Bluestem Prairie: May 2016

Correction: Willmar elected a Latina to school board in 2012 as city grows more inclusive

CORRECTION: We completely biffed this one and we apologize to the 2012 candidates and our readers. West Central Tribune editor Kelly Boldan sent us an email that noted misinformation in our earlier version of this post and we now correct the record.

In 2012, Sahra Gure, an East-African woman who first came to the United States to attend college, ran unsuccessfully for the school board.

Jackie Saulsbury, a Latina woman, won as one of four candidates elected. Boldan provided a link to this interview by Ruth Trevino with Saulsbury's mother, Idalia “Charly” Leuze, for the Minnesota State Historical Society. Leuze's family moved from San Antonio to Litchfield while she was in grade school, then to Willmar while she was in seventh grade. She now owns Carlito's Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in Litchfield; her daughter Saulsbury served as guest bartender for the grand re-opening in March.

A registered nurse, Saulsbury will serve until 2017.

Again, an apology. Bluestem doesn't often eff up, but when I do, it's awful.

Post:

Last week, the West Central Tribune reported in Six vie for Willmar School Board seat:

Six people are on the ballot in a Monday special election for the Willmar School Board.

The person elected Monday will take office at the next School Board meeting and serve a term that expires at the end of 2016.

The seat was left vacant when board member Mike Carlson resigned last fall. He and his family have moved out of the Willmar School District.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at the Willmar Education and Arts Center, 611 Fifth St. S.W. The district is operating one polling place to save money on the election.

A state law adopted in the past year required a special election to fill the seat, and set limits on when an election could be held.

In the past, the School Board could have appointed a successor to Carlson not long after he resigned.

The candidates are:

• Abdirahman Hussein Abdi, 24, of Willmar, is a pre-med student at St. Cloud State University.

• Justin Bos, 38, of Willmar, is a funeral director at Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar.

• Bill Busta, 64, of Willmar, retired in 2011 as director of human resources for Willmar Public Schools.

• Christopher Frank, 29, of Willmar, is a lawyer with Frank Law Offices in Willmar.

• Mike Kubesh, 43, of Willmar, is manager for Willmar Bus Service and an EMT with the Willmar Ambulance Service.

• Jennifer Mendoza, 37, of Willmar, works with the GUIA program at Pact 4 Families Collaborative in Willmar.

The presence of a Somali-American man and a Latina on the school board ballot in Willmar shouldn't be a surprise; indeed, Bluestem was surprised by the results of a search of District 347 school board election results at the Minnesota Secretary of State's office (and a review of past candidates) that appeared to reveal that no people of color had run for school board in the West Central regional center in recent years.

Why is that not surprising? According to the Minnesota Report Card database online, here's what the district's student population looks like, in pie chart form:

No racial or ethnic group constitutes a majority in the student body, although white students form a plurality. Diversity issues in the schools came up in the League of Women Voters of the Willmar Area sponsored candidate forum last month, Linda Vanderwerf reported on Willmar School Board candidates share views:

Candidates talked about diversity, elementary school lunch periods, teachers and a variety of other issues in a forum for the six people running in a May 16 special election for the Willmar School Board. . . .

Candidates drew on their personal history and their professional experience to answer questions about a range of school district issues.

Asked how to attract teachers that reflect the diversity of the schools and community, Kubesh suggested that “we need a more diverse board, and a more diverse city council.”

Busta suggested that the district encourage its students to consider teaching careers.

“We have the students, we can turn them into teachers,” he said.

Frank also suggested reaching out to universities. As important as building a diverse teaching staff is to find staff members who are able to communicate with a diverse group of students. . . .

Abdi said he had seen many different types of students when he attended Willmar Senior High School.

“To educate them and give them a chance, they need someone to encourage them,” he said.

In his funeral home business, Bos said, he works with all the different cultures in the community.

Frank, a 2004 Willmar graduate, said he thought the district had not done a good job in dealing with a diverse student body when he was in school.

Kubesh agreed that it hadn’t been handled as well in the past, but the district has improved. Somali and Latino liaisons have helped his company’s bus drivers better understand the children on the buses. . . .

The candidates all suggested that the district do more to promote itself and its advantages to attract students through open enrollment. They also said the district may need to expand its English Language Learner program to give adequate support to students trying to learn English.

Candidate Q & As are found in Meet the Willmar School Board candidates.

Should Abdi be elected, he'll be that second Somali-American man elected to a school board in a Greater Minnesota city, joining Mankato's Abdi Sabrie. If Mendoza gets the nod, she'll join the 20 21 other women of color holding non-tribal elected office at any level, anywhere, in Minnesota (Anishinaabe artist and activist Ashley Fairbanks assembled a spreadsheet of the state's alarming paucity of WOC elected leadership here).

Special elections for local offices tend to have low turnout, and with a pool of six candidates, it's difficult to predict how this one will end up. We wish all the candidates good luck.

Photo: The six school board candidates during the local League of Women Voters forum last month. Via West Central Tribune.

If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 16, 2016 at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Islamophobic pastor Usama Dakdok to speak in Morrison, Todd, Stearns and Itasca Counties

Back in February, Bluestem reported in Anti-Islam speaker Usama Dakdok will appear at April Bloomington & Duluth Worldview Weekends:

A source sent us an eyewitness written report of last week's "Sharia 101" talk by Jeff Baumann in St. Cloud. According to the meeting notes, the group--which calls itself "Peace in St. Cloud"--is planning to invite a stridently anti-Muslim Christian evangelical:

The group is inviting Usama Dakdok to town towards the end of May to talk. Usama is an anti-Muslim preacher with the Straight Way Ministries who grew up in Egypt as a Coptic Christian. His videos include such charmers like, “Every Muslim is a Demon!” [links added]

Should Dakdok accept the invitation and the group follow through with its plans, the visit won't be Dakdok's first visit to Minnesota this spring. According the Worldview Weekend Conferences webpage, the preacher will speak at rallies in Bloomington (April 3) and Duluth (April 4), before moving on to a rally just over the river in LaCrosse, Wisconsin on April 5.

Those plans by the St. Cloud-area anti-Muslim and anti-refugee organizers have come to fruition. A friend in Little Falls sent us this item from the May 15 print edition of the Morrison County Record (not online at a the present):

Tea Party to hold meetings on ISIS, Islam relationship

The Central MN Tea Party Patriots will be hosting a series of meetings with Usama Dakdok, who claims to speak the truth about Islam.

Usama's talk, "Revealing the Truth about ISIS," is designed to show the relationship between ISIS and Islam and the teaching of the Qur'an.

Usama will be speaking at four different locations on four consecutive nights. Each night will focus on a different topics. The schedule is:

*Tuesday, May 24, 6 - 9 pm, Little Falls VFW, 1012, Third Ave NE, Little Falls.

*Wednesday, May 25, 6-9 pm, The Hub Supper Club, 30905 County Road 13, Burtrum.

*Thursday, May 26, 6-9 pm, The Landing, 18527 County Road 154, Avon.

*Friday, May 27, 6-9 pm, Granite City Baptist Church, 1425 County Road 134, St. Cloud.

Everyone is welcome. An admission fee will be charged and meals will also be available for purchase at the first three meetings. An offering will also be taken eah night to help cover expenses."

The events are also listed on The Straight Way's calendar, though no sponsor is noted by the four events. Such is not the case for Dakdok's remaining event in Minnesota, at the Sawmill in Grand Rapids on June 2; the final event is sponsored by the Grand Rapids, Minnesota, chapter of Act for America!, which describes itself on its website:

ACTing! for Gand [sic] Rapids is a chapter of ACT! for America located in Grand Rapids Minnesota. We are a group of residents of Itasca County who believe, that while every issue has two sides, only one side of the issue of Muslims in America has been presented or allowed to be presented. It is our mission to educate and present the truth to the residents of Itasca County and surrunding [sic] areas about the dangers of bringing in vast numbers of Muslims under the banner of “refugees” and the effect on our communities, society, culture and the values that have made this country great. We are completely non-partisan and we support no political party, elected oficial [sic] or candidate for office. We believe that this issue is neither a Democratic issue nor is it a Republican issue…it is an American issue.

As we noted in our earlier post:

Dakdok spoke in Austin and Rochester in 2011, but gained notoriety in Minnesota after speaking engagements in Bagley and just over the river in Grand Forks provoked protest and conflict. Recent appearances in Bemidji, largely attended by elderly people, went on without protest according to a Forum Communications staff writer's report, 'Islam is a barbaric, savage cult,' Usama Dakdok tells crowd in Bemidji.

Dakdok's provocative talks in Grand Forks earned a place in the Washington Post story, Trump’s effect on Muslim migrant debate reverberates in heartland, which looked at Grand Forks after the appearance of Nazi graffiti on, and firebombing of, the Juba Cafe.

Earlier Dakdok appearances in Greater Minnesota and Grand Forks

Bagley 2013-2014

In Bagley schools deny anti-Islamic speaker, the Grand Fork Herald reported:

Protesters gathered outside the Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Bagley to decry the message of Usama Dakdok.

Originally slated to speak at the Bagley High School from Sunday through Tuesday, Dakdok's location was shifted to the church. The school had received calls from people who disagreed with Dakdok's anti-Islamic message.

"We asked to change the venue to the church because the speaker did not appear to coincide with school district policy," said Steve Cairns, superintendent of Bagley Public Schools. "The appropriateness of the conversation appeared to be more in tune with the church."

Cairns said that after changing the venue, calls from community members both supporting and criticizing the decision were received.

Dakdok spoke at Calvary Evangelical Free Church on Sunday and Monday before a full house, according to a representative of the church, with about a dozen protesters outside. Pastor Rick Moore could not be reached for comment.

"That's why we needed the school," Dakdok said. "We needed more room."

Dakdok describes himself as an Egyptian-born Christian who was taught Islam in a government school in Egypt. He came to the United States in 1992 and has since been preaching his ministry in an effort to "reach out to the Muslim people with the word of Jesus Christ."

