« September 2020 | Main | November 2020 »

October 2020

Oct 11, 2020

Heckova gal: Arkansas Attorney General on MN "Women for Trump" bus tour

AttorneysGeneral

While our governor is capturing the headlines for the Women for Trump bus tour in Minnesota--witness the headline in the Forum  Communications chain article SD governor leads 'Women for Trump' bus--another guest elected official might warrant a bit of scrutiny.

Let's take a look at Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. We quoted one of her tweets from the road today, along with a question:

Rutledge had retweeted that day:

The White House Flickr photostream of the event reveals no mask wearing around the table by the Republican state attorneys general at the meeting. Fact Check included one of photos from the meeting in Trump Campaign Aide’s Dubious Claim on Protecting the President.

The Washington Post reported on the meeting itself in Trump eyes ‘concrete legal steps’ against social media sites for alleged bias against conservatives.

The meeting has raised questions in West Virginia, as its Attorney General was at the meeting. The Charleston Gazette Mail reports in Morrisey says he's not quarantining after Trump White House meeting:

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is neither quarantining nor taking other precautions after attending a Sept. 23 meeting hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House, a spokesman said.

Morrisey was among nine state attorneys general to attend the roundtable discussion on “Protecting Consumers from Social Media Abuses.” Nine days later, Trump was hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19. His doctors indicated he had begun experiencing symptoms of the disease earlier in the day.

Morrisey “was not in close proximity of the President during that meeting fifteen days ago,” the attorney general’s press secretary, Curtis Johnson, said in a statement.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the incubation period for COVID-19 — the period from exposure to the virus to first symptoms — may range from two to 14 days. That makes it possible that Trump was infected when he met with Morrisey and other attorneys general Sept. 23, three days before what is believed to be a super-spreader event during a Rose Garden ceremony to announce Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee.

The White House has refused to disclose when Trump last tested negative for COVID-19, raising speculation about the timeframe when Trump contracted the virus.

Has Rutledge been tested? We haven't found anything online about that.

At the Arkansas Times, Max Brantley observes about her presence in Coronavirus today and the open line: Big COVID count for a Sunday, plus 17 more deaths:

PS: And then there’s [our] attorney general, continuing her maskless tour of COVID petri dishes.

Brantley also called out Rutledge in Shameless Leslie Rutledge goes after ‘lawless’ Kamala Harris. Her pal Ken Paxton? Crickets.:

She should stick to cheerleading her deputy from the sidelines at the U.S. Supreme Court over a case she’s carrying.

She and a couple of other Republican attorneys general plan a news conference today to talk about “lawless liberal” Kamala Harris before her debate Wednesday* with Mike Pence. They’ve got a list of items to pin on her, not necessarily honestly, but hollering “defund the police” in concert with the name of a Democrat seems to be the go-to Republican campaign strategy this season. We don’t know yet if, like French Hill, they have a photograph they can manipulate to make Harris look like a dangerous Black person.

OK, they don’t like Harris’ politics. Fair enough.

But “lawless”? For that, they need look no further than their lawless comrade in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton. He’s an ally with Rutledge in a lawsuit to kill the Affordable Care Act, which has only saved thousands of lives and brought better health to millions.

Paxton is so corrupt — allegations of bribery and abuse of office by his own staff — that even top Republicans in Texas are calling on him to resign.

But nutty Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Sean Reyes of Utah and Rutledge think Kamala Harris is lawless.

KSL in Salt Lake City reported on the press conference:

At a press conference in downtown Salt Lake City, the Republican Attorney Generals Association condemned what they say are the California senator’s positions on immigration, gun rights, policing and other issues.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge called Harris dangerous and divisive.

“She had no business being the attorney general of California with her disregard for the rule of law. She has no business being a U.S. senator, and Kamala Harris certainly has no business being the vice president of the United States to a frail and failing president if Joe Biden were to be elected,” she said.

But there's more! Her Wikipedia entry includes these gems which concur with Minnesota values?

In September 2014, County Clerk Larry Crane of Pulaski County canceled Rutledge's voter registration when he discovered that Rutledge had registered to vote in Washington, D.C.[7] She re-registered in Pulaski County.[8]

Notably, during the 2014 AETN Televised Debate, Leslie Rutledge compared smart phones to "the devil". https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lg5h1Av-RcQ

In 2016, Rutledge stated that she would appeal a ruling supporting LGBT anti-discrimination laws enacted in Fayetteville, Arkansas, that is in opposition to a state law prohibiting these ordinances.[10][11]

In July 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led a group of Republican Attorneys General from nine other states, including Rutledge, plus Idaho Governor Butch Otter, in threatening the Donald Trump administration that they would litigate if the president did not terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy that had been put into place by president Barack Obama. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery subsequently reversed his position and withdrew his participation from the proposed suit on August 31. Slatery went further to urge passage of the DREAM Act.[12][13] The other Attorneys General who joined in making the threats against Trump included Steve Marshall of Alabama, Lawrence Wasden of Idaho, Derek Schmidt of Kansas, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Doug Peterson of Nebraska, Alan Wilson of South Carolina, and Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia.[14]

Rutledge seems nice. She's running for governor of Arkansas now. (We earned our M.F.A at the University of Arkansas, so we have no animus toward the Natural State)

Noem's extended road trip

As far as Noem goes, a few recent headlines suggest why it might be prudent for her to come home and govern. From the Sioux Falls Argus: South Dakota can’t keep up with contact tracing in schools, and parents are 'pissed' (contrary to a popular meme, South Dakota does do contract tracing, "The state health department currently has 324 people working on COVID-19 case investigations and contact tracing, and about 60 more are on the way..."). 

