Via Wikipedia

Pastor John Piper

​The Minneapolis pastor who claimed last summer's tornado was divine retribution for another church's tolerance of homosexuality is taking a break.

John Piper, the celebrity pastor of Minneapolis megachurch Bethlehem Baptist Church, announced in a sermon this weekend that he will take an eight-month from all pastoral duties and public appearances starting in May.

Last August, Piper claimed that a tornado that struck downtown Minneapolis was a targeted attack by Jesus Christ on the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, which was holding its annual national meeting at the Convention Center at the time. Piper argued that the tornado was sent to punish the Lutherans, who decided that day  to allow homosexuals to become ministers.

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Minnesota Rep. Rick Hansen

​State Rep. Rick Hansen is backing a bill aimed at making the ice safer in our State of Hockey. HF3512 would require all existing indoor ice arenas to have Department of Health-approved electronic carbon monoxide monitoring devices by January 2011, along with alarms and fans that activate if carbon monoxide in an arena reaches a dangerous levels. New ice arenas would be required to have the detectors, alarms and ventilation systems in place before opening.

The latest version of the bill can be viewed by clicking here.

A story in today's Star Tribune explains the issue: Ice grooming machines like those made by Zamboni are a source of potentially lethal carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide; last year, 12 Maple Grove peewee hockey players with CO poisoning had to be taken to the emergency room.

​Live from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia via Twitter, it's congressman Keith Ellison. The Minneapolis Democrat is accompanying a trade delegation representing 16 U.S. businesses, helping to open doors for bilateral commerce and diplomatic ties, according to an official in Ellison's office.

The congressman's precise itinerary is being kept under wraps for security reasons. But two of his most important stops are the capital, Riyadh, and Dammam, in the center of the country's oil producing region.

He made a similar trip last year, and has also visited the kingdom while taking part the Hajj pilgrimage for muslims.

​Bad enough that a hit off a can of condensed air dust remover qualifies as getting high. Worse still: Doing it from behind the wheel of car, with other people along for the ride. But that's what police say Daniil Usachev did last August in Hastings, before they found him in his car. It had run off the road and smacked into a tree.

The 19-year-old was arrested on Tuesday, charged with felony criminal vehicular operation and misdemeanor fourth-degree driving while impaired, and arraigned today in Ramsey County District Court.

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​Graduate students at the University of Minnesota are protesting the student fees they pay, arguing that they are underpaid workers.

"We want to remind people that we're not just graduate students, we're workers. We are teachers," said Melody Hoffmann, a graduate student in communication studies who helped organize the protest. A crowd of about 60 had gathered at the protest.

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​The Minnesota Court of Appeals has affirmed the controversial conviction of former Viking Carl Eller for fourth-degree assault and refusing to submit to a chemical test.

Eller, ex Purple People-Eater, was pulled over in 2008 on suspicions of DWI whereupon he allegedly assaulted the officers and refused a sobriety test. During his court hearing, Eller accused the police and courts of bias and corruption

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This is just a snapshot from today -- the stats are updated daily -- but from the looks of things, Minnesota is surrounded by states whose residents are doing a more timely job responding to the 2010 census. Maybe Michele Bachmann really has scared the bejesus out of Minnesotans worried about going to Acorn-powered prison camps.

Source: 2010.census.gov

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​Wayneen Clementine Whiteeagle, the woman who was arrested while walking drunk over the weekend, is scheduled to appear in court this afternoon on charges of child endangerment.

Whiteagle, 29, was arrested Saturday on the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis. Police responding to a 911 call say that she was having trouble walking.

Her children, 4 and 10 years old, were crying, and the younger child was wearing one shoe and had urinated on herself, according to the criminal complaint.

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Source: Wilder Foundation

​New data from the Wilder Foundation shows that homelessness in Minnesota is climbing again steeply.

The non-profit's Wilder Research arm found 9,452 homeless adults, youth, and children in shelters, transitional housing, and on the streets, up from 7,751 in 2006.

The results are troubling, but not surprising, given the deep economic recession of the past few years, said study director Greg Owen.

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So Duluth resident Dawn Bloom looks up one day and there's a big moose in her yard, accessorized with a radio collar. Mike Schrage, a biologist for the Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa tells the Duluth News Tribune that No. 4073 was collared northeast of Finland, Minn., in February 2008.

No one's sure why the big beastie hunkered down in Duluth, but it's a great excuse to rewind the old "Northern Exposure" intro: