Sports
Vikings win the big one; modern transportation loses
To the surprise of few, a new Vikings stadium won the billion-dollar showdown with a proposed light rail transit line that I previewed a few weeks back. Legislators facing loud, purple-clad lobbyists in an election year opted to raise $348 million from expanded gambling to match $477 million from the Wilf family and $150 million from Minneapolis taxpayers for a new pigskin palace on the site of the Metrodome.MORE »
Looking at girls in sports as Title IX marks 40 years in Minnesota and the United States
Minnesota was eighth among all U.S. states in girls’ high school athletic participation in 2010-11, according to the most recent data reported by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHSA).MORE »
Sabotage by politics
It is a sad day for democracy and for Longfellow.
Under pressure from vested interests, our mayor and city council abandoned whatever integrity they had and voted for public funding of a football stadium.
They chose to transfer sales taxes created for convention center maintenance to the pockets of the Vikings and local developers.MORE »
The stadium that ate the legislative session
Stop, don't go away! I know you're sick of stadium stuff, but my intent is not to continue the stadium debate, really. This is about the debate, not an engagement in it. You know how sick you are of stadium stuff? So is everybody else, and it's like it became the whole session. That's the point.MORE »
Governor signs stadium bill into law
Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf couldn’t stop smiling while standing in the Capitol Rotunda.
“This is a great day for Minnesota, a great day for the Vikings fans throughout the entire country,” he said moments after Gov. Mark Dayton signed a law that would help build a new home for the NFL team.MORE »
Gordon plans to stand his ground on stadium
The Minneapolis City Council will be the next public body to take up the Vikings Stadium issue. After Governor Mark Dayton signs the legislation, the city council will have 30 days to approve it. Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak told the Star Tribune he believes he has the seven votes needed to pass the measure.MORE »
Bachmann, Obama, and Vikings Oh My!
Bachmann is a Swiss Miss
In 2009 23% of the population did not believe Obama was a U.S. citizen. In 2011 Fox News poll, still a quarter of the population held this view with fully 40% thinking there is “cause to wonder” about his citizenship. Birthers remain unconvinced that Obama is an American citizen. Yet th ere is no debate–Michele Bachmann is a Swiss citizen.MORE »
House passes stadium bill
After a dreadful 3-13 record on the field in 2011, the Minnesota Vikings received some good off-field news well before the 2012 team begins to practice.
The House voted 73-58 to support a $975 million stadium plan that would provide a new facility to house the team. Forty DFL members and 33 Republicans voted yes. Thirty-seven Republicans and 21 DFLers voted against the bill.MORE »
Title IX: Law that opened sports to millions of girls and women turns 40
Congress passed and then President Richard Nixon signed Title IX in 1972, a 37-word amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Now 40 years old, it wasn’t intended for this, but athletic participation among girls and women nationwide has greatly increased ever since: 294,015 in 1972 to 3 million in 2011.MORE »
Stadium vote planned for Monday in House
A decision is about to be rendered on an issue that has hung over the legislative session like a purple cloud.
House Speaker Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove) announced that a vote on a stadium to house the Minnesota Vikings is scheduled to occur Monday.MORE »
We're people-powered journalism! Click on story links (below) to see more story information, and then email editor@tcdailyplanet.net if you want to report.
• 