And from Dakota Free Press: Noem Plans Another Florida Vacation, Will Join Republican Liars at Mar-a-Lago:

Governor Kristi Noem is planning a full month of not governing. Having spent last week propagandizing in Florida and spending today and tomorrow flitting about Minnesota urging voters to sustain white tyranny, she plans to go back to Florida at the end of the month to keynote the Palm Beach County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club...

Not that you’d be interested, but don’t try getting tickets; Noem’s stagemate, former ambassador Richard Grennell, a man, like Kristi Noem, underqualified for government work, says the event, like Kristi Noem, has sold out.

Ringleading the proceedings is Charlie Kirk, whose Turning Point USA is domesticating the Russian election interference strategy of paying teenagers to spread lies online. Joining Noem at the mic will be convicted criminal and brazen liar James O’Keefe and credential misrepresenting storyteller Gina Loudon.

I could understand if the Governor were traveling to serve South Dakotans’ shared interests. But bopping back and forth to Florida all month in the midst of public health and economic crises, just to hang out with such a cadre of malfeasants and malcontents, doesn’t speak well to Noem’s character or to her commitment to the oath she took in Pierre less than two years ago. We can only hope she enjoys the national GOP spotlight so much that she’ll make her nationwide campaign her full-time job and leave the door open for others to run for Governor in 2022.

Uff.

Photo: On Sept. 23, Trump meets in the Cabinet Room of the White House with states attorneys general on protecting consumers from social media abuse.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

 

Posted by on Oct 11, 2020 at 10:52 PM | | Comments (0)

Oct 10, 2020

Pioneer Public TV debate: Bill Ingebrigtsen doesn’t believe racial discrimination is a thing

Ingedonttalkaboutit

The Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio and KARE-11 Minnesota Poll Shows 56 Percent of Voters Recognize Racial Inequality, The Voice of Alexandria reported on September 30.

But former Douglas County sheriff and Alexandria-area Republican state senator Bill Ingebrigtsen  told viewers during a Senate District 8 debate on Pioneer Public TV that he doesn't think racial discrimination should even be a topic of discussion.

He's having none of it.

His DFL-endorsed opponent tweeted about it on Saturday:

Ingebrigtsen and Anderson were asked by the moderator: "What can Minnesota legislators do end racial disparities and protect human rights in Minnesota?"

Here's the full video of Ingebrigtsen's answer (the embedded video will scroll forward and start at the moderator's question:

UPDATE October 10, 5:24 p.m.: We missed this twitter about the post from the Minnesota DFL:

[end update]

Seeking his fifth term, Ingebrigtsen serves on the Minnesota Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy. He chairs the Environment and Natural Resources Finance committee; he is vice-chair of the Finance committee.

We're used to Ingebrigtsen's grumpy-cat Marijuana-The-Weed-With-Roots-In-Hell Drug War schtick, but dismissing any discussion of racial disparities or human rights issues seems a bit extreme.

Related posts:

Screengrab: Senator Ingebrigtsen at the moment he said "We shouldn't even be talking about this, people. We shouldn't even be discussing this. And I don’t believe that there is racial discrimination going on. I absolutely don’t" in the Senate District 8 debate on Pioneer Public TV.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

 

Posted by on Oct 10, 2020 at 04:14 PM | | Comments (0)

Oct 09, 2020

Rocks & Cows & National Guard Cooks of the North is no more; welcome the RCNGC sequel

Rocksandcowsnomore

Looking to see what was up our favorite Minnesota rural grassroots conservative Facebook group, we found that the billboard people, Rocks and Cows and National Guard Cooks of the North was no more.

The site had close to 40,000 members when we last visited.

But a Facebook search yielded Rocks and Cows of The North and National Guard Cooks The Sequel, created today by Brent Seifert, one of the original administrators.

As the screengrab from his Facebook page at the top of this post illustrates, Mr. Seifert blames Governor Walz and his staff:

“Woke” up this morning to find our 40,000 person strong Rocks and Cows of the North and National Guard Cooks site has been disabled by FB. This was a hit job and was accomplished because we allowed an open and free forum and Walz aids went on last night and posted some 236 posts that went against FB standards on the site.
Walz liberal college kids 1 RACOTNANGCs 0😡😡😡

One presumes that Mr. Seifert has the documentation on that.

The Facebook group gained attention on Twitter in July when Minnesota House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt tweeted an image of its billboard:

Hmmm. pic.twitter.com/FkuORnKAK0

— Kurt Daudt (@kdaudt) July 25, 2020

Two days later, the Fargo Forum's Matt Henson reported in Group fundraising to dot Minnesota with controversial, anti-Walz signs:

The billboard along Highway 2 on the west side of Fosston was up for just a day, but the message was loud and clear.

