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Tearing down a flag, with scarcely a notice
Outside the Walls NOTE TO READER: This long post is an effort to convey information, and opinion, about a specific issue I wasn’t aware of, in a community other than my own. I was not seeking to find...
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Hospital C-section rates vary widely, U of M study finds
The rate of Caesarean-section deliveries varies widely among U.S. hospitals, according to a University of Minnesota study published Monday in the journal Health Affairs.Researchers at the U of M’s...
View ArticleOutlook for Minnesota's health exchange: It will come down to negotiations later
The stage is set for lawmakers’ final negotiations to shape Minnesota’s landmark health insurance exchange.The state House passed the exchange legislation Monday night along roughly party lines, teeing...
View ArticleLt. Gov. Prettner Solon attends Great Lakes Commission meeting in Washington...
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon is in Washington D.C. this week representing the state at a Great Lakes Commission meeting.The commission, made up of eight states (with two Canadian provinces...
View ArticleBill would use Legacy funds for 15 metro wildlife and conservation projects
A bill introduced in the Legislature would direct $6.4 million in Legacy Amendment funds to 15 metro area wildlife and conservation projects.Two freshmen, state Reps. Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden Valley)...
View ArticleFarewell party set for state GOP Chair Pat Shortridge
The man who many believe had the most thankless job in the state will have a proper sendoff.Pat Shortridge, chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota, leaves the position April 6. On Monday, March 18,...
View ArticleMinnesota gains 12,100 jobs in January
Minnesota officials say 12,100 jobs were added in the state during January.The monthly report from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development means the state has regained about 90...
View ArticleDow at a new all-time high: What additional incentives do job creators need?
Please forgive me if this is too Bolshie a question, but with the Dow reaching a new all-time high today, with the NYTimes today summarizing the incredible state and federal tax breaks that enable...
View ArticleMayo Clinic keeps an eye on its competitors as it grows
As the Mayo Clinic preps for a two-decade, $5 billion expansion — Rochester voters have already approved a half-cent sales-tax increase for the clinic and the Legislature is being asked for bonding...
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Mapping commute times in Minnesota
Despite the slow, snow-day commutes in the Twin Cities, the U.S. Census Bureau shows the average commute for the Twin Cities is only about 20 minutes. Search for your zip code to explore detailed...
View ArticleWhy the Wolves and Flip Saunders should not reunite
It is perhaps fitting for the currently chaotic state of the Minnesota Timberwolves that I have now scrapped two prior versions of this column to accommodate incoming and conflicting updates from...
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Report: Shattuck administrators were told about sex abuse
Shattuck-St. Mary's isn’t looking any better ... . Madeleine Baran of MPR writes, “It was the sound of teenage boys screaming that jolted teacher Seth Hedderick out of his apartment one night in a...
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The double lives of leading Twin Cities executives
Small-business owner Dave Wirig would blend in well at any business luncheon. Scott Kadrlik looks like you’d expect a managing partner in an accounting firm to look. Tabatha Erck’s appearance is...
View ArticleSt. Paul third-graders dig in to promote 'Adopt-a-Hydrant' program
A group of third-graders in St. Paul have their shoveling work cut out this week.Sure, we hope they were helping to clear the family driveways and sidewalks after the big snowstorm, but these seven St....
View ArticleFor next pope, cardinals want youngish, polyglot MBA-type
They troop each day into a hall just a few minutes’ walk from St. Peter’s Square, passing through a doorway flanked by Swiss Guards in black berets and their distinctive red, yellow, and blue striped...
View ArticleTense wait in Kenya as electronic vote tally fails
Counting of ballots from Kenya’s contentious presidential election was abandoned and restarted manually Wednesday after an expensive new electronic system failed. More than half of the estimated 10...
View ArticleFor a Korean peace, are sports stars our only hope?
SEOUL — Now that Dennis Rodman is home, how many Washington policymakers are bitter that they didn’t get to be the first American to meet Kim Jong-un?John Kerry is perhaps one, joining a chorus of...
View ArticleRussian activists stagger under Kremlin crackdown
MOSCOW, Russia — It’s no secret the protest movement here is floundering.Pumped up with enthusiasm and electrified with energy as recently as a year ago, Russia’s opposition has been hobbled by...
View ArticleThe great senior sell-off: Our next housing crisis?
For a couple of years now, I've been bugging my older son who lives in Chicago to buy a house already. After all, mortgage rates are at rock bottom (about 3 percent for a 30-year fixed), and house...
View ArticleHow more than $8 billion in US taxpayers' money went to waste in Iraq
During the course of the nine-year US presence in Iraq, at least $8 billion – or 13.3 percent of US reconstruction spending – was wasted, according to the final report released today by the Special...
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