Dakdok does not believe his message is inappropriate. He said he only speaks the truth and his ministry, The Straight Way of Grace Ministry, "teaches truth, not hate."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations disagrees. CAIR is an American Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. CAIR-MN claims Dakdok's message, if delivered in an educational facility, would violate the district's harassment and violence policy and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

"By spewing his hate-filled views in a school auditorium, Mr. Dakdok would have created the perception that his bigotry has the endorsement of educational authorities," Lori Saroya, executive director of CAIR-MN, said in a news release. . . .

But the next year, the tables turned, though the divisiveness remained, MPR's John Enger reported in In Bagley, tension over religion and free speech, Muslims and Christians:

For the last year and half, Bagley has been the center of a struggle over religious rights and freedom of speech -- a struggle which has focused unwanted attention on the small northern Minnesota town.

When a Muslim speaker came to the Bagley area to talk about his culture and faith, longtime residents later invited a touring speaker who railed against "the disease of Islam."

To help allay fears about those who practice the faith, half a dozen Muslim teachers and advocates from the Twin Cities are headed to Bagley this Saturday to mingle with locals.

"A lot of people in Bagley haven't really met any Muslims," said Lori Saroya, executive director of the Minnesota branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We want them to see that we're just regular Minnesotans."

Saroya hopes the picnic will put to rest the months of strife sparked innocently enough, in a church basement more than a year ago.

Northern Exposure to Lifelong Learning, a community education program based in Bagley brought in Owais Bayunus, a Muslim speaker to talk about his religion. He spoke in the basement of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. A small crowd showed. He would have come and gone with very little notice, if one member of the audience had not been confused by a few things he said.

Tammy Godwin thought the teacher wasn't clear on who exactly qualified as an "infidel" according to the Quran. She is a evangelical Christian but makes a hobby of researching other religions to see how they differ from her own.

Hoping for clarification, she wrote an email to Usama Dakdok, a Christian who grew up in Egypt and now tours the United states speaking against Islam.

"I had no idea it would turn into the circus it did," she said.

She corresponded with Dakdok for a few weeks and found his arguments against Islam very compelling. She invited Dakdok to speak in Bagley in October of last year and rented the Bagley high school auditorium. But days before he arrived in his RV, CAIR got wind of the event.

Its members sent some letters to the Bagley School District demanding the event be cancelled and district Superintendent Steve Cairns called off Dakdok's speech.

Instead, he spoke at Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Bagley, where Godwin is a member for three nights and a few hundred people.

Outside, there were protesters with signs. From Dakdok's first visit tension in the community escalated.

Lawyers at the Liberty Council working on behalf of Dakdok sent a letter to the Bagley School District demanding he be allowed to speak in the high school auditorium based upon his First Amendment right to free speech. In June the district relented and Dakdok spoke for another three nights.

He was met by larger crowds and even more protesters, including local Rev. Scott Morey who leads three small Lutheran churches in the area. . . .

The presentation is remembered now mostly for one incident. The Star Tribune's Jennifer Brooks reported in Anti-Islam speeches in Bagley decried:

A controversial preacher was scheduled to speak again in Bagley, Minn., Monday night about his belief that Islam is a dangerous cult, despite protests and appeals to the local school district to ban the event from school grounds.

“With the wisdom God gave me I know how bad the disease of Islam is,” Usama Dakdok told the Bemidji Pioneer last week, after the school district reversed course and allowed him to rent the Bagley High School auditorium for his three-day event.

A Muslim woman who attended one of Dakdok’s speeches over the weekend reported that she was harassed by the speaker and his audience, prompting renewed calls for the district to shut down the event.

“We support freedom of speech, and that freedom includes the right to peacefully listen to even hate speech without fear of being set upon by an angry and threatening mob,” Lori Saroya, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Minnesota, said in a statement Monday.

CAIR, a civil rights and legal advocacy group for Minnesota Muslims, described the speech as a “hate event.”

“People were yelling at the Muslim woman, ‘Get out’ and ‘You weren’t invited,’ ” the CAIR news release continued.

The woman, who had participated in a protest outside the venue before the Sunday speech, walked into the auditorium carrying a protest sign, said Bagley Police Chief Larry Peterson, who was called to the school before the speech started and stayed for the duration.

“One side of the coin said she was looking for a seat. The other side of the coin said she was protesting,” Peterson said.

“But nothing got physical. No threats. No mob,” Peterson added. “It was just a discussion initiated by both parties and both parties were participating.” ...

Read the rest at the Strib. Dakdok spoke again in Bagley in 2015.

Grand Forks

In Anti-Islam Christian speaker Usama Dakdok draws protests, crowds in GF; to speak in Bagley Wednesday night, the Grand Forks Herald reported:

Outside of the Empire Arts Center Tuesday, the sidewalk was filled with more than 150 people standing silently in the afternoon sun.

They had marched north on North Fourth Street before turning left toward the theater and filling nearly an entire block.

As cars drove by, some people stood and smiled with their hands in their pockets.

Others stood holding cardboard signs promoting peace, love and coexistence with quotes from the likes of Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr. . . .

Dakdok pulls short passages from both the Bible and Quran and then puts them next to each other to draw his conclusions, one of which was "Allah is Satan" in the opening minutes of his speech.

He employs similar strategies in the “Frequently Asked Questions section: of his website, www.thestraightway.org, which he said he writes the answers to himself. One entry states "Allah desires to fill hell with humans."

He also said that President Barack Obama, as well as his entire family, is Muslim, citing a portion of the Quran that says Muslims can lie about their faith.

Well then. The speaker returned twice in the fall. In early September, the Herald reported that Dakdok back for rebuttal, protesters not. Those who might have protested were at an "event organized by social justice advocates at St. Paul's Episcopal Church to counter Dakdok's event and to promote diversity and compassion" scheduled for the time of the rebuttal.

The meeting is described in Local leaders to hold meeting in response to anti-Islam event.

Unfortunately, some local leaders made the tactical fumble described in Local leaders look to shut down hate speech after anti-Islam speaker visits again, which to concerns about the suppression of free speech. While city council member Bret Weber defended his actions in No one is questioning Dakdok's right to speak, the damage was done and the inflamatory speaker returned for one more 2015 appearance.

His third visit generated headlines like Bjerke, Dakdok team up for freedom of speech event and Council member defends anti-Islam speaker Usama Dakdok, says college is 'dangerous' for free speech. (More dangerous than Iran or North Korea, though we don't think we need to fact-check than hyperbole).

Are Dakdok's St. Cloud hosts hoping for another Grand Forks?

Bluestem suspects that the presumptive Dakdok hosts are hoping for the bone-headed reaction prompted by anti-refugee, former Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California member Ron Branstner scheduled appearance at the Granite VFW post (the post was not a sponsor). The event was cancelled, but another anti-refugee speaker talked.

This prompted a protest first scheduled to be at the VFW, but moved to another location. Regardless, the damage was done: the anti-refugee organizers looked like victims. It was a real-world version of feeding the trolls.

Let's hope that who see Dakdok's interpretation of Islam as error-filed as his claim that President Obama is a Muslim instead spend some time documenting why yelling "Every Muslim is a Demon" is total malarky in advance of his appearances in Bloomington, Duluth and St. Cloud.

Censorship isn't the American answer--criticism is. We can only imagine the whining that those promoting Dakdok's divisive demonizing (literally demonizing) will have about their "free speech rights" when confronted by a few solid factsheets.

Or by the fact-checks that the local paper conducts.

Don't demand that Dakdok not speak. By all means protest. Point out the weaknesses and falsehoods in his claims--and question the need of the "Peace in St. Cloud" organizers to provoke anything but harmony.

Photo: Dakdok in Bemidji.

If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's reporting and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 14, 2016 at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pro-Jeffrey Baumann Brainerd LTE repeats flyer for earlier "Shariah 101" event word-for-word

The casual reader of 'Sharia 101,' Jan Burton's letter to the editor of the Brainerd Dispatch might imagine that the local supporter is simply deeply moved by the topic. Burton writes:

The Brainerd lakes area will soon be graced with Jeffrey Baumann's presentation of "Shariah 101" at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 16, in the Blue Room of Yesterday's Gone . . .

Jeffrey Baumann has gone to great lengths to develop a factual, balanced, neutral, mild, unimpeachable presentation that will garner praise, agreement, and awareness, and it is his hope that this will lead to action.

He had the honor of presenting to a number of elected leaders and alongside internationally known experts on Islam. He is grateful for this opportunity to present "Shariah 101" to the Brainerd lakes area.

As readers can see, the text in bold is taken word-for-word from a poster from an earlier presentation this year. That's the time when he had the "the honor of presenting to a number of elected leaders."

Fortunately, those events were covered by real person, not talking point spewing robots like Burton, and we know that Baumann's content isn't quite "factual, balanced, neutral, mild, [or] unimpeachable."

In Speaker to address Islamic law at St. Cloud event, Kristi Marohn reported:

A presentation on Islamic law scheduled to take place Tuesday in St. Cloud has drawn negative reaction from some who say the speaker is anti-Muslim.

The event, scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at a St. Cloud restaurant, is titled "Shariah 101." A flyer advertising the presentation states that it will focus on "the nature of Sharia law, its connection to Islam, and its relevance to world and local events."

The flyer bills the event as a "factual, balanced, neutral, mild, unimpeachable" presentation. . . .

. . .[T]he presenter is Jeffrey Baumann, who has spoken out against the building of a mosque in the Twin Cities. Minutes from an October 2011 Southwest Metro Tea Party Patriots meeting state that Baumann spoke on "The Threat of Shariah Law" and "painted a frightening picture of what is in store for the U.S. as deference to Islam continues to grow."

So mild. MPR reported on part of the reaction in Legislator rebuked for speaking at event described as anti-Muslim.

In St. Cloud comes to grips with clashes between immigrants, longtime locals, the Strib's Maya Rao reported:

Baumann encouraged people to go to interfaith dialogues and public talks on Islam in Mankato, Brooklyn Park and, next week, at St. Cloud State University. Baumann said that people should go to the foot-washing station at the SCSU student union and use it to “make a scene.” The station was installed in 2001 after a Muslim student slipped and hit her head while washing her feet at a bathroom sink.

