Earlier in the week, we posted a press release from the Franken campaign about its request that 27 uncounted absentee ballots that were originally accepted in Olmsted County should be opened and added to the tally.
In a separate ruling filed this morning, Winona District Judge Nancy
Bostrack deferred to the Minnesota Supreme Court's ruling for 27
disputed ballots in Olmsted County. Franken has sued Olmsted County
over 27 rejected absentee ballots he argued should be counted because
they were originally accepted.
Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said the Minnesota Supreme
Court's decision means the 50 ballots that were classified as
improperly rejected in Olmsted County must be reviewed by the county's
canvassing board and representatives from both campaigns to make sure
everyone agrees they were wrongly rejected. Ostrem said the county
expects to do the ballot review next week and will take a couple of
hours.
Superintendent Joseph E. Brown, Sr. wants to graduate “citizen
scholars” from the Grand Meadow Independent School District, young men
and women who know the value of citizenship and public service.
That’s why he invited politicos such as Congressman Tim Walz to speak to the Super Larks student body.
Walz, who represents the 1st District, is a former Mankato high
school teacher and coach, who also served in the Minnesota National
Guard.
Al Franken’s daughter visited Grand Meadow High School last fall to campaign for her father’s U.S. Senate bid.
“We’ve had Republicans here too,” Brown said. “People like state
Sen. Dick Day and state Rep. Randy Demmer. We try to be fair to both
parties whenever we can.”
Read the whole thing. It's a pretty interesting story.
An aside: a couple of recent stories about Walz's firm declaration of non-interest in a gubernatorial bid implied that the buzz about a possible run came only from the blogosphere. If one had too steady of a diet of blogs--and spent little time reading news in Southern Minnesota's dailies--that might seem the case.
Today's story in the Herald reminded of the impetus for our own question about the governor rumor in an as-yet unpublished interview with Congressman Walz. In Friday digest: Grand Meadow BBQ-ed Walz gubernatorial bid edition, we noted in November that the Austin version of the Post Bulletin had published a sampling of questions Grand Meadow students had asked their visiting Congressman.
One concerned the possibly of a gubernatorial bid (the article, "Students quiz Walz" is now in the subscription-only PB archives). Some supporters had asked Rep. Walz to consider a bid, we learned in the interview that we had later in the afternoon that Friday, and he would think about it; however, most of the session covered congressional policy. Last weekend, Walz ended speculation by calling supporters to let them know he'd be running for his congressional seat again, rather than the governor's mansion.
One thing Walz had mentioned to us was how surprised he was at the sophistication of the Grand Meadow students' knowledge of politics and policy making. This article provides the back story.
And there's also this bit for governor's race handicappers:
When Nov. 4’s historic results were known, the Grand Meadow
district’s American government teacher and head wrestling coach Bill
Simpkins imparted more knowledge upon his students.
Meanwhile, Brown, through his legislator wife Robin, invited Paul Thissen to visit the school district..
State Rep. Thissen, an attorney, was elected to the Minnesota House
in 2002 and is currently serving his third term representing District
63A. His fourth term begins next month.
Just one week after the Nov. 4 general election, the DFLer announced
he was running for Minnesota governor in 2010, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s
current term expires. . . .
. . .And what did Thissen think of his visit to Grand Meadow?
“I had a great time at Grand Meadow,” he said. “The knowledge and
sophistication of the students’ questions was really impressive.
We think those students should start a nonpartisan blog and help out the rest of the state.
Photo: Congressman Walz revisiting his former classroom in Mankato West High. (Photo from New York Times).
Since agriculture is a key component of the First's economy, we put together a compendium of Minnesota's ag-related groups' responses to President-elect Obama's selection of Tom Vilsack as USDA head.
Minnesota Farmers Union President Doug Peterson responds to the nomination here. Nuggets:
"As the former Governor of a neighboring state, Mr. Vilsack knows
the concerns of Midwest farmers," said Doug Peterson, Minnesota Farmers
Union President. "He understands the resources of the Midwest, and the
need to bridge our energy policy to the next generation of renewable
fuels."