That's why Shelly Nicklason of Remer pulled over on her way to a camping trip with her grandkids.

"We had to stop and see the sign," she said. "I was ready to take a picture. I even charged my phone," she said with a laugh. Nicklason said she was "bummed" to learn that the sign had been taken down.

The billboard depicts a person contorted with their head up their ... posterior. The wording of the billboard takes aim at how Gov. Walz has taken a one-size-fits-all approach in his coronavirus response.

"I laughed; it reflected my opinion," said Chad Hassel of Winger.

"In all honesty it was kind of crass, but I can understand the frustration," Nicklason said.

The billboard was sponsored by the Facebook group Rocks and Cows of the North, in reference to a comment the governor made during his campaign that northern Minnesota tends to be more Republican. . . .

The group expanded its name after Governor Walz said in regard to calling up the National Guard to quell rioting in Minneapolis:

“I don’t think the mayor knew what he was asking for,” Walz said. “I think the mayor said, ‘I request the National Guard, this is great. We’re going to have massively-trained troops.’ No, you’re going to have 19-year-olds who are cooks!”

The Facebook group is gone. In the meantime, enjoy Bluestem's posts about the earlier iteration of the page:

Rocks & Cows Facebook group members decry Ilhan Omar's son John--er Bruno Mars

Conservative Facebook group members think MNGOP absentee ballot mail is DFL Party scam

Rocks and Cows of MN supports MacDonald for state Supreme Court because tyranny

Screengrab: Mr. Seifert's explanation of the missing page.

If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

Posted by on Oct 09, 2020 at 03:36 PM | | Comments (0)

It's Friday, so time for another Hagedorn scandal: the tale of the vanishing free campaign office

Bretts

We've been following Daniel Newhauser's articles at the Minnesota Reformer detailing the coronavirus and ethical challenges Minnesota First District Congressman Jim Hagedorn has created for himself.

Now Newhauser's posted another gem in Politico, The mystery of a GOP congressman's seemingly rent-free campaign office:

For at least seven years, GOP Rep. Jim Hagedorn appears to have enjoyed rent-free use of a campaign office supplied by a political donor — which would be a clear violation of federal election law that comes amid mounting scrutiny of his finances.

In dozens of filings with the Federal Election Commission, as early as October 2013 and as recently as last month, Hagedorn has listed a basement suite in a downtown Mankato, Minn., building as his campaign’s headquarters: Suite 7 of the Brett’s Building at 11 Civic Center Plaza. But election spending records show Hagedorn has reported no payments for the use of that space over the course of the last four elections he’s run to represent Minnesota’s 1st District in Congress, including his current race.

Hagedorn’s campaign and the former owner of the building struggled to explain the situation. In recent interviews, they insisted there had been no impropriety but gave conflicting accounts of why no payments have been disclosed. It all adds up to a portrait of, at best, highly irregular or sloppy spending practices; at worst, it’s a breach of campaign finance law. Nonpartisan ethics experts, meanwhile, expressed deep skepticism with Hagedorn’s actions.

Posted by on Oct 09, 2020 at 09:50 AM | | Comments (0)

Oct 08, 2020

Ag Secretary Perdue whacked for violating Hatch Act at NC Farmers to Families Food Box event

Ivankaandperdue

The notion of using food as a weapon is a cliche, but telling voters to support President Trump at an event to promote the Farmers to Families Food Box Program is a violation of the Hatch Act, the Hill reports in USDA's Perdue fined for violating Hatch Act while promoting food boxes:

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was found to have violated the Hatch Act in August by encouraging voters to support President Trump at an event to promote the Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

In a Thursday letter from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, Perdue was ordered to reimburse the government for a trip to Mills River, N.C., where he was set to promote the new initiative, which used coronavirus aid to deliver food to low income people as farmers’ markets were disrupted.

At the event, which was attended by Trump, Perdue said people lined up along the motorcade route were “part of those forgotten people that voted for you for 2016.”

And I’ve got better news for you: They and many others are going to vote for you for four more years in 2020. Because they understand, under your administration, they’ve not been forgotten. And this [Farmers to Families Food Box Program] is a great example of that.”

Purdue called the food boxes a program of “compassion” and said “that’s what’s going to continue to happen — four more years — if America gets out and votes for this man, Donald J. Trump.”

The Hatch Act bars federal employees — even Cabinet members — from engaging in political activity while at work.

“Taken as a whole, Secretary Perdue’s comments during the August 24 event encouraged those present, and those watching remotely, to vote for President Trump’s reelection. His first words were not about USDA, but about the president’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns,” wrote Ana Galindo-Marrone, chief of the counsel’s Hatch Act unit, adding that Perdue used a campaign pledge to help the “forgotten” to segue into a discussion of the program, “in which many of those in the audience had a vested interest.”

The Agriculture Department did not immediately respond to request for comment and did not provide an estimate for the cost of the trip Perdue must now reimburse.

The Trump administration’s politicization of the food box program did not end with Perdue’s comments.

Politico reported earlier this month that Trump required the boxes, which are distributed by local nonprofits, include a letter bearing his signature, similar to his order to sign the stimulus checks distributed in April. . . .

