According to a new poll, T-Paw wouldn’t do Mitt Romney much good in Minnesota. Says Bill Salisbury at the PiPress: “President Barack Obama leads Romney by a hefty 54 percent to 39 percent in Minnesota, the Public Policy Polling survey found. It showed that putting [Tim] Pawlenty on the Republican ticket would help him a little bit in the ex-governor's home state, bringing Obama's margin down to 52 percent-41 percent. Pawlenty's approval rating shows why he doesn't drive the numbers more: Only 37 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of him, while 52 percent view him unfavorably. By contrast, however, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann would actually cost Romney 6 percentage points if he picked her, stretching Obama's lead to 56 percent-35 percent. Just 33 percent of voters approve of Bachmann's performance, with 60 percent having a negative opinion.”
The Supreme Court is going to move quickly on the Voter ID question. Rachel Stassen-Berger of the Strib reports: “The court has ordered oral arguments for July 17, an expedited schedule that would allow it to order changes to the ballot question before the November election. Opponents have asked the court to strike the ballot question, which would require voters to obtain government-approved photo identification before voting. They say that as worded, the amendment gives short shrift to broader changes the amendment would make. In its scheduling order, the high court has also asked the state for a deadline by which a decision is needed 'in order to modify the ballot, if necessary, before the November' election. Opponents to the amendment asked the court for action last week."
It’s because they don’t trust Mark Ritchie, you see. Doug Belden at the PiPress writes: “A group supporting an amendment to the state's constitution requiring voters to present a photo ID at the polls says it will seek to intervene in a lawsuit on the issue before the Minnesota Supreme Court. Jeff Davis, president of Minnesota Majority, said the group plans to file a motion Friday ... to intervene because it lacks confidence that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie will vigorously defend the proposed amendment against a lawsuit seeking to keep it off the November ballot. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit May 30, arguing the ballot question is misleading. ... ‘Essentially, we feel the need to have somebody that is going to be in place to actually argue in favor of keeping the issue on the ballot,’ said Davis at a press conference Thursday afternoon. Ritchie ‘has already clearly stated his intention to try to defeat the initiative,’ Davis said. ‘We just think it puts him in a clearly conflicted role.’ ” Would Mr. Ritchie like to offer a characterization of the Minnesota Majority?
Why don’t we check the voting qualifications of these two guys? The AP reports: “Beltrami County sheriff's officials say two men have been arrested in a cross-burning incident. Authorities say the Bemidji men, ages 19 and 20, were arrested on suspicion of making terroristic threats and use of an incendiary device. On May 25th, the homeowner called the sheriff's office and said there was a burning 8-foot cross propped up against a tree in her yard. She put out the fire with a garden hose. A deputy said there was a racist message and material on the cross. The Bemidji Pioneer reports the woman is white and her two children are of mixed race.”
There’s a lot of the heavy stuff moving around in Duluth-Superior. Mark Stodghill of the Duluth News Tribune writes: “Northeastern Minnesota law enforcement has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of heroin being sold in the Twin Ports area, and on Wednesday ... the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crime Task Force did something about it. Twenty-two people were taken into custody pending formal charges expected to be filed Thursday ... in State District Court in Duluth. ‘Operation Brownstone’ — named after brown powder heroin, the type most seen in the Twin Ports — was a concentrated effort by the task force; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; and Duluth police to combat the increase in heroin trafficking and abuse. All of the arrests were in Duluth, except for one in Cloquet.” Sorry, I shouldn’t have dragged Superior into that.
$12,000 is the number the U of M puts on educating one undergrad for one year. The MPR story, by Alex Friedrich, says: “The university's most expensive school is the Carlson School of Management. It spends more than $16,000 a year per student. Officials say that's because faculty pay must be competitive with the private sector.
The least expensive college is Science and Engineering, which spends less than $11,000 annually per student. Among campuses, the university spends the most at Morris, which has a low ratio of students to instructors making it more expensive, said Lincoln Kallsen, director of financial research for the university. ‘They are providing a very high-quality liberal arts education, much the same as a Carleton or a Macalester,’ Kallsen said.”