“If they’re challenged, ask ‘Is this Muslim-only or is this a public facility?’ ” said Baumann, adding that someone should bring a video camera to make sure that it has an effect.

The four legislators who attended Baumann’s speech were Sens. David M. Brown, R-Becker, and Bruce D. Anderson, R-Buffalo, and Reps. Jim Newberger, R-Becker, and Cindy Pugh, R-Chanhassen.

The Star Tribune's Matt McKinney wrote of the presentation in Anti-Muslim speaking circuit runs through rural Minnesota:

Baumann, who has delivered the presentation for the past five years, cited several Qur’an verses, articles from an oil company magazine and letters written by Muslims to support his contention that Muslims here are on a path to throw out the Constitution and institute sharia. Unless Muslim immigration is stopped and Islam is no longer recognized as a religion deserving of First Amendment freedoms, the country, as it’s known today, will be lost, he said.

Those changes are already taking place in Europe, he added, with an Islamic state soon to take over the democracies of the European Union.

While Baumann suggested several times that Muslims consider themselves justified in killing Christians, he said later he wouldn’t want his audience to react violently. . . .

Other than telling people that Muslims should be stripped of religious rights and urging people to create disturbances, and calling them the "enemy," he's a totally balanced and mild guy.

Photo: the poster for Baumann's January event.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 13, 2016 at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Frac sand digest: Winona Co moves forward on potential ban, a protest, & industry downturn

While the issue of frac sand mining has slipped from the statewide stage, it's still an area of concern for people living in Southeastern Minnesota and their neighbors in Wisconsin and Iowa.

Winona County frac sand ban

On April 26, the Winona Daily News' Glen Olson reported in Winona County board moves forward on frac sand ban, seeks more info:

A frac sand ban in Winona County will get further study, but a final decision isn’t guaranteed.

That was the decision from the Winona County Board of Commissioners Tuesday night, which engaged in an extended discussion prior to the decision that was long and varied, with different solutions presented and a large crowd and vocal public comments.

The board approved a motion by Commissioner Greg Olson to have planning department staff and the county attorney’s office study and prepare language for a frac sand ban, which would include frac sand and frac sand operations, but not other uses of the sand that while common in the area has in recent years become a prized commodity for fracking operations elsewhere in the country.

The motion passed 3-2, with commissioners Greg Olson, Marie Kovecsi and Jim Pomeroy voting in support and commissioners Steve Jacob and Marcia Ward dissenting. The vote kicks off a rigorous review process at the county level that could take months. . . .

Read the rest at the Winona Daily News. The paper has been peppered with letters supporting the ban. In neighboring Houston County, rancor continues over its board's behavior. Michael Fields of Winnebago Township writes the editor of the Caledonia Argus with the recommendation to Throw them out:

Houston County Commissioners Steve Schuldt (Caledonia) and Judy Storlie (La Crescent) are up for re-election in November. Over the years, these two commissioners have demonstrated extremely poor judgement, an apparent inability to balance a checkbook and a dismissive attitude toward the concerns of their constituents.

One infamously notable example was their refusal to ban industrial-scale frac sand mining when they had the chance early last year. An unprecedented 300 people showed up on a Tuesday morning begging them to keep Houston County from looking like the frac sand wastelands of Western Wisconsin. No such luck. Frac sand mining is still not prohibited and we only have to wait for the price of oil to go up before the bluffs start coming down. . . .

Protest in Wisconsin

Chris Hubbach reports in the Houston County News article, Anti-frac coalition calls for mining ban:

Calling silica sand a direct and indirect threat to health, community and the environment, representatives from more than a dozen organizations called for a ban on frac sand mining Monday, the eve of an industry conference in La Crosse.

“Frac sand is a dangerous business on many levels,” said Pat Wilson, chairman of the Coulee Region Sierra Club chapter. . . .

“We think the frac sand industry is destroying the Midwest,” said Ken Tschumper, a member of the Houston County Protectors and an organizer of Monday’s news conference. “We’re going to fight the frac sand industry every step of the way. We’re no longer going to accept regulation.”

Representatives of Minnesota’s Land Stewardship Project cited their 2014 report that found half of the frac sand companies operating in Wisconsin “violated DNR regulations, manipulated local governments, or engage in influence peddling and conflicts of interest.”

“We know regulations do not work in practice,” Winona County resident Lynnea Pfohl said.

Eighteen organizations — ranging from local anti-mining groups to the Ho-Chunk Nation — have formed an alliance supporting silica mining bans at the local and state level across the Driftless region.

Learn more about the coalition and its objections to sand mining in the article.

The paper's coverage from inside the conference wasn't especially cheery either. Hubbach reported Frac industry experts: Not all Wisconsin mines will survive market shift.

Eric Lindquist reported in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram article, Silent sandbox: Once booming frac sand industry continues major downturn:

This should be the time of year when the frac sand mines that dot western Wisconsin are buzzing with activity after a seasonal winter slowdown.

Instead, most of the facilities in the once-booming sand mining sector sit dormant, with skeleton crews occasionally stopping by to ensure the lights are still working and groundwater runoff is properly contained. . . .

The industry slump that led to significant layoffs last year has prompted even more job losses in 2016. Among the publicly reported cutbacks:

• Fairmount Santrol filed documents with the state Department of Workforce Development last month indicating it would eliminate 55 workers at facilities in Menomonie, Maiden Rock and Hagar City.

• Superior Silica, a subsidiary of Emerge Energy Services, notified DWD in March it was permanently laying off 69 employees, including some who already had been laid off temporarily. The layoffs affected sites in New Auburn, Prairie Farm, Chetek, Barron and three in Clayton.

• Unimin Corp. told DWD in March it would shut down its frac sand mining operation in Tunnel City and lay off 65 workers.

In reality, the cutbacks run deeper because of the impact on other companies that supply goods and services to regional frac sand operations.

Wisconsin employment through Superior Silica, for instance, peaked at 420 people, including subcontractors, but has now plummeted to about 70 as the company rides out the industry slowdown, said Sharon Masek, manager of mine planning and industrial relations for Superior Silica in the state.

While some of those jobs will return as the boom-and-bust cycle of the oil industry starts to boom again, frac sand mining opponents suggest that a future of renewable energy would provide a more sustainable and stable future for area workers while also preserving the region's farming, water quality and natural beauty.

In the Winona Daily News, Donna Buckabee points out that We're all part of the frac sand problem:

When people go to rallies and hearings to speak up for our beautiful planet and against frac sand mining, inevitably some smug fool will ask, “How did you get here?”

We are all part of the problem, and we all need to change. But the question “How did we get here?” really needs to be about something more profound than our mode of transportation to a rally. Instead, we need to start asking, “How did we as a people get so dependent on fossil fuels that we are willing to destroy the planet for future generations?”

Surely, in the early days of fossil fuel extraction no one intentionally set out to destroy Earth. But early on, even a fool had to see that oil ruins water. Knowing that one simple fact forced us to choose: find a clean, sustainable way to live on Earth or learn to love lies and live in denial. . . .

Read the rest at the Daily News.

Photo: A frac sand mine

If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 13, 2016 at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New report spotlights effects on rural kids from pesticides used in Minnesota's food system

Red Lake Nation News picks the story of a New Report: Agricultural Pesticides Increasingly Linked to Childhood Cancers and Neurological Harm, released by the Pesticide Action Network, Toxic Taters, Land Stewardship Project and the White Earth Recovery Project.

From the article:

A new report released today spotlights pesticides used in the food system in Minnesota and the harmful effects they are having on children in the state and nationwide. In particular, the report finds that those children living or attending school near agricultural fields face some of the greatest risk of exposure from pesticides linked to cancers and impacts on the developing brain.

In Minnesota, rural community groups including Toxic Taters, White Earth Land Recovery Project, and Land Stewardship Project are collaborating with Pesticide Action Network to release the report in north central Minnesota communities that are surrounded by RD Offutt’s potato fields. . . .

Kids on the Frontline provides a rigorous assessment of dozens of independent studies, reviewed by leading academic experts in the field. The report finds that the research has grown increasingly strong surrounding the links between pesticides used in food production and cancers—particularly leukemia and brain tumors— as well as the risk of developmental disorders or delays, including autism spectrum disorders.

“Children in agricultural communities are on the frontline of exposure to pesticides that don’t respect boundaries,” said Emily Marquez, PhD, an endocrinologist and staff scientist at PAN, as well as one of the authors of the report. “Pesticides linked to cancer and neurological harm travel through air, water and dust and end up in homes and schools, and eventually in children’s bodies.”

The challenges children face are part of what leading researchers have termed a “silent pandemic” of diseases driven by environmental factors, including pesticides. Rates of childhood leukemia and brain tumors have risen forty-plus percent in the last fifty years and one in every six U.S. children are now diagnosed with one or more developmental disabilities.

“As a mom in greater Minnesota, I worry about the effects that pesticides could have on my toddler's health and brain development,” said Noelle Harden of Vergas, a Minnesota town surrounded by potato, corn, and soybean fields. “Because of where I choose to live, or what my neighbor chooses to spray, my kid could be affected for the rest of his life. That's a disturbing thought for a parent.”

Learn more in the report below.

Here's the Minnesota factsheet:

Kids on the Frontline-MN Factsheet

Here's the report:

Kids on the Frontline--Full Report

Photo: A cropduster plane spraying pesticides. Via PAN.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 12, 2016 at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Lifted from Stateline: Sting Operation

The May 2016 State Legislatures Magazine Stateline: Legislative News From Around The Nation includes this item:

2. Sting Operation

Call it a honey of a deal. Two Minnesota beekeepers whose hives were damaged by pesticides from a nearby farm received compensation from the state under a system created by the Legislature two years ago. Representative Rick Hansen (D), who sponsored the bill that created the system, says the result for the beekeepers was a national first and could serve as a precedent in a larger battle against neonicotinoids, a controversial group of insecticides thought to be connected to the decline of bees and other pollinating insects. “This is the first action of any state, a finding of fact, that neonicotinoids are harmful to bees,” he said.

Stateline is published by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Star Tribune's Josephine Marcotty reported on the case in In win for beekeepers, Minnesota links insecticide to damaged hives:

In the first test of a landmark environmental law, Minnesota has compensated two beekeepers whose hives were severely damaged last spring by toxic dust that drifted off the fields of a neighbor planting corn.