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which filed the Hatch Act complaint against Perdue, said the case was the latest example of an administration that has shown a “lack of concern about these anti-democratic abuses.”

“Even in an administration that has racked up a record number of Hatch Act violations, it is still shocking to see a Cabinet secretary violate the law in such an egregious manner,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a release. “Misusing the federal government to help keep the president in power seriously undermines democracy.”

Here's the letter to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:

HA 20 000394 Closure Letter to CREW by uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd

ProPublica reported on September 1 Now in Government Food Aid Boxes: A Letter From Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, McClatchy DC's Don Sweeney reported in Food banks across US remove Trump letter from meal boxes, calling it ‘outrageous’:

Food banks across the United States are intercepting and removing a signed letter from President Donald Trump included in federal food aid.

In the letters, in English and Spanish on a White House letterhead, Trump gives himself credit for providing the enclosed food, Politico reported. . . .

They are included in U.S. Department of Agriculture coronavirus food aid to be distributed to hungry families from local food banks. But charities from Boston to San Francisco are pulling the letters out before delivering the food, despite USDA orders to the contrary.

Joel Berg, chief executive of Hunger Free America, a nationwide anti-hunger nonprofit organization, called the letters “absolutely outrageous,” The Washington Post reported. . . .

The East Idaho News of Idaho Falls reports Thursday Local food bank facing backlash after removing Trump letter from food boxes.

Photo: Ivanka Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at a North Carolina event amid food boxes. Via Modern Farmer's USDA Chief Under Fire for Alleged Hatch Act Violations.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.


Read more here: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article246282035.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article246282035.html#storylink=cpy.

Read more here: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article246282035.html#storylink=cpy

Posted by on Oct 08, 2020 at 07:45 PM | | Comments (0)

Oct 07, 2020

MN Sands takes Winona County frac sand ban to SCOTUS; Land Stewardship Project fires back

Fracsandminetittle

We've been following Minnesota's frac sand battles since Trix's mother was a pup- or at least 2011 with Connecting the dots on fracking sand: from Hay Creek Township's citizens to the New York Times.

The latest wrinkle in this tale of frac sand versus farmland? At the Star Tribune, Matt McKinney reports Company wants to take Minnesota county's frac sand ban to U.S. Supreme Court, and at the Forum Communications outlet, Rivertown, Matthew Guerry reports Minnesota Sands asks U.S. Supreme Court to review Winona County's silica sand mining ban.

Since the Rivertown's article named the company and the county in its headline, as well as posting first, we'll start with Guerry's reporting:

A Minnesota company interested in mining for silica sand in the southeastern part of the state has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its lawsuit against a county-level ban on the practice.

Minnesota Sands LLC announced that it filed for the review on Tuesday, Oct. 8, and is arguing once again that the Winona County ban violates the Constitution. The move follows the state Supreme Court's upholding of the ban in March, when it sided with lower courts on the matter.

In a news release Tuesday, company president Rick Frick said he was hopeful that the Supreme Court would overturn the ban, saying that it violates the Constitution's commerce clause and "constitutes a regulatory taking of Minnesota Sands’ valuable mineral interests in the county."

"We would much rather be moving forward with work to develop and build our project but were left with no other choice but to bring this matter to the United States Supreme Court," Frick said.

Silica sand is used for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the oil and gas extraction technique that involves high-presser injections of water, gravel or sand and chemicals into rock. In practice, the sand holds open fractures created in the earth and allows oil and gas to flow out. It is also used in construction. . . .

Minnesota Sands holds several mining leases in [Minnesota], including five in Winona County. The privately held company claims to have invested millions of dollars in efforts to obtain the involved mineral rights and has for years come up against opposition from some environmental advocacy groups and residents in the area.

Public outcry was loud enough in 2016 for the Winona County commissioners to enact a ban on frac sand mining, the first of its kind in the state, that Minnesota Sands has challenged in court now several times over. Winona County has not submitted an official response to the company's new filing submitted last week.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Winona County attorney Karin Sonneman said the county will review the filing with outside counsel it previously worked with on previous cases against the ban.

The ban prohibits the mining and processing of industrial silica sand but does not prohibit mining for sand used in construction projects, which doesn't necessarily need to be processed. Because Minnesota Sands has no market for frac sand in Minnesota to begin with, it has argued, it would invariably be sold and transported to out-of-state companies.

Thus the ban, the company has said, effectively violates the Constitution's interstate commerce clause. It also renders worthless land Minnesota Sands leased prior to its taking effect, the company has said, effectively violating the takings clause, which allows the government to seize private property only if it provides "just compensation."

"The arguments that they're making in that are the same that they made throughout the appellate process," Sonneman said of the new filing.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Johanna Rupprecht, a policy program organizer at the Minnesota-based Land Stewardship Project, which opposes the sand mining proposals, said it was disappointing but not surprising for Minnesota Sands to challenge the ban once more. The group may file an amicus brief in the case as it has in the past, she said.

"It certainly fits within the pattern of behavior of this company. They have shown that they don't respect democracy. They don't respect the will and the decision of a democratically elected local government, they don't respect the will of the people in the community of Winona County or any other communities where they're trying to operate," Rupprecht said.

