March 30, 2008 - April 5, 2008

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Get ready for another E-Junk Tsunami

Filed under: Environment

Even after last year’s "electronics tsunami," environmental activists are again trying to help Minnesotans get rid of their dusty TVs, VCRs, DVD players, computers and other dubbed E-Junk for free.

Waste Management, Sony Electronics and Best Buy will host electronic disposal drives at five different Twin City locations April 11 & 12.

The amount of electronic waste is on the rise and managing the issue has become increasingly important, especially with the FCC-mandated switch to all digital TV signals by Feb. 2009. Trashing electronic waste became illegal in Minnesota in 2007.

“We expect this to be the largest recycling event ever in the sate of Minnesota. We’re hoping to collect 1 to 3 million pounds of electronics this at this event alone,” says Julie Ketchum, a spokeswoman for Waste Management.

At last year’s event, held at the Mall of America, some 1.5 million pounds of e-waste were collected in little more than day, causing a back up of thousands of cars on the streets and highways surrounding the mall. The event had to close early because of the excessive demand.

This year to avoid confusion and meet demand, organizers chose spots with ample space for drop off points, herding TV totting customers to places like Canterbury Park Racetrack and Minnesota State Fair Grounds.

A complete listing of drop off points is available by clicking here.

Posted by Beth Walton at April 4, 2008 11:35 AM | Comments (2)

 

Breakfast of Champions 4/4: New friends, old neighbors

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

I just got done writing a 250-word bit on Anti-Flag for the paper. It got me to thinking about music, and about politics, and about poetry. (The band's name has always evoked a line from e.e. cummings' "i sing of Olaf glad and big" to me. Read it, y'all! It's National Poetry Month). I'll spare you the broader thoughts. Let's just talk about music for a second.

There are a lot of great things about bringing Andrea Myers on board. From my perspective, the best of these is her readily apparent passion for local music.

The best reporters on discrete topics are the ones that are most moved and inspired by those topics. Writing is an art that affords one invaluable creative opportunities, but it's also a job, and any job can be a grind. I'd make a crappy food writer (because I'm happy to repeatedly make tofu stir fry and drink gallons of orange juice) or a business writer (because I hate money). The key element is the element of care.

Andrea cares, and she's being tasked with covering a scene that she knows intimately. As a colleague, I'm happy to see her in a job where she can be surrounded every day with material that inspires. As a reader, I'm eagerly anticipating learning more about the music being made in our community. Because there's a lot of great stuff out there, and it deserves the spotlight she can shine.

We're all excited to see the direction Andrea takes our music coverage, both in print and online. Welcome.

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

The Wild have clinched the Northwest division title for the first time in their history. Our hockey coverage has been, ahem, occasional, but we're planning a few surprises for the playoffs. Let me spoil one now.

Next week we'll have a special guest poster on Balls!, ESPN.com columnist Jonah Keri, to break down the squad's chances. Aside from being a keen intellect and gifted writer, Jonah is an actual Canadian, with the Montreal Expos-fandom to prove it. Look for Jonah's post before the NHL post-season begins April 9.

Elsehwere: this is still not as fast as the ridiculous download speeds I attained in Japan. But I'll take it, or I would if I had extra $150 a month. Actually, I wouldn't. I'd probably give the money to war orphans.

Speaking of war orphans, our own Jordan Selbo already gave this album props, but I have to tell you that the new El Guante disc is straight dope. It's a sprawling meld of various hip-hop styles, together with spoken word. The album is a long experiment that is at times uneven, but the high points are spectacular -- banging jams, thoughtful lyrics, and themes unusual or any genre. Best of all, it challenges the listener. Even when the album, El Guante's Haunted Studio Apartment, misfires, it misfires because the artist is trying something innovative and experimental.

So why "speaking of war orphans"? One of the spoken word poems includes a reference to war orphans that's plain hilarious. Honestly. And it speaks to me in a live and direct way due to certain events I'm not going to get into. Unfortunately, you can't listen to the track ("A Butterfly Flaps Her Wings") on
his MySpace, so I guess you'll just have to pick up the record.

Back to sports for a second, with a dash of mathematics. Paul Demko completes his MLS preview, bringing you his predictions for the top 42.86 percent of the league. Because even numbers are boring.

