By Andy Birkey 9/2/09
Some of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s comments in Denver this week — notably, that opponents of health care reform should “slit our wrists, be blood brothers” — generated plenty of attention in the media and blogosphere. But in just three weeks, she’ll have plenty of competition for those headlines. Speaking at the “How to Take Back America” conference later this month, she’ll be sharing the stage with a pastor who says conference attendees will be trained to “turn out the infidels”; a radio host who doubts President Obama is a U.S. citizen; and a columnist who opposes statehood for Puerto Rico because he says it’s a “Caribbean dogpatch.”
By Andy Birkey 9/2/09
Two teachers accusing of coordinated harassment of a student have been put on leave by the Anoka-Hennepin School District. The school district has come under heavy criticism for what community members see as lax disciplinary action against Diane Cleveland and Walter Filson, who are accused of repeatedly harassing one of their students because they thought he was gay.
By Paul Demko 9/1/09
Vain Mainstream just wanted to get to work. The 23-year-old Minneapolis resident was employed by Avalon Security on the opening day of the Republican National Convention last September. His assignment: to keep watch over a parking lot in downtown St. Paul and make sure that the thousands of protesters coursing through the streets of the city didn’t do any damage. Instead, he was swept up by police and detained in jail for three days. Now he’s among 27 plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed against police today.
By Andy Birkey 9/1/09
Rep. Betty McCollum’s town hall at Macalester College was largely civil, but it was not without tense moments and defensive tones. McCollum took heat from Democrats who said the party leadership is not doing enough to counter misinformation from the Republicans.
By Chris Steller 9/1/09
A battle royale within Minneapolis government escalated Friday when the park board’s lawyer, acting on behalf of a citizens group, filed a lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis. The suit asks a judge to force the city council to allow a referendum on the November ballot that if passed would give the park board new tax-levying autonomy.
By Ernest Luning 9/1/09
DENVER — In a speech markedly less moderate than her Thursday forum in Lake Elmo, Rep. Michele Bachmann conjured visceral images as she addressed donors to a Colorado-based “free market think tank” Monday. Saying Democrats are “reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom,” she called on those who oppose health care reform to “make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing.”
By Paul Demko 8/31/09
A year ago the Republican National Convention opened at the Xcel Energy Center. The St. Paul Police Department pledged that protesters and Republican delegates alike would be welcome on the city’s streets. The reality was that roughly 800 people were arrested, primarily in mass sweeps. The contentious four-day gathering continues to play out in the state’s courts through both criminal cases and civil lawsuits.
By Mary Kane 8/31/09
As bank-owned foreclosed properties pile up across the country, from abandoned houses in hard-hit neighborhoods to empty big box retail stores in failed strip malls, the fight over holding someone responsible for the brick and mortar mess left behind by the mortgage crisis continues to heat up.
By Paul Demko 8/27/09
The auditorium at Oak-Land Junior High School in Lake Elmo was nearly filled to capacity an hour before the main attraction was slated to appear. Several hundred additional folks gathered to watch the proceedings on a television screen in the school’s cafeteria. If by no other standard than attendance, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s first town hall meeting on health care reform was a smashing success.
By Chris Steller 8/27/09
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has vowed to co-sponsor a bill that would restrict the United States’ use of cluster bombs, rendering as many as half a billion stockpiled weapons off-limits. That’s according to activists who say the announcement — made at a meeting with her Wednesday, after months of pressure by Minnesota citizens and peace groups — came as a surprise.
By Andy Birkey 8/27/09
Women living in rural Minnesota face poor health outcomes according to a report released by Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota on Wednesday. A lack of health insurance and clinics, along with factors like poverty, geographic isolation and even Minnesota’s extreme winters all impact the ability of rural women to access health care. The organization says that as Congress debates health care reform, the needs of rural women must be addressed.
By Paul Demko 8/26/09
Exactly what criminal use might a street gang have for a wood chipper? And what about a stump grinder? Those were among the questions contemplated by legislators at a hearing Wednesday afternoon scrutinizing the beleaguered — and now defunct — Metro Gang Strike Force.
By Chris Steller 8/26/09
“The lantern is lit” is the cryptic message Sen. Ted Kennedy used to summon Sen. Amy Klobuchar to his tiny, memorabilia-bedecked U.S. Capitol office, where the liberal lion held a small salon of senators rapt with Irish yarns, Boston stories and tales from the campaign trail.
By Andy Birkey 8/25/09
Minneapolis pastor John Piper seems to have sprouted the idea that God sent a tornado to the Minneapolis Convention Center last Wednesday to express his displeasure that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was considering relaxing its teachings on LGBT issues. But his statement has blossomed among theologians and members of the religious right chiming in with their own answers to the question: Did God send the Minneapolis tornado because Lutherans were voting on gay issues?
By Paul Demko 8/25/09
Rosemary Williams is, technically, a squatter. On August 7, Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies showed up to evict her from a residence in the 3100 block of Clinton Avenue South. But within 10 minutes, by Williams’ own account, she was back in the home that she’s lived in for nearly three decades.
Rep. Michele Bachmann’s remarks to the Colorado-based Independence Institute on Monday generated plenty of interest because of her lurid imagery: She said Democrats are “reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom,” and that anti-reformists need to “make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers.” (Don’t miss where she claims Nancy Pelosi will break arms and backs of Democrats to get health care reform passed.)
Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan was briefed Wednesday on the ongoing investigation into the now defunct Metro Gang Strike Force. Apparently the news was not good. In a statement released afterwards Dolan acknowledged that seven Minneapolis cops are implicated in the probe. 
