Primary Focus 2010: Senate District 67 Candidates #1

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The new August 10 date for most of Minnesota’s primary election may actually reduce turnout, coming as it does dead in the middle of a Minnesota summer – never a good time for politicking around here and holding voters’ attention. TTT’S ANDY DRISCOLL looks in on Senate District 67, heavy with contenders because of Senator Mee Moua’s rather sudden retirement on the last day of Session 2010. Nine DFLers are vying for the nomination August 10, a date which is itself discouraging for voters given Minnesota’s penchant for enjoying their short summers, free of politics, except for the incessant commercials keeping attention on the governor’s primary for the moment. TruthToTell and our parent production company, CivicMedia/MN, are committed generally to keeping your focus and ours on local issues and candidates. This year, as in other years, we intend to produce several pre-primary shows on elections that, while not invisible, remain less visible, even to their constituents because media outlets rarely, if ever, cover such races as Senate/House District primaries; the rare open judicial seat that, absent a governor’s appointment to fill the vacancy, finds a number of would-be successors to retiring Ramsey County District Court judge Monahan, or Sheriff and County Attorney races. Continue Reading

Let the stadium bidding wars commence

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A Vikings stadium bill that allows Minnesota cities to bid against each other to offer tax breaks and other incentives could be introduced at the Legislature as soon as Monday. 
Yes, there are still the small matters of a $1 billion state budget deficit to resolve, a General Assistance Medical Care fix that apparently doesn’t fix anything, whether $408 million in hypothetical federal health care funds can be counted on, and a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling on last year’s unallotment that could upset the whole budget applecart to deal with before the Legisature’s May 17 deadline. But heavy hitters in both houses of the Legislature and on both sides of the political aisle are finding enough time to line up behind a plan that would allow cities, or counties, to choose from a menu of local funding options to pay the cost of a $791 million, retractable-dome stadium, according to multiple media reports. In the Senate, Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, and Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, are putting the finishing touches on the proposal, which could offer Minneapolis the option of rebuilding a stadium on the current site of the Metrodome, or letting local governments set up a stadium commission that would put together its own funding package. Local funding options could include using taxes currently going to the Minneapolis Convention Center, a sports memorabilia tax, a lodging tax, rental car tax and more. In the House, Rep. Loren Solberg, DFL-Grand Rapids, head of the Ways and Means Committee, would carry the bill, which might meet Pawlenty’s requirement that no state tax dollars would be used. Continue Reading

Ready for this weekend’s Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour

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“I’ve gone to almost every Home Tour since it started. I always try to see the houses in North Minneapolis, because I want to show support,” Katie Sandstedt of Northeast Minneapolis said to her fellow homeowners. “My only regret this year is I won’t be able to see other houses because I’ll be holding my own house open. But I’m glad to do it because my designer has a small business and I’d like to promote her.” 
Sandstedt is one of the real people on the Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour who’ve remodeled their homes bit by bit, using ideas and contacts gleaned from past tours, and now are giving back by inspiring others. The tour is this coming weekend, Saturday, April 24, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, April 25, 1-5 p.m. The tour is free and self-guided. Continue Reading

Is this pork?

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There’s $45 million for the Central Corridor light rail project. And $300,000 for juvenile crime prevention on the north side of Minneapolis. And $200,000 for afterschool programs for Somali youth in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.They are among the $300 million in congressional earmarks being sought by Minnesota’s Democratic members of Congress in the House of Representatives.No House Republicans have put in for earmarks this year, calling them pork and wasteful spending. So if you’re in one of their districts, you won’t be getting your federal tax dollars back, unless a Democratic U.S. Senator helps you out.Since the Minnesota legislature is taking a little down time, I thought it was a good time to show you how to see the earmark requests made on Minnesota’s behalf this year. As U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., says in her earmark page, these requests were all submitted at the request of Minnesota constituents.On Congressman Keith Ellison’s earmarks page, each request includes an explanation for the item entitled “Legitimate use of taxpayer funds.”Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s earmarks page is organized by Congressional subcommittee.Some of the requests would bring federal tax dollars back to the members’ districts. Continue Reading

Asian-Pacific, African-American centers among Pawlenty bonding victims

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s signing Sunday of a $1 billion bonding bill came at a price — he cut $319 million in state construction projects from the bill to show his “commitment to fiscal discipline and an attempt to prioritize important state projects.”For Twin Cities projects included in the bill, the news was mixed. Large requests for the arts and culture, including money for the Ordway, Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall and the Minnesota and Como zoos survived.But other, smaller cultural projects included in the bill for items such as an Asian-Pacific Cultural Center in St. Paul and an African-American History Museum and Culture Center in Minneapolis were killed.Pawlenty vetoed the largest single item in the bill for the Twin Cities, a $43.5 million allocation to the Metropolitan Council to improve transit in the Twin Cities, saying that the Legislature left him no choice but to veto the entire item instead of unspecified projects contained within it that he didn’t like.Also cut out of the bill by Pawlenty’s line-item veto pen:* $13 million for Minneapolis Community and Technical College to renovate instructional and support space.* $10.6 million for library and student services renovations for Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie and Brooklyn Park.* $6.5 million for an addition to the Arden Hills MnDOT training center.* $5.3 million to renovate and equip a fine arts classroom and lab building at Anoka Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids.* $5 million for St. Paul to build and equip an Asian-Pacific Cultural Center.* $4 million for drainage and infrastructure on Minneapolis’ Granary Road.* $3 million for a regional fire training facility for Ramsey County in Maplewood.* $2 million for renovating the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, located next to the Walker Arts Center.* $1.1 million for St. Paul and Ramsey County to renovate the Phalen-Keller Regional Park.* $1 million for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to design an Olympic-class training center at the Theodore Wirth Regional Park.* $1 million for improvements at the Hoffman interlocking rail yard in St. Continue Reading

All T-Paw, all the time / Vampire pleads guilty / Schubert vs. solar / Recession-proof beer / more

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We’re trying out a new format – headlines here, individual articles when you click on individual headlines, or the entire blog on one page when you click on the News Day headline. We hope this will make it easier for you to comment — just click on a headline, read and comment. Let us know what you think of this format …T-Paw signing off – in 2010 He’s not running for governor, and he loves his wife … Vampire news of the day A guilty plea from “The Impaler” …Schubert vs. solar Minneapolis city spending … Continue Reading

Unemployment up to 8.9 percent / T-Paw starts the veto engine / World and national headlines

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Unemployment up again The unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent in April, as the economy shed another 539,000 jobs. Looking for the bright side – that’s the smallest number of jobs cut since October. But it’s pretty hard to see much of a bright side in the highest unemployment rate in more than 25 years. The Department of Labor also notes:About 2.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in April, 675,000 more than a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. Continue Reading