Watch it Live: Governor Dayton’s State of the State Address
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Watch Governor Dayton’s State of the State Address tonight at 7pm. Right here on the Daily Planet. Continue Reading
Mainstream Media Misses the Point on Green Line Fare Enforcement
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You’re probably reading the various news stories out there regarding the Metro Transitstudy finding between 4.6 and 9 percent of Green Line Riders evade their fares in some way. Blue Line evasion rates are lower, between 2.6 and 3.6 percent. Go ahead and read the click-bait articles for a bit more information, and as always read the study itself to understand the methodology and conclusions.Articles like these bring out the region’s finest; excellent terms like “hoodlum,” “Shiny Toy Train,” “free-loaders,” and “bums” are de rigueur for any worthy internet commenter. But how does the Green Line stack up against other transportation systems?Well, for starters, we know fare evasion on proof-of-payment transit systems is extremely common. The report points out that 1994 fare evasion in the NYC Subway – a completely closed system with turnstiles and transit police – had fare evasion rates between 2.3 and 2.6 percent.Los Angeles had fare evasion rates of 6% before spending millions installing turnstyles with marginal results. Continue Reading
Dueling State of the City Events Reveal Rift Between Rhetoric and Reality of Inequality
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These days it’s hard to tell whether Minneapolis is united about being divided. Last week, two contrasting “state of the city” events — Mayor Betsy Hodges official speech at the American Swedish Institute, and a rally the next morning organized a North-side grassroots group — illustrated the ongoing tension between the rhetoric and reality of racial inequality in Minneapolis.Hodges’ speech, an annual tradition for mayors across the country, emphasized the themes that led her to an easy victory in the 2013 election. As Gino Terrell wrote on the Daily Planet earlier this week, Hodges stressed education, income inequality, and climate change, as part of her plans for the upcoming year. But the well-received speech comes only months after Hodges’ efforts to devote city resources to addressing inequality became surprisingly contentious. During budget debates at City Hall, Hodges’ plans to address racial inequality sparked a small controversy, particularly in parts of the city that are struggling the most with foreclosures and racial inequality. While debating the budget, Council Members Yang and Warsame and other Council Members voted to defund part of Mayor Hodges’ key proposals in favor of more “meat and potatoes” issues that impact neighborhoods like Jordan or Cedar-Riverside, home to many of the highest proportions of people of color in the city. Continue Reading
Davnie’s dual duties
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Rep. Jim Davnie just started his new job as executive director of SciMathMN, an advocacy organization that promotes science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.According to its website: “SciMathMN is Minnesota’s statewide coalition for standards-based systemic improvements in K-12 science and mathematics education. The coalition came into official existence in 1993 with its incorporation as an IRS-approved nonprofit educational entity and with significant annual funding from the State of Minnesota. As a coalition, SciMathMN represents a variety of organizations and individuals, and it has functioned much like the statewide systemic initiatives that flourished in other states under National Science Foundation support in the early to mid-1990s. SciMathMN is led by a board of directors whose composition reflects the basis of the coalition—education, business and policy representatives. In 2002 SciMathMN moved into a new phase, having lost its state funding and resulting staff support but newly energized by volunteer involvement and emerging strategic partnerships.”It seems that two of SciMathMN’s primary strategic objectives would be to lobby the State Board of Education and the legislature on improving the standards for teaching science and math and to lobby the legislature to restore funding so they could rehire staff.It’s perfectly legal for a state legislator to also be a lobbyist, because it’s the state legislature that writes the laws determining what’s legal. On Feb. Continue Reading
Court grants summary judgment for the defendants in Klayman v. City Pages et al
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Back in 2013, we began posting about the defamation lawsuit filed by conservative activist attorney Larry Klayman against then City Pages blogger Aaron Rupar, local cartoonist Ken Avidor and a host of others.Today, the defendants were granted a summary judgment and the case was closed. We embed the court order below and congratulate Ken Avidor and the rest of the defendants in having this attack on the freedom of the press to report on court proceedings dismissed.As the Pioneer Press first reported in Florida-based lawyer sues City Pages for defamation:A Florida lawyer has hit City Pages with a $1.4 million defamation lawsuit for a story last fall that said the lawyer inappropriately touched his children.Larry Klayman’s lawsuit, announced Monday, March 25, said City Pages sought to hurt the attorney in retaliation for Klayman’s representation of Bradlee Dean, the controversial anti-gay preacher and founder of an Annandale-based group You Can Run But You Cannot Hide.The City Pages story, which ran Sept. 28 last year, said an appeals court in Ohio had ordered Klayman to pay his ex-wife $325,000 in attorney’s fees, and that the order noted a lower court magistrate had heard evidence of sexual abuse from his children’s pediatrician, who reported it to children’s services, and from a social worker at that agency.The story said the social worker’s findings were changed to “unsubstantiated,” but the magistrate found that Klayman acted in a “grossly inappropriate manner” with one of his children, although his conduct may not have been sexual….The wags at Wonkette immediately trolled Klayman with Snipy’s post, In Which Wonkette Tries To Bait Larry Klayman Into Suing Us Also, Too, but to no avail.[See original court documents on the post at Bluestem Prairie: http://www.bluestemprairie.com/bluestemprairie/2015/04/court-grants-summary-judgment-for-the-defendants-in-klayman-v-city-pages-et-al.html] Continue Reading