Investigators from the state Department of Agriculture confirmed, in effect, what beekeepers have been saying for years: Even when used according to law, the most widely used class of insecticides in the world are acutely toxic to honeybees under routine circumstances.

Even more importantly, said state Sen. Rick Hansen, the finding marks a precedent in the ongoing national fight over the controversial group of insecticides called neonicotinoids, which have been implicated in the decline of bees and other wild pollinating insects.

“This is the first action of any state, a finding of fact, that neonicotinoids are harmful to bees,” said Hansen, who sponsored the 2014 law that created the compensation system. “Once you have a state compensating people for a loss, it’s real.”

An official with Bayer CropScience, which makes the insecticide, said he is not familiar with the case and could not comment. . . .

Read the rest at the Strib.

Photo: Honeybees.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 11, 2016 at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jeffrey Bauman's Islamophobic "Sharia 101" heads north to the Brainerd Lakes area

In an April 22 letter to the editor of the Brainerd Dispatch, conservative activist Daryl Bahma invites readers to another Jeffrey Bauman "Sharia 101" talk on May 16 at Brainerd's Yesterday's Gone bar.

Bahma prefaces the invite with this paranoid notion of immigrant and refugee resettlement:

Liberal opinions continue to promote importation of eastern immigrants. Our society is in danger of collapse from this excessive infiltration. This has become one of the largest drains on our national economy. We must stop this excessive giveaway of our tax money to these refugees.

They must be screened at the highest level to keep out the unwanted who do not want to work or become a productive part of our society. Their intent is to overwhelm us and then out vote us to establish their society governed by Sharia law.

We looked at Bauman's beliefs and his influence on some conservative Republican lawmakers back in January's post, St. Cloud disunity: where'd those MN lawmakers get that wild & crazy anti-Sharia bill anyway?

The upcoming talk has not been been universally welcome. In the Morrison County Record, Ft. Ripley resident Larry Fisk writes in Area Tea Party promotes misinformation, intolerance:

Though sincere, the Tea Party’s guest columnist in the May 1 issue of the Record and Islamaphobe speaker Ron Brantsner promote intolerance and misinformation. . . .

. . .Anti-Muslim fear, prejudice and rumor are now a part of Central Minnesota life. Another Islamaphobe will speak in Brainerd this month.

A vigil was held in opposition to Brantsner’s speech in Little Falls and to show support for our Muslim neighbors. The positive reaction we received from many (not all) passersby and the spontaneous participation by some showed that many in our area are upset by the ignorance and prejudiced thinking exemplified by such events.

Many of us welcome Muslims to our area and feel that diversity enriches the community. Muslims cannot and will not “take over America,” but they will, with the great diversity within Islam of race, national origin and culture, be a part of the fabric of American life.

Tom West and the Morrison County Record deserve credit for supporting tolerance, reason and fact over fear and rumor.

Photo: Jeffrey Bauman stirring the pot.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 11, 2016 at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Minnesota nice rural values celebrated in homemade Trump sign beside Nicollet Co 13

Returning home on the main detour between St. Peter and Mankato for MNDOT's Hwy 169 Minnesota River Flood Mitigation project, a reader snapped the above photo of homemade Trump sign beside Nicollet County 13.

He was struck because the other side that he saw driving north on Tuesday was much more genteel:

A lifelong resident of rural south central Minnesota, our friend noted in the subject line of the email containing the photos, "Race is getting tough already."

We're not sure we can top that observation.

Brief history of a vulgar slogan

The slogan isn't an official part of the campaign--but it's been spotted as far back as 2015. In February, the Texas Tribune's Sara Stevenson reported in Donald Trump and the end of civility:

This political season differs from any other I remember, and I’ve been paying attention since the Reagan years. Driving around Central Austin, I have seen two bumper stickers that illustrate this point: "Trump the Bitch" and "Up Yours, Hillary."

In terms of crude sexism, I’ve never witnessed anything like it. Even the racist insults against Obama never made it to bumper stickers, at least not in inner Austin. . . .

More recently, Fortune's Kristen Bellstrom reported in Trump Supporters Are Selling 'Trump That Bitch' T-Shirts Featuring Hillary Clinton:

Donald Trump supporters have gotten a lot of attention for scary, violent behavior at rallies for the candidate. But as the general election is looking increasingly likely to boil down to a face-off between Trump and Hillary Clinton, a new facet of the GOP frontrunner’s base is surfacing: misogyny.

On Monday, Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani, a host at HuffPost live, tweeted a picture of a t-shirt being sold at a Trump event in Rhode Island. The shirt reads, “Trump That Bitch,” and includes photos of Trump and Clinton. . . .

Campaign merch hits a new low.

Donald Trump supporters have gotten a lot of attention for scary, violent behavior at rallies for the candidate. But as the general election is looking increasingly likely to boil down to a face-off between Trump and Hillary Clinton, a new facet of the GOP frontrunner’s base is surfacing: misogyny.

On Monday, Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani, a host at HuffPost live, tweeted a picture of a t-shirt being sold at a Trump event in Rhode Island. The shirt reads, “Trump That Bitch,” and includes photos of Trump and Clinton.

Unfortunately, the shirt isn’t a one-off. Versions have turned up at prior rallies, including a March 13 event in Bloomington, Ind.

A quick Google search turns up a number of shirts, bumper stickers—even a bottle of hot sauce—with the same disturbing phrase.

While none of this merch is officially sanctioned by the Trump campaign, it has been highly visible at campaign events—and even acknowledged by the candidate himself.

In February, Trump reacted a “Trump that bitch” bumper sticker, which was being held aloft by someone in the crowd. You can watch a YouTube video of his response below:

“This can only happen at a Trump rally,” he says, laughing. Recalling the criticism he faced after failing to challenge a town hall attendee who insisted that President Obama is a Muslim, Trump jokingly chided the sticker holder. “Sir, you’re reprimanded, okay?” he said. “But we’re not throwing him out, right folks?”

The anti-Clinton merch raises the same question that surfaced in the wake of violence at Trump rallies: To what extent is the candidate responsible for the behavior of his following? For many, Trump crossed a line when he encouraged supporters to physically remove protesters from his events, promising to defend them in court if necessary.

While snickering at the bumper sticker doesn’t rise to the level of inciting violence, it certainly does nothing to discourage the misogyny of its sentiment. Indeed, it might even be read as an endorsement.

Given that that stretch of road in Nicollet County is served in the Minnesota Senate by Senator Kathy Sheran (and Julie Rosen's district is next door) we do have to wonder whether an attack on a strong woman will get much traction on that stretch of the prairie.

Photos: Trump sign on Nicollet County Road 13.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 10, 2016 at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What will be MN's legacy? On White Earth Nation's control of Wild Rice River Watershed

Yesterday, the Minnesota House defeated an amendment to the Outdoor Heritage Bill offered by state representative John Persell, DFL-Bemidji, that would undo changes to a proposal by White Earth Nation of Ojibwe to preserve critical wildlife habitat in the Wild Rice River Watershed.

Earlier, a House committee had taken future ownership and control of the property from native hands and give it to the state Department of Natural Resources. While those advocating state ownership deny they are anti-Indian, Bluestem sides with critics of the plan for DNR control as being discriminatory.

In session today, the Minnesota Senate, whose version leaves the White Earth-developerd proposal in Ojibwe control, noted that the House version did not concur, setting the stage for a conference committee. The senate members appointed to the conference committee are chief author Tom Saxhaug, DFL-Grand Rapids; Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin; Tony Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria; and, Richard Cohen, DFL-St. Paul.

It's likely that the House conferees will be appointed when the body meets in session on Wednesday. We'll update this post with their names and links to their contact information.

UPDATE: The House conferees are Denny McNamara, R-Hastings; Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City; Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska; Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa; and, Leon Lillie, DFL-North St. Paul. If you support White Earth's position, you can find their contact info by clicking on the link for each member's name. Email or call; be polite and precise. If you call, you may talk to a legislative aide; be polite to the staff. [end update]

Why ask the conferees to keep a project developed by White Earth Nation in White Earth's hands? If simple fairness isn't enough to persuade, Bluestem recommends watching the House floor debate over the Persell Amendment. Following Persell's explanation of the amendment, Representative Peggy Flanagan, DFL-St. Louis Park and an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, offers an informed and passionate argument for Persell's language.

Here's the video:

Legacy: a blog post by Chris Knopf

A second fine argument for White Earth's case? Chris Knopf's Guest Blog: What Will Be Minnesota’s Legacy? at Healing Minnesota Stories. Knopf works for the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, but posted the entry in the capacity of concerned citizen. He writes:

. . . Within the next two weeks, the Minnesota Legislature and Governor Mark Dayton will determine Minnesota’s legacy with respect to the opportunity to protect the natural resources of our state. At issue is 2,000 acres of forests, prairie, and wetlands in northwest Minnesota, efforts by the White Earth Nation to protect it, and efforts by some state leaders to block Native American access to Legacy Funds to buy it.

The land has excellent habitat for gray wolves, black bears, whitetail deer, bald eagles, golden-winged warblers, and many other species. Meandering through part of the property is the Wild Rice River, which feeds nearby Lower Rice Lake, one of the most productive wild-rice lakes in the entire state.

The land is within White Earth Reservation, established by an 1867 treaty between the United States government and the Ojibwe people. Originally, the Ojibwe owned the land collectively, but this changed with the passage of federal laws in the late 19th century, which transferred the land from communal ownership to allotments of 80 acres to individual adult Ojibwe.

In other parts of the country, European Americans eyed Indian land for farming or mining; at White Earth, they focused on timber. By 1900, the St. Croix River Valley had been depleted of good commercial timber and the timber companies looked westward to White Earth. At that time, Minnesota was home to three of the four largest lumber mills in the world and they needed to be fed.

