Why does Minnesota get bad policy?
NextMinnesota Three reasons, detailed herein, along with a road map for a better Minnesota.Minnesota is coming to the end of a biennial budget that stands as a monument to bad financial management.The...
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'30 Days of Biking' starts April 1
Next week heralds the beginning of another '30 Days of Biking,' a self-described 'community of joyful cyclists' in which riders pledge to ride their bikes — whether around the block, to work, or a...
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Grand Marais is home to Minnesota's longest-lived art colony
Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical SocietyBirney Quick painting scenic view, c. 1965Opened in 1947, the Grand Marais Art Colony has been the longest lived art colony in Minnesota. It began as an...
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Major (and complementary) shows at MIA, Walker
Two major art exhibitions opened late last week, and while they couldn’t be more different, they are also complementary. An observation shared with Minnesota Monthly’s editor Tim Gihring: “One hides...
View ArticleArrests darken hopes for Zimbabwe despite new constitution
When Zimbabweans voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new constitution earlier this month, they approved a document that envisioned a new future for their country, scaling up human rights and dialing...
View ArticleWhy has Moscow gone silent about Russian money in Cyprus?
A workable bailout program for troubled Cyprus banks has apparently been sealed and, despite much speculation last week, it has been accomplished with minimal Russian participation. Moscow has not only...
View ArticleNorth Korea targets Hawaii, Guam in latest threat
North Korea announced today in a blizzard of threats that it is ready to target US military bases in Guam and Hawaii as part of a full-alert military posture. The threats included other targets in the...
View ArticleOn Prop. 8, Supreme Court gives few hints of sweeping gay marriage ruling
A sharply divided US Supreme Court heard oral argument on Tuesday in a potentially historic case examining the constitutionality of a 2008 statewide ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in...
View ArticleSequestration is a big blow to an already ailing mental-health system
Despite recent alarms to give mental health a more serious approach and to mobilize more funding to address a broken mental-health system across the country and in Minnesota, sequestration is here....
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AG Lori Swanson to Sanford takeover of Fairview: Not so fast
She’s heard “it’s pretty hot and heavy.” So, according to Tony Kennedy and Jeremy Olson at the Strib:“Attorney General Lori Swanson said Tuesday she is investigating a proposed takeover of Fairview...
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Spam’s 'Sir-Can-A-Lot' social media campaign: Brilliant Oreo copycat or...
Communications Conversations On Sunday, David Phelps of the Star Tribune wrote a post about Hormel and its relatively new social media campaign built around the fictional, animated character Sir...
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Tap into the fun of making maple syrup
Spring weather — with warmer daytime temperatures and below-freezing nights — makes possible a venerable Minnesota tradition: the harvest of maple sap for making maple syrup. In this video, the DNR...
View ArticleAmerican books have become more 'emotional' than British ones, study finds
Do modern American authors, such as Jonathan Franzen and Jennifer Egan, use more emotional language than their British counterparts, such as Julian Barnes and Hilary Mantel?Apparently so, at least...
View ArticleMy encounters with unexpected signs of getting old
It seems that every step in the aging process happens before it could reasonably be expected. At 71, Uncle Al has seen it happen several times.The first one — a mail solicitation to join AARP —...
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Minneapolis mayoral candidate Jackie Cherryhomes Q-A: 'I bring hands-on...
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of interviews with six candidates for Minneapolis mayor. Only those who have filed with the Hennepin County Elections Department to form a campaign...
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Comcast increases Twin Cities Internet speeds for free
As families shift from a television in every room to a screen in every hand, Comcast is trying to keep up with the increasing demand for wireless download speeds — and on Tuesday, it began providing...
View ArticleSt. Cloud residents pepper Gov. Dayton with praise and concerns
About 200 people showed up in St. Cloud Tuesday night to hear Gov. Mark Dayton defend his planned budget that still includes new taxes on high earners but no longer expands the sales tax base with...
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Stronger economy helping Minnesota homeowners, but not renters or homeless
With emergency shelters swamped last fall, an advocate for the homeless suggested to me the lack of affordable housing in our community could get so bad the homeless might be left to pitch tents.I took...
View Article4th District Republicans elect executive committee and honor an activist
The 4th Congressional District committee of the Minnesota Republican Party elected James Carson as its new chair at its weekend convention in Vadnais Heights.The group also presented a new award, the...
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Supreme Court choice Lillehaug just the latest in long line of 'political'...
No one was quicker to judge the motives of politicians for making “political” appointments to the Minnesota Supreme Court than gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton.In 2010, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty named...
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