"It's just like one last desperate attempt to try to be able to do what they've been clearly told no, they cannot do so many times, now," she said.

And in the Strib:

A mining company plans to take its fight to overturn the Winona County ban on frac sand mining to the U.S. Supreme Court, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

Minnesota Sands, which lost its case before the Minnesota Supreme Court in March, said the ban violates the U.S. Constitution.

“We are hopeful the Court will decide to hear this case and overturn what we continue to believe is an ordinance that clearly interferes with interstate commerce and violates the Constitution’s Commerce Clause,” company president Rick Frick said in a statement.

The southeast Minnesota county passed the ban in 2016 — the first in the state — after mining of the rich silica sand deposits there had begun.

Frick sued the county in 2017. A district court upheld the ban, as did the Appeals Court in a 2-1 decision in 2018.

In March, the seven-member state Supreme Court affirmed lower court rulings that let the ban stand, with two justices dissenting in full and one dissenting in part. . . .

An organization that fought for the creation of the ban said the company’s appeal to the Supreme Court was “disappointing.”

“The people of Winona County have understood for many years that the frac sand mining, processing and transport industry offers no benefit to rural communities and is too harmful to be allowed to operate in their communities,” said Johanna Rupprecht of the Land Stewardship Project.

Here's the full statement by the Land Stewardship Project:

Today, Minnesota Sands, LLC filed a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to hear an appeal in its lawsuit seeking to overturn the Winona County frac sand mining ban. Such requests are not automatically accepted by the Court, and given the utter disrespect this company, as well as the frac sand industry in general, have shown when it comes to the will of the people in Winona County and for the integrity of the land itself, this move is disappointing, but unsurprising.

The land has inherent value, and the health of the land and of people are interconnected. All decisions about land use must be made with the needs of the future in mind. The people of Winona County have understood for many years that the frac sand mining, processing, and transport industry offers no benefit to rural communities and is too harmful to be allowed to operate in their communities. That is why Land Stewardship Project members in Winona County carried out a successful, 17-month grassroots organizing campaign calling on the County Board to pass the ban on frac sand mining activities, which it did on Nov. 22, 2016. This process was an example of local government acting fully within its rights, and exactly as it should act — taking a bold step to respond to the will of the public and protect the common good for both people and the land.

Yet, Minnesota Sands has repeatedly attempted to subvert local democracy and the will of the people by turning to the courts in an attempt to undo the frac sand ban ordinance. In spite of the company’s initial lawsuit and two subsequent appeals, the ban has been upheld by the Winona County District Court, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and the Minnesota Supreme Court, and remains in place today.

Court filings make it clear Minnesota Sands plans on pursuing frac sand mining at numerous sites in southeastern Minnesota, a factor which triggered the state Environmental Quality Board’s requirement that an Environmental Impact Statement be completed. Minnesota Sands’ petition to the Supreme Court is one more indicator that the company wants to pursue mining activities throughout that part of the state.

The hills, bluffs, and farmland of Winona County are not for sale to the oil, gas, and frac sand industries to strip-mine and destroy. The people of Winona County and southeastern Minnesota remain steadfast in their commitment to ensuring that Minnesota Sands’ damaging, unacceptable proposals never move forward.

We'll be following this story as it unfolds.

Related posts:

Photo: Via Ecowatch article by Winona County resident Jim Gurley, Huge Victory: Winona County, Minnesota Bans Frac Sand Mining  Superior Silica Sands Mine-Town of Auburn-Chippewa County. Photo credit: Jim Tittle.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

Posted by on Oct 07, 2020 at 03:08 PM | | Comments (0)

On Facebook, Fischbach & Westrom cancelled Taking Back America - Pro Constitution Protest event, but Crow Wing Co parade goes on

Takingamericaback

The October 3 Taking Back America - Pro Constitution Protest that MN07 Republican candidate Michelle Fischbach and State Senator Torrey Westrom had planned to host was cancelled, but area Trump supporters still conducted a parade through Crow Wing County, Johanna Armstrong reports in Caravan through county shows support for president.

Armstrong reports:

Supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in the parking lot of Plumbers Inc. in Fergus Falls Saturday morning with their cars decorated in American flags, Trump flags, Gadsden flags, Thin Blue Line flags and more. The event, organized by Fergus Falls realtor Roger Hahn, went through a number of complications before it became a parade through Otter Tail County, with the decked-out cars leaving Fergus Falls and going through Underwood, Battle Lake, past Zorbaz, Ottertail, Perham and finishing in Dent.

First, the event was meant to begin in the parking of the Fergus Falls Fleet Farm before heading to I-94 Speedway where there would be local politicians speaking, food, music and a monster truck for what was dubbed Taking Back America Pro Constitution Protest. “Apparently the previous owners of the racetrack experienced extreme political pushback,” Hahn said. “There was threats of lawsuits and this and that so they finally said, ‘Well, we can’t do it here.’”

The mayor, for his part, was supportive of the event being held in Fergus Falls, writing in a statement, “I had absolutely nothing to do with the decision to move the protest. The City of Fergus Falls had nothing to do with moving the event. I strongly support the First Amendment and peoples right to protest peacefully and I have no reason to believe this would not be peaceful.”