Once reservation lands had been transferred to individual ownership, private companies had various ways of securing it. At White Earth, the primary means of prying land ownership from the Ojibwe was by means of a mortgage. Timber interests typically paid an Ojibwe individual about $275 to secure a mortgage on the 80-acre allotment with the interest due in advance. In a non-cash economy, the Ojibwe had no way to make the mortgage payments. With a three-year period from roughly 1906 to 1909, 85 percent of the land within the approximately 1,300-square-mile reservation passed from Indian to non-Indian ownership. Included in this transfer was the 2,000 acres White Earth now seeks for environmental protection,

The land loss at White Earth remains one of the bleakest chapters of Minnesota’s history.

Fast forward a century to 2008. Minnesota voters, including members of White Earth Nation, overwhelmingly passed the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. The Legacy Amendment aspires to create a better future for all Minnesotans by providing funds to protect natural resources, create parks and trails, and support the arts.

In 2014, White Earth Nation applied for a $2.2 million Legacy grant to buy and protect the 2,000 acres, which remains owned by a timber company. White Earth Nation would permanently protect the land’s wildlife habitat. White Earth Nation has also agreed that the land would be open to hunting by all Minnesotans – both tribal and non-tribal members.

A citizen-legislative council recommended that White Earth Nation receive the Legacy grant. However, in the spring of 2015, the Minnesota Legislature stripped White Earth Nation’s project from the Legacy funding package, the only project to be removed.

Undaunted, White Earth Nation again applied for a Legacy grant to buy and protect the 2,000 acres. Once again, a citizen-legislative council recommended that White Earth Nation receive the grant.

Unfortunately, this spring, the Minnesota House of Representatives once again stripped White Earth Nation from the funding bill. In a revealing twist, the project itself remains in the bill; however, the House of Representatives removed White Earth Nation as the grant recipient and, instead, substituted the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The House took this action even though DNR did not apply for the Legacy grant and White Earth Nation has an agreement to buy the land from its current landowner. This action by the House makes it unambiguously clear that the legislative body considers the land worthy of protection, but does not feel that an American Indian nation, White Earth Nation, is worthy of receiving the Legacy funds.

All is not lost. White Earth Nation remains in the Senate version of the Legacy bill. In the upcoming days, the Senate and House will form a conference committee to reconcile the two versions of the bill. If the Senate and Governor Dayton remain steadfast in their support, White Earth will receive the Legacy grant and protect the 2,000 acres.

So what will be Minnesota’s legacy?

Will it be a legacy of exclusion in which our most powerful elected state officials prevent an American Indian nation from receiving Legacy funds? Or will it be a legacy of inclusion in which American Indian people have the equal opportunity to protect our shared natural resources?

We will know the answer by May 23rd, the day on which the Minnesota Legislature adjourns. . . . .

Legacy: the White Earth proposal

Need to know more about White Earth's proposal? Check out our post from August 2015: White Earth Nation re-submits Wild Rice River forest habitat project to Lessard-Sams Council.

Knopf suggests contacting the governor, your state senator and your state rep; find their contact info here. Bluestem thinks that a polite note to each of the conference committee members supporting White Earth Nation control of the project is in order if you support the band.

Photo: A trumpeter swan on wetlands in the proposed legacy lands. Via the proposal.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 10, 2016 at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Does Minnesota House Public Safety Chair Tony Cornish post photos to Facebook while driving?

Late last month, reader Joe McLean shared the images at the top of this post and the text below on Facebook:

Link to MPR article in first comment.

Good for law enforcement. Everyone should be excited about this new approach to educate the public on distracted driving laws. Hopefully it will move the needle.

Our son is one year from driver’s education. He is attached to his device. My wife and I are very mindful of the example we set for our children. If only more people were. People like the House Chair of the Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance, Rep. Tony Cornish (R) District 23B.

Cornish forwarded bills from his committee that increase penalties for distracted driving. His son is a State Trooper and Rep. Tony Cornish frequently cites his own experience in law enforcement.

However, I find it troubling that Rep. Cornish can’t refrain from posting on Facebook while he is behind the wheel. Three of these images are from his personal FB page.

• On April 17, Rep. Cornish documented himself on a highway overpass handing a homeless man a dollar.
• On April 8, Rep. Cornish posted an image on FB while waiting for a stop light in Rosemont, MN.
• On March 11, Rep. Cornish posted an image on FB while driving to a casino in Hinckley, MN.

Am I alone here or is Rep. Cornish breaking the law he helps to create?

He notes that he'd pitched these images to the media before coming to Bluestem but got little interest. We're posting because we'd wondered about Cornish's posts to Facebook over a year earlier.

In MN House Public Safety Chair absolutely could not have posted Facebook photo while driving, we had examined an earlier case of Cornish facebooking while driving:

Bluestem loves to read State Representative Tony Cornish's Facebook page, with its lively discourse about life and politics. . . .

But the photo from his page that we've screengrabbed and posted above caused us to pause. Not because Cornish (R-Vernon Center) declares that the woman is in need of prayer (isn't eveyone?) or the comments about the bumpersticker, but that the photo was taken while someone--presumably the state representative, a retired lawman who serves as the chairman of the Minnesota House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee--while driving.

We can't say with any certainty that the photo was posted to Facebook while the driver-photographer was still driving. Bluestem believes that he must have waited to post the image and the prayer request after he arrived at his destination.

What's the problem? Minnesota Statute 169.47 states:

For purposes of this section, "electronic message" means a self-contained piece of digital communication that is designed or intended to be transmitted between physical devices. An electronic message includes, but is not limited to, e-mail, a text message, an instant message, a command or request to access a World Wide Web page, or other data that uses a commonly recognized electronic communications protocol. An electronic message does not include voice or other data transmitted as a result of making a phone call, or data transmitted automatically by a wireless communications device without direct initiation by a person.

Subd. 2.Prohibition on use.

No person may operate a motor vehicle while using a wireless communications device to compose, read, or send an electronic message, when the vehicle is in motion or a part of traffic.

§Subd. 3 .Exceptions.

This section does not apply if a wireless communications device is used:

(1) solely in a voice-activated or other hands-free mode;

(2) for making a cellular phone call;

(3) for obtaining emergency assistance to (i) report a traffic accident, medical emergency, or serious traffic hazard, or (ii) prevent a crime about to be committed;

(4) in the reasonable belief that a person's life or safety is in immediate danger; or

(5) in an authorized emergency vehicle while in the performance of official duties.

Given the different angles in the four photos above (which suggest the device isn't hands-free), it's looking more and more as if the Chair of the Minnesota Public Safety Committee is indeed playing with social media while driving.

He should knock that off--even the appearance of flouting the law.

Photos: Screenshot from Cornish's Facebook page.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 09, 2016 at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rep. Torkelson dismisses concerns about nitrates in Minnesota's drinking water

In a May 3 discussion with Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Weber and Representative Rick Hansen, DFL-S. St.Paul, Representative Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, dismissed concerns about nitrates and drinking water quality.

In the discussion (audio here) Torkelson claims that the problem of nitrates in drinking water is an isolated problem that's no threat. Around the 7:40 minute mark, Hansen calls nitrates in drinking water the iceberg beneath the surface in terms of infrastructure needs. With more detection of nitrates and more research into data that the legislature funded, the suburban Democrat says, there's more need to mitigate.

Around 9:52, Torkelson says, "The nitrate issue is a very complicated one. Nitrogen moves with water but it comes from a variety of sources and it can be in the ground for a long times before it shows up in any water system. And I'd like to remind folks that we do not have any systems that I know of --any municipal systems in Minnesota that have high nitrates. They're tested regularly and they meet the requirement. So they're safe. Minnesota's drinking water is safe. . . .

Weber reminds Torkelson that the only reason the water is safe in some communities is because "you've had to take that extra step of adding the infrastructure to treat the water.

At 10:55, Torkelson replies, "True, but it's a very small number of communities, it's quite isolated at this time and I don't anticipate that it's going to be a broad concern."

Here's the Minnesota Department Department of Health's page on Nitrates in Drinking Water. In the Pioneer Press, Christopher Magan reported in the 2015 article Minnesota water quality: What are we drinking?:

Tim Figge won’t let his grandchildren drink water from his home.

Like a growing number of Minnesotans, the Dakota County resident has seen the nitrate level in his private well water increase to unsafe heights.

In 1988, nitrate in his well at his home outside Hastings registered below 1 milligram per liter, but by 2013, it had spiked to 10 milligrams per liter, a level considered unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“I’m 62, so I’m not going anywhere,” Figge said. “But I would like to see my grandchildren drink water from Grandpa’s tap, and that’s not happening right now.”

As Minnesota looks to protect and improve the quality of its drinking water, rising nitrate levels are emerging as a growing and costly challenge to homeowners and municipalities alike.

Nearly 100,000 Minnesotans in more than a dozen communities and an unknown number of private well owners have already had to address unsafe levels of nitrates in their drinking water.

The cost of these fixes can range from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars per household depending on the level of contamination and what needs to be done. The city of Hastings, for example, spent $3.5 million to upgrade its treatment facilities to reduce nitrates in its drinking water, while on the individual level, private well owners such as Figge can spend $700 to install a reverse-osmosis system to do the same.

The Minnesota Department of Health reported in May that a 2014 study of nearly 1,000 communities across the state found more than 60 had elevated nitrate levels — 3 milligrams per liter or more — in their drinking water. Fifteen had levels of 10 milligrams per liter or more — concentrations that can be dangerous for infants and pregnant women. . . .

Several communities with elevated nitrate levels draw their drinking water from the Prairie du Chien-Jordan Aquifer, which lies beneath much of southern Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. About two-thirds of Twin Cities communities tap aquifers for their water, too.

In the east metro, cities from Scandia and Lake Elmo to Hastings and Rosemount have all reported elevated nitrate levels in their drinking water sources. And Hastings probably has been the hardest hit.

A little more than a decade ago, Hastings saw nitrate levels in its groundwater rise toward unsafe levels. City officials believed farm runoff, likely delivered to the aquifer by the Vermillion River that cuts through miles of farmland, was to blame. In 2008, the city spent $3.5 million on a water-treatment plant upgrade to lower nitrate levels, an estimated cost of $410 per household.