Uber protests have precedent
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Uber, a ride-sharing business that has been in the Twin Cities since October 2012, is protesting a proposed bill that would require its drivers to have additional insurance coverage. To be exact, the bill would require online ride-hailing companies to cover their business’ vehicles with $1 million insurance policies. Current Uber policies do not cover accidents in which the other driver is uninsured, but its drivers are constantly at a high risk for traffic accidents — they’re driving in unknown areas while looking at their phones for directions. However, Mike White, the general manager of Uber, believes the bill would be both unfair and unreasonable, saying it may cost the state jobs. There is now an online petition against it, and many Uber drivers rallied outside the Capitol last Thursday. Officials on both sides are nearing a compromise, but it’s likely this back-and-forth will continue. Despite Uber’s protests, the bill, which is now out of contention in favor of a different measure, wasn’t unprecedented or out of reach. The required insurance policy mentioned in the Minnesota Legislature is almost identical to the policies that limousine and taxi companies pay. Furthermore, Utah passed a similar bill last week, and Uber announced that the policy was acceptable. Continue Reading
The real cost of just ‘one more stadium’
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The question, “Should I have just one more drink?” can be the difference between actually showing up to the sloppily made brunch plans from the night before and quivering in a bed wet with balmy sweat while clutching a fistful of aspirin.This mistake gets made once or twice in your life before you learn to shy away from the tempting words of “just one more.”However, after Wednesday’s announcement of a new Major League Soccer expansion, the city of Minneapolis currently faces its own “should I have just one more” debate. But instead of Grain Belt beer, Minneapolis needs to ask itself whether it needs “just one more stadium.”The MLS awarded Bill McGuire, the former UnitedHealth Group CEO and current owner of the Minnesota United FC, the opportunity to start a new MLS franchise under the stipulation that he commit to building a new outdoor stadium — which would be the fifth large-scale professional stadium in the Twin Cities area.Of all the cities in the United States that have five major professional sports teams, Minneapolis is one of the smallest. I’m a small guy, and consuming five drinks is a lot for me. So what does that say for the Twin Cities’ fifth professional stadium?McGuire estimates that a proposed 18,500-seat stadium would cost about $150 million to build, but he kept mum when asked whether he would seek public money for its construction. That’s a bargain of a price when you glance at the new Vikings stadium ($1 billion), but let’s not forget that we’re still paying off the debt for Target Field. Continue Reading
Videos: Lorna Landvik & John Marty
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Author Lorna Landvik reveals that her recent novel best to Best to Laugh borrows some from her own life in Hollywood. Minnesota’s most gifted humorist, like the Korean-American protagonist of her book, had been a stand-up comedy hopeful in L.A. who supported herself with a series of eclectic temp jobs and a residential complex injected with LaLa Land characters and urban legend. Landvik also tells of her real-life adventures on the 3,700 miles long Peace March for Nuclear Disarmament from L.A. to D.C. in 1986. Landvik’s quick, sharp and easy wit is a delight that is rarely seen on home flatscreens. I consider her Dem Vis appearance a satisfying stew of sly insight on being Minnesotan. State Senator John Marty, Minnesota’s leading progressive law maker, here makes a solid case to Democratic Visions host Tim O’Brien for SF 890 the “Worker Dignity Bill.” Marty (DFL, Roseville) and co-author Senator Chris Eaton (DFL, Brooklyn Center) proposed legislation would extend the phased-in minimum wage increase; increase the working family credit to exceed the federal earned income tax; provide increased child care assistance to all low-income workers and, among other actions, would reform MinnCare. SF 890 was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Human Services and Housing on February 16 where it awaits further action. The full version of the current Democratic Visions includes a short segment on the St. Olaf College dedication of its memorial to civil rights martyr James Reeb. Rev. Reeb, a 1950 graduate of the Northfield school, was murdered in Selma, Alabama fifty years ago. He and two other activist clergy had been beaten on the evening of the “Turnaround Tuesday” march led by Dr. Martin Luther King. This demonstration had concluded with prayer on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the highway to Montgomery, the Alabama State Capitol. Lorna Landvik on Dem Vis -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv7-quYbWXg John Marty on Dem Vis -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG_Gp8M90U0 Full Democratic Visions programhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAgWRNasNKo CABLE TV SCHEDULEEden Prairie, Richfield, Minnetonka, Edina and Hopkins Comcast Channel 15 – Saturdays 2:00 p.m.. Sundays 9 p.m., Mondays 10 p.m., Wednesdays 5:30 p.m., Bloomington – BCAT Channel 16 — Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.; Fridays at 9:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.Minneapolis – MTN Channel 16 — Sundays at 8:30 p.m., Mondays 3:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. Program is streamed at the MTN website during cablecasts.Champlin, Anoka,Ramsey, Andover – QCTV Channel 15. Click here for schedule. Democratic Visions is produced by Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Edina volunteers at the Bloomington Community Access TV studio. Continue Reading
