See below for the update on the buffers initiative.
Bobby King of the Land Stewardship Project sends us this alert:
The legislature decided that instead of weakening the MPCA Citizens’ Board they would outright ELIMINATE it. This outrageous idea, which was not introduced as a bill or heard previously in any committee, was unveiled late Saturday night and adopted in conference committee. Forty seven years old, the Citizens’ Board was established in 1967 with the creation of the MPCA to ensure the agency serves the public interest and to establish an open and transparent decision making process. It has worked will and is a model the state should be proud of.
This language is included in the Agriculture and Environment Budget Bill along with many other bad provisions, including a sham buffer program that puts off addressing the issue of dealing with agricultural runoff. Read more in this letter from the Minnesota Environmental Partnership to legislators.
There is negotiating going on now to potentially take some of the bad provisions out of the bill. We need calls to the Governor’s office now to keep this on his radar.
Call Gov. Dayton at 651-201-3400 or 800-657-3717 and say “The Ag and Env Budget bills ELIMINATES the MPCA Citizens’ Board. This is a terrible idea. The Citizens’ Board has been around for over 40 years and creates an open and transparent decision making process that helps guard against undue corporate influence. This entirely new proposal was adopted late at night and is outrageous. Governor veto this if it is sent to you.”
Via Minnesota Public Radio, the Associated Press reports the outline of the deal in New buffer strip plan speeds implementation, carries fines.
Here's the final letter that the Minnesota Environmental Partnership and partners sent to legislators objecting to many provisions in the conference committee report. From eliminating the Citizens Board to providing funding to promote false pollinator labeling, this is a bad bill.
Photo: Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee Chair Denny McNamara (R-Hastings) and Minnesota Senate Finance - Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Budget Division Committee Chair David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm) confer over the smorgasbord of special interest goodies. Photo by Paul Battaglia via Session Daily.
Bluestem readers may remember some of our earlier posts on these charming chaps.
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UPDATE: Bad news for bees: The Schultz amendment was deleted by the conference committee, with Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) following up on his implied threat to ignore the bipartisan, all-region vote for the measure. Word is that Leon Lillie was the only conferee to fight for the language.
Read the conference report here. There's language that encourages grantees to plant pollinator-friendly habitat, but without restrictions on pollinator-lethal plants and seeds, it could be habitat to die for. [end update]
The bill would appropriate money based on recommendations made by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources for expenditures from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The fund was established through a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1988 to direct proceeds from the state lottery and investment income to benefit natural resources. . . . .
An amendment successfully offered by Rep. Jennifer Schultz (DFL-Duluth), and subsequently amended by Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul), added language requiring land acquired, restored or enhanced with the money appropriated not be planted, or otherwise treated, with a product that contains pollinator lethal insecticide.
“We need this for our bees,” Schultz said.
Schultz and Hansen passed their amendments over the objections of bill author Paul Torkelson, who are one point implied that pesticides are good for bees.
However, Schultz and Hansen were both clear that they were not moving to amend the bill to block all pesticides, just pollinator lethal insecticides.
Here's the vote on the final form of the amendment, which passed 86 to 43, with a number of Republicans joining the DFLers-- including Ag Policy Committee Chair Paul Anderson and Vice Chair Mary Franson:
In later discussion after the amendment passed with a bipartisan majority, Hansen asked Torkelson whether he would defend the will of the House in conference committee. He seemed very reluctant to do so.
Here's the floor debate on the Schultz and Hansen amendments:
We'll see if the amendment stays in the bill as it works its way through the process, but here's a way for the Senate to redeem itself after its tasteless bee death joke amendment.
Images: Schultz and Hansen, Via Northfield Rep. David Bly's Facebook page.
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After yesterday's "gag amendment" on an ag policy bill, Bluestem thinks that the place is even more unfathomable than that--and we hope readers will let the Governor know that Minnesotans don't think bee deaths are a joke.
With a little discussion and a lot of kidding around about bees, the Minnesota Senate passed a bill Thursday that says plants sold as “pollinator friendly” don’t need to be free of insecticides.
The new language, which scales back bee legislation passed just last year, was included in the 2015 agriculture omnibus bill, which passed unanimously. The bill passed the House on Monday and now heads to Gov. Mark Dayton. Dayton’s office said Thursday that he’s aware of the issue and expects it to become part of end-of-session negotiations at the mansion on the state budget.
The new provision modifies a law passed in 2014, which said that plant nurseries could not market plants as bee- and butterfly-friendly if they are grown with the controversial class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. That class of pesticides has been implicated in the global decline of honeybees and other insects.
But the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association successfully pushed back with a provision, added to the House agriculture bill, that will allow nurseries to use the label on plants as long as they are not toxic enough to kill an adult honeybee outright.
But the Senators didn't stop at rolling back a modest pollinator-friendly consumer labeling law. They went farther, mocking the situation of bees during the same week in which KSTP and others reported More than 50 Percent of Minn. Bee Hives Died in Past Year.
At least the Minnesota House jumped in to object to Ron Erhardt's ridiculous schtick about the avian flu.
But bee deaths in the Senate? Check out the video:
Then, in some late-session humor, Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, offered up a gag amendment. He said he understood that bees that visit a flower more than once are more likely to experience higher toxic exposures. So any bee that visited a flower more than five times “would be guilty of a felony,” he said to laughter around the Senate chamber.
In adopting House language to roll back pollinator protections, Latz felt it was appropriate to make light of ordinary Minnesotans' concern for bees.
With little important business to do, the Minnesota Senate spent 10 minutes Thursday debating the number of times a bee can legally visit a flower.
Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, proposed an amendment to a farm bill that read: “Any bee visiting one plant more than five times for the purposes of pollination is guilty of a felony punishable by up to five years of imprisonment and a mandatory fine of $10,000.”
He was kidding, of course, but other senators couldn’t resist offering even sillier amendments to pass the time.
Bluestem thinks this episode--which the senate thought was oh-so-funny as they agreed to roll back protection for pollinators at the behest of special interests--illustrates the lobbyist-lined bubble that is the Minnesota legislature.
