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Kelly Westlund to challenge Duffy in WI-7
Ashland, Wis., City Councilor Kelly Westlund will challenge U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI7) in the 2014 election. Westlund is in her first term as city councilor in this northern Wisconsin city where Duffy served as a county attorney prior to his election in the Tea Party wave of 2010. Duffy won his 2012 re-election bid…
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500 years is a very long time
The PolyMet EIS was released today. MPR noticed the thing I noticed, which is the large estimated cost of mitigating the proposed northern Minnesota mine into the future. They also noticed another number: 500 years. That’s how long some form of mitigation would be required on the mine site, even after the end of…
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Paging Dr. Strangelove? Nuclear code was “00000000”
From 1962 to ’82 the nuclear launch code at all U.S. missile silos (if they were password protected at all) was set at “00000000.” Military leaders openly defied orders to tighten missile launch safeguards, in part using the lax nuclear code. Full security improvements weren’t implemented until 2004 when a guy published an article explaining…
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In Minnesota, turkeys pay their sentence in full
With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, the odd American ritual endures in which various leaders “pardon” turkeys before the big meal on Thursday. President Obama will pardon two Minnesota turkeys this week in keeping with the old tradition. The farm that is providing these turkeys for the ceremonial pardon selected the three best behaved birds in…
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Anzelc bill would put $10 minimum wage on MN ballot
State Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) will introduce a bill in the 2014 legislative session that would pose a Minnesota constitutional amendment question to establish a $10 minimum wage permanently attached to the rate of inflation. The ballot question that would be posed to voters in the Anzelc bill is this: Shall the Minnesota Constitution…
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Gettysburg Address fueled immigrant hopes of freedom
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, delivered this day in 1863: Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation…
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The United States of North America?
The massive land tracts of the United States and Canada haven’t been attached to the same nation since before the Revolutionary War. Now one idea percolating in the think-o-sphere includes the eventual merger of these two very large North American nations — an aging superpower in the United States and a natural resources-rich social democracy…
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Range paper hits Otto over mining lease vote
The issue of nonferrous mining in northeastern Minnesota is a virtual minefield for politicians, especially those within Minnesota’s Democratic Farmer-Labor party, the political home to both pro-mining labor forces and anti-mining environmental forces. The DFL divide over mining is often played up to force political leaders into specific positions, or punish them if they don’t.…
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MN8 GOP challenger stakes out early message
Stewart Mills is the MN8 GOP challenger to U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) in next year’s election. He’s a political newcomer who comes from a family that’s run a chain of popular fleet supply stores in Minnesota for generations. Devin Henry interviewed Mills in MinnPost, providing a somewhat clearer picture of Mills’ message and views…
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Lake County DFL hits Nolan for mining support
Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) now faces criticism within his own party for supporting a pro-mining bill earlier this year. Last Friday, the Lake County DFL passed a resolution out of its central committee condemning Nolan’s vote for the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, or H.R. 761. The story appeared yesterday in the Lake County News Chronicle. Here’s…
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American Internet speeds: slower, more expensive
As this Mashable story citing a recent study shows, American internet speeds are slower and more expensive than in other countries. We pay more for an inferior internet product in the country that developed the internet. And this, of course, refers to people who live in major cities where there is more competition among high-speed…
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Nolan in the news for Obamacare roll-out criticisms
U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) is in the national news again today, calling for President Obama to fire someone over the bungled roll-out of the Obamacare website. There’s plenty of speculation on Obamacare to go around, though most agree that the federal exchange website was not ready for prime time and is the primary reason…
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Minnesota minimum wage debate amid labor changes
The debate over raising the Minnesota minimum wage comes north tonight with a community forum on the subject in Grand Rapids at 7 p.m. An statewide interfaith group is pushing an increase of the state’s minimum wage to $9.50. The current minimum wage in Minnesota is $6.15, well below the federal rate of $7.25 and essentially…
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In which Rob Farnsworth challenges Dayton to debate
Hibbing special education teacher Rob Farnsworth, a Republican candidate for Minnesota governor, has challenged Gov. Mark Dayton (DFL) to a one-on-one debate. One criticism of Farnsworth is that he opted to run for governor before running for local or state office. Yeah, he’s not doing much here to instill confidence that he’s ready for prime…
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Nolan barely out-raising challenger in MN-8
From Brian Bakst, Minnesota AP correspondent: #mn08 fundraising scorecard: Dem @USRepRickNolan has $261K banked compared to $234K for @StewartMillsMN, but Mills outraised Nolan in 3Q — Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) October 16, 2013 In other words, U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN-8) is running roughly even with his Republican challenger Stewart Mills in fundraising for the 2014…