The Jackson County Pilot reports that 350 people showed up for a Lutefisk dinner at a local church. You can't beat this sort of reporting:
For the most part, anyway, according to the tater-peelers, again taking a quick peek toward the kitchen to make sure Benson was nowhere in sight.
"It’s an acquired taste," Johnson said delicately.
"You really have to bury it in butter," Lowell Nasby said with a squint.
"If you were raised on it, you like it," Handevidt said. "It gets down to if you had nothing else to eat, you ate it."
The chatter and chuckles stopped short as Benson’s footsteps sounded.
"You’re not saying anything bad about the fish, are you?" he demanded of his potato crew.
Silence.
"Didn’t think so," he said, walking back toward his 350 precious pounds of thawing lutefisk, adding, with a hint of a grin, "Don’t forget to remove all the eyes on those potatoes. We don’t want them seeing what they’re being served next to tonight."
The paper's editor writes here about re-discovering his Norwegian roots and its cuisine. BTW, our real-world last name is Danish.
A staple for local governments is the unfunded mandate. One of the continued burdens facing local schools are those for special education. We think that spec ed is a good thing, being old enough to remember when developmentally delayed children were sent to state institutions like the hospital in St. Peter.
Thus, it's good to see some more money potentially coming to the state for mandated programs. The Mankato Free reports in Schools may get cut of federal stimulus:
Congressman Tim Walz said the House bill, expected to total about $850 billion, will include $13 billion in funding for federally mandated special education programs. For Mankato, the infusion of cash could total as much as $400,000, although school officials are expecting the amount to be closer to $300,000.
District special education director John Klaber said that amount would reflect an increase of about 25 percent over current federal funding. While much of a district’s special education money comes from the state and its own general fund — this year, Mankato spent $4 million to meet unfunded special education costs — he said the potential stimulus would be “significant.” . . .
. . .Congress originally
pledged to cover 40 percent of the cost of the required assistance for
students with special needs, but the federal funding actually covers
just 17 percent of the expense.
“It’s clear that there’s a renewed
commitment by the federal government to live up to the commitments of
the past,” Kelliher said. Obama wants the stimulus package passed
quickly in an attempt to energize a seriously weakened U.S. economy.
Kelliher said the House could finalize a bill next week, and Walz is
also hoping lawmakers move fast. . . .
KEYC-TV reports Walz Rejects President Obama's Request for Second Half of Bailout Funds.
Gwen Walz was interviewed for a Dover Post (DE) story about the inauguration:
“I feel hopeful,” she said. “But this is a serious time. We need the focus on what he gave us today."
The Fairmont Sentinel says Secretary of State [ is] coming to Fairmont on Monday. Ritchie will give a talk for the Fairmont chapter of the AAUW Monday evening after meeting with election officials in the afternoon. In Washington, Walz met last week with representatives of the American Association of School Administrators about the coming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act We're kinda of embarrassed by the mention at PIM this afternoon, but really appreciate the alliteration and the recognition for Congressman Walz's work toward making Congress more transparent, in Ballooning budget bafflement brings boisterous brands of bits:
On a related note, we'd like to give a huge hat tip to U.S. Rep. Tim Walz (DFL-MN1), who managed to get an amendment onto a bill reforming the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) which would require banks to release bailout data onto the Internet. Walz has been very critical of the bailouts, and overall he's done a great job of balancing the interests of his constituents with his DFL principles. [The Walz boosters at Bluestem Prairie note he wants more hearings put live online.] This is precisely how Internet-based transparency can play a role in so many spending programs. U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (DFL-MN8) has also been working hard on the TARP case.
We have our own transparency program happening on our About page, for those who are curious about this site. In keeping with the potatoes theme, how about a tune--released under a pseudonym for contractual reasons--from the great James Brown?:
And for an encore, the dance number from Dee Dee Sharp, in honor of all our readers who dance like they're from Southern Minnesota
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