The nation's honeybee crisis has deepened, with colony die-offs rising sharply over last year's levels, the latest survey from the US Department of Agriculture-funded Bee Informed Partnership shows. A decade or so ago, a mysterious winter-season phenomenon known as colony-collapse disorder emerged, in which bee populations would abandon their hives en masse. These heavy winter-season losses have tapered off somewhat, but now researchers are finding substantial summer-season losses, too. . ..
Note that total losses are more than double what beekeepers report as the "acceptable rate"—that is, the normal level of hive attrition. Losses above the acceptable level put beekeepers in a precarious economic position and suggest that something is awry with bee health. "We traditionally thought of winter losses as a more important indicator of health, because surviving the cold winter months is a crucial test for any bee colony,” Dennis vanEngelsdorp, University of Maryland entomologist and director for the Bee Informed Partnership said in a press release. But now his team is also seeing massive summer die-offs. "Years ago, this was unheard of," he added.
And here's a map a map depicting where losses are heaviest:
The survey report doesn't delve into why the nation's bees are under such severe strain, noting only, as USDA entomologist and survey co-coordinator Jeffrey Pettis put it, "the need to find better answers to the host of stresses that lead to both winter and summer colony losses."
A growing weight of science implicated pesticides—particularly a ubiquitous class of insecticides called neonicitinoids, as well as certain fungicides—as likely factors. . . . .
Check out the maps of pesticide use in the Mother Jones article, and you'll get a sense of the power of the agrichemical industry to turn the brains of Minnesota state senators into complete piles of nincompoopery.
TELL THE GOVERNOR BEE PROTECTION IS NO JOKE
We're hearing that some staffers in the Governor's office are a-okay with a soft approach on the lobbyists' victory here, and that there will be talks with the stakeholders---and we don't have to tell you how that will work out.
But we're hoping that readers will call the Govenor's Office at Telephone: 651-201-3400 Toll Free: 800-657-3717 (Greater Minnesota) and request that he task his staff with being the advocates for pollinators--and Minnesota citizens who don't think bee death is a laughing matter. Rather, it's an agricultural and environmental crisis.
Update: Some readers are telling us that they're unable leave voicemail messages. If you encounter that situation, use this link to a form from the Governor's website to send your comments to Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Smith. Be polite (both Dayton and Smith prize civility) but firm.
Photo: Bees, which deserve more than stupid puns from senators who refuse to take citizens' concerns about pollinators seriously.
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Bluestem's editor--and presumably others in sunny Maynard--received an oversized postcard today from MoveMN, urging us to
Call Representative Tim Miller at (651) 296-4228. Tell him to support new dedicated funding for transportation.
Miller (R-Prinsburg) represents House District 17A. The smaller text on the front reads (bold in original):
To fix our unsafe roads and bridges, Representative Tim Miller must support dedicated transportation dedicated transportation funding.
Some politicians in St. Paul are relying on budget gimmicks that won't guarantee Highway 23 gets fixed. While our crumbling roads and bridges are in desperate need of repair, the House transportation plan allows special interests to raid future transportation funding for other pet projects.
It's time for Representative Miller to join many Minnesota business leaders and mayors who support constitutionally dedicated transportation funding to fix our roads and bridges. Our elected officials need to be part of a solution, not the problem.
On the back:
Too many Minnesotans are injured in accidents due to crumbling roads and bridges. We need Representatives Tim Miller to be part of the solution.
Call Representative Tim Miller at (651) 296-4228. Tell him to support new dedicated funding for transportation.
Our safety depends on it.
Check out MoveMN.org's website for more information. The group describes itself as:
a statewide coalition of more than 200 business, organizations and local governments committed to fixing Minnesota’s long-term transportation problems by securing a comprehensive transportation funding solution. New funding will enable the state to properly maintain and improve transportation assets that expand access and opportunity for all and create high-paying jobs.
We're guessing that that coalition has sent similar postcards to districts around the state as the budget talks drag on, with transportation funding proving to be a major sticking point.
The condition of the district's roads gained statewide attention in April when Minority Leader Paul Thissen trolled Miller with an amendment offered to name a part of U.S. 12 the " Tim Miller Goat Trail. "
Photos: The front and back of MoveMN's postcard, which we received in today's mail.
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A garden plant labeled “pollinator friendly” would no longer need to be free of insecticides, under a change in state law moving through the Legislature.
Last year, after pressure from gardeners and environmentalists, lawmakers passed a rule that nurseries could not market plants as bee- and butterfly-friendly if they were grown with the controversial class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which have been implicated in the global decline of honeybees and other insects.
This year, the nursery industry has successfully pushed back. New language approved by the House Monday and before the Senate as early as today, says nurseries can advertise a flower as good for bees and butterflies as long as it’s not toxic enough to kill them after one sip of nectar or single load of pollen.
“There is a level of pesticide that is safe for pollinators,” said Tim Power, head of government affairs for the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association. “Last year’s law was passed based on an emotional response rather than scientific facts.”
Advocates who supported last year’s rules change say the new language is misleading to gardeners, who assume that a label with a bee or butterfly on it means that it’s safe for insects.
“It’s not friendly,” said Kristy Allen, a Minneapolis beekeeper who testified in favor of the original law last year. “It’s like saying, well, it’s OK to eat this food that has a little bit of poison because it won’t affect you right away.”
Moreover, it makes the law unwieldy, said Vera Krischik, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota who studies insecticides and insects. . . .
Find out how by reading the rest of the article. This being the case, Bluestem recommends buying only certified organic plants and seeds, or buying from a local nursery that you know doesn't use pesticides.
Photo: Bees, an insect which consumer hope to help, but the Minnesota legislature appears to be a-okay in poisoning just a little bit.
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. . . The Environmental Partnership says current legislation, attached to environment finance bills in both houses of the Legislature, would politicize regulation by giving lawmakers a bigger say in environmental rulemaking and especially water quality standards and permitting; reduce the role of the Citizens Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; and exempt non-ferrous mining from solid waste rules, among several other provisions.
A coalition of Republicans and Iron Range and rural Democrats has pressed for the legislation, maintaining that current environmental regulation is overly burdensome and hindering economic growth.