The protest was then moved to New York Mills behind VFW Post 3289 and would include a parade from the Fleet Farm parking lot to New York Mills. According to flyers promoting the event, speakers included Michelle Fishbach, Bill Ingebrigtsen, Torri Westrom, Jordan Rasmusson, Mary Franson and Jeff Backer. Westrom and Fishbach also promoted the event on Facebook. Unfortunately, Hahn said, “The actual event ended up getting canceled because we could not find event insurance in time.”

While the Taking Back America Pro Constitution Protest had to be canceled, the parade was still on. It was, however, moved from the Fleet Farm parking lot to the Plumbers Inc. parking lot. “I figured, being that (Fleet Farm) is a commercial business, it probably wasn’t the best idea, so when Plumbers Inc. offered their property here to us I jumped all over it.” Hahn said. “When we have a property that we have permission to be on, nobody can get upset.”

There were no speakers at the event aside from a few words from Hahn, though GOP candidate for MN State House District 8A Rasmusson did make a brief appearance.

Despite the rocky start, about 50 people and 25 cars, one semi-truck and a motorcycle showed up for the start of the event at Plumbers Inc. “We’ll more than likely pick up cars every town we go to, that’s what happened last time,” Rick Garza, who helped plan the route for the caravan, said.

The original route was set to end in New York Mills, where the Taking Back America Pro Constitution Protest was going to be, but was changed to end in Dent instead. The caravan stopped ahead of each town to straighten up and get in formation before parading through. “We’re just trying to show support for President Trump and let people know that there’s more support in our area than maybe people think,” Hahn said.

And there's a Proud Boys angle:

Hahn has been a somewhat controversial figure in Fergus Falls. In June this year a video was on Twitter of him saying, “My name is Roger Hahn, I am from Fergus Falls, Minnesota and I am a proud Western chauvinist who refuses to apologize for creating a modern world,” as part of a “vetting” video for Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group the Proud Boys. He showed some supporters at Saturday’s event an email sent to his boss from someone asking if Hahn was the “type of person” he wanted representing his brokerage.

The Proud Boys, which have been a popular topic in media lately due to Trump’s call for them to “stand by” during the presidential debate last week, has been called a “hate group/gang” by the Orange County probation department in California and a “white supremacist group” in a document by the Colorado Information Analysis Center, the state’s division of homeland security and the Colorado department of public safety. While Hahn admits he did go through the vetting process to join the group, he says he ultimately decided not to go through with it. “That’s a thing where I had vetted for it and decided it wasn’t for me. I literally had no contact with them ever again,” Hahn said. . . .

Here's the video, via twitter:

 

One can imagine that might have been bad for business. However, the urban legend of Antifa-invading-rural-America failed to show on Saturday, Armstrong reports:

Despite shying away from the Proud Boys, he still takes some delight in being called a Nazi by his detractors. “Minnesota antifa dubbed me ‘the Nazi realtor,’” he said, speaking to a small group at the event. One of the participants shouted, “That’s a badge of honor! They say that, they’re worried about you.” Hahn said, “I put on Facebook, I said, ‘I’m feeling kind of flattered.’”

Hahn expressed some concerns about protestors when he addressed the crowd before the start of the parade. “We all know that there’s a possibility of protestors, something like that, I ask everybody to smile and wave. We’re out here to have fun,” Hahn said.

As they drove through Fergus Falls, though, some supporters met them on the sidewalks with flags and signs of their own, and cars honked and waved in approval.

Doesn't sound like those fair-weather friends Fischbach or Westrom or Backer or Franson showed up either. These are indeed the times that try men's souls.

A search of  "Roger Lee Hahn" in the Fergus Falls Journal archives doesn't turn up any coverage of Hahn's epic battle with Antifa. A pity.

Screengrab: The event hosted by Fischbach and Westrom was cancelled.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

Posted by on Oct 07, 2020 at 06:54 AM | | Comments (0)

Oct 06, 2020

Well, that puts a new spin on Gov. Noem's catchphrase, "Put on your positive pants"

Centeroftheuniverse

Via the Star Tribune, Steve Groves of the Associated Press reports in Aide: Noem has no plans to get tested despite Trump event:

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has no plans to get tested for the coronavirus before heading back to the president's campaign trail this week, even though she attended a fundraiser with the president shortly before he tested positive.

President Donald Trump's announcement last week that he tested positive led to a flurry of testing by other politicians, including from three Minnesota congressmen and a U.S. Senate candidate who had flown on Air Force One. The Minneapolis steakhouse that catered Trump's fundraiser last Wednesday also announced that its event staff would quarantine and be tested, even though none had come into close contact with Trump.

Noem's spokesman, Ian Fury, said she has "no plans to get tested in the immediate future" because she has not been in close contact with anyone who tested positive for the coronavirus.

As Trump returned to the White House after being hospitalized, he downplayed the deadly threat of the virus, which has also infected the first lady and several White House aides. It's a sentiment that Noem has echoed as she has carved out a national following among conservatives for renouncing lockdowns and casting doubt on the usefulness of masks.

