And on the “sex video” assumed to be at the heart of the Maple Grove hockey team’s problems … the Strib's Mike Kaszuba and Dennis Brackin say:“At a news conference called Thursday to talk about how to move the team forward, school officials declined to give specifics on what led to the suspension of 13 players last week. When reporters asked Principal Sara Vernig about the purported existence of a sex video stemming from the incident, she said: ‘I can't answer that. It's part of the investigation.’ She later added, ‘I'll tell you, personally, it's been devastating and disappointing.’ Longtime head coach Gary Stefano called it ‘by far my worst experience'’ in 32 years as a coach. He said references to a purported video called ‘The Show’ had been ‘brought up.’ School officials stopped him from answering further, citing privacy laws.”
City Pages’ Aaron Rupar adds: “Officials still aren't disclosing exactly what the players did to get suspended, but last weekend, we reported that the scandal appears to involve a sex tape involving at least one player and a girl … . Asked directly about that report during yesterday's presser, Stefano and other officials didn't deny that a sex tape is at the heart of the scandal.”
The Forum papers pick up a note from the Insurance Federation of Minnesota saying: “The Insurance Federation of Minnesota (IFM) recently called on regulators, prosecutors and legislators to redouble their commitment to crack down on no-fault auto insurance fraud in the state. The crack-down came after new statistics showed Minnesota as the state with the nation’s highest rate of increased organized crime activity in insurance fraud. The new report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) indicated that in the last four years, the rate of organized crime involvement in auto insurance fraud was up 230 percent in Minnesota.”
Jessica Mador of MPR has a bit of local perspective on the Pentagon’s decision to allow women into combat:“More than 16 percent of the Minnesota National Guard is female. Sgt. Katie Warden, a military police officer from Cottage Grove, has been waiting for this announcement. Warden has served in the Guard for more than seven years. She said the changes allowing women to officially take on combat roles will mean more opportunities for her and other women in the military. … The change by the Pentagon means that front-line jobs that have traditionally been off-limits to women are now possible — including jobs in infantry, armor or field artillery units. As part of the pilot program, the Minnesota National Guard will assign qualified women to vacant jobs in traditionally male-only units.”
Essentially, Gov. Dayton told Wisconsin’s Scott Walker to butt out.MPR’s Tom Scheck writes: “Gov. Dayton had some harsh words for his neighbor, Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker. On Wednesday, Walker posted this to Twitter in reaction to Dayton's budget plan. ‘In '11, IL raised taxes on income by 66% & businesses by 46%. Now MN Gov is proposing a $2 bil tax increase. WI is Open for Business.’ On Thursday, Dayton was asked about Walker's comments after his speech to the Minnesota Newspaper Association. He said Walker didn't have much to brag about. ‘Gov. Walker's economy is faring far worse than Minnesota's over the last couple of years,’ Dayton said.‘I would suggest Gov. Walker focus on his problems, and we'll deal with bettering Minnesota.'"
This, of course, follows on news reported by Scott Bauer of the AP:"Wisconsin's budget picture brightened Thursday, with new estimates that show a surplus will grow to $484 million, giving Republicans and Gov. Scott Walker even more room to pursue their tax cutting agenda. The estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau was nearly $137 million better than one Walker's administration released in November. … While the bottom line for the current fiscal year that ends June 30 showed improvement, the report projected that tax collections through June 30, 2015, will actually be $259 million less than what Walker's administration predicted. The bulk of that, $219 million, is due primarily to the fact that Walker assumed in November that Congress would restore the estate tax, the Fiscal Bureau said in its report. That did not happen as part of the deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.”
Depending on your appetite for this sort of thing, you might want to adjust your plans to enjoy street life in St. Cloud this evening. David Unze of the St. Cloud Times says: “St. Cloud police are planning extra enforcement this weekend in the downtown area after learning about an event that could bring busloads of people from the Twin Cities. The department learned of an event called “St. Cloud: The Takeover,” which is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Friday at RumRunners Bar. The event is being advertised to people 18 and older and includes performances from several rap artists. The promoters are offering bus transportation to and from St. Cloud for those who want to attend the event. ‘If you’re coming to St. Cloud to engage in any criminal or uncivil behavior, you’re not welcome and you will be dealt with swiftly,’ Chief Blair Anderson said.” Dang. There goes all the fun.
The wait for high-speed rail will continue … During his visit Thursday with the Minnesota Newspaper Association, Gov. Dayton pretty well nixed any such spending. The AP story says:“Dayton noted that the proposed Northern Lights Express linking Duluth and the Twin Cities was not in his construction proposal last year. He also spoke of a proposed high-speed rail line linking Rochester and the Twin Cities that could bring patients quickly to Mayo Clinic. But while calling the high-speed rail proposals ‘good ideas,’ the Democratic governor says the state and the federal government don’t have the money right now.”
Talk about an assault on our precious constitutional freedoms … Curtis Gilbert of MPR reports: “Both Minneapolis and St. Paul are making big investments in their downtowns and hope to lure more residents to live there. But at the same time, the cities are taking steps to reduce the amount of parking available downtown. And that has alarmed some downtown residents. Dozens of angry people showed up at a community meeting on a cold weekday night recently after learning that the city of St. Paul is taking away their parking spaces. ‘It's a nightmare,’ said James Bower, who lives next to the downtown St. Paul Farmers Market. He is losing his spot because the city is condemning his condo's 55-space parking lot, saying it needs the land to build a new stadium for the minor league Saints baseball team.”