Gov. Mark Dayton has voiced opposition to much of the legislation, the status of which is unclear as House and Senate negotiators and Dayton remain at an impasse over a final two-year budget deal. . . .
As we learned yesterday via a question Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) asked House Environment committee chair Denny McNamara, the ag and environment bills are being rolled into one omnibus bill, but the conference committee handling it has not yet met. See our post about the matter, MN House Republicans were against combining ag & environment finance before they were for it.
What's in the One Giant CF of a Ag & Environmental Finance Bill that has led to such consternation on the part of environmental groups? Coolican writes:
The Environmental Partnership says current legislation, attached to environment finance bills in both houses of the Legislature, would politicize regulation by giving lawmakers a bigger say in environmental rulemaking and especially water quality standards and permitting; reduce the role of the Citizens Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; and exempt non-ferrous mining from solid waste rules, among several other provisions.
Bluestem would share a PDF of The Environmental Partnership's letter now, except that we're not on the group's press list. It passeth all understanding how we ever know anything.
Photo: A law enforcement officer lifts a stick of soybean oil that spilled into the Minnesota River from a tank at the Honeymead Plant in Mankato in 1963. Following this disaster, the state created the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Time to roll back the clock, a coalition of all Republicans and Range & some rural Democrats say at the request of their special interest friends.
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House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis) asked Environment Chair Denny McNamara (R-Hastings) if the Ag Omnibus Finance bill and the Environment & Natural Resources Omnibus bill were being combined into a single bill:
Thissen: Is my understanding correct that the ag bill and the environment bill [gestures with hand to bracket each bill name as a separate item] are being negotiated as a single omnibus bill? [draws a circle in the air with hand to indicate inclusion].
McNamara: Yes.
Thissen: When is the last time that conference committee met?
McNamara: Leader Thissen, if you ask, when did we meet, we have not met yet.
Here's the exchange between Thissen and McNamara:
Now, this exchange is striking for significant reasons.
When the Republicans took control again after the 2014 mid-term election, Hamilton claimed in a press release and elsewhere, that combining ag and environment in one committee created a situation in which "ag and rural interests have been treated as an afterthought in state government."
But if Republicans combine the two--then don't actually meet in a conference committee? Apparently not an afterthought.
Especially not five days before the legislature has to adjourn by virtue of the state constitution.
Second: just minutes before McNamara admitted that the conference committee for the now combined ag & environment omnibus bill had not yet met, Hamilton argued that there was no need for the House to suspend the rules--as Representative David Bly (DFL-Northfield) moved--and pass the stand-alone avian flu bill that Governor Dayton had requested because they were all working so very, very hard on the issue.
And he had it covered in the Ag Omnibus bill.
Hamilton claimed that Minority Ag Finance Committee Jeanne Poppe (DFL-Austin) was totally on board with him and working hard, but as the screengrab of the vote board above reveals, she voted for the Bly amendment. And yes, she's a co-author of HF2296. Who you going to believe: Hamilton or the revisor's lies?
Takeaway: So, we see a couple things happening here.
First, the Republicans were against combining ag and environment law-making, before they were totally for it--to the extent that they can't suspend the rules to make sure that legislative relief happens for Minnesota's poultry industry, afflicted by a pandemic disease.
Second, they are against passing HF2296 (again) because they are working so very very hard to provide relief for that industry via the ag omnibus bill. Even though the conference committee for the ag AND environment bills--now rolled into one, an act that was a travesty just two years before in 2013 under DFL control.
Third, the gentleman from Mountain Lake insists the Minority Lead is on board with him, even though when she gets a chance to officially state her opinion, she cast a roll call vote agreeing with Bly--and she's a co-author of HF2296.
Oh heck, just watch the most recent floor debate on HF2296 yourself.
In light of the fact--and it is a fact--that the conference committee considering the ag & environment bill actually has yet to meet, it's much easier to understand Bly's urgency in moving to suspend the rules and pass a stand-alone bill to help the state's poultry industry--and the frustration in the voice of the ordinarily mild-mannered and kind Northfield resident--than to accept Hamilton's blittering on about how hard everybody's working on this.
Of course, Hamilton loves everybody, but fails to note that the conference committee hasn't met.
Perhaps that singular fact is what makes Bly suggest that passing HF2296 just might, maybe, be prudent.
Here's the debate on the Bly motion to suspend the rules and bring HF2296 to a vote (never mind the Youtube cap shot--via the miracle of code, this clip should open at the earlier point in the session):
Screengrab: Assistant Minority Leader Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul) doles out a little stinkeye while Leader Thissen asks McNamara if the committee conferring on the once-abhorrent combination of ag and environment omnibus bill had actually met.
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Bluestem Prairie is in deep mourning tonight, since Representative Tony Cornish (R-Vernon Center) has decided to refrain from challenging Tim Walz for the seat in Minnesota's First Congressional District.
Seven-term state Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, ruled out a run for Congress against Democratic Rep. Tim Walz Wednesday morning.
Cornish, the chair of the House’s public safety committee, considered a run carefully, going to far as to talk to potential political directors for the run against Walz. But ultimately he decided the risk wasn’t worth it. . . .
Jim Hagedorn (Running for Congress) Dave Kruse (Running for House of Representatives) Kurt Daudt (House Minority Leader) Holly Schlingman of the Band, Bobby Patrick (House Leadership) Marty Siefert (Running for Governor).
Cornish was perfectly fine cavorting with Hagedorn before the 2014 primary, at a time when Aaron Miller was the endorsed candidate for MN01.
Photo: Tony Cornish's famous tiny handcuffs. Perhaps he'd need a bigger pair for Congress.
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Hagedorn lost 54.3 percent to 45.7 percent, a comfortable victory for Walz but nevertheless the closest election the Democrat had since his 2006 election. Walz, 51, is in his fifth term.
Hagedorn . . . .earned the highest vote percentage (45.7%) against Walz since the incumbent was first elected in 2006. Hagedorn performed equal to or better than highly-bankrolled GOP challengers running in higher-profile races, in Minnesota and nationwide.