Backers push for vote on driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants
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Maria Negreros says she risks breaking the law each day to drive her children to preschool.Jovita Morales told lawmakers that in August 2007 it took hours to reach her two children who had been inside a bus that fell along with the Interstate 35W bridge into the Mississippi River.Anna Serrano wants to see her parents — owners of a new restaurant — to be able to get behind the wheel legally and stop relying on others for rides.All testified Wednesday during an informational hearing of the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee packed with supporters lobbying for a vote on legislation that would make driver’s licenses available to the state’s thousands of undocumented immigrants.All testified Wednesday during an informational hearing of the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee packed with supporters lobbying for a vote on legislation that would make driver’s licenses available to the state’s thousands of undocumented immigrants.“I want my parents to drive safely to work without worrying about being pulled over,” said Serrano, an 18-year-old college student from Willmar who emigrated with her parents from Mexico as a small child.Sponsored by Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake), HF97 would eliminate the need for proof of lawful residency in the United States to obtain a driver’s license or state identification card, something the sixth-term lawmaker and a diverse coalition of supporters said would mean more insured drivers and safer Minnesota roads.No vote was taken on the bill, nor on identical legislation sponsored by Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Mpls), HF98. A pair of Senate committees have already approved a companion sponsored by Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-Mpls). SF224 now awaits action by the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.‘Bigger than a license’Immigrant rights advocates packed a State Office Building committee room for the afternoon hearing, as well as an overflow space where they listened to live audio. While it’s an issue typically fraught with politics, Hamilton told the committee that driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants is a good idea for a simple reason.“We would have an individual who would go through trainings, would receive a license, then purchase car insurance and drive on our roads,” he said.But following more than an hour of emotional testimony from a list of backers that included immigrants and the children of immigrants, supporters representing business interests and labor groups, police departments and the church, Hamilton acknowledged the issue of letting undocumented immigrants drive legally on the state’s roads is about more than that, too.“If you listen to the testimony closely, it’ll boil down to one thing,” he said. “The Declaration of Independence, and the moral belief that it is a right; that we’re born equal to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Continue Reading
House passes lower minimum wage for tipped employees
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Some waiters and other tipped workers could earn a wage lower than the state minimum, under a bill the House passed 78-55 late Monday.HF1027, sponsored by Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington), would set a minimum wage of $8 an hour for workers whose combined tips and wages come to $12 an hour or more during a one-week pay period.Lowering the wage would preserve waiter jobs at restaurants offering full table service, Garofalo said. “Right now, businesses that are doing table dining, we are providing a regulatory incentive for them to move to fast-casual.”[Watch the floor debate]The proposed lower-tier wage is a dollar less than the new $9 an hour minimum that goes into effect Aug. 1, 2015, as part of a law enacted last year stipulating a series of wage increases. Employees whose tips amount to less than $4 an hour during a work week would make the higher minimum wage. The bill would repeal a part of current statute that prohibits the counting of employee tips toward the minimum wage. The bill now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls) is the sponsor. Rep. Jason Metsa (DFL-Virginia) called the bill “wage theft” and said Republican backers of Garofalo’s minimum-wage bill were adopting Walmart’s “rollback” pricing policy.“Freezing wages for waiters and waitresses will not make our economy stronger,” said Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley), calling the bill “a penalty on people who earn tips for their hard work.”Rep. Abigail Whelan (R-Anoka), citing her own experience as a barista as well as the service-industry work experience of her mother and sister, said the bill would help struggling restaurants and “keep as many people employed as possible.” After misguided minimum-wage increases, Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R-Glencoe) said HF1027 is “a step back in the right direction.”The House adopted Garofalo’s delete-all amendment 77-56. Continue Reading