That bought what Mark Peine, the city’s public works supervisor, described as essentially a “very large water softener,” which uses positively charged ions to remove nitrates from the city’s source water. Today, Hastings’ treated drinking water has a nitrate concentration of about 4 milligrams per liter, down from more than 8 milligrams per liter before the plant upgrade.

Although nitrate levels in the city’s water before treatment appear to be on the decline, Peine said Hastings is ready with plans for more treatment upgrades should they be necessary. “We are watching it very closely,” he said.

Other communities are doing the same.

In Rosemount, public works director Patrick Wrase said the city’s wells in residential areas test well below the standard for nitrate. However, nitrate levels increase in water samples taken from wells in the more undeveloped parts of town to the east toward Hastings. . . .

The MPCA noted in Contaminated groundwater concerns mount in Minnesota:

Groundwater contamination is a growing concern that should be on everyone’s radar, according to MPCA scientists. Three out of four Minnesotans get their drinking water from groundwater sources. However, unlike our lakes, rivers and streams, groundwater is largely out of sight. . . .

Nitrate is one of the most common contaminants in Minnesota’s groundwater and comes from sources like agricultural fertilizers and animal manure. Up to 60 percent of the groundwater samples from monitoring wells in central Minnesota are contaminated with nitrate well beyond the safe drinking water standard. Drinking water contaminated with nitrate can lead to illnesses such as Blue Baby Syndrome, a fatal blood disorder in infants.

Some of the affected cities include Becker, Clear Lake, Cold Spring, Hastings, Goodhue, Adrian and Park Rapids. City officials in those areas have explored treatment options, including distributing bottled water to residents, drilling new wells, and building new reverse-osmosis water treatment plants. Many small cities are spending millions to address the problem. . . .

This isn't the first time we've seen Torkelson dismiss data and research. As we noted in Rep claims there's no scientific evidence barring pollinator-lethal pesticides helps pollinators, Torkelson denied evidence that had been presented by scientists at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Pollinators' Summit.

If these incidents are features of Torkelson's use of evidence and data to make decisions, we tremble at the thought of the shape his "dessert" bonding bill may take. Whenever it is he chooses to share with the rest of us.

As one of Governor Dayton's communications staffers tweeted today:

Biggest revelation at today's news conference was that @kdaudt and @Paul_Torkelson have a $600 million bill. Won't release it to the public
— Linden Zakula (@lindenzakula) May 9, 2016

Meme: Breaking News Generator, photo of Torkelson from his twitter account.

If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 09, 2016 at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MN public disclosure board allows lawyer to pull lobbyist registration for private bullet train group

Reading through the minutes for the March 1, 2016 meeting of the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, we came across this approved request (page 6):

Mr. Fisher told members that on April 15, 2015, Mr. [Benjamin] Skjold registered on behalf of the North American High Speed Rail Group, LLC with the belief that he would lobby on its behalf. However, Mr. Skjold never undertook any lobbying efforts on behalf of the association, was never paid by the association, and never made any disbursements for lobbying purposes. Mr. Fisher said that because Mr. Skjold was not required to have been registered as a lobbyist on the association’s behalf, he was asking to withdraw his lobbyist registration. Mr. Fisher stated that Mr. Skjold had yet to file a lobbyist report for the second half of 2015 and that any late filing fee that would otherwise accrue on this report would be waived if the request was granted.

According to his Linked In profile, Skjold was a member of the Foley & Mansfield law firm. Foley and Manfield is listed as Outside General Legal Counsel in the 2015 business plan that the North American High Speed Rail Group, LLC submitted to the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2015. Bluestem uploaded the document here.

However, Skjold now runs a private practice, according to the Linked In profile. Elsewhere online, in a panelist bio for the September 29, 2015 Continuing Legal Education panel, The FUTURE of Due Diligence: Integrating Quantitative Analysis to Mitigate Environmental Risk, the attorney-panel's bio begins:

Mr. Skjold is General Counsel to North American High Speed Rail Group, LLC, which is in a significant growth mode establishing rail corridors and developing transit oriented real estate throughout the country. Mr. Skjold also maintains a private practice where he regularly counsels clients on a wide array of corporate and securities matters, including private financings, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance. He has an active banking practice, where he has represented some of the largest banks in the country along with numerous regional banks and credit unions.

The panel was part of the Environmental Compliance and Commitment Legal Summit in New York City.

We certainly hope that he's been paid for being the private passenger rail group's general counsel. Readers may remember Heather Carlson's January Political Notebook blog post, Michael: I wasn't paid by private group for consulting work:

Olmsted County rail consultant Chuck Michael said he was not paid by the private company seeking to build a high-speed rail line from Rochester to the Twin Cities.

Michael sent an email to the Post-Bulletin following an article published that reported Michael did some consulting work for North American High Speed Rail Group last year. In the email, Michael wrote, "you should be interested to know that my total compensation from NAHSR was $0."

We begin to wonder whether this is an all-volunteer outfit trying to build a multi-billion dollar private rail line.

Wendy Meadley, the Chief Strategic Officer of the NAHSRG, registered with the CFB as a lobbyist for the organization on September 8, 2015. According to page 9 of the Board's March 1 minutes, Meadley paid a $100 late filing fee for the January 15, 2016 Lobbyist Disbursement Report.

Finally, the corporation's filing with the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office still lists Joseph Sperber as registered agent and manager. As we noted back in January, the Post Bulletin reported that he had left the company back in December.

Photo: Wendy Meadley, North American High Speed Rail Group officer and lobbyist.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 09, 2016 at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dennison mayor: "way too many infrastructure needs in state to play usual political games"

In the Session Daily article, Republicans respond to failed Senate bonding bill, we read:

It came down to a single vote.

Republicans gathered outside the State Office Building Thursday afternoon to provide reaction to the Senate failing to pass a $1.8 billion bonding bill by a single vote. . . .

While the House has yet to unveil its capital investment bill, it is expected to be in the neighborhood of $600 million and could contain some funding for road and bridge projects.

At the Pioneer Press, Bill Salisbury has more in No Minnesota bonding bill this year? With Senate defeat, maybe:

Dozens of financially strapped rural Minnesota cities would be on their own to repair or replace substandard sewer and water systems — if they could afford it. . . .

If there’s no bonding bill this year, Management Budget’s Frans said the biggest loss would be clean water. “In light of the Flint, Mich., (lead contamination) situation, clean and affordable water is so critical,” he said.

Gov. Mark Dayton proposed spending $220 million on sewer and drinking water projects, saying they will be a top priority during his final three years in office.

Frans said state funding is especially critical for rural towns with aging systems and small tax bases. Without state money, those communities would have to borrow money at high interest rates or charge their residents higher water fees, “and they’re already paying about as much as some of those people can afford,” he said.

The House's mysterious dollar figure helped draw a letter to the editor from Dennison mayor Jeffrey Platen to the Red Wing Republican Eagle, Bonding bill indicative of connectedness. Platen writes in part:

. . .As mayor of a small town, I believe it’s my duty to ensure the drinking water is safe and our infrastructure is maintained properly.

The Flint, Mich., water crisis is a reminder that our water systems shouldn’t be taken for granted. We are all interconnected, whether we like it or not. That’s why I’ll keep fighting for my small town and others throughout the state.

I appreciate the support from Gov. Mark Dayton and the lieutenant governor for our bonding request.

I’m not sure how large the final state bonding bill will be, but the initial amount proposed by the House Republicans is totally unacceptable. The bonding bill and our project shouldn’t be a partisan battle. We have way too many infrastructure needs in this state to play the usual political games.

Platen is mayor of Dennison, population 215, that's located on the western edge of Goodhue County. Since we haven't seen the House Republicans' bonding bill, it's impossible to say with certainty that the small town will be left to fend for itself, but perhaps after this vote, we'll hear less about how Democrats are leaving Greater Minnesota behind.

Photo: Mayor Jeffrey Flaten climbs down to check the pumps in the city's sewer lift station (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 08, 2016 at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kandiyohi Co rejects anti-refugee resettlement gadfly's request for extremist grandstanding

On Tuesday, Bluestem took A look at the floor debate: non-profit refugee resettlement program audit amendment fails. One of the things we noted was that amendment author Representative Steve Drazkowski stated the week before that Kandiyohi County was among local government interested in the audit.

We found no evidence that the county board supported this notion--which the Republican controlled Minnesota House rejected in a 94-36 roll call vote. We speculated that Draz was thinking of Bob Enos, whom Willmar voters declined to elect to anything.

Unbeknownst to us, the Kandiyohi County Board had addressed a request from Bob Enos earlier that morning. In the West Central Tribune, Anna Polta reports in Willmar man won’t get County Board forum for refugee concerns:

A Willmar man won’t get the platform he sought to talk to the Kandiyohi County Board about refugee resettlement outcomes.

But Board Chairman Roger Imdieke said Robert Enos could submit a documented proposal for discussion, and he urged citizens to talk to their county commissioner if they had concerns about local issues.

At their meeting Tuesday, the County Commissioners took the rare step of responding publicly to Enos with a three-page prepared statement read at the end of the meeting by Board Chairman Roger Imdieke.

The statement said it wasn’t the county’s responsibility “to provide a public stage to those who have an ax to grind with the state of Minnesota and/or the federal government. To do so would result in chaos.”

Citizens who have concerns about issues that fall under county government jurisdiction may bring them forward in a proposal for the County Board to consider, the statement said.

Polta notes later in the article that a board member had asked "Enos to provide a copy of the refugee resettlement report but Enos did not do so."

It does not appear to be Enos' message that is generated the response, rather Enos' demand that he be given a special place on the board's agenda that would not be accorded to any other Kandiyohi County citizens, who are all asked to supply documented proposals for board consideration.

While we favor public comment periods for boards and councils, Enos isn't being singled out here. He's not that special.

Enos has a tendency to attempt to control the frame and flow of information. Enos referred the paper to interviews he had held on St. Cloud radio stations; one can listen to the April 15 podcasts (here and here) of one show, Ox in the Afternoon. It's pretty much Enos' standard schtick. He discusses a report but doesn't provide a URL for its location.

Polta continues:

“That will give the Board of Commissioners an opportunity to read and discuss the proposed resolution. Then, if needed, we have the opportunity to invite citizens and experts to our board meeting to present reasoned and balanced positions on the merits of the proposal,” Imdieke said in the board’s statement.