Finally this morning, I've already acknowledged that -- naked sushi aside -- I'd leave much to be desired as a food correspondent. Fortunately, we have Rachel Hutton and James Norton. Their latest posts lead you to the area's best pizza, round up the comings and goings of local chefs, and introduce you to a gadget for poaching eggs.

The vegan members of Anti-Flag wouldn't approve. But that's why they write about animal rights, and James writes about food.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at April 4, 2008 6:21 AM | Comments (1)

 

City Pages hires Andrea Myers as Music Editor

Filed under: City Pages

City Pages is proud to announce that it has hired Andrea Myers as music editor.

A veteran beat reporter who has covered the local music scene for years, Myers has been published everywhere from the (now-defunct) Pulse to Howwastheshow.com, and of course, in City Pages. She is perhaps best known as one of the founders of Reveille, an online music magazine.

Myers got her start at a relatively young age when she was taken under the wing of Jim Walsh, a former City Pages columnist and the author of All Over But the Shouting, an oral history of the Replacements.

"I've always admired Jim's writing, and have been reading his articles since I was in high school," Myers says. "He has been kind enough to mentor me through some of the most challenging parts of my writing career and I owe a lot of my success to his influence and support."

Reveille fans need not worry: the site will continue under the direction of Myers' co-founders. As for her plans for the City Pages music section, Myers promises stepped up coverage of local bands, shows, and music news.

"Now's the time for City Pages to reclaim the spotlight for local music coverage," Myers says. "I am excited to provide a passionate voice for the paper and give readers a chance to learn about the great music being made in our backyards."

You can also expect to see frequent blog posts providing updates between print editions. Myers says she usually goes to at least four shows a week and enjoys providing reviews within hours of leaving the concert.

"I can't wait to start my new position at City Pages," Myers says. "I think this will be a great opportunity to show my love of the local scene and use the resources at the paper to further investigate and report on local music trends."

City Pages is proud to welcome Myers aboard.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at April 3, 2008 4:11 PM | Comments (14)

 

The Twin Cities just got nerdier

Filed under: Blogs/Web

Can't resist the pull of a good torrent? Multi-table online poker with 32 screens at once? Well, roll over Sergei Brin and tell Al Gore the news, the Twin Cities are now home to America's fastest Internet connections.

As expected, the carrier isn't being modest about the launch, claiming that users can suck down a 4GB HD movie "in about ten minutes," compared to "more than six hours" on a 1.5Mbps DSL connection.

You'll pay for the privilege. It's 150 bones a month. But if you want to keep up with NASA or warm the ground enough to melt snow with all the packets you'll be downloading, it's time to kick down.

Even if you don't open your wallet for the big-time, your high-speed Internet will get even more high-speed as competitors try to keep up. Now you can flip through that naked sushi slideshow even faster.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at April 3, 2008 1:10 PM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 4/3: Power pellet bingo

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

I am not obsessed with Pac-Man. Chances are, you are not obsessed with Pac-Man. But Chris Ward is obsessed with Pac-Man, and I am glad. If you read this, you will be glad too. You don't have to like video games to stand with your mouth agape in amusement.

Haale, who we spoke with when her band's CD came out a few weeks back, played an early gig at the Cedar last night. If quoting Kurt Vonnegut, Rumi, and Teilhard de Chardin is your idea of the earthly ideal of hotness, then you should've been there. If you were not at the show -- you unlucky soul, you -- get a taste for what it was like through James Tran's photos.

Hip-hop fans: ever wanted to send Ludacris to space? Nate Patrin has. And did, kind of.

That settles it: Matt Snyders has to get his own cable access show. Actually, the story about David Carr led me to two different questions: first, quarterbacking really didn't work for him, did it? And second, why has no one given Steve Barone and the entire Minnie Indie crew a Q + A in the New York Times yet? I think I would pay to see this happen.

You know, if it's 3 a.m., chances are my phone is turned off. I guess that's why I'll never be president. Well, among other things.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at April 3, 2008 7:13 AM | Comments (0)

 

David Carr: from public access TV to the Times

Filed under: Media

David Carr's recent Q & A segment on the New York Times web site is a witty and informative read. But this Minneapolis question is either odd or funny:

The Old Minneapolis Days

Q. I used to watch you on the Minneapolis Community Network with Brian Lambert and Erik Eskola. Do you consider that the big break that catapulted you to The Times?