However, this was not the closest election Walz faced, as Montgomery phrased it.
That would be 2010, when three opponents kept Walz to under fifty percent. Randy Demmer took 44.05% of the vote to Walz's 49.34%. That 5.29 point margin is smaller than the 8.6 point spread between Walz and Hagedorn.
Indeed, Johnson and Wilson were conservative candidates; Hagedorn failed to capture much of the slack.
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Last year, as part of the Women's Economic Security Act (WESA), the Minnesota legislature expanded unpaid parental leave for parents.
The votes against the legislation by Senators Dan Hall, Paul Gazelka, Roger Chamberlain and Branden Petersen are incorporated in a hilariously scathing "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" segment on paid family leave.
Yes. That's right. The very year the senators voted against allowing parents more unpaid time off to care for their newborns.
But there's more. Legislation introduced this year to provide paid leave stalled in the divided legislature. House Minority Leader Thissen described the package in a press release issued in February, House and Senate DFL Leaders Unveil Working Parents Act.
Here's the episode. Forward to the 8:54 point:
Screengrab: The four horsemen of the Mother's Day Hypocrisy, via Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
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Facebook friend Jordan William Halverson Wente graduated yesterday from the University of Minnesota at Morris with high distinction and a triple major in economics, Spanish and statistics; on Thursday, he received an email offering a full tuition scholarship for a MSc in Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering at Danmarks Tekniske Universitet - DTU in Copenhagen.
Times being what they are, he accepted the offer.
In between those life events, Wente also had a letter published in the Morris Sun Tribune. Here's what the whippersnapper wrote in Higher education budget lets down students:
The higher education budget passed by House Republicans and Jeff Backer is a shameful disappointment to Minnesota’s college students and families.
It should be self-evident by now that education is under attack from House Republicans. With a $2 billion budget surplus, and a looming student debt crisis, Republicans prioritize tax cuts for dead people and skyscrapers over freezing tuition for 67,000 students at the University of Minnesota. Their K-12 education bill doesn’t keep pace with inflation and will result in teacher layoffs and larger class sizes.
University of Minnesota students will see significant tuition increases because of the lack of funding offered by the Republican majority and Jeff Backer. Not only that, but Republicans didn’t see fit to pass any of the oversight measures put in place by the previous DFL majority.
The Republicans also borrow money from the State Grant program that helps low income students afford college and they place new burdens on community colleges.
Somehow, they were able to find $3 million for building renovations on the Crookston and Morris campuses of the U of M, but nowhere else in the state. Both are coincidentally located in the districts of politically vulnerable Republican members. Gee-whiz.
Sadly, this is exactly what I would expect from Jeff Backer. He recently sent out a picture of himself posing with Governor Scott Walker. He’s the man currently destroying the University of Wisconsin system with the same reckless budgeting. I’m sure Mr. Backer picked up some handy tips for how to destroy a prestigious institution of higher learning.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker visited the Capitol this week. His message about reform, growth and safety was refreshing. I was impressed how sensible and down to earth he was. Thanks for visiting Governor Walker!
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker met with Republican state lawmakers at the Minnesota Capitol on Thursday. He made no comments to the media prior to the closed-door meeting, but stopped to answer a few questions afterward, with House Speaker Kurt Daudt at his side. . . .
Former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, now vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, authored an opinion column in the Star Tribune that highlighted Minnesota's $1 billion budget surplus and Wisconsin's $2 billion deficit.
In Scott Walker defends Wisconsin economy in trip to Minnesota, the Associated Press via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted, like Fox9 News, that Backer's meeting with Walker wasn't open to anyone other than Republican House caucus members:
Walker's closed-door session with legislators — and later gatherings with top business leaders and a conservative group — come as he nears an announcement on a White House campaign after taking several preliminary steps toward a bid, including hiring staff and taking repeated trips to states with early primaries.
How unfortunate that Backer declined to let his constituents know those political details about the photo he shared with constituents. That "refreshing" message about "reform, growth and safety" wasn't on the record.
But nice picture when shared without context.
Photo: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, left, on the presidential campaign trail, with freshman Minnesota state representative Jeff Backer (R-Browns Valley), during a closed-door, GOP-only meeting at the state capitol. Backer shared the photo in a publicly-funded legislative update to constituents. University of Minnesota at Morris honors student Jordan Wente was not impressed.
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Many other people tell us that they didn't learn about the history of the 1862 war and its consequences to Dakota people and they're shocked to learn about the brutal war and its even more brutal consequences: a concentration camp at Fort Snelling, deportation, and the bounties on Dakota people We tend to wonder who grew up with the ability to not-know, not-learn, or to forget.
In the last month, there's been a kerfuffle over the text of plaques to accompany a statute honoring Shaynowishkung, or Chief Bemidji, an Anishinaabe leader who died in 1904. One of the plaques would include Myrick's remarks, then explain Shaynowishkung's role in persuading the northern nations from joining Dakota people in the war.
Council member Nancy Erickson also was opposed to the descriptions of the middle two plaques. Erickson took particular umbrage at the inclusion of a quote that is part of the plaques’ mention of the Dakota War. Specifically, the quote is from white trader Andrew Myrick who famously said of starving Minnesota Indians, “Let them eat grass, or their own dung.”
She said including the quote would simply perpetuate the words.
“I’ve sat in this council room many times where there has been an angry crowd out there and someone in the back of the room has made an absolutely ridiculous statement that ended up in the newspaper the next day,” she said. “I would be so embarrassed if I was that person, if that statement got carried down generation after generation…. that statement is an insult. It’s an insult to the white population…. it holds no value, that statement. That is the core of where I’m coming from.”
. . . Jody Beaulieu, a member of the Chief Bemidji Statue Committee, which oversaw the writing the plaques, implored the council to “be brave” and vote to keep all four. The statue was about more than just honoring Chief Bemidji himself, she said.
“It’s about the healing of the community,” Beaulieu said. “It’s about the understanding that these plaques will bring… it’s about not being afraid to let go of some of that white privilege; of not knowing the truth.”
Bemidji Mayor Rita Albrecht also spoke in favor of keeping the plaques, saying it was necessary for Bemidji to acknowledge a dark chapter in Minnesota’s history.