Enos had contacted the County Board last month, asking to be placed on the agenda to share what he described as new information from St. Paul and Washington, D.C., about refugee resettlement outcomes in Minnesota.

It wasn’t the first time Enos has raised refugee resettlement issues with the board. In July 2015 he came unannounced to a board meeting and delivered a 13-minute speech, warning the commissioners about the cost of refugee resettlement in Kandiyohi County and urging the county to conduct an audit to determine its financial exposure.

A video excerpt of his appearance before the board showed up the next day on YouTube, purportedly posted by the Center for Security Policy, a think tank that according to its website is focused on identifying “challenges and opportunities likely to affect American security.” The organization is listed as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Enos also has spoken in St. Cloud about refugee resettlement and reportedly has ties with Ron Branstner, a St. Cloud businessman [he's a car salesman, the Star Tribune reported] and anti-immigration activist. . . .

Enos discusses his warm friendship with Brantsner at the beginning of the April 15 Ox In the Afternoon podcast segment 1.

The article closes with statistics about refugee health screenings by Kandiyohi County Public Health, conducted for the Minnesota Refugee Health program which show a steady rise in refugee health visits over the past five years.

Despite the efforts on Enos and Branstner to stir the pot, Willmar remains a relatively inclusive community. MPR reported in 2102 that Willmar showing the way to a more diverse Minnesota. In December 2015, the Tribune reported Muslims in Willmar say life here has remained peaceful, free of harassment; most of Willmar's Muslims are Somali people.

An an attempt on social media to fearmonger about the city's Somali residents drew the rebuke from the editorial board of the paper, Our fair city of Willmar is doing just fine, thank you. The editorial drew a fond letter from Governor Mark Dayton, Kudos on defending Willmar immigrants.

Life isn't perfect in West Central Minnesota for refugees, but many people have worked to make the town more inclusive--from Willmar High School superstar and student group organizer Muna Abdulahi to work by Willmar Area League of Women Voters President Jessica Rohloff--for years.

What's up with a guy who devotes so much time and effort to curry angry instead?

Photo: From September 2014: Bashir Yusuf speaks to participants in the Walk the Corridor tour Tuesday at his restaurant, Somali Star. Event participants visited ethnically-owned businesses in downtown Willmar. (Tribune photo by Gary Miller). via Walk the Corridor, West Central Tribune. In his interview with the Ox, Enos dismissed refugee-owned businesses for only serving "their own." Bluestem will wait for him to denounce women-owned women's clothing stores, midwife services and the like, since lady dollars for lady goods and services must be equally tainted (sarcasm).

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 07, 2016 at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sore loser AJ Kern to primary Tom Emmer

At the St. Cloud Times, Kirsti Marohn reports in Kern to challenge Emmer in primary:

Sauk Rapids resident AJ Kern says she will challenge U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer in the primary election for his 6th District congressional seat.

Kern accuses party officials of violating party rules at the April 23 6th District Republican convention, where delegates endorsed Emmer on the first ballot. Kern said delegates who supported Emmer arrived late, bumping alternates who supported her and were already seated. She also said there was never a motion to consider endorsements.

In a written statement, 6th District GOP chairman Luke Yurczyk said no challenges to the proceedings or endorsement results were brought before the convention.

"We stand behind our delegates and the volunteers from throughout the district who worked countless hours to ensure a fair and orderly convention," Yurczyk stated. "We look forward to working with our endorsed candidate, Congressman Tom Emmer, through the primary and general elections." . . .

Read the rest at the Times. The rules of the convention are posted online at the CD6 Republican website. The rules appear to back Yurczyk's case, in that delegates can take the place of seated alternates.

We noted in a post earlier this week:

At the beginning of February, one-trick pony (she fears Muslims) and former St. Cloud Times Community Columnist AJ Kern announced a bid to challenge Sixth District Congressman Tom Emmer for the Republican endorsement.

While the launch was widely reported at the time, it faded with such a whimper that Emmer's first-ballot endorsement on April 23, 2016 was noted on the MNGOP's CD6 website and few other places.

In the April 17 Star Tribune article, Anti-Muslim speaking circuit runs through rural Minnesota, Kern was mentioned as one of the circuit riders, not as a political candidate. Kern raised $3283 in the roughly two months of the first quarter she was in the race, according her FEC quarterly fundraising report.

These figures suggest that perhaps Kern should go back to losing school board elections.

Photo: AJ Kern appearing on the Speechless cable access show.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 06, 2016 at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Color of the sky in Politico's Morning Agriculture Report: Peterson's "tough reelection race"

In Food, ag industry go to bat for Peterson, Blunt, Politico's Catherine Boudreau reports:

FOOD, AG GROUPS GO TO BAT FOR PETERSON, BLUNT: Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) both have strong backing from the food and agriculture industry as they ride into tough reelection races, campaign finance disclosures show.

Peterson is vying to secure a 14th term in Minnesota’s perpetually difficult 7th District race and has received about $277,000 in combined donations from ranging from butter to crop insurance, the Pro Agriculture team found when examining Federal Election Commission filings for our very first Agriculture Influence special report. The amount accounts for more than half of the House Agriculture Committee ranking member’s total $523,000 in political action committee donations during the 2016 election cycle. Peterson’s remaining $469,000 blows away the war chests of his Republican and independent competitors. . . .

It is a fact universally acknowledged that every two years, the National Republican Congressional Committee and media will suggest that Seventh Congressional District Blue Dog Democrat Collin Peterson faces tough odds for re-election in the Republican-leaning district. Yet since the 1990s, Peterson has won handily.

On May 1, the Seventh District Republicans endorsed drone operator trainer on a mission from God, David Hughes, who jumped into the race in early March, bashing former president Woodrow Wilson and other Washington insiders, the Fargo Forum reported:

"Americans of all political persuasions, generations, ethnicities and backgrounds are outraged over the colossal mess our officials of both parties in Washington, D.C., have made of our great nation," a statement on his website reads. "From Woodrow Wilson to FDR to LBJ to today, all three branches of government have abandoned the principles of liberty, limited government and unalienable rights. Most importantly, they have completely disregarded the clear meaning and guiding spirit of our Constitution."

Collin Peterson has been in office for 14 terms, but Bluestem has found little evidence that he's on speaking terms with Wilson.

As for the Hughes war chest, Open Secrets lists a big goose egg for Hughes' fundraising; IP candidate Kevin Winge has raised under $14,000. FEC records indicate that the Karlstad resident filed paperwork for his campaign on February 25, 2016, but has not filed a first quarter fundraising report, generally an indication of lackluster rainmaking.

The Cook Political Report ranks the Seventh as "Likely D." The Rothenberg and Gonzales Report considers the seat safe for the incumbent, while Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball puts the seat in the Likely Democratic column.

As for the news that the Ranking Democrat on the House Ag Committee received money from food and agriculture interests, that should come as a shock to the residents of the sprawling farm country district.

Photo: Hughes trains pilots to operate the unmanned Reaper drone. Image in public domain, via Wikipedia.

Friday, Representative Peterson's constituent newsletter included the picture of his aircraft (left), over the cutline:

The House of Representatives was in a district work period this week, allowing me the opportunity to head home to Minnesota. Above, you can see the plane I pilot in order to get around the district. In Minnesota I met with CHS, the Minnesota based global agribusiness to discuss the upcoming Farm Bill and other issues important to the farming community.. . .

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 06, 2016 at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Public records requests are our enemy, North American High Speed Rail Group tells Reuters

In U.S. bullet train proposals shun public funds, favor private cash, Reuters' Robin Respaut reports:

All the rules relating to public engagement start the day you take public funding," said Wendy Meadley, chief strategy officer for North American High Speed Rail Group's project in Minnesota. With private financing, she said, opponents "can't make thousands of public records requests and run the project over."

The company said last year it would seek money from Chinese investors. Now, it said it is considering two foreign partners for the $4.2 billion project, which seeks to connect the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to the internationally renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, by 2022.

Meadley's statement is fascinating for several reasons. First, Minnesota data practice requests (the state version of FIOA) aren't made to private companies; rather, they're made to state government agencies. Often those asking for documents pay for the cost of obtaining them from the agencies. It's not a burden on the poor dear's private corporation.

Second, Meadley's hostility to transparency is breathtaking, especially given her notion that those making the requests are opponent. The most significant data practices request about the North American High Speed Rail Group's project was made by the Rochester Post Bulletin. The media organization isn't an opponent.

We doubt "thousands" of requests have come in, but we'll be checking with MNDOT.

Third, Meadley undercuts the promise of transparency she promised in the March 31, 2016 Post Bulletin article, Bill creating high-speed rail working group advances:

Wendy Meadley, the group’s strategic officer, did not testify during the bill hearing. In an interview after the hearing, she said the company is already planning to reach out to the public about the project and does not see the need for legislation.

“We don’t believe you need legislation to accomplish what Sen. Schmit stated he was looking to accomplish on behalf of his constituents — to start a dialogue, open communication and transparent reporting of information and progress,” Meadley said.

She added that in an effort to reach out to stakeholders, the company has established a 30-day preliminary comment period about its proposal on its website that will end April 27. She said the group also plans to host a town hall in June.

Some dialogue.

We've already weighed in about North American High Speed Rail's public relation stunt of a "public comment" period in Regulatory capture's final frontier? NAHSR offers corporate-operated "public comment" period.

The Reuters article notes:

Some experts remain skeptical that bullet trains can work without government money to finance initial legs of construction.

Rail lines are generally profitable once in operation, said Jim Steer, director of UK-based high-speed rail research organization Greengauge 21. But operating profits are unlikely to be enough to repay massive construction costs.

"No private party is actually going to stump up the kind of money needed to create these things," said Steer.

Supporters of the new rail lines said investors can expect solid returns based on ticket sales and profits from high-end real estate developments near stations.

The North American High Speed Rail Group's original business plan called for real estate developments along the line to assist in making the project viable, the Post Bulletin reported in 2015. How would investors know that the company would be able to promise certainty about securing real estate along the line?

