OPINION | Minnesota gains from imported talent

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Patricia Tetteh and her husband Victor Lartey provide valuable services for people in the Rochester area and for patients at the Mayo Clinic. In doing so, they shatter myths about immigrants and refugees and show the American Dream is still alive in Minnesota.Originally from Ghana in West Africa, these Rochester area residents have come to Minnesota chasing opportunities. They moved to southern Minnesota from Tennessee when Patricia found opportunities at the huge IBM complex in Rochester.Six years ago, Tetteh opened Northgate Hair Salon at Rochester when she and other Rochester area women were commiserating over the lack of hair and skin products and services for black and mixed race residents. She now operates that business with her daughter Peace Tetteh.“We had a lot of people driving up to the Twin Cities because we couldn’t get what we needed here,” said Sherri Hyatte, a family friend and business advisor for Tenneh and Lartey who has worked with Olmsted County to help other immigrants and refugees get started in Rochester.At the beginning of this year, Victor Lartey opened a subsidiary business, Northgate Hair & Wigs. These hair products serve people across racial lines, he said, and have become especially important for people battling cancer and other health problems at Mayo Clinic hospitals.That is a serious service for people in the Rochester area and visitors to area hospitals. Continue Reading

Buy little, buy small

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The first snow of the season fell around us in Saint Paul, a wet gloppy snow that froze into a slick shield of ice.  The city pulled in tight around itself as driving became an ordeal, knuckles tight and eyes wide and everything as white as the world itself.  A week and a season defined by rush-rush and shopping started with a moment apart from the world made for hot cocoa.

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What is the “real” poverty rate?

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A single person, living alone, with earnings from employment totaling $10,000 falls below the United States poverty threshold ($10,890 for a one person household in 2011). The Census Bureau classifies that person as “in poverty.” But what if he or she receives government benefits, such as health care, with a value of $5,000 or more per year? Continue Reading

Wall Street train wreck slams farmers

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The fallout from the collapse of MF Global continues to reverberate around farm country. The firm’s demise is yet another painful case of how Wall Street’s recklessness is overwhelming under-resourced regulators and hurting people around the country. The response from Congress? Continue Reading

Print or die

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Europe has come to understand that what is at stake right now is not just the economies of a few member nations, but the future of European Union itself.  The cornerstone of that union is the Euro, the single currency that has made close cooperation even tighter.  But in order to save that currency, there is little that can be done short of the member nations drawing much closer toget Continue Reading

OPINION | Support the 99%

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The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations that have swept the world have brought important questions into focus. But probably the most important question raised is “Just how much control do we have over our own lives?” The one percent control our banks, our jobs and our government. But, even more important, around the Holiday season, we allow that one percent to control our retail spending. According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance: “Studies have found that locally owned stores generate much greater benefits for the local economy than national chains. Big-box retailers, particularly Wal-Mart, are depressing wages and benefits for retail employees. Continue Reading

Tax relief to be a ‘top-tier priority’

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House Taxes Committee Chairman Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston) unveiled components of his $80 million property tax relief bill, which he plans to introduce during the 2012 legislative session. Besides providing relief to both homeowners and those owning business property, it “begins the 20-year phase” out of the statewide general tax beginning in fiscal year 2013.“Our caucus is pushing this as the top-tier priority for the Legislature,” he said, expecting that the measures will help make Minnesota more business-friendly.“The cost of doing business in Minnesota is extremely high,” said Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie), the committee’s vice chairwoman. “This is a very good step in the right direction for businesses.”Over the next few weeks, truth-in-taxation property tax statements should be hitting mailboxes. While each locality differs, many homeowners and businesses, especially in Greater Minnesota, could see their property taxes increase because of the elimination of the market value homestead credit.Davids said his bill is not a direct response to this, but an enhancement to last year’s reforms.Homeowners who experience “abnormal increases” in their property taxes, would get relief, he said. Under his proposal, eligible homeowners who see their local property taxes rise by 12 percent or more in tax year 2012, could see their maximum refund increase from 60 percent to 90 percent.The business property tax package is directed toward small business to exclude the first $100,000 in the value of commercial/industrial property from statewide property tax. Continue Reading

Euro contrast

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This morning the Euro crisis moved on from the still unresolved Greek issue to Italy. There is nothing new here except that Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi said he would resign after an austerity package was passed and move the nation ahead into new elections.  How did that happen?

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Occupy occupies house

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A group of Occupy Minnesota protesters took up new positions at a Minneapolis home last night. This move signals a change in tactics for at least part of the group that has been demonstrating in the plaza between the Hennepin County Government Center and Minneapolis City Hall since early October.

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