A. Um, that wasn't me. O.K.. it was, but I've grown so much since then. If, as you suggest, "The Facts as We Know Them," as it was called, was my big break, it should be mentioned that Al Gore had to invent the Internet for me to finally get some more face time in front of the camera. During the awards season, I make weekly videos about the Oscars and movies. My time on the chair lift in Sundance with Tom Arnold is, well, classic, in sort of a Three Stooges minus one guy sort of way. With a face that looks as if were crafted out of mashed potatoes and a voice that sounds like a trash compactor that needs oil, I'm not a natural for television, but Web TV? Hey, real is the new beautiful. I have incredibly fond memories of "The Facts as We Know Them," if for no other reason that in all of my job travels, I have yet to come across two journalists who are as talented and fun to work with as Erik Eskola and Brian Lambert.

Does this mean Ron Edwards will be snapped up by the Times next?

Posted by Paul Demko at April 2, 2008 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 4/2: Electronic bread, digital circuses

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

More or less everything you ever wanted to know about Guitar Hero is contained in Kevin Hoffman's profile of its preeminent practitioner, 16-year-old Chris Chike, and the accompanying Reporter's Notebook. In the notebook, Hoffman interviews Charles Huang, founder of one of the companies behind the game. If you play, it also offers videos of (and tips straight from) the master.

The gamer version of the Guinness Book of World Records is also the topic of the new "Game On" video gaming column; some of this content is cross-posted at Joystick Division.

Did retiring Supreme Court Chief Justice Russell Anderson play politics with another jurist's career? Read Paul Demko's feature and decide.

The firing of 15 veteran Hispanic workers by D'Amico & Partners has caused a vigorous debate in the comments.

Show-goers, scenesters and fans of world music: don't forget that tonight is the Haale show at the Cedar. Check out our interview with her and check the show out if you're into psychedelic soundscapes of Persian-inflected rock.

Peter S. Scholtes' weekend post about the Current's "Fakebook" series drew the attention of Mary Lucia at the station. She shows up in the comments to talk about her thoughts on the article and Greil Marcus.

This Friday, Treehouse Records is throwing its 7th anniversary party at the Turf Club -- but it's a party with a purpose. Proceeds will benefit Common Ground Relief, a nonprofit helping to rebuild New Orleans. Cecile Cloutier spoke with Treehouse owner Mark Trehus about record stores, politics and the Big Easy.

If you're going to click this link (and you should, to see the cavernous Pothole of the Day), then the below video will provide you able musical accompaniment.

Wow, it puts me on tilt that 3 Feet High and Rising is 20 years old next year.

The surge is working! We were actually welcomed with flowers, as liberators, into Iraq! It's just that the mainstream media didn't report it! Also, chemical weapons! Syria! Um ... Toby Keith? Okay, where's my check?

Ben Palosaari talks with former Nixon "Plumber" Egil Krogh. Krogh has turned into a crusader for ethics in the decades following his shady shenanigans.

Depressed after the Twins had their outlook dimmed and horizons narrowed? Deflated after the Wolves lost to the Pistons? Consider that a new day is dawning in Major League Soccer, and Paul Demko has the first half of a preview. Worth it just for the flag photo at the bottom.

"Splendid Table" host Lynne Rossetto Kasper is taping her radio show live at the Fitz tomorrow, and Rachel Hutton has the details.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at April 2, 2008 6:42 AM | Comments (0)

 

Reporter's Notebook: The Greatest Guitar Hero Player of Them All

Filed under: Pop Culture

By Kevin Hoffman

In this week's news story, I went to Rochester to pay a visit to Chris Chike, the 16-year-old Guitar Hero phenom that recently set a new Guinness record for highest score on the game's hardest song. Because of the constraints of the narrative, there was a lot of material that I didn't get a chance to use. Included among the cutting-room-floor scraps is an interview with RedOctane founder Charles Huang about the series, tips from Chike on how to master the trickiest parts of songs, and YouTube clips of Chike in action. All this and more you'll find after the jump.