It was a simple mistake … says the fiancée of the guy who appears to have, uh, misled “America’s Got Talent” about his war injuries. Says Steve Karnowski of the AP: “An “America's Got Talent” contestant scrutinized for claims about being injured in Afghanistan made a mistake when he gave the show a photograph of another soldier and passed it off as himself, the man's fiancée said Thursday. The NBC series this week and WFAA-TV of Dallas last month used the picture with segments on Timothy Michael Poe, a former Minnesota Army National Guard member who said he suffered a broken back and brain injury in a grenade attack in Afghanistan in 2009. The Guard says military records don't substantiate his claims. The caption of the original picture on the official military website Defense.gov shows Staff Sgt. Norman Bone serving in Afghanistan in 2006. Poe has declined multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press this week. But his fiancée, Carrie Morris, said Thursday that Poe accidentally submitted the photo to NBC and the station because he was hurrying and didn't take the time to look at which picture he was sending. She said he probably thought it was the right picture when he sent it to ‘America's Got Talent’ because he already had sent it to WFAA.” Right. I often accidentally send people pictures of Tom Wolfe, telling them its me.
That Banned in Coon Rapids rosary story isn’t going away. Maria Elena Baca and Kristian Hernandez of the Strib report: “Coon Rapids Police Chief Brad Wise said the school was ‘in a tough spot. If something bad had happened to that boy [wearing a rosary in support of his ailing grandmother] and the school had knowledge that he was wearing something they knew could be viewed as a gang symbol, that would be a problem for the district. They were in a no-win situation in this, and they had to make a judgment call. There will be those who disagree with it.’ Chuck Samuelson is one. The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said he wondered whether any kid in Minnesota had been attacked by Latino gangs for wearing a rosary. Or, he wondered, was the rule a reaction to something that happened once, somewhere else? Wise said he doesn't know of a problem with Latino gangs at Coon Rapids High School, but that a problem might not be obvious. [District spokeswoman Mary] Olson also said she was unaware of such a problem in the district. Longtime Twin Cities youth worker Sarah Klouda has worked for a decade with police and youths who identify with gangs. She said that she only recently heard of rosaries being used by gangs, but that she's never heard of anyone being harmed because of one.” So does this qualify as “an excess of caution”?
Every Minnesota Democrat in the U.S. House voted along with GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen to cancel out the tax on medical devices that the state’s large device manufacturers want to stop. Kevin Diaz of the Strib says: “[T]he House voted Thursday to repeal a pending tax on medical devices, a top priority for Minnesota Republican Erik Paulsen and the state's $34 billion medical technology industry. The 270-to-146 tally included 37 pro-repeal Democrats, among them all four Democrats in the Minnesota House delegation. But the result fell 20 votes short of what would be needed to override a threatened White House veto. The bill still faces long odds in the Senate, where leaders in the Democratic majority see it as an election-year attack on Obama's signature health care law. With a Supreme Court ruling on the health care law looming later this month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is considered unlikely to put Paulsen's bill to a vote, although a Reid spokesman said after the House vote that ‘nothing has been decided.’ ”
The Supreme Court is going to move quickly on the Voter ID question. Rachel Stassen-Berger of the Strib reports: “The court has ordered oral arguments for July 17, an expedited schedule that would allow it to order changes to the ballot question before the November election. Opponents have asked the court to strike the ballot question, which would require voters to obtain government-approved photo identification before voting. They say that as worded, the amendment gives short shrift to broader changes the amendment would make. In its scheduling order, the high court has also asked the state for a deadline by which a decision is needed 'in order to modify the ballot, if necessary, before the November' election. Opponents to the amendment asked the court for action last week."
It’s because they don’t trust Mark Ritchie, you see. Doug Belden at the PiPress writes: “A group supporting an amendment to the state's constitution requiring voters to present a photo ID at the polls says it will seek to intervene in a lawsuit on the issue before the Minnesota Supreme Court. Jeff Davis, president of Minnesota Majority, said the group plans to file a motion Friday ... to intervene because it lacks confidence that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie will vigorously defend the proposed amendment against a lawsuit seeking to keep it off the November ballot. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit May 30, arguing the ballot question is misleading. ... ‘Essentially, we feel the need to have somebody that is going to be in place to actually argue in favor of keeping the issue on the ballot,’ said Davis at a press conference Thursday afternoon. Ritchie ‘has already clearly stated his intention to try to defeat the initiative,’ Davis said. ‘We just think it puts him in a clearly conflicted role.’ ” Would Mr. Ritchie like to offer a characterization of the Minnesota Majority?
Why don’t we check the voting qualifications of these two guys? The AP reports: “Beltrami County sheriff's officials say two men have been arrested in a cross-burning incident. Authorities say the Bemidji men, ages 19 and 20, were arrested on suspicion of making terroristic threats and use of an incendiary device. On May 25th, the homeowner called the sheriff's office and said there was a burning 8-foot cross propped up against a tree in her yard. She put out the fire with a garden hose. A deputy said there was a racist message and material on the cross. The Bemidji Pioneer reports the woman is white and her two children are of mixed race.”
