Speaking of “politically motivated” ...Luke Johnson at The Huffington Post tells us: “Credo Super PAC announced Thursday a campaign against its first target of the 2014 cycle, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). The San Francisco-based liberal group is not running television or radio ads. Instead, it is launching a field operation and opening an office in her district. The group said it hoped to spend at least $500,000 against Bachmann in its volunteer campaign. ‘What kind of a signal does it send that not only is Rep. Michele Bachmann in Congress, but she's on the House Intelligence Committee’? said Becky Bond, the group's president. ‘Bachmann's bigotry and bizarre political views don't represent Minnesota values. Bachmann has launched an anti-Muslim witch hunt, actually believes that gay marriage is the biggest problem facing the nation, and has even claimed that Obamacare kills people.’ ‘Bachmann won by a mere 4,000 votes in 2012, and is beatable in 2014. If our volunteers in Minnesota's 6th District can turn out enough voters, the Tea Party Caucus in Congress will be down yet one more bigoted conspiracy theorist,’ she added.” But are they going to stay in the 6th if she bails on re-election?
Raise your hand if you’ve missed them. Kevin Diaz of the Strib reports: “U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s long-dormant House Tea Party Caucus is revving up again today, with the Minnesota Republican scheduled to take part in a Capitol Hill reception co-hosted by TheTeaParty.net, her office confirmed. According to a report in Roll Call, about a dozen other representatives and senators are expected at the event, which signifies that the caucus intends to stay engaged in the new 113th Congress. The Tea Party Caucus has not been much in evidence since last year, while Bachmann was defending her House seat.”
He’d have a tough time explaining why he wouldn’t.Joseph Lindberg of the PiPress writes:“Macalester College students protesting the school's relationship with Wells Fargo Bank announced Thursday, April 25, that their group ‘Kick Wells Fargo Off Campus’ had arranged a meeting with the college's president. The meeting with President Brian Rosenberg is set for 1 p.m. Friday, according to student organizer Rebecca Hornstein. ‘We believe the administration plans to negotiate in good faith,’ Hornstein said.” And that would be the politic thing to say ...
Twenty-four recommendations ...Elizabeth Dunbar of MPR reports: “A group of representatives from industry, environmental groups and government agencies that worked for a year to come up with ways to reduce air pollution in Minnesota is announcing 24 recommendations to help the state avoid federal air pollution penalties. ... Mike Harley, executive director of the Environmental Initiative, said the challenge was finding ways to target smaller sources of pollution that can have large cumulative effects on air quality. ‘In the first two, three decades of doing air quality work, we hit the big sources, you know the big smokestacks that we can all spot as we drive around town,’ he said. ‘So now we're looking at a variety of much smaller sources. Think about small businesses and wood burning in neighborhoods and vehicles.’ ” Does anyone know if air pollution is another liberal hoax?
At MPR, Dan Kraker has a new story about the Great Lakes record-low water levels.“Lake Superior also is low — about a foot below its long-term average. But Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are even lower, nearly two feet below their averages. Their water levels have fallen for 15 years, the result of declining rainfall on the lakes, and increasing evaporation. That's expected to significantly affect the economy of the Great Lakes region because even one inch of water makes a big difference for huge ships like the [1000-foot] American Century. ‘On your thousand-foot ships, an inch of water is over 260 tons’, [Duluth Seaway Port Authority executive director Adolph] Ojard said. ‘So if you multiply that times the freight rate, then the fact that ship makes 45 trips a year, all of a sudden we see almost an entire cargo in that ship, one entire trip being consumed in the reduced draft.’ "
Al Franken is not impressed with E-Verify. An AP story says, “A provision in the Senate immigration bill would make it mandatory for businesses to use E-Verify, a database that's supposed to tell whether a potential hire is eligible to work in the U.S. But some Minnesota employers call the system unreliable. They have a sympathetic ear in Sen. Al Franken. The Minnesota Democrat said the system isn't ready for prime time. The requirement could be burdensome for small businesses, including farms that hire immigrant workers, he said.”
Oh, good lord ... . Kyle Potter of the AP writes:“Sherman Townsend spent 10 years in prison for a crime another man has since confessed to committing and the burglary conviction will likely stay on his record after a state board wouldn't issue a pardon Wednesday, April 24. The Minnesota Board of Pardons denied Townsend's request to have the crime removed, saying it couldn't pardon him because the panel lacks the power to exonerate someone. Townsend walked out of prison Oct. 2, 2007, after another man confessed to breaking into a Minneapolis house in 1997 with the intention of raping a woman who was inside. But because Townsend struck a deal with Hennepin County to be released immediately, his record doesn't reflect the innocence he has claimed since his arrest.”
Jon Bream of the Strib serves up a memorial profile of the late Tim Carr:“Carr, 57, died three weeks ago in Thailand, where he’d lived for the past decade working on a book, movie and, of course, music projects. According to a U.S. Embassy official, Thai police believe the cause of death was heart failure and there was no evidence of illegal drug use, as was previously reported. ... He championed edgy outsiders and somehow convinced arts institutions and corporate record labels that they could do the unlikely: stage a national post-punk music festival in a dirt-floor University of Minnesota fieldhouse — as the Walker did with 1979’s legendary M-80: A New-No-Now Wave Festival ... ‘Tim was four steps ahead of the curve, creating things that would become trends in his wake,’ said Chris Osgood, the Minneapolis rocker and now VP at McNally College of Music who hung with Carr everywhere from the Boundary Waters to the Bowery.” Have authorities backed off the murder scenario?
Police were out on the Mississippi looking for Kira Trevino. Says Nicole Norfleet in the Strib:“According to St. Paul Police Sgt. Paul Paulos, police as well as the water patrols of the Dakota County Sheriff’s office and the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office were out Thursday under the Wakota Bridge, which spans the river between South St. Paul and Newport. Law enforcement was following up on a lead relating to the Trevino case, Paulos said. He was unsure how long authorities would be out at the scene.”