HEADLINES
Public employment in Minnesota falls below national average
by Jeff Van Wychen, Minnesota 2020
If further proof is needed that Minnesota is not a “big government” state, the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual report on public employment has provided it. Both total state and local government employment per capita and public payroll as a percent of personal income in Minnesota have fallen below the national average.
Welcome to the metablog!
by Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet
Welcome to the Daily Planet’s new multi-writer, multimedia arts blog! This blog, called Arts Orbit, is designed to do for the Twin Cities’ artcentric blogosphere what the Daily Planet as a whole does for the community press: combine original contributions from citizen journalists with highlights from many different sources. Arts Orbit will be updated more frequently than most current Daily Planet blogs, and not every entry will be featured on our front page or in our daily newsletter—so bookmark the Arts Orbit page and check back often to keep up on the latest news.
Green roof for City Hall
by Rachel Dykoski, TC Daily Planet
On June 12, the City of Minneapolis and RSP Architects saw their vision come to fruition: A rooftop garden at 350 S. 5th Street received its finishing touches from the crew with Minnesota Native Landscapes. On what could be called the ‘mezzanine’ level of City Hall –just up the stairs from the rotunda, an interior roof has been spruced up to abate heat, use storm water and provide a soothing, pastoral scene in the midst of this concrete jungle.
(10 seconds x 100 films) + beer
by Mark Weaver, TC Daily Planet
In recent years, the possibility of recording anything, anytime, cheaply, and conveniently has led to the capturing of countless everyday moments. Chris Pennington—high school teacher by day, artist and rogue filmmaker by night—amassed a sizable collection of ten-second snippets using the video feature on a new digital camera and began wondering if others had similar gems to share. Thus was born the tradition of the Ten-Second Film Festival, the fourth annual iteration of which will take place this July 4 at the Soap Factory.
INSIDE THE DAILY PLANET
Opening: Black Orchid will christen revitalized Parkway Theater
by Jennifer Holder, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
One year ago, Joe Senqyr Minjares, a playwright, theater lover, and owner of Pepito’s Restaurant, bought his neighborhood theater at 48th and Chicago in Minneapolis — The Parkway Theater. His delight over the purchase is equaled today by the upcoming debut of the theater’s first live stage production.
Long arm of urban renewal creates another parking lot
By Chris Steller, Minnesota Independent
Fifty years after federal urban renewal programs began converting older blocks of Minneapolis in and around downtown into seas of surface parking, the job of transforming going businesses into parking lots continues — and once again it’s being done in the name of urban revival. On Tuesday, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners considers whether to expand the city’s Holmes Urban Renewal project area at 721 Second St. SE so that the former home of Frank Plumbing Sales Company can be flattened for parking space.
Sexy Spring: continuing sex education for the young, the old and the kinky
by Andy Birkey, Minnesota Independent
Annual conference is open to anyone who wants to know more about sex, even geek-chasers
NEW IN VOICES
Bachmann’s oil claims are totally disingenuous
by Myles Spicer, Special to the TC Daily Planet
Michele Bachmann’s assertions that opening offshore drilling would “push gas prices back to $2.00 per gallon” in the Star Trib article on June 17, are totally disingenuous, misleading, and highly inaccurate. And now she has been joined in similar claims by President Bush and John McCain.
NEW IN BLOGS
Like Prometheus’s liver, I regenerate
by Phillip Andrew Bennett Low, TC Daily Planet
…Then I get an e-mail from the Twin Cities Daily Planet, asking me if I’d like them to host my theater blogging this year. I say yes, and after a few more shots of whiskey than may be strictly proper, I find myself here.
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