National Farmers Union President Tom Buis said, "While rural America
faces many challenges, President-elect Obama has prioritized numerous
opportunities, including reducing our nation's dependence on foreign
oil by advancing the development of renewable energy. Not only will
this help our nation, it will help revitalize our rural communities.
Wind, solar, biofuels, geothermal, cellulosic, will all be produced in
rural America." . . .
“During his tenure as Iowa’s governor, one of the nation’s top
agriculture-producing states, Gov. Vilsack was an ardent supporter of
furthering the use of renewable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel and
wind, as well as an advocate for biotechnology. He has been a strong
proponent of international trade and expanding our export markets. His
understanding and experience with many of the pressing issues facing
agriculture today will serve him well in his new position.
President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack must quickly shift the agency’s focus toward stabilizing
volatile agriculture commodity prices, improving market competition,
supporting sustainable farming systems and encouraging the production
of healthier food, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy (IATP).
“As Iowa’s Governor, Vilsack has shown a fairly conventional
perspective on agriculture—particularly related to biotechnology and
the siting of factory farms—that seems to indicate a status quo
approach,” said IATP President Jim Harkness. “But these are
unconventional times, and with his charge to implement the national
vision for agriculture of President-elect Obama, he has an opportunity
to address the concerns of farmers—big and small, organic and
conventional—and consumers, as well as environmental challenges facing
the country.”
The number one challenge in agriculture is extreme price
volatility—the spikes and drops in farm gate and food prices causing
enormous problems for farmers, consumers and the environment. Farmers
could face a very difficult 2009 with commodity prices dropping, while
fertilizer, land and seed costs remain high.
Today's announcement that former Iowa Governor, Tom Vilsack, has been
selected as the new Secretary of Agriculture sent a chill through the
sustainable food and farming community who have been lobbying for a
champion in the new administration.
"Vilsack's nomination sends the message that dangerous, untested,
unlabeled genetically engineered crops will be the norm in the Obama
Administration," said Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of Organic
Consumers Association. "Our nation's future depends on crafting a
forward-thinking strategy to promote organic and sustainable food and
farming, and address the related crises of climate change, diminishing
energy supplies, deteriorating public health, and economic depression.” . . .
Read the rest at the OCA site. The group intends to mobilize against Vilsack's nomination through an as-yet-to-be-launched web site and online petition.
We have requested copies of statements from the Land Stewardship Project and League of Rural Voters, which we post and link to as they become available, as well those of other Minnesota ag-related groups.
Disclosure: We're a member of the Minnesota Farmers Union.
Since Collin Peterson chairs the House Agriculture Committee, we asked his staff for a statement about President elect Obama's nomination of former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack. This just in:
"I congratulate former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack on his nomination for
Secretary of Agriculture. Governor Vilsack is a strong advocate who
understands the changing landscape of our nation's rural economy. I
look forward to working with him and President-elect Obama in advancing
food, conservation and energy policies that are in the best interest of
American agriculture and the American people."
The economy is shedding jobs at an alarming rate; in the First District, the most recent bad news is the closing of the Northern Engraving plant in Spring Grove, population 1304 (2000 census), about 350 families in Minnesota's most southeastern county. Lay-off will be on Friday, February 13, according to an area television station.
Spring Grove, MN (KTTC-TV) -- Many
Spring Grove residents are suffering from a blow that came late last
week. The city's largest employer, Northern Engraving announced it is
closing the 209-employee plant in February.
As you can
imagine, employees are upset. Many of them have worked there for more
than 30 years. Steve Kemp, an employee and a Spring Grove City Council
member, says many thought their jobs would be safe when their plant
switched from predominately making car parts to appliances. When the
company closed down the Waukon, Iowa plant, it gave the employees the
option to move to the Minnesota plant.
It's also not
the greatest news for the city. Spring Grove mayor, Karen Folstad says
close to 50% of the plant's employees live in Spring Grove. . . .
We met Steve, a DFL activist and officer, at a public forum held just before the historic flooding that drenched Southeastern Minnesota in August 2007.
However, Steve Kemp, a Spring Grove City Council member and the
safety manager at Northern Engraving, does not see just gloom ahead.