There’s a lot of the heavy stuff moving around in Duluth-Superior. Mark Stodghill of the Duluth News Tribune writes: “Northeastern Minnesota law enforcement has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of heroin being sold in the Twin Ports area, and on Wednesday ... the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crime Task Force did something about it. Twenty-two people were taken into custody pending formal charges expected to be filed Thursday ... in State District Court in Duluth. ‘Operation Brownstone’ — named after brown powder heroin, the type most seen in the Twin Ports — was a concentrated effort by the task force; the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; and Duluth police to combat the increase in heroin trafficking and abuse. All of the arrests were in Duluth, except for one in Cloquet.” Sorry, I shouldn’t have dragged Superior into that.
$12,000 is the number the U of M puts on educating one undergrad for one year. The MPR story, by Alex Friedrich, says: “The university's most expensive school is the Carlson School of Management. It spends more than $16,000 a year per student. Officials say that's because faculty pay must be competitive with the private sector.
The least expensive college is Science and Engineering, which spends less than $11,000 annually per student. Among campuses, the university spends the most at Morris, which has a low ratio of students to instructors making it more expensive, said Lincoln Kallsen, director of financial research for the university. ‘They are providing a very high-quality liberal arts education, much the same as a Carleton or a Macalester,’ Kallsen said.”
It was a simple mistake … says the fiancée of the guy who appears to have, uh, misled “America’s Got Talent” about his war injuries. Says Steve Karnowski of the AP: “An “America's Got Talent” contestant scrutinized for claims about being injured in Afghanistan made a mistake when he gave the show a photograph of another soldier and passed it off as himself, the man's fiancée said Thursday. The NBC series this week and WFAA-TV of Dallas last month used the picture with segments on Timothy Michael Poe, a former Minnesota Army National Guard member who said he suffered a broken back and brain injury in a grenade attack in Afghanistan in 2009. The Guard says military records don't substantiate his claims. The caption of the original picture on the official military website Defense.gov shows Staff Sgt. Norman Bone serving in Afghanistan in 2006. Poe has declined multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press this week. But his fiancée, Carrie Morris, said Thursday that Poe accidentally submitted the photo to NBC and the station because he was hurrying and didn't take the time to look at which picture he was sending. She said he probably thought it was the right picture when he sent it to ‘America's Got Talent’ because he already had sent it to WFAA.” Right. I often accidentally send people pictures of Tom Wolfe, telling them its me.
That Banned in Coon Rapids rosary story isn’t going away. Maria Elena Baca and Kristian Hernandez of the Strib report: “Coon Rapids Police Chief Brad Wise said the school was ‘in a tough spot. If something bad had happened to that boy [wearing a rosary in support of his ailing grandmother] and the school had knowledge that he was wearing something they knew could be viewed as a gang symbol, that would be a problem for the district. They were in a no-win situation in this, and they had to make a judgment call. There will be those who disagree with it.’ Chuck Samuelson is one. The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said he wondered whether any kid in Minnesota had been attacked by Latino gangs for wearing a rosary. Or, he wondered, was the rule a reaction to something that happened once, somewhere else? Wise said he doesn't know of a problem with Latino gangs at Coon Rapids High School, but that a problem might not be obvious. [District spokeswoman Mary] Olson also said she was unaware of such a problem in the district. Longtime Twin Cities youth worker Sarah Klouda has worked for a decade with police and youths who identify with gangs. She said that she only recently heard of rosaries being used by gangs, but that she's never heard of anyone being harmed because of one.” So does this qualify as “an excess of caution”?
Every Minnesota Democrat in the U.S. House voted along with GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen to cancel out the tax on medical devices that the state’s large device manufacturers want to stop. Kevin Diaz of the Strib says: “[T]he House voted Thursday to repeal a pending tax on medical devices, a top priority for Minnesota Republican Erik Paulsen and the state's $34 billion medical technology industry. The 270-to-146 tally included 37 pro-repeal Democrats, among them all four Democrats in the Minnesota House delegation. But the result fell 20 votes short of what would be needed to override a threatened White House veto. The bill still faces long odds in the Senate, where leaders in the Democratic majority see it as an election-year attack on Obama's signature health care law. With a Supreme Court ruling on the health care law looming later this month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is considered unlikely to put Paulsen's bill to a vote, although a Reid spokesman said after the House vote that ‘nothing has been decided.’ ”