“We have tried for many years to sanitize history, to ignore history and to not really be truth-tellers,” she said. . . .
Bemidji Mayor Rita Albrecht as well as City Council members Dave Larson and Nancy Erickson all used their council member report time at the end of Monday’s regular meeting to comment on the contentious 4-3 vote on April 20 to approve plaques submitted by the Chief Bemidji Statue Committee.
Erickson was one of those opposed to the plaques, and during the April 20 debate took particular opposition to the inclusion of a quote from white trader Andrew Myrick, who famously said of starving Minnesota Indians, “Let them eat grass, or their own dung.”
She said in April that including the quote would simply perpetuate the words and Myrick’s assertion was “an insult. It’s an insult to the white population…. it holds no value, that statement,” she said.
Erickson said since the meeting in April, she received requests for additional comment from people as far away as Fargo.
“You cannot stew over every issue,” she said. “Although I still do not support (the plaques), I respect the vote as a democratic process. I really have nothing further to add to this, so I just wish that people would quit asking me for my comment. My comments have been made, the matter is settled.”
So now we can all forget about it and have some pie. Wouldn't that be comforting? Earlier, Bemidji resident wrote the editors that The real and full truth needs to be known:
During the April 20 Bemidji City Council meeting, Councilwoman Erickson provided a shining example of both white privilege and white fragility. During the meeting the councilwoman referenced the vile historic quote from Andrew Myrick, stating that the quote is an "insult to the white population and certainly it holds no value whatsoever". While I can agree that the statement is an insult, it was quite obviously not pointed at the whites.
Furthermore its inclusion is entirely appropriate as it is truly indicative of the governmental policy of the time, one which chose not to learn anything useful from the indigenous people or their culture but to cast them aside, and to attempt to snuff their culture out. It was a governmental policy of making treaties that promised, but never truly delivered, further accommodated by the "dominant" (white) culture's ability to sanitize history to its own liking and benefit. This appears to be the history that has informed Ms. Erickson and which makes her comfortable, but it is not the history that has been experienced by the Anishinaabe (or other Native American) populace of our area and our state.
Fortunately, the days of "kill the Indian, and save the man" are mostly over. I am heartened to know that the younger generation, as exemplified by Mr. Olson's and Mr. Meehlhause's words, are able to understand that it is necessary to confront the ugly truths of yesterday in order to not only heal the existing wounds, but to learn how to conduct ourselves (and our politics) to prevent such atrocities from re-occurring. To bury the truth, as Ms. Erickson suggests, is exactly the attitude that has created the state of race relations that exists today. The real and full truth needs to be known.
In regards to the telling of Shaynowishkung's story, how could we ever appropriately honor the man without having a full and truthful understanding of the times in which he lived? It was despite all that he experienced and saw happening around him that he chose to stand firm to the Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers, a choice taken at great personal expense. This should be the legacy of Shaynowishkung, one that should set an example for our population as a whole.
I would also like to acknowledge Mayor Albrecht, and Councilman/former Mayor Larson for displaying the bravery and fortitude to do the right thing.
History isn't a comfort zone.
The back story
As its name suggests, the Anishinaabe people weren't part of the US-Dakota War, though the plaques note that Shaynowishkung played a role helping keep the war from expanding north:
"So far as I am concerned, if they are hungry let them eat grass or their own dung.”
-- Infamous insult by Andrew Myrick, spokesman for the traders, August 15,1862.
The Dakota War was the direct result of widespread poverty and starvation. When warfare broke out among the Dakota and the settlers, Shaynowishkung became famous for his speech to assembled Ojibwe braves "when by his reasoning he prevented the Chippewa from joining the Dakota in the historic New Ulm Massacre" in which many hundreds died. -- Blackduck American, 1904. Trials and sentencing of over 1000 Dakota led to the hanging of 38 warriors in Mankato on December 26, 1862. This remains the largest mass-execution in US history.
The recent coverage doesn't expand on the contemporary concerns among the Anishinaabe Nations in Northern Minnesota joining Taoyateduta's (Little Crow IV's) Dakota warriors in 1862. The Minnesota State Historical Society's Andrew Stone writes in Bagone-giizhig (Hole-in-the-Day the Younger), 1825–1868:
Though the Ojibwe had been promised regular payments from the government, these payments were often late or sometimes even stolen by corrupt officials or traders who dealt with the Ojibwe. When violence broke out between the Dakota and white settlers in 1862, Bagone-giizhig briefly threatened to join Taoyateduta's (Little Crow IV's) Dakota warriors in attacking white settlements. To encourage other Ojibwe to fight, he also spread a false rumor that the U.S. government was planning to force all Ojibwe men to fight in the Civil War.
Governor Alexander Ramsey feared potential alliance between the Dakota and the Ojibwe. He and other officials met personally with Bagone-giizhig and agreed to provide the promised payments. The Mille Lacs and Leech Lake Ojibwe, however, were angry at being tricked into almost going to war. Bagone-giizhig's lie cost him their support for good. . . .
While the Myrick statement isn't directly related to Shaynowishkung or Bemidji, the consequences of those remarks in the form of the 1862 War are important for understanding the historical importance of the figure being honored.
Given the serial forgetting of indigenous history by Minnesotans, including background about the war is a good step toward making the statute more than just a set-piece. Good for Mayor Albrecht and others for their willingness to understand that history isn't a comfort preservation zone.
Photo: Shaynowishkung.
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In a small but tangible step towards rebuilding Minnesota's once-formidable hemp industry, the Minnesota House of Representatives authorized a limited pilot program, the Industrial Hemp Development Act on an 89-37 vote with bipartisan support. Supporters of expanded availability of cannabis are encourage to contact their senators and urge support for this bill, along with wider farmer access and general legalization for responsible adult use.
The full House voted last Monday to allow farmers to cultivate non-psychoactive cannabis (negligible THC content), under a limited program controlled by the commissioner of agriculture (full text here). The measure is included in the omnibus agriculture policy and finance bill, HF1437, one of several large bills the Legislature passes every year or two. [Update 5/9: Good news: a similar program is included in the Senate agriculture omnibus and apparently Gov. Dayton has indicated he will sign off on the program, according to a knowledgeable source.]
