Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/paul-schmelzer/page/5/)
If you’re like me, you don’t need images of bloated bodies and rooftop refugees to be reminded of the devastation left behind after Hurricane Katrina five years ago. Continue Reading
Reactions are coming in about the executive order Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed today directing state agencies to refuse “discretionary participation” in the federal health care reform law signed by President Obama this spring. While the press release on the order (which used the term “Obamacare” four times) came not from Pawlenty’s PAC or campaign but the governor’s office, early reactions — from local and national Democrats, plus TIME magazine — chalk the move up to Pawlenty’s presidential ambitions.
Just a few days earlier, Gov. Pawlenty said no to $850,000 in federal funds for teen pregnancy prevention through sex education – but yes to $505,743 in federal funding for abstinence-only sex ed with a requirement for a $379,307 Minnesota match. And after saying no to state agency participation in federal health care programs, Pawlenty said he will probably say yes and apply for Medicare funding – though he’s still on the fence (see sidebar). On Twitter, state Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said Pawlenty is “flirting with the extreme right” by signing the order, which she says hampers “needed reforms” and will be “costing MN jobs.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee issued a statement with a serious point — followed by its own jokey translation of the order. Continue Reading
Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner’s campaign will have bathroom ads at the Minnesota State Fair, according to a press release issued Wednesday afternoon. Trying to strike a “positive,” light-hearted” tone, the site-specific ads attempt some light potty humor. One, presumably to be mounted above a mensroom urinal: “Too far right. Too far left. Not good in here. Continue Reading
On July 15, Leon Shambroom — the son of photographer Paul Shambroom and independent curator and writer Joan Rothfuss (formerly of the Walker Art Center) — was trapped in a house fire in South Minneapolis and was overcome by smoke inhalation. Continue Reading
After chronicling Nike copping Christian Marclay’s concept and AT&T borrowing Jeanne-Claude and Christo’s style, here’s another one from the ripoff files. It’s every big as egregious, although closer to home. Continue Reading
We’re at war — on two fronts — yet visible public awareness of the fact seems increasingly scarce. Continue Reading
Following the example of artists like Paul “Moose” Curtis and Brazil’s Alexandre Orion, Durban, South Africa-based artist Martin Pace and fellow art school grads have been doing “reverse graffiti Continue Reading
ArtInfo is reporting that Walker Art Center curator Peter Eleey is leaving the Minneapolis contemporary art museum to head back to New York. Continue Reading
