl, Steele said, and even if she were a boy she wouldn't have had the talent to make it to the show. Her point, of course, is that she's a baseball fan, just not a fan of this agreement.

"I appreciate the negotiators who put this together, and no offense, but you were outgunned," Steele said of the county's contingent on the ballpark, right before the final vote. "This thing is just a bad deal."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at April 19, 2006 1:09 PM | Comments (3)

 

Stop the presses: Pi Press circulation rises!

Filed under: Media

Bucking industry trends, the Pioneer Press is reporting that daily circulation is up 2 percent, or 3,730 copies, in its most recent filing with the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Sunday circulation is up as well, by 1.6 percent, or 4,070 additional copies.

The filing covers a 26-weeek period that ended on March 26th. The Pi Press' daily circulation for that period was 194,105, while on Sunday it was 251,565.

(On a side note, Lean Dean strikes again.)

Posted by Paul Demko at April 19, 2006 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

 

4/19: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Ginger could kill ovarian cancer cells and may help fight the disease, says a new study but researchers warn more work is required to draw a firm conclusion.

A member of the Texas House of Representatives has put forth a resolution to honor Bush political strategist Karl Rove. [via South Texas Chisme]

New research reveals octopuses stiffen their arms to form humanlike joints to guide food to their mouths.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Erik was raised in Duluth, then spent a few years in the Twin Cities, and has since returned to the Twin Ports to find garbage collection, panhandling, and unemployment problems at Almost Home on the Range.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Scenes from the lost episodes of Ren & Stimpy

Help Harry the Hamster on his quest for the Golden Hamster Wheel

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I think we have taken a terribly important document, which I wish every American would read, and done it in a way that makes it far easier for people to grasp."

-- Publisher Thomas LeBien of Hill and Wang, on turning the 9/11 Report into a graphic novel

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 19, 2006 6:36 AM | Comments (0)

 

Twins Stadium, Chapter 83462398

Filed under: Legislature

The endless push for a new Twins stadium finally wore out Strib columnist Doug Grow, who waved a sheepish white flag in favor of the Hennepin County sales tax deal in this morning's paper. The Hennepin County commissioners are in the midst of another marathon song-and-dance this afternoon that will almost certainly culminate in the county adding another $20 million in inflation-adjusted cost to the public investment in the proposed ballpark, bringing the tab for taxpayers up to $349 million.

But the watershed (Waterloo?) moment for the latest stadium money-grab will happen later this week, as the House Tax Committee takes up the bill that, as currently written, would authorize Hennepin County to levy bonds and implement the sales tax without seeking public approval through a referendum, as is currently required by state law. Chaired by Rep. Phil Krinkie (R-Shoreview), one of the staunchest fiscal conservatives at the Capitol, with Hennepin County legislator and stadium opponent Rep. Ann Lenczewski (DFL-Bloomington) also a prominent force, the committee probably represents the most formidable obstacle in the path of Twins stadium proponents.

Krinkie has shrewdly scheduled his committee's hearings on the bill as a two-part process. Those in favor of a stadium will be testifying beginning tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Room 5 of the State Office Building. Opponents of the ballpark will get their say beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Oak Grove Middle School, 1300 W. 106th St. in Bloomington. Thus, the opponents get the final testimony, at a time more accessible in the schedules of most taxpayers, and in a Hennepin County location that also happens to be in Lenczewski's district. And if you think the Hennepin County hearings have been lengthy, just wait until Krinkie and Lenczewski start loading up proposed amendments to the bill around 9 or 10 on Thursday night.

"I'll likely have a couple of amendments," Krinkie acknowledged last week in a brief phone interview before he went home for the Passover/Easter break. "I want an amendment offered to include the referendum. I don't know whether or not it will pass, but it is current law and I don't understand why we should bypass it for a project of this scope. Once a tax get passed, it almost never goes away. Voters have the right to say whether or not they want it, so why should we remove [that right] in this case? The other thing, this bill has an exemption for sales tax on construction materials. I don't particularly like that idea and there might be amendment or something happening there." He added that Lenczewski likewise is going over the bill, noting that "I think she said she had about 40 amendments she could have offered last year [on pretty much the exact same bill] if it had been necessary." It wasn't, as the stadium bill became a victim of the cantankerous budget fight and never made it out of the committee.

This year, however, ballpark boosters not only have the newfound momentum of Grow's change of heart and the county's (likely) increased commitment from today. They also have to be buoyed by the favorable reception at the Capitol for building a new on-campus football stadium for the Gophers, and by the fact that most leglislators considering the Twins stadium bill can vote for it (in an election year for all of them) knowing that it will incur no cost to their constituents unless they wander into Hennepin County and buy stuff.

"Obviously, human nature being what it is, there is a chance it might pass because 86 counties are able to skate on this without paying the cost," Krinkie says. But the House Tax Committee chair is spoiling for this fight anyway, his philosophical opposition to stadium subsidies abetted by a potential political dividend. Krinkie currently is locked in a tough battle to secure the Republican endorsement for a chance to represent the 6th U.S. Congressional District in Washington, with, among others, fellow Rep. Jim Knoblauch (R-St. Cloud). Krinkie and Knoblauch have already bruised legislative elbows vying against each other over aspects of the House budget. Given that Knoblauch voted for a Twins stadium bill in both 1997 and 2002, Krinkie sees this as an another opportunity to differentiate himself with 6th District delegates. "I am campaigning on the idea that I am the consistent conservative in this race, so I hope my position on this is helpful to me," he said. "I know it's consistent."