Still with me? Good. Let's start with the interview with Charles Huang. Charles founded RedOctane with his brother Kai in 1999. Originally a producer of dance pads for Dance Dance Revolution, RedOctane struck gold in November 2005 when it teamed up with developer Harmonix to create Guitar Hero. As I write in my news story:

To date, the series has sold over 14 million copies and earned more than $1 billion. "Guitar Hero was the fastest video game to $1 billion in sales—we just beat out Pokemon," says Huang.

More from my interview with Huang:

How did you become involved in Guitar Hero?
It was a concept that we had worked on a total of about three years. In our business we had seen very successful music games in Asia but nothing that really caught on in the US. And one of our thoughts was there should be a way to make a really fun music game for the US market. And we thought guitar was the perfect instrument because rock and roll would be the music that would make it work in the US.

Were you impressed when you watched Chilte play "Through the Fire and Flames" live?
The guy that did it, it took him nearly a month to note chart that one. That was designed to be the song to test the skills of the highest caliber players. I don’t think somebody had in mind that somebody could get 97 percent of the notes right, which is what Chris hit. That’s over 3,500 notes on that expert song. You have to have a lot of accuracy and a lot of stamina. I play expert level. I’ve scored about 100,000 on that song.

Do you think Guitar Hero is good or bad for music education?
We’ve had guitar instructors tell that they have seen a lot more interest in kids wanting to play guitars because they play Guitar Hero. Sometimes the first thing they’ll do is sit them in front of Guitar Hero. … There’s so many people that play it and so many kids get exposed to great guitar music. One of the keys for people who want to play guitar music: they have to love guitar music.

You can find Chris Chike's YouTube page here, Some of my favorites are:

This demonstration of his fingering technique:

And this demonstration of "Through the Fire and Flames":

An excerpt from my interview with Chike:

How did you end up going to the Guiness Book of World Records tournament?
It wasn't even a tournament, I was posting my videos on YouTube and I guess they got ahold of it, and they said, "We think you have the highest score in the world so let's make it official, so we'll fly you out to new york and have witnesses and make it official." So that's what happened.

At what point did you realize you might be the world's best Guitar Hero player?
Once I look in the internet and being like "no one's gotten that high of a score so I'm pretty sure" and on X-box Live rankings once you get a score it automatically submits it to the X-box Live rankings, and I was No. 1 for that song (Through the Fire and Flames).

Now are there any rivals, people who are No. 1 in a different song?
Yeah, there's actually a couple people who are better than me at other songs, and I respect that. I'm not the best at every song, just this song, and this song just so happens to be able to get the highest score on. Some songs max out at 500,000, this one maxes out at 900,000-something, and that's what got me a little more famous because it goes based soley on high score.

How did you start building your skills to be at the level where you can get a 98% on this song?
It was a lot of practice. It all started with that (X-box Live) achievement they had, get 750,000 on any song, and this was the only song possible at the time to get that number, and so I said I want to be the first one to be get this achievement, and I was the first one, so I was like, well, I seem to be excelling at this song, so I might as well keep practicing.

How would you practice?
Just keep playing it, and there's practice mode where you focus on the parts you can't get, and keep practicing that certain part. And then move on to the next section. I still haven't mastered all the sections.

How many hours a day would you do this?
The days when I'd go for the record it would be too many, like five, like OCDing on that song, but if I'm just playing for fun it's like an hour or two.

At what point did you feel like you were qualified for the high score? When did you start keeping track of scores?
I actually started keeping track of my scores early on, I noticed I was getting good at the game after like a month, so I started keeping track of my scores and stuff, just comparing to everyone else.

When you're practicing, you're just doing it by yourself?
Yeah, it's just me, mastering a certain song. During school, it's after school; on the weekends, maybe after I wake up after breakfast or something. On weekends, I'll probably go out with friends, instead of just sitting here and playing Guitar Hero, cuz that's just depressing.

What was your mother's reaction when you were playing four hours a day?
First of all she was like, "Eat or something." On a weekend, she won't bother me about it, but on a weeknight, if I stay up real late, she'll be like, "Go to bed, you need sleep." But on the weekend it's never a problem.

Chris Chike recently won $2,000 in the national Guitar Hero III tournament sponsored by Play N Trade. But first he competed for the Minnesota state title. Check out the point differential in the rubber match! The difference-maker: Chike hit Star Power one note earlier.