A bipartisan coalition including Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis), a stalwart supporter of full legalization, and Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria), who does not support personal use or medical cannabis, as well as Sen. Kent Eken (DFL-Twin Valley) pushed industrial hemp for economic development this year. Rep. Tony Cornish (R-Vernon Center), law enforcement lobby ringleader, laid on the fearsauce as always.
Word keeps coming up that budget targets have been agreed upon by House and Senate conferees for the ag bill; we hope that the industrial hemp pilot project/study will survive the conference committee. This is common sense legislature that will allow farmers and value-added industries capture some of the profits from the hemp products industry.
Photo: Minneapolis liberal DFLer Phyllis Kahn and Alexandria conservative Republican Mary Franson, the "odd couple" who have guided hemp legislation in the House; Kent Eken (DFL-Twin Valley) is the chief author in the senate. Both bills have been rolled into their chamber's omnibus bills related to agriculture.
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Three of Minnesota’s Democratic members of Congress are stepping in to a political debate in the state Legislature.
Reps. Rick Nolan, Keith Ellison and Tim Walz will hold a press conference on Monday with state Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle and advocacy group Move MN to urge lawmakers to pass “reliable funding” for state roads and bridges.
Congress also plays a major role in funding Minnesota roads, and its lack of action as the national Highway Trust Fund runs out of money has spurred states around the country to tackle transportation funding themselves. Nolan, Ellison and Walz are all in the minority in the House. . . .
According to his website, "Rick [Nolan] is the only member of Minnesota's House Delegation on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee." He serves on the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, the Subcommittee on Aviation and the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.
Frustrated by eight years of inaction on the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress, is making a midcareer move to the House Armed Services Committee — a perch he thinks will be more productive and satisfying.
Walz secured his new slot earlier this month after lobbying Democratic leadership. On Armed Services, he will be charged with annually approving the military spending budget.
“Armed Services is, whether you agree with it or not, the one area where things get done,” Walz said. “Budgets go through, things happen.”
While Walz was not among the most senior Democrats on the House Transportation Committee, his departure comes at a critical time for transportation and infrastructure reform.
The federal Highway Trust Fund is projected to go belly up in May, a problem both House and Senate Republicans acknowledge needs to be addressed likely through more revenue. Transportation infrastructure needs loom large in Minnesota, where officials say nearly half the state’s bridges are in poor or mediocre condition and almost 2.5 million commuters drive across a deficient bridge each day. Gov. Mark Dayton recently proposed a wholesale tax on gasoline of 6.5 percent per gallon, along with a hike in license fees and a metro-wide one-cent sales tax increase, to help solve the problem.
In Rochester, which is in Walz’s district, Mayor Ardell Brede awaits a Hwy. 14 expansion from Rochester to Owatonna. He says the road is among the most dangerous in the state and should be four lanes the whole way. Commuters driving to work at the Mayo Clinic simultaneously face the sun and grapple with strip of highway that abruptly changes from four- to two-lanes.
Walz is familiar with all this, but angrily notes that for six years, “the Transportation Committee has done nothing … except argue about the cost of soda in Amtrak and debate about urban vs. rural transportation needs.”
He says he can advocate for stretches like Hwy. 14 without being on the committee. “Our point is that you can advocate for transportation on a broader scale,” Walz said. . . .
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. . .During recent visits to Albert Lea and Apple Valley, I listened to Minnesotans’ concerns about caring for their aging loved ones. I learned that reforming the way our state pays for long-term care today could improve the quality of care and aging adults’ quality of life in the long run.
In response, our budget proposes to spend $138 million in new money for this long-term care reform, far more than the governor and Senate Democrats’ budgets have committed. . . .
That's lovely, and his words echo a message repeated across the state in letters-to-the-editor by long-term care facility managers. In fact, their words are so alike in these letters that we can say that they're of one text and one mind.
Thank you, Representative Mary Franson and Representative Paul Anderson, for your support of senior care reform this session. The current funding system for senior care services is broken and does not meet the needs of our seniors or the people who provide them with care.
The new system that Representative Mary Franson and Representative Paul Anderson have supported will ensure seniors have access to the quality care they deserve in their communities and their families. It will also provide long overdue funding to pay more livable wages and benefits for caregivers.
Sixty thousand Minnesotans will turn 65 this year and each year for the next 15 years. Our aging population is growing so quickly that it will eventually make up 25 percent of the state’s total population. This group of seniors is expected to live longer, and likely will require more care than any group of seniors in the state’s history.
Minnesota needs to get ready to ensure our seniors receive the care they deserve and their families expect from experienced caregivers.
With a $2 billion state surplus, now is the time to make seniors and caregivers a priority. Representative Mary Franson and Representative Paul Anderson supported a bill that addresses the realities of senior care today and in the future. A conference committee will soon make the final decision on this important reform proposal. I urge Representative Mary Franson and Representative Paul Anderson to do all that they can to positively influence the outcome of the conference committee and make this reform a reality.
Across the state in ABC Newspapers, which serve Anoka, Blaine and environs, we find that Mark Broman of the Camilia Rose Care Center writes in More support needed for senior care:
Thank you so much to the legislators from Anoka County, including Hoffman, Johnson, Petersen, Scott and Uglem for your support of senior care reform this session. The current funding system for senior care services is broken and does not meet the needs of our seniors or the people who provide them with care.
The new system that Hoffman, Johnson, Petersen, Scott and Uglem supported will ensure seniors have access to the quality care they deserve in their communities. It will also provide long-overdue funding to pay more livable wages and benefits for caregivers.
Sixty thousand Minnesotans will turn 65 this year and each year for the next 15 years. Our aging population is growing so quickly that it will eventually make up 225 percent of the state’s total population. This group of seniors is expected to live longer, and likely will require more can than any group of seniors in the state’s history.
Minnesota needs to get ready to ensure our seniors receive the care they deserve and their families expect from experienced caregivers.