Posted by Britt Robson at April 18, 2006 3:22 PM | Comments (5)

 

Lean Dean finalizing deal for Pi Press

Filed under: Media

Reuters and the San Jose Mercury News reported over the weekend that MediaNews is in final negotiations to purchase four former Knight Ridder papers, including the Pioneer Press.

The good news? MediaNews is a privately held company, meaning it's not beholden to greedy stockholders demanding outlandish profit margins, as was the case under Knight Ridder.

The bad news? The Denver-based newspaper chain is run by William Dean Singleton. Unflatteringly known as "Lean Dean," Singleton has accrued a deserved reputation over the last three decades for decimating and destroying newspapers.

For an excellent primer on Singleton see this 2003 profile from the Columbia Journalism Review. Although it's now three years old, the article, written by Scott Sherman, contains numerous illuminating anecdotes.

The following paragraph, for instance, does a pretty good job of summarizing what Pi Press staff-ers have to look forward to:

In constructing his empire, Singleton has included a very sharp knife among his tools, and he has used it. In 1975, after a brief, inglorious run, he closed The Fort Worth Press, the city's second daily, which inspired reporters to hurl beer cans at him. In 1981 he gutted the Trenton Times, prompting its editor to tell CJR, "The public has lost a watchdog and gained a bulletin board." In 1995 he shuttered the Houston Post, throwing well over a thousand people out of work and killing a publication that had served the community since 1885. Nor is Singleton known for graceful entrances. When he purchased The Berkshire Eagle in 1995, reporters were given a sheet of paper describing their job status and new salaries. "People were expected to read the paper and put their initials next to the words 'accept' or 'reject' on the spot," Stephen Simurda wrote in CJR. "There were virtually no negotiations. This was day one of the Singleton era."

Further down in the piece are a few more choice details on how Singleton handled the Houston Post situation:

In September 1987, he stunned the newspaper world by announcing two major acquisitions--the Houston Post and The Denver Post. Houston was the reverse of Dallas, Singleton says, "a white-collar paper in a blue-collar market," but the Sunday edition was similarly weak.

Eight years later, in 1995, Singleton sold the assets of the Houston Post to its main competitor, Hearst, publisher of the dominant Houston Chronicle, for $120 million. The Houston Post was a corpse. Employees of the Post were enraged, and have remained so ever since; today they refer to him as "Stinky Singleton." In a scorching letter published in CJR, the former assistant editorial page editor, Charles Reinken, noted that for 111 years, the Post "printed the news, got a few rascals thrown out, earned a Pulitzer along the way, conceded nothing to the competition, and showed great heart . . . . Singleton killed it without even the decency of a farewell edition--a death without a funeral."

Then there's this reassuring graf detailing Singleton's treatment of workers:

Sean Holstege, a reporter and union officer at The Oakland Tribune, claims that Singleton's Northern California papers average a 30 percent turnover rate. Many reporters earn as little as $26,000. "I know employees who skip meals," says Holstege. "I know employees who have slept in cars until they found affordable housing. I know one person who got pregnant and was weeping when she found out. She had no idea how she would pay for it."

Sherman makes a half-hearted case that by 2003 Singleton's unswerving emphasis on profits over journalism had shifted. His stewardship of the Denver Post, where newsroom staffing has grown along with the profits, is cited as proof of this change of philosophy. But even if he has softened a bit over the years, the evidence seems quite overwhelming that Lean Dean has done more than enough to justify his nickname.

Posted by Paul Demko at April 18, 2006 2:23 PM | Comments (1)

 

T Paw's Alternate Universe

Filed under: Economy

In his hour-long appearance on Minnestoa Public Radio's Mid-Morning show today, Governor Tim Pawlenty displayed two of the gifts that make him an effective politician: a relaxed, confident manner and a wonkish capacity to marshall statistics that bolster his arguments. But in sparring with host Kerri Miller on the health of the state economy, Pawlenty unleashed one fairly spectacular whopper. Citing the growing number of employment vacancies in the state, the governor declared, "Basically, everyone who wants a job can have a job."

That rosy assertion does not mesh with a recent study from Pawlenty's own Department of Employment and Economic Development. According to the report: "During fourth quarter 2005, we estimate that there were 5.8 job vacancies for every 10.0 unemployed people statewide." Even assuming that the unemployed workers skills mesh with those vacancies, that leaves a considerable chunk of people idle. And then consider that 39 percent of the vacancies are for part-time work and, further, that the median wage for vacant jobs is only ten dollars an hour. Suddenly, not such a pretty picture.

"I don't recognize the governor as a friend of Minnesota workers but I thought he'd be more careful than that," says Kevin Ristau, education director of the St. Paul-based Jobs Now Coalition. As Ristau sees it, any thoughtful analysis of the state's employment picture ought to also take into accoun