"I don't have the attitude that the sky is falling," he said Sunday.
"I have the attitude that we're in a tough spot, but we'll work our way
out of it. And maybe we'll be better for it."
Northern Engraving plans to begin letting workers go on Feb. 13.
The plant has been busy:
Northern had diversified the plant beyond its automobile contracts. It
was keeping two shifts very busy -- even with overtime -- making
engraved name plates for household appliances.
so it sounds as if lack of work elsewhere in the company is helping to trigger this move.
Kemp noted that
the union contract signed this past April had many employee concessions
with the understanding that the company would keep the plant open.
Area lawmakers are scrambling to pull together state assistance and
resources in the wake of Northern Engraving's announcement that it will
begin closing its 208-worker plant early next year.
State Rep.-elect Greg Davids said he was planning to meet with city
leaders Wednesday to discuss possible tax incentives or other benefits
that could be offered to Northern Engraving to keep the plant open. If
the company can't be persuaded, city leaders will discuss economic
tools that could be used to attract a new business to the plant, Davids
said.
"We've just got to put everything on the table and see if we can
turn a negative into a positive," said Davids, a Republican from
Preston. . . .
. . .Meanwhile, state Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona, has been
coordinating with county officials about the possibility of a forum for
laid-off workers where they could find out about available resources,
such as job re-training, health care and fuel assistance.
"We want to make sure the laid-off workforce knows where they can
go; (so) they are not just dumped on the street in a snowbank," she
said. . . .
There are nearly 10.5 million Americans out of work, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of the end of November, the unemployment
rate was 6.7 percent, which is the highest it has been in 15 years.
Word that the Northern Engraving plant in Spring Grove, which employs
approximately 250 area residents, will be closing its doors in
February, demonstrates how the slumping economy affects us right here
in Southeast Minnesota.
As more and more people are getting laid off, they are turning to their
local food shelves for help. The Semcac Food Shelf in Caledonia is no
different.
According to Iyla Mulvenna, the number of households the local food
shelf is serving increased from 200 families in 2007 to over 250
families through November this year…and the number continues to
increase.
We'll see how things go for Spring Grove. While the National Engraving employees should be able to collect unemployment, those readers who want spread a bit of Christmas cheer to those in need can find out how on Semcac's website.
This is the second large lay-off to hit southeastern Minnesota within recent months; according to the PB, Ropes noted that 150 families were hit by lay-offs at TRW because of downturns in the nation's automotive industry.
WALZ ENCOURAGES SENIORS TO REVIEW THEIR MEDICARE DRUG COVERAGE
Seniors have until December 31st to enroll or change their Medicare Drug Plan to save money and improve coverage
Mankato, MN – Today, Congressman Tim Walz encouraged seniors to take advantage of the open enrollment period for Medicare’s Prescription Drug Coverage. The open enrollment period, which ends on December 31st, allows seniors to enroll in or change their prescription drug plan.
“Now is the time for seniors to carefully review the Medicare Part D plans that are available in Minnesota and make the best choice for their needs,” said Walz. “With a bleak economic outlook, Medicare Part D will be more critical than ever for our seniors, many of whom would not have access to prescription drug coverage without it. As I get ready to return to Washington shortly after the new year, I look forward to continuing to fight for lower drug prices for families in southern Minnesota.”
Seniors can call 1-800-MEDICARE or visit http://www.medicare.gov to compare costs and coverage of the various plans. Each year, prescription drug plans adjust their costs and what they cover, and open season is the only time of the year that seniors can enroll in a plan or change their plan.
Early in his first term, Congressman Walz sponsored and voted in favor of the Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Act (HR 4) which would have allowed the federal government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare Part D.
Vilsack is well-liked by both environmentalists and food industry
leaders and has written opinion articles in recent months about
agriculture policy, linking farming to energy independence and national
security.
Reached at his Iowa law office this afternoon, Vilsack declined to
confirm that he had been selected for the job. But a Democratic
official said he has been picked to lead the sprawling Department of
Agriculture, which develops and executes the nation's policies on
farming and food safety.
