The AP storyon today’s Senate vote on same sex marriage says: “A festive mood took hold among gay marriage supporters at the Capitol. Hundreds of proponents arrived hours before the vote. A choir sang from the steps, adorned with the hearts cut out of construction paper. Down the hill in downtown St. Paul, Mayor Chris Coleman ordered the Wabasha Street Bridge festooned in rainbow gay pride flags to mark the occasion, and temporarily renamed it the ‘Freedom to Marry Bridge.’ He also proclaimed this week as ‘Freedom to Marry Week’ in the capital city. … A more solemn display came from gay marriage opponents. Don Lee, of Eagan, placed a tombstone on the front lawn with the words ‘R.I.P. MARRIAGE 2013’ but said he fully expected the bill to pass. ‘The legislation being passed today is the end of marriage as we know it in Minnesota,’ Lee said. ‘It’s a transformation from a forward-looking sacrificial institution to one focused on adult desires. .... People don’t realize the damage they are doing. It’s a fight against biology.’ ” Against … biology?
For the Forum papers, Don Davis writes: “Gay Minnesotans and their supporters streamed into the Minnesota Capitol today expecting to witness history. They sang ‘America’ and ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ and celebrated, anticipating senators to approve gay marriage this afternoon. Handfuls of same-sex marriage opponents kneeled in prayer at various spots around the Capitol. … Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, said since his district is very opposed to gay marriage, he feels he must speak against it today. ‘The voters of northwestern and west-central Minnesota made it very clear they do not support gay marriage,’ Ingebrigtsen said. In a newsletter he sent out last week, Ingebrigtsen urged voters in those areas to call their legislators and ask them to vote against the bill.”
House Speaker Paul Thissen was interviewed by Sean Sullivan of “The Fix,” the Washington Post’s blog:
“FIX: How has Minnesota gone from being a state that last year proposed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage to a state that is now on the verge of legalizing it?
PT: I think because the strategy the folks adopted to defeat the amendment, which is really a strategy of going out and talking to people and engaging people in conversations about what this really means, made a huge difference in how people thought about it and talked about. It personalized the issue for people … and it was one of the examples where it really did change people’s hearts and minds.”
David Bailey’s piece for Reuters says:“Senator Scott Dibble, the bill's architect, has said the stronger-than-expected vote from representatives was very encouraging and urged same-sex marriage supporters to continue active lobbying for the bill right up to Monday's vote. Hundreds of supporters and opponents of the proposal to legalize same-sex marriage demonstrated at the Capitol on Thursday. A similar atmosphere was expected on Monday. The vote on Thursday was a sharp reversal for Minnesota's legislature. Two years ago, Republicans controlled both chambers and bypassed the governor to put forward a ballot measure that would have made the state's current ban on gay marriage part of the state constitution. … Republican Senator Warren Limmer, a sponsor of the proposed amendment two years ago, has said the legislation will change how businesses work, clergy speak from the pulpit and school curriculums are shaped.‘Prior to the marriage amendment (vote) in November, many people were warning that this day would come, Limmer said in an interview last week.”
MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reports on GOP Sen. David Hann not being in step with his Eden Prairie constituents:“Among the many members of the Minnesota Legislature whose support or opposition to same-sex marriage puts them at odds with most voters in their districts is Republican Senate Minority Leader David Hann. Last fall, fewer than 4 in 10 voters in Hann's Eden Prairie district cast ballots to define marriage in the state Constitution. Still, Hann intends to vote against the bill. … Statewide, the amendment failed last year with about 51 percent voting no and 48 percent voting yes. But in some legislative districts there was more support or opposition than in the state as a whole. That means there will likely be political repercussions for lawmakers who vote against the will of their districts on same-sex marriage.”
PiPress tech guy Julio Ojeda-Zapata has a piece on a local company installing GPS signs around the state: “The U.S. National Grid has existed for decades, but its use on rescue signs is relatively new. In Lake County, the so-called Minnesota Marker system has been in use only since summer 2011. The signs, designed by St. Paul mapping experts, could soon spread across the country to save the lost and injured in wilderness areas and to serve as geographical markers in disaster areas. … The signs are the handiwork of SharedGeo, a St. Paul-based nonprofit that works with the state of Minnesota and others on mapping-related projects. Through trial and error, it has come up with signs in a variety of sizes and with designs that likely would pass muster with local, state and federal officials just about anywhere. It is experimenting with different sign materials, such as metal and plastic. What SharedGeo is doing has national implications.”
I heard about cocaine on dollar bills … but Minnesota lakes?Dan Gunderson of MPR reports: “A new study of Minnesota lakes finds more evidence that water across the state contains a wide range of chemicals. The largest study of its kind ever done in Minnesota shows chemicals from household products, prescription drugs and illegal drugs are common in Minnesota lakes. … New findings include one of the most commonly prescribed anti-depressants Amitriptyline in nearly 30 percent of lakes. The veterinary antibiotic Carbadox was found in about 30 percent of lakes. Carbadox can only be used in hog production in the U.S. It's been banned in Canada and Europe because it can cause cancer. And the illegal drug cocaine showed up in one third of the lakes sampled. The MPCA didn't plan to test for cocaine, but it was included in a test that looked for a variety of chemicals. It's not unusual to find cocaine in water leaving sewage treatment plants. European scientists have found cocaine in air samples.”
You gotta walk the talk … .Curtis Gilbert of MPR says: “The city of St. Paul is looking for new ways to increase the number of people with disabilities who get jobs on city contracts after years of failing to meet its goals in that area. Contractors responding to a 2012 inquiry from St. Paul reported less than 1 percent of their employees identified themselves as disabled. The city's goal was 10 percent, a target it first set in 2006. Until last year, St. Paul had no idea how far it had fallen short of its goal. The city did not collect data on how many people with disabilities worked for its contractors.”
Every time you think she's gone about as far as she could go … . David Badash on the blog, the New Civil Rights Movement, reports: “Rep. Michele Bachmann says it’s “no secret” the September 11, 2001 attacks and last year’s 9/11 attacks are God’s ‘hand of judgment,’ and warns her colleagues that the best and only thing we can do is pray and ‘humble’ ourselves before ‘an almighty God.’ … Bachmann made these remarks Wednesday evening at a Congressional prayer event … ‘It’s no secret that our nation may very well be experiencing the hand of judgment,’ Bachmann tells her colleagues. ‘It’s no secret that we all are concerned that our nation may be in a time of decline. If that is in fact so, what is the answer?’ the Minnesota Congresswoman asks, as she gesticulates repeatedly. ‘The answer is what we are doing here today: humbling ourselves before an almighty God, crying out to an almighty God, saying not of ourselves but you, would you save us oh God? We repent of our sins, we turn away from them, we seek you, we seek your ways.’ ” What happened to the days when God just turned such sinners into pillars of salt?