Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/michael-mcintee/page/4/)
President Barack Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, unveils sweeping proposals for curbing gun violence. President Obama pressed Congress to pass universal background checks and bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones used in the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
The public will be heard before the jet noise gets any louder around the Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport.
Representative Michele Bachmann held her first debate since she quit running for President. Her opponent for Congress in next week’s election is Democrat Jim Graves. The debate was held Tuesday afternoon in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Behind in the polls, Congressman Chip Cravaack had his final debate Wednesday with Democrat Rick Nolan, in the race for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District seat.
Minnesota students are learning about history, not by reading a book, but by writing one. Over the past several years, seven middle schoolers have interviewed people who knew Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila, whose lives were cut short in a plane crash 10 years ago this week.
Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has become an outspoken opponent of Minnesota’s proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. He’s invited several supporters of the amendment to debate, but so far no takers. The debate will go on anyway Friday at 5pm with Kluwe debating an empty chair if no one shows up to defend the amendment.Click here to watch the video and participate in our live blog at the same time. Continue Reading
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman held a joint news conference to discuss concerns over the costs to their cities and changes to elections administration resulting from an amendment which would significantly restrict the voting rights of eligible Minnesota voters.City officials are opposed to the unfunded mandate state legislators want to impose on residents of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and concerned about the extent to which the counties will have to overhaul their elections systems.Press release from “Our Vote Our Future” on Mayors’ news conference:Saint Paul, MN – On Monday morning, Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak came together at the State Capitol to oppose an amendment on the November ballot which would restrict the voting rights of eligible Minnesotans. The two mayors said they are alarmed at both the costs and the extent to which elections systems in their respective municipalities will have to be overhauled should the amendment pass in November.“This amendment is nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It seeks to lure Minnesotans into voting for something that will cost local governments millions and make it harder for our residents to have their voice heard at the ballot box,” said Coleman. Continue Reading
Minnesota’s Republican Party may have used the same illegal method to fund its 2011 redistricting fight as it used to fund the Minnesota 2010 Gubernatorial recount, but this time it may have also violated a Minnesota law that prohibits corporate contributions to political parties.Last week the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board fined former Minnesota Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton $3,000 for using a non-profit company to hide donations intended to help the party pay legal bills for the recount. Common Cause of Minnesota says it will announce today that it is pursuing a felony criminal complaint against Sutton and the founders of the non-profit company “Count Them All Properly” (CTAP) that could result in a five-year jail term. But an email uncovered in that investigation could open a whole new case against the Minnesota Republican Party.Buried in hundreds of documents released from the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board is an email from then state Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton that seems to indicate the party would be setting up a non-profit corporation to cover its legal bills for the redistricting court fight. The email was dated January 19, 2011. Two days later Minnesotans for a Fair Redistricting filed with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office for non-profit status.“As to redistricting,” Sutton wrote in the email, “we will be creating a 501-c4 (which can take corporate donations and as such will be MUCH easer to raise money for than the recount fund). Continue Reading
From Mike McIntee/Timescape Productions: Unfortunately this was the highlight … or should I say hoglight of the fair.
Minneapolis resident Connie Gretsch was bracing to be evicted from her longtime Minneapolis home.“I had this plan that when they came to take me out of my house that I was going to chain myself to my washer and dryer,” said Gretsch. “And when they would take me away I’d ask them to put the load in the dryer for me.”Video by Bill Sorem, text by Mike McInteeGretsch then laughed at the thought. She could laugh now, because she had discovered the company trying to evict her had no right to do so. Pacifica didn’t own the mortgage on her home.Hennepin County property tax records show the company hadn’t owned the home since at least May 15 and may have sold the home as early as February (see timeline at right.) Yet lawyers for the company signed documents on June 14, nearly a month after title on the home had changed hands, swearing to the court that the company still owned the home.The gaffe, once discovered, may have led to the quick dismissal of eviction proceedings against Gretsch. But the case opens a whole host of questions about how foreclosure and eviction cases are handled as well as the incentives some companies have to ignore government rules and foreclose anyhow.Lenders slow to negotiate as homeowner racks up thousands in late feesGretsch bought her home about 17 years ago. Continue Reading