With a $2 billion state surplus, now is the time to make seniors and caregivers a priority. Legislators Hoffman, Johnson, Petersen, Scott and Uglem supported a bill that addresses the realities of senior care today and in the future. A conference committee will soon make the final decision on this important reform proposal. I urge all legislators to do all that he/she can to positively influence the outcome of the conference committee and make this reform a reality.
In contrast stand the Republican priorities: a budget built on a $1.07 billion cut in health care services for hospitals, workers and seniors, which eliminates affordable health insurance for 90,000 working Minnesotans, and an inadequate and unstable transportation plan that relies on shifts, gimmicks and confiscating money from current programs.
Closer to our Chippewa County home, Jim Flaherty of the Luther Haven in Montevideo is more succinct, while striking the same chord. In Make senior care a priority, Flaherty tells the editors of the Montevideo American-News:
Thank you Representative Tim Miller, District 17A for your support of Senior Care Reform this session.
The current funding system for senior care services is broken and does not meet the needs of our seniors or the people who provide them with care.
The new system that Representative Miller supported will ensure seniors have access to the quality care they deserve in their communities and their families. It will also provide long overdue funding to pay more livable wages and benefits for caregivers.
With a $2 billion state surplus, now is the time to make seniors and caregivers a priority. Representative Miller supported a bill that addresses the realities of senior care today and in the future. A conference committee will soon make the final decision on this important reform proposal. I urge Representative Miller to do all that he can to positively influence the outcome of the conference committee and make this reform a reality.
Thank you Representative Miller for supporting Senior Care Reform.
Two paragraphs from the other letters are missing in the Montevideo letter. We're sure happy that it's not totally a one-size-fits-all message for these folks, or they might end up with some of the same problems in persuasion that those seeking clean water and buffers now have encountered.
Photo: Postcard from Echo, Minnesota, the "messaging" center of the state.
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Meanwhile, down in Granite Falls, the author of Prohibition is back in the headlines. Granite Falls Advocate Tribune news editor Scott Tedrick reports in New foundation for Volstead House:
Andrew J. Volstead laid the foundation for the 18th constitutional amendment known as ‘Prohibition’ as well as the foundation for legislation that continues to serve as the Magna Carta of the Cooperative Movement...As one of the city’s most illustrious citizens, it seems only appropriate that the community should support the foundation of his house.
This past Monday, the Granite Falls City Council approved a low bid of $150,000 from Barn Restoration Specialist Corp., Onamia, to institute repairs to the foundation of the Volstead House, which is now 136 years old.
The Minnesota Association of Cooperatives purchased the building in 1976 and donated it to the city for a museum in 1978. Today it is recognized as a National Landmark.
The Granite Falls Historical Society has been aware of the weakening substructure for some time and in 2011 sought and successfully obtained a $5,500 grant from the Minnesota Historical Society that was used to finance an inspection as well as subsequent recommendations for repairs.
Those inspections were completed by Eugene Dwyer of LSE Engineers, of Le Sueur, and Bob Claybaugh of Claybaugh Preservation Architecture, out of Taylor Falls, in August of 2012 and, with the addition of a $25,000 local match, served as the basis for a $154,000 grant proposal to repair the foundation that was awarded to the city by the Minnesota Historical Society in January of 2014.
Original cost estimates totaled $175,000 for the project, which is expected to begin in the near future. According to council information, the grant money must be expensed by November this year.
However, while Volstead's legacy might live on in the blue laws, residents of his lovely riparian adopted hometown are reconstructing his legacy by planning the Bluenose Gopher Cooperative Brewery, due to open in late 2015 or 2016.
Photo: Andrew Volstead's front porch. Photo via the Granite Falls Historical Society.
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Minnesota Senate Republicans are introducing a bill to allow small businesses to refuse service for same-sex weddings. Coupled with earlier anti-transgender legislation, the move will allow the party's state house and senate candidates in rural swing districts to campaign on one of 2014's winning messages: anti-equality.
Given the absence of any statewide race and the relative unpopularity of Hillary Clinton in Greater Minnesota, the strategy will allow Republican candidates and the social conservative groups who love them (the Freedom Club comes to mind) to run relatively subdued anti-LGBTQ campaigns, while the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, Minnesota Action Network and their kindred pound vulnerable rural senators on the new Senate Office Building, a $100,000 campaign finance violation by the DFL Senate Caucus campaign committee and other such Sins of Bakk.
The Republican Party won't have to worry about its weak statewide candidates; instead, the party and its IE allies can focus on corruption and economic issues in retail races, whilethe candidates in those races in deep social conservative rural districts can go door-to-door about hating on the gay and excluding transgender kids.
The bills aren't for the floor; they're for the doors outside the metro (it's a different ground game in the first-tier suburbs).
Bluestem believes that conversation will take place "at the doors," on the airwaves of small radio station markets, in Freedom Club mailers and Minnesota Family Council emails.
Months after Indiana provoked a national uproar with a law allowing people to refuse service to same-sex couples, a Minnesota senator is proposing a similar — but more limited — measure here.
Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, said a family in his district was fined for refusing to host a same-sex wedding on their property.
“I was one of the legislators who opposed gay marriage but even then I said that gays and lesbians should be able to live as they choose,” Gazelka said. “I’m simply asking that Christians and people of faith be allowed to live as they choose without… threat of punishment.”
His bill would protect the right of religious organizations and small businesses to refuse service for same-sex weddings. Unlike the bills in Indiana and other states, Gazelka would only apply those protections to weddings, and not create a broader right to refuse service where someone had strong conscientious objections.
The Minnesota Legislature legalized same-sex marriage in 2013, after voters rejected a gay marriage ban at the 2012 general election. State law prohibits discrimination against sexual orientation, a provision that Gazelka’s bill would create a limited exception to in the case of “sincerely held religious beliefs.” . . .
Montgomery also tweeted:
Rep. Tim Miller made House leadership aware of "freedom of conscience" bill. "No one said 'no no no' by any sense," though focus on budget.
