Minnesota
updated
8:25 a.m.
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In today's St. Cloud Times editorial ("Our view: Thank you, Jaycees, for your years of service"): "A Nay to U.S. Rep Michele Bachmann for essentially stating on yet another TV show that it was an “urban myth” she questioned whether members of Congress should be investigated as to whether they are anti-American." I responsed as follows: StandintheDoor wrote: A Nay to U.S. Rep Michele Bachma...
Dump Michele Bachmann - 7:11 a.m.
Check out the anti-establishment clarion call from the Duluth News-Tribune editorial board today. They are calling for the ouster of four long serving members of the St. Louis County Board in the 2010 election for various transgressions, mostly related to sexual harassment cases and the resulting failure of the board to acknowledge any wrong-doing. ... though the claims of sexual harassme...
MinnesotaBrown - Fri 4:04 p.m. - 11 clicks 
I've been meaning to pass this along all week. Doug Grow of MinnPost profiled Mike Antonovich , the former Gophers hockey great and new mayor of the Iron Range town of Coleraine. Read it . The story seems to have several purposes. One, it shows how a hockey stardom is still great currency in Minnesota small towns. It also shows something that most state political observers miss. While the Ra...
MinnesotaBrown - Fri 4:04 p.m. - 7 clicks
Pi closed its doors for the last time this weekend, leaving Twin Cities queer women searching for a place to gather. The Minnesota Daily did a profile on the closing. The effort to save the bar resulted in over $130,000......
Eleventh Avenue South - Fri 12:27 p.m. - 16 clicks
MPR has a nice feature up that allows you to play election judge in the Franken-Coleman Senate recount. It shows 11 disputed ballots and asks for your ruling. Then you can compare your judgment with others. More than 100,000 had......
Across the Great Divide - Fri 10:50 a.m. - 14 clicks
by Dave Mindeman From Hastings, MN: Dakota County's recount is going fairly smoothly so far. Numbers aren't changing much and the counting is orderly and quiet. I spent about an hour watching the process. Just a couple of quick observations. I would guess that each county takes it lead from the head election officials. In Dakota County, it would seem that the prevailing attitude fostered by...
mnpACT! - Thu 4:29 a.m. - 31 clicks
In the comments thread to a previous article, two alert Dump Bachmann readers nearly had a fit when they realized that the Minneapolis Star Tribune had printed embarrassing lies by Representative Michele Bachmann--without the usual Strib spin! DB reader Erick wrote: Holy Crap! The Strib actually did a story on Bachmann's comments without doing any damage control. (...and he sent us the web lin...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Wed 10:22 p.m. - 17 clicks
Business North ran a great story by Beth Bily about the political trends emerging in Duluth and the Iron Range after the 2008 election. Check it out ....
MinnesotaBrown - Wed 1:44 p.m. - 17 clicks
Just days after calling a trans man a "mutilated lesbian," KTLK's conservative radio host Chris Baker blamed the media -- and by extension the transgender community -- for the murder of Latiesha Green in Syracuse, NY, a crime authorities are......
Eleventh Avenue South - Wed 12:49 a.m. - 15 clicks
by Dave Mindeman Looking at the next Minnesota legislative session is a daunting undertaking. Trying to figure out what to do with a looming budget deficit, that was essentially band-aided in 2008, has no good answers. A recent report on the Metro Transit budget shows that decreasing auto sales, which means less transit excise tax collections, will result in an $80 to $90 million deficit in t...
mnpACT! - Tue 1:48 p.m. - 20 clicks
I hope they didn't print t-shirts yet. Cliffs Natural Resources (formerly Cleveland Cliffs) is no longer merging with Appalachian coal giant Alpha Natural Resources even though Cliffs changed its name to match theirs. Awkward. The Duluth News Tribune has the full story . It appears that this another example of the economy influencing the long range planning of the companies in the mining...
MinnesotaBrown - Tue 12:01 p.m. - 14 clicks
Saturday's rallies against Prop 8 seem to have been a success. In Duluth: "Speaking out were more than one hundred protestors from all walks of life: young and old, students and professionals, and gay and straight." Northland News Center.......
Eleventh Avenue South - Tue 12:01 p.m. - 13 clicks
This Mesabi Daily News story from yesterday explores the legislative strategy of environmental groups opposed to the PolyMet mining project on the East Range. The MDN also writes about the legislative strategy of pro-development groups, but usually in the form of drippingly-ironic editorials. Is drippingly a word? Anyway, there will be a legislative smackdown over sulfide mining this wi...
MinnesotaBrown - Tue 4:48 a.m. - 9 clicks
This commentary of mine appeared on Friday in the St. Paul Legal Ledger's Capitol Report. I’ve just returned from western Colorado, where one manifestation of the quest for domestic energy independence is inescapable. Oil and gas rigs line the interstate.......
Across the Great Divide - Mon 11:41 p.m. - 9 clicks
Former House speaker and longtime former State Rep. Irv Anderson (DFL-International Falls) died Monday morning at age 85. This short breaking story comes from the Mesabi Daily News and will be updated for the morning edition . There will be many obituaries recorded across the state on Tuesday that will show a fuller picture of the man's work, but it should be noted that at the time of his ...