While some purists who want an immediate end to the production and subsidy f biofuels, GMO crops and conventional farming using agrichemicals may object to the selection of Vilsack, we think he's a good choice who understands Midwestern farming and rural economic development, especially in the renewable energy sector.
. . .reforming farm programs; especially making farm program payment limits
more effective, reducing subsidies to the nation's largest farms and
investing the savings in conservation, rural development, nutrition,
etc.
while favoring crucial livestock market reforms. We wholeheartedly agree with his policy ideas here. The CFRA article also discusses his support for biotech, troublesome to some activists, though not so much an area of concern for us. Go read the entire piece at CFRA for the details. Overall, we're very pleased with the president-elect's choice.
This should be a good fit for most Southern Minnesotans working in the agricultural sector, though the folks at Wonkette might still be a bit logo-phobic.
OLMSTED COUNTY FAILS TO COUNT 27 ACCEPTED ABSENTEE BALLOTS, FRANKEN ASKS DISTRICT COURT TO INTERVENE
Ballots Were Accepted, Mistakenly Left Uncounted - Hearing Scheduled For This Afternoon
The Franken campaign today asked an Olmsted County district court judge to order the county to count 27 absentee ballots accepted by elections officials
but mistakenly placed with rejected absentee ballots. These ballots are
not related to questions regarding the improper rejection of absentee
ballots.
A hearing on the matter is expected to take place this afternoon.
Communications Director Andy Barr:
"These ballots belong to Minnesotans who took the proper
steps to ensure their voices were heard and, in fact, the county
accepted the ballots. They remain uncounted only because of an
administrative error that can and should be fixed. We continue to
maintain that all lawful votes should be counted, and urge the Court to
enforce that principle today."
Our young friends at the Minnesota Progressive Project and MnPublius are deeply excited by the breaking news that El Tinklenberg's post-general fund raising report to the FEC lists nearly $500,000 in El's bank account. Why, someone even sent MnPublius a tip about this development.
We rather like this new-fangled intertube thingie, and think that it--along with rural electrification--may help enlighten bumpkins in every corner of greater Minnesota as we snooze in our rocking chairs next to our chimneys after a chilly morning gathering news in the snowy fields.
Photo: It's slow going to haul the news in with this rig.
Yesterday, online sources took note that Congressman Walz had decided to run for re-election to Congress rather than switch to the pursuit of the governor's mansion, as MnPublius and MinnPost first reported on Sunday.
Walz had never formed a committee to pursue the seat, but many DFLers had asked him to consider a run, he told us in an interview in November. Instead, he will run for Congress in 2010.
Our two favorite posts about the news come from opposite ends of the political spectrum. The Political Muse's observations at the end of his the daily romp through the blogosphere at Liberal in the Land of Conservative are worth a read.
. . .Tim Walz would be the most formidable candidate to have surfaced on
the MN DFL side. He is likable, has name recognition and unlike Mike
Hatch, he doesn't stick his foot in his mouth.
. . . I see no
other viable MN DFL candidate capable of defeating Tim Pawlenty.
Read the entire post at the Eagle's Nest.
That's a distinctly different take on Walz from Repya that what made it into the Mankato Free Press when Repya was campaigning for former Congressman Gil Gutknecht in 2006:
Gutknecht appeared around
noon before a small crowd outside Mankato Place. It was one stop on a
bus tour that would later take him to St. Peter, New Ulm and St. James.
With him was retired Army Lt. Col. Joe
Repya, who warned of dire consequences if the Democrats take control of
Congress. The 60-year-old veteran — who recently spent time in Iraq
during a voluntary return to active duty — said Democrats would “cut
and run,” leaving the country to terrorists.
“What is at stake is literally the survival of Western civilization,” Repya said.
Other reports of Walz's decision to remain in Congress:
The editors of the Owatonna People's Press have harsh words for Governor Pawlenty's cuts to local government aid. They lay out their case in LGA loss--the Stamp Act of 2008:
. . .In some ways, the proposed reduction of LGA is reminiscent of the Stamp
Act of 1765, where the Parliament of Great Britain imposed a tax on the
American colonies without the colonists’ consent, presumably to reduce
the national debt. In our case today, the tax has already been paid,
but the promised payback may not be coming. Conveniently, Gov. Pawlenty
was out of the country — sort of like King George — when the proposed
financial burden on the cities was announced. . . .