. . .The bill has not yet been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature but is expected to drop in the next few days. It likely won’t receive any action with only days left in the legislative session, but because it was introduced in the first year of the biennium, it will be in play in 2016. According to Star Tribune reporter Abby Simons, Republican Senators Michelle Benson of Ham Lake, Warren Limmer of Maple Grove, Mary Kiffmeyer of Big Lake, and Dan Hall of Burnsville are co-authors.
Read the bill at Birkey's post. We'll keep an eye on when "religious freedom" and safe bathroom discussions turn up in Greater Minnesota traditional and social media.
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Now he's organizing a visit to Rochester on Monday by presumptive presidential candidate Rick Santorum. A friend shared this invitation with Bluestem, from the Olmsted County GOP Calendar:
Maria Poirier & Zita and John Schirger cordially invite you to a reception with Rick Santorum as he tests the Presidential candidacy waters
Ready or not, 2016 presidential campaigning is coming to Rochester.
The Med City will get its first visit from a possible presidential candidate on Monday. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum will attend a $250-a-plate fundraiser for his "testing the waters" account at Kahler Apache hotel. Republican Party of Olmsted County Chairman Aaron Miller said he expects plenty of future visits by presidential hopefuls in the coming months.
"It is interesting that Mr. Santorum, who did pretty well here in 2012, chose to come to Minnesota early. But I don't think he'll be the last," Miller said.
One reason for Miller's prediction has to do with a change in how Minnesota's Republican Party doles out delegates for the national convention. A new rule passed by the Republican National Committee means that for the first time the state's Republican straw poll at the March 1 caucuses will be binding. In addition, the national party is requiring that these delegates be awarded on a proportional basis instead of winner-take-all. . . .
Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum said on Fox News tonight that he will announce his decision on whether to make another run for the GOP presidential nomination on May 27.
Santorum, who served in the Senate from 1995 to 2007, surprised many observers with a strong showing in the 2012 Republican primaries, including a very narrow win over eventual nominee Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses.
He would go on to win 11 state contests with a campaign that appealed to social conservative voters.
If he decides to jump in the 2016 race, he’ll face growing competition for support in that critical GOP constituency. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses who announced on Tuesday he was running, figure to make a strong push for evangelical support.
We'll keep an eye out for tweets on Monday to see just how slap-happy for Rick Rochester residents became.
Photo: Andy Parrish and a friend, twitter image via City Pages.
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A new report by the Minnesota Department of Health calls agriculture-related nitrate pollution a “growing chemical threat to Minnesota’s drinking water.”
Community water supplies, overall, are safe and closely monitored, according to the agency’s Drinking Water Annual Report for 2014. But the report highlighted widespread — and often costly — efforts to prevent or reverse nitrate pollution in well water drawn by municipal and quasi-public water systems — those used by schools, businesses, resorts, restaurants and other places.
Nitrate, a compound of nitrogen and oxygen, comes from many sources, including manure, septic systems and natural decomposition of organic matter. But the report said fertilizers applied to land used for row-crop production “are the biggest influence on Minnesota’s ground and surface water nitrate levels.”
Waters affected by nitrogen fertilizer may also contain pesticides, the report said.
“Without sustained prevention efforts, effective treatment and continued vigilance … health conditions related to nitrate in drinking water could once again become a threat to Minnesotans’ health,” the report said.
Research shows the clearest risk of elevated nitrate in drinking water is for infants from birth to six months of age who are fed water or formula made with water. They can develop Blue Baby Syndrome, which reduces oxygen supply in the blood. A University of Minnesota physician discovered the cause-and-effect relationship in the mid-1940s and the state Health Department documented 146 cases and 14 deaths, mostly in southern Minnesota, between 1947 and 1949. . . .
Photo: Blue baby dolls. Activists from Kewaunee County, WI, created this image for their struggle over water quality issues. As their website notes: "
In young infants, ingestion of nitrate can reduce the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. In severe cases it can cause a condition that doctors call methemoglobinemia. The condition is also called “blue baby syndrome” because the infant’s skin appears blue-gray or lavender in color. This skin color change is caused by a lack of oxygen in the blood. All infants less than 6 months of age are at risk of nitrate toxicity, but premature babies and babies with other health problems are more sensitive than healthy infants. An infant suffering from “blue baby syndrome” needs immediate medical care because the condition can lead to coma and death if it is not treated promptly.
It's a very serious issue.
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. . . Kandiyohi County commissioner [Harlan Madsen] joined other local officials Tuesday from Willmar and Swift County and representatives of the Move MN coalition to urge legislators to craft a deal to increase transportation funding in the remaining two weeks of the session.
Margaret Donahoe and Dave Van Hattum of Move MN came to the Willmar city offices to make their case for action, armed with a newly released, nonpartisan report on the condition of bridges in the country.
. . . The report cited seven structurally deficient bridges in Swift County, but that number was updated before County Commissioner Gary Hendrickx of Appleton could reach Willmar.
An email from the county engineer informed him there are 13 structurally deficient bridges, he said.
The report counts 20 structurally deficient bridges in Renville County, and 16 in Chippewa County.
Donahoe and Van Hattum warned that these and other transportation problems will only grow if the state does not increase funding.
“You will not see much improvement on Highway 23 over the next 20 years according to MnDOT’s 20-year highway investment plans unless there is some new revenue,’’ Donahoe said.
Safety and economic development are at stake, according to those attending the meeting. Willmar Planning and Development Director Bruce Peterson noted that Willmar’s population of adults doubles during the workday.
The city’s economic development and the region’s as well are very much tied to the ability of workers to commute to employment in the community.
Hendrickx said there is growing public support for a greater investment in transportation.
He cited a recent Swift County project: The county commissioners opted to spend $400,000 more so that a six-mile road project could be a 10-ton rather than 7-ton roadway.
“We did not hear the outcry of you should not be spending it,’’ said Hendrickx. “We heard the affirmation this is where you have to be going.’’
Move MN is hopeful that the two parties in the Legislature can come to an agreement in the final days, according to Bethany Winkels, Move MN field director. If not, she warns that it would not be until January of 2016 and more likely the 2017 session before an increase in transportation funding could be accomplished. . . .
Photo: The historic Milan Bridge, which must be restored as a landmark or replaced.
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