MinnesotaBrown - Mon 5:49 p.m. - 11 clicks
Check out this interesting feature from today's Duluth News Tribune profiling people who choose to live at the poverty line in northern Minnesota. Anecdotally, I can say there are LOTS of people like this up here, often living below the radar. The fact that you can do this is a testament to the greatness of northern Minnesota and the Iron Range and the reason why people still live here af...
MinnesotaBrown - Mon 5:07 p.m. - 14 clicks
KTLK radio host Chris Baker went on a homophobic and transphobic tirade this weekend. Baker is a darling among conservative and Republican talk radio listeners. Here's what he said, via MnIndy: The day before protests nationally and locally against Proposition......
Eleventh Avenue South - Mon 11:01 a.m. - 16 clicks
Prince, the slightly irrelevant 1980s Minneapolis pop star, says God killed gays back in biblical times. And seems to think it was a good idea. From the New Yorker: "So here’s how it is: you’ve got the Republicans, and basically......
Eleventh Avenue South - Mon 11:01 a.m. - 15 clicks
Last week I had a conversation with State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) shortly after he announced his candidacy for governor. Rep. Thissen has been a friend to this blog, occasionally offering insightful comments on health care reform (his specialty area). I first talked to Thissen when he brought his health and human services committee to the Iron Range for hearings. Our conversation...
MinnesotaBrown - Sun 11:22 p.m. - 16 clicks
This letter to the Star Tribune from a election judge gets closer to gist of the senate vote recount than all the rehashing of various charges being thrown around in the rest of the paper. [Emphasis mine.]Kudos to Jeff Davis......
Across the Great Divide - Sun 9:20 p.m. - 40 clicks
Dammit. On the same day the Hibbing Daily Tribune runs my column about hitting a deer with my Ford Focus station wagon, the Duluth News Tribune runs Janna Goerdt's column about hitting a moose with her Subaru. Not only does she get the bigger, rarer and much more literary dead animal on which to pontificate, she drives a better car. (All wheel drive standard on all models). I've been s...
MinnesotaBrown - Sun 1:40 p.m. - 12 clicks
by Dave Mindeman I was a little worried that the entertainment level for the next Minnesota legislative session was in danger of being greatly diminished. After all, Marty Seifert was being challenged for House Minority Leader. Thank heavens, he will be back in that capacity. I have grown fond of the cute little quips and digs from our fearless "loyal" opposition leader. His comedic...
mnpACT! - Sun 6:40 a.m. - 21 clicks
Dear Fritz Knaak: You said voters should reject any attempt by the Franken campaign to use the courts to determine the outcome of the Minnesota Senatorial election. I assume this meant you have no plans to file any lawsuits if......
Across the Great Divide - Sat 7:49 p.m. - 23 clicks
by Ross Rowley There havent been many follow-up stories in the local media, print or broadcast, on what happened outside the Xcel Center during the Republican National Convention (RNC) since the show ended September 5. Thats why Tom Lydens exclusive story Audio Tapes Reveal How Police Lost Control During RNCon FOX 9 News caught my eye. The story centers on the Labor Day march where, ac...
mnpACT! - Nov 14 - 19 clicks
You may have noticed less political content at MinnesotaBrown lately. I've been focusing on my book and resulting book promotion lately, much of which is apolitical. Also I'm trying to detox after the busy election season. The ongoing U.S. Senate recount in Minnesota is to a decompressing political junkie what Black Velvet whiskey is to a recovering alcoholic. Nothing good can come of it. I ha...
MinnesotaBrown - Nov 14 - 19 clicks
The Book Arts Fest is at Minnesota Center for Book Arts this weekend (Saturday, 10am to 5pm and Sunday, noon to 4pm). One exhibiting artist is Jody Williams, whose whimsical miniatures are on this page. Other members of the Twin......
Across the Great Divide - Nov 14 - 12 clicks
by Dave Mindeman Just when you think there aren't any more angles for Norm to work.... then you find this -- Josh Marshall is amazing: Talking Points Memo A good catch by The Huffington Post yesterday, in response to the news that Norm Coleman is dropping out of the race for chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to focus on the Minnesota recount -- and is throwing his ...
mnpACT! - Nov 14 - 20 clicks
Doug Grow has an article at MinnPost about the Tinklenberg campaign's $$$ surplus. Grow also throws in some speculation about Bachmann's plans when the 6th CD is redistricted or eliminated. Karl Bremer responds in the comments: Bachmann's new $1.27 million manor on the 18th hole of Stoneridge Golf Course is in West Lakeland Township, not Woodbury, so the mailing address is actually Stillwate...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Nov 14 - 18 clicks
Karl Bremer: Has Michele Bachmann been bought off with gay Pepsi money? Among the biggest donors to Michele Bachmann’s campaign is the Bernick family of St. Cloud, owners of The Bernick Companies, one of the state’s largest Pepsi Cola distributors. Charles Bernick, CEO, dumped a last-minute $1,000 into Bachmann’s coffers on November 1. That was in addition to the $4,600 Bernick gave to Bachman...
Dump Michele Bachmann - Nov 14 - 20 clicks