As the editors say, so much for Sam's Club Republicanism. Go read the whole thing at the OPP.
The 100th anniversary or 200th anniversary of the
Bill of Rights should be celebrated no more or no less than the 217th.
Every year the Bill of Rights remains firmly entrenched in our
democracy is reason to celebrate.
It's mornings like this that we're glad we paid attention in our civics and history classes in the St. Peter Public Schools. Unfortunately, not enough Americans have, writes editor Kris Langland at the Mountain Lake Observer/Butterfield Advocate in Flunking is nation's failure. Read her column, then head over to take the ISI's quiz. Thanks to some gifted teachers in high school and college, we did very well--without asking Mr. Google's help.
Image: The Pennsylvania Journal sassed back to the Crown with this cartoon in 1765, while OPP editors keep up the tradition hundred of years later by evoking the Stamp Act with regard to Pawlenty's LGA cuts. Thank the First Congress for addressing those rights that the constitutional convention could not secure and the states for ratifying them.
It's not on St. Paul's stimulus wish list, but the big kahuna
goal for a whole string of cities between St. Paul and Chicago is a
plan for high-speed rail — a plan that's been foundering for decades
but appears to have new life as a way to invest in infrastructure and
create economic growth.
Today, Mayor Chris Coleman and several mayors from southeastern
Minnesota will meet with U.S. Rep. Tim Walz in Rochester to strategize.
Coleman already has met with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who's on
board.
The St. Paul City Council is expected to vote Wednesday on a
resolution supporting an extra Amtrak line from here to Chicago. That
move is part of the plan to upgrade the tracks to handle faster trains.
The idea has been picking up steam even before Obama's election and the recent sharp downturn. The Winona Daily News reported in October:
After a decade of talk about high-speed passenger rail service between
Chicago and the Twin Cities-- via Tomah, Wis., La Crosse, and Winona--
it could become a reality in several years.
On Thursday,
President Bush signed legislation authorizing $13 billion over five
years for passenger rail service. That includes $3.4 billion to create
high-speed passenger rail corridors and other improvements.
High-speed rail service between Chicago and the Twin
Cities could begin within five years, U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn.,
said this week. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation
Committee, led House efforts to get the legislation passed.
In September, WCCO said that Rochester officials want the medical city to be part of the system. On Friday, Mark Sommerhauser reported about this week's meeting.
Update 3:50 p.m.: We called a source close to the congressman who confirmed that Tim Walz will not be running for governor. Hats off to MnPublius for breaking the accurate news.[end update]
Zack at MNPublius is reporting Rumors Swirl: Walz Has Decided Against Gov Run. We know who Zack's source and his wife are, and believe that this is
indeed a very credible couple in Rochester's activist community--and among the staunchest supporters of the First District representative.
Walz, a National Guard veteran with strong interest in military
international issues, said those interest and experiences were among
the reasons that staying in Congress was the right decision.
He also said that his personal style and skills seem best suited for the work of a congressman.
That concurs with what our source said off-the-record. [end update]
No doubt about it: Minnesota is being swept by a blizzard in the northwest and blustery winds everywhere else. Stay off the roads if you live in those areas where MNDOT is advising no travel and bundle up and drive appropriately everywhere else.
The Winona Daily News reports today on a different sort of turning blue in today's article, County turning blue: Voters picking more Democrats in state, national elections. Unlike Twin Cities papers which are attributing Congressman Walz's win to his personality, the WDN looks at the deliberate grassroots organizing by local progressives.
Mark Sommerhauser, who has emerged as a top-flight political reporter among the First's daily papers, writes:
Winona County Democrats devised a blueprint for victory in 2004 in the aftermath of a dispiriting defeat.
Local
DFL activists campaigned hard for Democrat John Kerry, only to watch
him fall to President Bush in the general election. The loss left DFL
members “in shock,” wondering what more they could possibly do to
influence local voters, county DFL chairwoman Anne Morse said.