Noem tested negative for the virus on Sept. 29, a day before the Trump fundraiser in Minnesota. But she did not get close enough or spend enough time with the president to become a close contact, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Fury.

The CDC defines close contact as spending at least 15 minutes within six feet (1.8 meters) of someone who has an infection.

Fury said that as more White House staff and others in Trump's orbit have announced positive tests for the virus, the governor's team checks if Noem had close contact with them. They are relying on Noem's recollection. At Trump campaign events, Noem does not wear a mask but regularly poses for photos with her arms wrapped around people.

"We've taken the health concerns of #COVID19 very seriously," Noem tweeted Tuesday.

Noem has defended her hands-off approach to managing the pandemic, but COVID-19 is surging in South Dakota, which on Tuesday had the highest positivity rate of any state over the past 14 days, at 23.64%, according to The COVID Tracking Project. By comparison, the national average rate over the 14 days that ended Monday was 4.7%.

The surge led Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, who is seeking reelection, to postpone large campaign events and to limit contact among staff, according to his chief of staff, Rob Skjonsberg. Rounds' wife, Jean Rounds, was treated for cancer this year. . . .

South Dakota's surge in cases and hospitalizations, and the news of Trump's infection, have not stopped Noem from traveling or holding events. She spoke to South Dakota legislators gathered for a special session on Monday, and she will next head to Florida for a Trump rally. She is also slated to speak Friday at the American Priority Conference, a gathering of the president's supporters, at Trump National Doral hotel in Miami.

Okay then.

While Active COVID-19 cases drop for first time in six days, Jonathan Ellis reported in the Argus Leader, we're not out of the woods yet:

The number of people with COVID-19 in South Dakota hospitals increased for the third day, to 250. That number has increased by 35 people since Saturday. Since the disease was first detected in South Dakota, 1,670 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19.

Tuesday's test results were from 2,838 total tests reported to the Department of Health, for a daily positive rate of 9.8%.

People aged 30-39 accounted for the most infections Tuesday at 50.

South Dakota's COVID stats are  part of the background for South Dakota's social butterfly migration for the re-election of President Trump.

One picture from that fundraiser in Minnesota was tweeted by Pioneer Press reporter Dave Orrick:

Earlier, WCCO News Talk Radio reported in Photos inside private Twin Cities fundraiser before Trump's diagnosis show no masks, no social distancing:

No social distancing. No masks.

WCCO political insider Blois Olson said that's what he saw on images and video taken at a Wednesday fundraiser for President Trump at the west metro home of Marty Davis, the CEO of Cambria.

Trump announced on Twitter early Friday morning that he and the First Lady had tested positive for coronavirus.

Olson said the images were on the Instagram account of Sergio Gore, one of Trump's top fund raisers.

"Staff and guests lingered after the president was there," Olson told Dave Lee on the WCCO Morning News. "They sang karaoke, they had their arms around each other."

Among the guests was South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, with Olson saying she posed for many pictures, again without a mask and not practicing social distancing. . . .

No pictures in the report--it's radio, after all-- so one will have to take Olson's word for that. In Fox 9's later Source: Attendees had minimal contact with Trump at Lake Minnetonka fundraiser, Olson tells a somewhat different story:

. . .Olson says sources he’s spoken with inside that event said all were given a rapid test before being allowed in, which adds context to pictures he’d seen of guests not wearing masks or social distancing.

“And ultimately that’s one of the reasons they all felt comfortable is because they all knew they just had a negative test before they entered the home for the fundraiser,” said Olson.

He’s also told from attendees that the president was essentially cordoned off, in theory to protect him. Now that may have wound up protecting everyone else, if the president was already contagious. . . .

Back in South Dakota, Joe Sneve reports in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader article, Gov. Kristi Noem to lawmakers: South Dakota shows lockdowns are 'useless':

Gov. Kristi Noem said Monday South Dakota has given the rest of the country an example of how to navigate through a pandemic without heavy-handed government mandates.

Noem told lawmakers during a special session of the Legislature in Pierre that while her resistance to statewide stay-at-home orders have drawn criticism, it's also provided a different approach to managing the pandemic than those taken in other states.

"As you all might imagine, these last seven months have been quite lonely at times," Noem said. "But earlier this week, one very prominent national reporter sent me a note that said: Governor, if you hadn't stood against lockdowns, we'd have no proof of just how useless they really have been."

Noem spoke as South Dakota came off its worse month yet during the pandemic. The state has consistently broken records in recent weeks related to the rate of new cases, active cases, hospitalizations and the number of people killed by the virus. . . .

Nice use of anonymous source, there, Governor.  You can Read: Gov. Kristi Noem's remarks to lawmakers during COVID-19 special session at the Argus Leader.

At Dakota Free Press, Cory Allen Heidelberger tells readers what he really thinks in Noem Speechifies on Another Planet, Ignores Pandemic at Home:

South Dakota is proving the opposite of what Kristi Noem is saying. A lot of people are alive today because lots of other places had the good sense to lock down . . .

Now Kristi Noem is throwing that achievement away and pretending that pandemic suffering and death are inevitable—again, translate: not her fault!