Check out this promo for Guitar Hero: World Tour for Nintendo DS:

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at April 1, 2008 6:14 PM | Comments (6)

 

POTD: North Side edition

Filed under: potholes

I wandered around North Minneapolis this afternoon in search of desecrated roadways. The main thoroughfares of Broadway and Plymouth avenues are in surprisingly decent shape. But once you get on the side streets it's another story. Hands down today's winner was found on the 1700 block of Upton Ave. N. The magnitude of this roughly 30-foot string of craters is difficult to capture with just one photograph. But here goes:

Posted by Paul Demko at April 1, 2008 4:29 PM | Comments (1)

 

No mas

Filed under: Business

D'Amico & Partners fired 15 veteran Hispanic workers at the close of business yesterday after they failed to resolve questions about the validity of their social security numbers. The workers have filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming that they're being targeted for discriminatory treatment. The Minneapolis-based chain operates such high-end eateries as Masa and Campiello, along with numerous D'Amico & Sons restaurants.

D'Amico & Partners received "no match" letters from the Social Security Administration for each of the impacted employees indicating that there is an issue with their documentation. The employees had until Monday to resolve the problem with the federal agency. When they failed to do so, all 15 were terminated.

The Hispanic employees, however, believe they're being unfairly singled out. "D'Amico & Partners is not requiring re-verification from any non-Latino employees," they wrote to the EEOC. "D'Amico & Partners is reaching the conclusion that we are undocumented because we are Latino."

Amy Rotenberg, as spokeswoman for D'Amico, says the company would face the possibility of fines and other punishment if it doesn't resolve the social security issues. "We are sadly in a situation where we have to comply with federal law," she says. "We're really between a rock and a hard place."

Rotenberg further notes that D'Amico put the workers on notice last September that they needed to address the problem, but that none have even started the process. The company will leave their jobs open until the end of the month in case the matter is resolved. The workers met with company co-owner Larry D'Amico yesterday afternoon in a last ditch effort to salvage their jobs, but without success.

According to Veronica Mendez, an organizer with the Workers Interfaith Network, the impacted employees are not ruling out a lawsuit. "If necessary the workers are willing and ready to do that," she says.

Posted by Paul Demko at April 1, 2008 10:47 AM | Comments (13)

 

Spinning it to the blogs

Filed under: War on Terror

How do you make a very unpopular war ring favorably to Americans surfing the net? Pay the bloggers to spin your message. Just don’t tell anyone.

Danger Room reporter Noah Shachtman uncovered a 2006 report written for U.S. Special Operations Command that suggests “clandestinely recruiting or hiring prominent bloggers.”

"Hiring a block of bloggers to verbally attack a specific person or promote a specific message may be worth considering," write the report's co-authors, James Kinniburgh and Dororthy Denning.

Admitting the creepiness of this idea, the authors continue:

…Such operations can have a blowback effect, as witnessed by the public reaction following revelations that the U.S. military had paid journalists to publish stories in the Iraqi press under their own names. People do not like to be deceived, and the price of being exposed is lost credibility and trust.

Therefore, don't rely on the bloggers to sell out, simply create your own propaganda machine.

An alternative strategy is to “make” a blog and blogger… (T)here are people in the military today who like to blog. In some cases, their talents might be redirected toward operating blogs as part of an information campaign.

A spokesman for the U.S. Special Operations Command called the report a “thought provoking” “academic exercise” and said the views expressed don’t represent those of the U.S. Government or Department of Defense.

The 33 page report (download the PDF) also highlights the relationship between mainstream media and the blogs, opening with the story of how right leaning sites like Free Republic and Little Green Footballs took down CBS news and Dan Rather in the now infamous Killian memo forgery.

Posted by Beth Walton at April 1, 2008 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 4/1: introducing Joystick Division

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

As the poet T.S. Eliot said, April is the coolest month. This is why it snowed yesterday. This is also why we're choosing today to launch our video game blog, Joystick Division.

The Division is a national blog from Village Voice Media, but the core of this effort is going to be local. Our own Ward Rubrecht and Nate Patrin provide news, views and reviews to go along with work by other writers, including the guys who do the national Game On columns.