But instead of shuttering their party office between
elections, as in previous years, local DFL members redoubled their
efforts in early 2005. They enlisted volunteers to staff at their West
Fifth Street office year-round and initiated more-aggressive
voter-outreach efforts, which Morse said paid off beginning with the
2006 election of U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Minn.
The
good news for local DFLers continued in 2008, when Walz, Barack Obama
and Al Franken carried Winona County. Those results continued a trend
of Winona County turning a darker shade of blue in the past 10 years,
according to an analysis by the Daily News and the University of
Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
A side note: one of the interesting things about the press in the First is the presence of lively daily papers--and increasingly more robest and frequent reporting online at venues like the Owatonna People's Press. Sadly, the newspaper industry in southern Minnestoa is also being buffeted by the sector-wide downturn afflicting papers everywhere.
We'd liked to note our appreciation for the work of another reporter, who unfortunately has been let go as a full-time staffer by the parent company of the Rochester Post Bulletin. Washington-based Ed Felker, a meticulous researcher with a gold-plated horse apple detector, will be missed for his probing articles and his hard-pressing questions in Congressman Walz's news conference calls.
Photo: Behind every elected face, there's flourishing grassroots in progressive southern Minnesota.
Congressman Tim Walz says, "Whether it's declining commodity prices for
our farmers, or rising food prices for our consumers, the impact of
food is always felt the hardest at first, so we want to make sure we
keep that stable. "
[Consultant Brad Larson] talked of multiple federal funding opportunities that are coming
up in the next few months related to authorizations in the coming
years. Albert Lea is in a good position to get those funds with 1st
District Congressman Tim Walz on the House Transportation Committee.
There’s also a possible federal infrastructure economic stimulus bill
that could be coming.
“This is a time we haven’t seen in Minnesota before and probably not a time you’re going to see again,” he said.
To move forward and apply for this funding, however, all the players
involved — including the city, the county, the commerical district, the
Chamber and the taxpayers — need to be at a consensus. A Congressman
won’t fight for funds if he thinks he’s going to get caught in a fight,
he said.
“What you have to do as a county and city is show them that you
support this and you have a clear idea of what you want to get done,”
Larson said.
Over at Vox Verax, Joe Mayer posts some Progressive Ponderings: Community Organizers, about award received by the progressive movement in Rochester. More here at the Post Bulletin in Progressive Movement wins leadership award.
The comments from conservatives posting at the PB are an object lesson
in why so many area residents are fleeing from their message.
Minnesota
West’s student parade entry, “Peach on Earth,” took first place in the
Small Business category of Luverne’s 2008 Winterfest
Lighted Parade Saturday. It also collected food and money for the Rock
County Emergency Food Shelf. Pictured are (front row from left)
Jessica Wipf, Anna VanOverschelde, Kimberly Xaisongkham, (back row)
Rebecca Potrament, Tricia Scholtes and Dylan Reisch. There were
16 entries in Saturday’s parade.
We're a little late with this, but these students also win BSP first annual Jared Stene award for the combination of humor and good citizenship.
The
former hospital at 305 East Luverne Street is now known as the Luverne
Education Center for Health Care Careers where, according to
Administrator Jeff Ernst, more than 100 students access classes every
day.
The Center, which opened in the fall of 2007, is a branch
of Minnesota West Community and Technical College, a member of the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Students take classes
either by traveling to the Center or by taking them online.
Ernst
said Minnesota West created two programs - radiology and surgical tech
- specifically for the Luverne site. "These programs didn't exist at
Minnesota West prior to this year." Three other programs, medical lab
technology, medical assistant and phlebotomy, were relocated to Luverne
to take advantage of the hospital setting.
. . .Course
offerings at the Luverne Education Center are not limited to medicine.
Courses ranging from business law to geography to English 101 are
provided for students seeking general education credits.
Ernst
said some of the students are taking advantage of the post-secondary
education option. PSEO is a state program for public high school
juniors and seniors that gives them an opportunity to complete certain
high school requirements by taking courses at participating colleges
and universities.
"Given the economy, this is a tremendous
opportunity for families to get a jump on the cost of college," Ernst
said. "The PSEO course catalog gives high school students a broader
variety of classes than what might be offered at the high school level."