A private rail line is able to exercise the power of eminent domain under state and federal law, as we reported in February. That makes Meadley's love of secrecy (as reported to Reuters) even more troubling, as it suggests that the private group wants to develop plans off the radar, then obtain other peoples' property by any means necessary.

In February, Citizens' eminent domain concerns dominate regional news coverage of Zip Rail meeting. In March, we posted that Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) had discussed submitting a bill to prohibit the use of eminent domain by the project.

Let's hope that those same citizens, their friends and the press show open to the private rail group's town hall to ask Meadley why transparency includes her glee over blocking citizens and the press from obtaining information about her project.

Photo: Wendy Meadley, Ms. Minnesota Transparency 2016. You betcha.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 05, 2016 at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A look at the floor debate: non-profit refugee resettlement program audit amendment fails

Last Thursday, the Minnesota House rejected an amendment to HF3467 that would have directed the Office of the Legislative Auditor to conduct independent third-party financial audits of federal, state, local, and nonprofit spending related to refugee resettlement costs and other services provided to refugees in Minnesota by a 94-36 split (p. 7828, Journal of the House).

UPDATE: This isn't the first time Drazkowski brought legislation hostile to New Americans to the Minnesota House. In 2010, we reported that Draz chose Cinco de Mayo to unveil his version of "The Arizona Immigration Act" or SB 1070. Much of the Arizona anti-immigration law was later struck down by the Supreme Court. In a 2011 report, Attacking the Constitution: State Legislators for Legal Immigration & the Anti-Immigrant Movement, the Southern Poverty Law Center noted Drazkowski's membership in "State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI), an organization that specializes in mounting legislative attacks on immigrants in states around the country."

In 2010, Drazkowski's campaign website's endorsement page touted thumbs up from Minnesota Minuteman Project (MINNSIR) and USA Border Alert, a visit to the Internet Wayback Machine reveals. But like former Minuteman Ron Branstner, Draz seems to have switched from attacking Latinos to picking on refugees. Lovely. [end update].

The vote reflects the growing scrutiny of anti-refugee sentiment in Minnesota. While some residents cling to the conspiracy theories surrounding resettlement, their notions are being challenged across the state.

Kern fails to snatch Emmer's endorsement

One incident that reflects the pushback? At the beginning of February, one-trick pony (she fears Muslims) and former St. Cloud Times Community Columnist AJ Kern announced a bid to challenge Sixth District Congressman Tom Emmer for the Republican endorsement.

While the launch was widely reported at the time, it faded with such a whimper that Emmer's first-ballot endorsement on April 23, 2016 was noted on the MNGOP's CD6 website and few other places.

In the April 17 Star Tribune article, Anti-Muslim speaking circuit runs through rural Minnesota, Kern was mentioned as one of the circuit riders, not as a political candidate. Kern raised $3283 in the roughly two months of the first quarter she was in the race, according her FEC quarterly fundraising report.

There were a few tweets about the final score:

#CD6 endorsement results: Tom Emmer 212, AJ Kern 119.
— Kelly Gunderson (@talkette) April 23, 2016

Debating the resettlement audit

Similarly, the only substantial coverage of the Drakowski amendment was published in the St. Cloud Times, in part because of a blistering challenge on the House floor from fellow Republican, St. Cloud state representative Jim Knoblach.

Here's an excerpt from his interrogation of Draz in session (we've embedded the entire debate later in this post:

The St. Cloud Times' Kristi Marohn reports in Knoblach argues against requiring refugee audit:

St. Cloud Rep. Jim Knoblach was among state lawmakers who spoke out on the House floor against a failed amendment that would have required an audit of costs related to resettling refugees.

Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, offered the amendment Thursday night during a lengthy debate on a health and human services, state government finance and public safety bill. Drazkowski had proposed the audit earlier in the session as a bill, but it did not receive a hearing.

The amendment would have directed the legislative auditor to contract with vendors to conduct independent financial audits of federal, state, local and nonprofit spending related to refugee resettlement costs and other services provided to refugees in Minnesota. It failed on a 36-94 vote.

Drazkowski argued that nonprofit organizations such as Lutheran Social Service receive federal funding to resettle refugees from all over the world.

"They do this, the federal government does, without ever consulting the Legislature, without consulting the county boards or the city councils about the costs involved with that program and with helping these people become resettled, (acclimated) in communities and the costs that are associated with them," Drazkowski said.

He noted that earlier this month, the Stearns County board passed a resolution of support for the bill.

Several DFL legislators spoke against the amendment. Rep. Jim Davnie of Minneapolis called it "unbalanced" because it doesn't include the contributions refugees make.

"You look only at the cost of resettlement and not the benefit to our community," Davnie said. "You forget, apparently, that these refugees pay taxes. They pay income taxes, they pay sales taxes, they pay property taxes — just like those of us who were born here." . . .

Knoblach said he's on the board of directors of the St. Cloud Salvation Army, whose food shelf and homeless shelter occasionally serve refugees. He asked whether the Salvation Army would be audited, or the Catholic Church.

"Every homeless shelter, every food shelf, every women’s shelter, every sexual assault center that’s ever had a refugee go to it, every nonprofit that’s ever given some money to a refugee could be subject to an audit for, let’s say, the last 15 years,” Knoblach said.

That doesn't include federal, state and local spending by school districts, counties and cities, he said.

"I think this is going to be extremely expensive, extremely intrusive, and I am not going to vote for it," Knoblach said. He also said it should include "both sides of the ledger," including taxes paid by refugees and not just costs.

Peg Flanagan wins twitter

The best comment by a legislator on the Drazkowski amendment took place off the floor. St. Louis Park DFLer Peggy Flanagan, DFL-St. Louis Park,, an enrolled member of White Earth Nation, tweeted:

Perhaps the audit regarding refugee resettlement should go all the way back to 1491. #mnleg
— Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan) April 29, 2016

A few notes on the full debate

Here's the full debate. A couple of points to ponder: in his introduction of the amendment, Draz implies a groundswell of agreement with his amendment among local government, mentioning Stearns County's resolution and the support of the Kandiyohi County Board. While the former is true, a review of Kandiyohi County Board's agenda, minutes and board packets reveals no discussion of the audit scheme.

Instead, we suspect that Draz had Bob Enos's summer 2015 public comment period rant [correction: the county board has no public comment period, according to the West Central Tribune] As we noted in Rejected by Willmar voters but shared by Draz & Bennett: Bob Enos continues anti-refugee rants, Enos hasn't been elected to any office in Minnesota. The gentleman from Goodhue County shouldn't mistakenly mislead his colleagues.

Second, Jerry Hertaus, R-Greenfield, rises to defend the amendment by citing the latest iteration of the immigration reduction group Center for Immigration Studies' reporting on immigrant welfare use, in an attempt to deny that refugees contribute to the state's economy. It's a strategy made infamous in Minnesota by former Governor Tim Pawlenty in attempting to demonize undocumented workers; the pushback then resembles points made by Davnie, Knoblach and others last Thursday.

The libertarian Cato Institute also examined CIS's claims here and here. The Immigration Council's scrutiny can be found here. Other CIS tall tales are examined here by Right Wing Watch.

We'll be back with a look about the vote on this amendment, Minnesota's legislative districts and the fall election in second post.

Screengrab: Steve Drazkowski responding to Knoblach's questions.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 03, 2016 at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mankato's Somali school board member to speak about life as Muslim & black man at First Fridays

While tensions over refugee resettlement in St. Cloud dominate news about Greater Minnesota and New Americans, that narrative isn't accurate for the entire state.

Take Mankato.

In Speaker series to host Muslim perspective, Brian Arola reports in the Mankato Free Press

Abdi Sabrie said of the places he’s lived since moving from Somalia as a young man — among them Boston, Washington, D.C., and Georgia — no place was quite as welcoming and open-minded to him as a Muslim than Mankato was.

Mankato’s special place in his heart led him to want to give back to make the community an even better place for his seven children — he serves on the School Board.

Since moving here, he’s also worked to foster relationships and understanding between the Muslim population and the rest of the city.

His latest effort will come Friday as part of the First Presbyterian Church’s First Fridays at First Church speaker series.

Sabrie said he plans to share what it’s like living as a Muslim and black person in Mankato. Although his experience has been positive, he said there’s always room to growth. . . .

Read the rest at the Free Press.

Last November, KEYC-TV reported that Abdi Sabrie Wins Seat on District 77 School Board.

Here's a chance to listen to the perspective of an elected official who is Muslim and Somali--rather than the Ron Branstners and Bob Enoses, who have yet to be picked for any office by the citizens of Greater Minnesota.

Photo: Mankato School Board member Abdi Sabrie, via KEYC-TV.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 03, 2016 at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another look at the Appleton prison bubble: despite Minnesota House vote, future dim

In Minnesota Political Notebook: Minority leader may be major player, Forum News Service reporter Don Davis reports:

A Republican-backed plan to put some state prisoners in the privately owned Appleton prison remained in budget legislation the House passed early Friday, but its future remains dim.

Democrats, led by Gov. Mark Dayton, vow that they never again will allow prisoners to be housed in a privately owned facility, even though the GOP plan would require the state to lease the prison and run it like any other Minnesota prison with state employees.

Several attempts to ban privately owned prisons failed in the GOP-controlled House.

Minnesota prisons are overcrowded, and about 475 state inmates are housed in county jails. While Republicans want to send prisoners to Appleton, on Friday an agreement was announced that also could reduce future overcrowding issues: shorter sentences for some drug crimes.

The Corrections Corporation of America closed the Prairie Correctional Facility closed in 2010 after Minnesota and other states pulled their prisoners.

It's interesting to see Davis cite a lower number of offenders in county jails than the one that Appleton Option supporters used in Thursday night's floor debate. Also worth noting: none of the female offenders languishing in county jails who tugged at the hearts of Star Tribune readers in mid-March will be housed in Appleton, which is a male prison.

Bluestem looked at part of Thursday's debate on the private prison in Appleton in the post Placebaiting & its discontents: Rep. Tim Miller says opposition to private prison is about him.

Photo: The shuttered prison at Appleton.

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Posted by Sally Jo Sorensen on May 01, 2016 at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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