The beta version is online now at joystickdivision.com, and there are some extensive posts up already. Visual changes will come as we experiment and work the technology issues out, but posting will be regular from here on in. Also, by way of foreshadowing, you'll see why we launched the video game blog today once the new issue is posted later this afternoon. It coincides with a story we're doing for this week.

At Joystick Division this morning, Ward Rubrecht has a post about five free games that don't suck for your cheapskate gaming needs. Nate Patrin has put more thought into how to make a great baseball video game than I thought possible, and offers up a review of MLB 2K8 in the process. There's also a review of Super Smash Bros., a post about characters that ought to have made the cut for the game, featuring original art by national video game columnist Gary Hodges, and the proverbial "much more."

We may not have lilacs yet out of the dead land, but pixels and Playstations might tide you over. W00t.

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

Peter S. Scholtes reviews the Greil Marcus + Mekons event from the Current's Fakebook series. Daniel Corrigan has photographs.

The history of RNC 2004 hints at the convention surveillance, arrests and lawsuits that protesters may face here this fall. Matt Snyders plans to trace the road to the convention by tracking outlandish quotations left along the way, in a series of posts we're calling Elephant Droppings.

Kevin Hoffman finds Lou Dobbs' lapse into the word "cotton-pickin'" during his rant about Condi Rice to be hilarious, and he's right. What I find just as hysterical is Lou Dobbs going off about how proud he is of our country's ethnic diversity. It's just a rhetorical device he's using, but to hear the crown prince of anti-immigrant sentiment say this (and apparently believe it) is laughable.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at April 1, 2008 6:46 AM | Comments (0)

 

Breakfast of Champions 3/31: Mary Oliver, bikini-clad dancers and battle rappers

Filed under: Breakfast of Champions

DAILY DISH: WHAT'S NEW AROUND THE SITE

I went to the Twin Cities Battle League intending to blog about it this morning, and I suppose that's just what I'm doing. But this post is going to be shorter than the in-depth review I had planned.

That's not because the event wasn't off the hook, because it was, or that there weren't compelling characters there, because there were.

Battling is a big part of hip-hop culture and history. Battles are also a way for truly underground freestylers to be heard and to gain a following. In two rounds -- one 45 second blast, one minute-long round -- two rappers go at each other with an array of impromptu boasts and disses. At the end of the night, one MC is crowned the winner. He or she qualifies for the final, which will be held this summer.

I did some fun interviews with competitors -- victorious and, um, otherwise -- judges, spectators and event organizers. I was going to write that up today. But this is just round two of five. I think it makes sense to follow this a while, get to know the people involved better, and do something bigger, later. So I think some brief notes now and a longer post after the dust clears is in order.

Start with the slideshow, which gives you the Cliff's Notes on the evening. Then, check out some MP3s from the rhymes of Illab, the evening's champion. Here's a short clip of one of the night's best disses, and this longer rhyme where Illab takes on Mike Starks' skinny frame and Lake Street roots. You can also see videos at the Twin Cities Battle League MySpace page.

So, what else is fresh from the weekend? A ton.

One of the Twin Cities' most well-respected dance companies held a bikini fashion show as a fundraiser, and Carl Atiya Swanson was there. We also have photos by Daniel Corrigan.

On the other side of the art spectrum -- from the physical to the spoken, the visual to the written -- here's a recap of poet Mary Oliver's reading last night at the State Theatre. And it's testament to the busy weekend that Jordan Selbo's review of the Lightning & Thunder CD release party on Saturday has already rolled off the front page.

If you haven't already, check out Beth Walton's heartbreaking Reporter's Notebook for "The Soldier Suicides."

Checked out Complicated Fun lately? Peter Scholtes has a list of his Top 20 Music Videos that's interesting reading and viewing.

Oba-mentum: Amy Klobuchar endorses Barack Obama.

In the mood for something grisly? Watch the video of Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster's fibula fracturing fiasco. After that, calm down with Twins blogger Judd Spicer's
MLB season preview.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at March 31, 2008 6:40 AM | Comments (0)

 

Klobuchar endorses Obama

Filed under: Politics

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar endorsed Barack Obama for president today, making her the 64th superdelegate to throw support his way since Super Tuesday.

"My endorsement reflects both Barack's strong support in my state and my own independent judgment about his abilities," Klobuchar said in a statement.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at March 31, 2008 2:05 AM | Comments (2)

 

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