He was at the Rural Energy Development Initiative forum Dec. 6 at
Hayfield, there to learn about commercial scale wind energy, wind
rights and development options, land leases and agreements.
And to ask questions.
Jim Hartson asks questions wherever he goes.
He was also at the 2008 Truth in Taxation hearing held by the Mower
County Board of Commissioners Dec. 4 to ask questions, and also to
offer opinions and observations.
And, to crack jokes. Hartson’s sense of humor sometimes is forgotten
by the ultra-serious demeanor he exhibits at public meetings.
He is, however, the silver-haired devil’s advocate on many issues and a silver-tongued devil of a spokesman for wind energy.
So much so that the Waltham farmer believes wind energy can reduce the spiraling costs of county government.
Hartson and his wife, Jane, live on a farm in the countryside near Waltham.
A personal computer is his best technological friend. Hartson scours
the Internet for information about the most natural renewable energy
source: wind.
He tracks his own wind energy project and others in Mower County.
Hartson’s is the first and still only farmer-owned cooperative wind
energy project in the southeast Minnesota region.
He tracks wind energy projects’ progress through a maze of approval
hoops and hurdles on the Midwest Independent Transmission System
Operator Web site, which monitors the bulk power transmission system.
He follows closely the emergence of Minnesota’s Community Based
Energy Development, which encourages the growth of locally-owned wind
energy projects such as his own.
Critics may say he’s “windy,” but there’s no disputing: Hartson knows wind energy and its potential impact in many areas. . . .
Read the rest at the Herald.
We were somewhat concerned when we first saw the headline for a Herald editorial, Track the ox and lamb with GPS, but were relieved when we read they meant those Christmas nativity scene figures that naughty people are prone to steal, rather than bovine bloggers and the sacrificial Republicans who declare against Walz in the First.
The news is not so good on the other end of the district where the Winona Daily News reports Northern Engraving to close Spring Grove plant because of downturns in the automotive industry:
Northern Engraving Corp. announced this morning it will close its
Spring Grove plant by spring because of the dramatic deterioration of
the U.S. automobile business in the past few months and the overall
economy.
More than 200 employees are working at the Spring Grove
plant, which makes nameplates for appliances and automobiles,
decorative appliance panels and interior trim for cars.
The Sparta-based company will move the Spring Grove
plant’s production to its plants in Sparta and West Salem, Executive
Vice President Ed Johnson said in an interview. That will mean some
employment increase at those plants, but it will be less than the
number of jobs being eliminated in Spring Grove, he said.
Northern Engraving also has a plant in Holmen and one in Great Britain.
Johnson
said layoffs at the Spring Grove plant probably will begin in mid- to
late February. Employees were notified Thursday that the plant will
close. . . .
The papers also reports that the CP Holiday train stops in Winona to help local food shelves. In Some people just don’t get it, the editors scold Governor Pawlenty for going on a trade mission in Israel and Senator Klobuchar, to a conference in Poland, when there is work to be done at home.
A Navy mom's letter tells of her son's First Christmas away from home and asks that people send him greetings. Come on: you know you want to, and she provides his address.
Elsewhere some interesting reading about the financial crisis. The GAO's report on the oversight of the TARP bank bailout is online here in pdf format. The Minneapolis Federal Reserve discusses the myth of the credit crisis here. And the New York Federal Reserve looks at the effect of the 2005 bankruptcy deform bill on the mortgage foreclosure crisis. David Sirota looks at the three precious rings in this circus and says Ahem, we told you so. He isn't the only one. The late Senator Wellstone blocked bankruptcy deform reform while he lived; Congressman Walz cautioned against the lack of oversight in the Wall Street bailout.
OpenCongress is Announcing Battle Royale - May the Best Bill Win, which facilitates citizens' ability to follow different bills addressing the same policy areas work their way through congress. Speaking of transparency, we remind readers of Legistorm, which posts financial information about members and their staff. Salaries, financial disclosure statements, travel and other interesting information can be viewed at LegiStorm: Transparency's Sidekick.
And now little music from a silver-tongued devil who turned into a move star and moved off to LA:
The day I asked my father if I could buy the farm, he said no. I was
heartbroken. I was about 10 years old and thought that, of course, I
would live my life nestled in the Minnesota River Valley near the Bend
of the River in Mankato.
My heart broke and my stomach sank,
first, because of the harshness of the answer, but also because I had
no idea of what I would do with my life if I were not farming.
My father’s own limited education drove him to a strong belief that his
daughters needed more and higher education, a belief I am sorry to say
he may not have shared for my brothers.
He told me that day,
as we dragged bales of hay to the cattle, that the expectation was that
I would need to go to college and have a career. The strong implication
was that this would be a career that did not involve a farm. . . .
Most of the column focuses on a new issue of the Rural Minnesota Journal, published by the Center for Rural Policy and Development, that's devoted to rural women's issues. Kelliher notes near the end of her column:
I sometimes wonder — if I were a 10-year-old girl today and asked my
father if I could buy the farm, whether the answer would be different.
My guess is my father would have still expected me to continue my
education, but in 2008 he might have been able to envision my pursuing
an agricultural career, which could include me buying my family farm or
another nearby to run. . . .
As
someone who grew up imagining we'd be nestling in the Minnesota River
Valley, we know exaclty where she's coming from. The Rural Minnesota Journal is
published in pdf format online here.
Brad Finstad, who decided not to seek relection this year as a Republican state representative from the New Ulm, is the new executive director of the nonpartisan center.
The Republican-Leader reports that veterans in Fillmore and Houston Counties will gain a closer option for outpatient care because a VA clinic [is] coming to Decorah. The needs of rural veterans can cross state lines.
“It
doesn’t do enough to protect the taxpayers who are footing the bill,”
Walz said in a statement. Walz was one of just 20 Democrats to vote
against the legislation. Walz said the measure does nothing to prevent
automakers or their suppliers from outsourcing jobs abroad.
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-La Crosse) — Yes
“With
up to 3 million American jobs on the line, more than 23,000 in
Wisconsin alone, I believe that allowing their collapse is not an
option,” Kind said in a prepared statement.
Kind called the $14
billion in emergency aid a “bridge loan to somewhere,” noting the bill
requires automakers to restructure, limits executive pay and ensures
taxpayers are repaid before shareholders.
Those who care to remember Walz's votes on the bank bail out correctly can look them up here and here. Hint: he voted "no" in the belief that both versions of the earlier bailout didn't do enough to protect taxpayers.
U.S. Rep. Tim Walz would
undoubtedly climb to the top of the heap if he decides to run. His name
recognition and charisma, along with the fact that he just won a
landslide re-election victory in a part of the state that traditionally
favors Republican candidates, would be an enticing combination for
Democrats. (Walz’s office declined to comment on his plans for 2010.)
That's a very favorable assessment, though we're not sure how well Twin Cities voters know the congressman. With the sort of reporting we've seen in the metro press this week, how could they?
To get everybody in the spirit, here's a Christmas carol from the Boss. We dedicated it to one special Pastafarian friend (she knows who she is):
A minutes ago, Hamline's p.r. department sent us an email:
Good morning,
This
urban legend/internet myth has been floating around for nine years,
originally as a supposed 'analysis' of the Bush/Gore election in 2000.
Here's the info on urban legend debugging site, Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/tyler.asp
Apparently, yes, it looks like someone wanted to rehash this old, bogus internet hoax and alter it to now state that this fake analysis was on the 2008 election.
Professor Olson of Hamline University
did not author anything in this. He even has a statement on his own
website at Hamline about this. He's been trying for years to put an end
to this internet harassment.
If you do run anything on this, please forward on the truth to your readers.[Ollie's note: we did, and linked to the Snopes post.] A few days ago, Rush Limbaugh ran this fake email and analysis on his show, and when we emailed his producers to request a correction, they did:
Thanks for anything you can do to help dispel the hoax.
Hamline University Public Relations
The email fills in one of the key links in the distribution of the updated version of the false urban legend. We appreciate the link to Limbaugh's correction, and hope that the harassment of Olson stops. It must be truly bothersome to be linked to this malarky for years on end.