Active coronavirus cases in South Dakota dropped today by 2%, but hospitalizations rose 4% to a new daily record of 250. Those 250 suffering South Dakotans might take heart from the White House’s maskless exhortation to not fear coronavirus… but none of those 250 South Dakotans have their own private med-evac helicopter, a two-dozen-person in-house medical team, or the best in government-run health care fully financed by the taxpayers.

But quit your griping and gasping, coronavirus patients! Be the example to America that Kristi wills you to be!

There's some disagreement about her take in the traditional media as well. On October 2, the editorial board of the Argus Leader wrote in Editorial: As COVID-19 leadership falters, Sioux Falls needs mask mandate now:

As news broke late Thursday night that President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19, the world received another glaring reminder of the serious nature of the pandemic and the importance of basic safety precautions.

Has South Dakota gotten the message? Good question.

We have waited six months for Gov. Kristi Noem to provide leadership during the pandemic by protecting and serving South Dakotans rather than parroting patriotic platitudes. She has surpassed even Trump in undermining, rather than emphasizing, the use of masks despite clear guidance from infectious disease experts that face coverings can reduce the spread of the virus.

Noem, who has been campaigning for Trump and was reportedly at the same Minneapolis fundraiser as the president Wednesday, has become a standard-bearer for those who believe the COVID-19 threat is overblown. She has talked of personal responsibility and the wonders of wide-open spaces while South Dakota once again becomes a national hot spot, with record highs announced Friday in active cases (3,987) and current hospitalizations (220), with total deaths at 237.

On a per capita basis, no state has more people currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 than South Dakota, dashing any hopes that the virus would simply fade away this fall as we donned our “positive pants” and were “working really hard” at social distancing, or at least harder than those in power.

To put it bluntly, the governor is a lost cause on this issue. So who else is going to step up?

.  .  .Though many citizens are showing responsibility by wearing face coverings when appropriate, many others are not. It doesn’t help that the state’s chief executive has refused to wear a mask in public and has at times questioned their effectiveness. . . .

Florida Politics reports in Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Corey Lewandowski to rally MAGA troops in Naples:

A South Dakota Governor who calls lockdowns “useless.” A former Florida Attorney General who defended Donald Trump from impeachment by going after Joe Biden’s family on the Senate floor. A campaign surrogate who retorted to news a girl with Down Syndrome was put in a cage with a “womp womp.”

While President Trump has not yet returned to the campaign trail, a few of his most unapologetic supporters will appear in Naples Thursday to rally support. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former AG Pam Bondi and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski are headlining a Make America Great Again! event scheduled at VFW Post 7721.

Doors for the event open at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, with the trio of notables arriving at 2:30 p.m.

The event comes shortly after Donald Trump’s reelection campaign announced Operation MAGA, a massive deployment of campaign surrogates standing in for the President as he recovers from COVID-19. . . .

As for Noem, the Western Governor become particularly popular among conservatives during the coronavirus response as she’s taken a soft-touch approach as far as lockdowns. Just this week, she defended a resistance to lockdowns in remarks to the South Dakota Legislature, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

For more on COVID-19 in South Dakota, check out the Map: Where is coronavirus in South Dakota? View data on ages, counties and gender.

Photo: Items in the window of the Center of the Universe Antiques in Summit, South Dakota. Dennis Schulz, owner of the shop, died in Sioux Falls on September 30, from complications of COVID-19. We will miss his kindness and humor. Read his obituary here.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

Posted by on Oct 06, 2020 at 04:05 PM | | Comments (0)

Oct 05, 2020

Failed US senate candidate Jim Newberger registers a political action committee

MNConPAC_Capitol

In early November 2018, we reported In the ultimate dumpster fire, Jim Newberger campaign torches own yard sign to own the libs:

Nothing owns the other side--or supports suspicion of violence by your opponents--than torching your own sign in a campaign ad.

Perhaps the self-immolation is visually signaling something else. On Halloween, Mike Brest at the conservative Daily Caller reported in Minnesota Senate Dems Raise Significantly More Money Than Republican Challengers:

. . . Klobuchar, who is running against Jim Newberger, has raised $7,412,107 for her reelection campaign, according to the Star Tribune. Conversely, Newberger has only raised $210,846, which is only 2.8 percent of Klobuchar’s war chest. . . .

According to a Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll released last week, Klobuchar leads Newberger 56 percent to 33 percent. The poll, which was conducted in the middle of the month of October, also revealed 60 percent of those surveyed did not even recognize Newberger by name.

With that sort of money to burn on Klobuchar's part, we'd have to wonder why anyone other than Newberger would burn one of his signs.

He'd tweeted:

Two days later, he lost to Klobuchar, garnering only 36 percent  of the vote. But he's not changing his tune. According to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, the former Minnesota House member from Becker has registered a new political action committee for which he's both chair and treasurer, MN Conservative PAC.

According to the PAC's website, Newberger is still worried about mobs:

Everyday we see our great state slipping farther away from the American Dream. 

     Many of us no longer recognize the very place which we grew up in.  Everything seems to be changing.  The slide into socialism is rapid and real.  The major media outlets are on board with this and refuse to report what is going on.  The promoters of socialism are now openly pushing for rapid change. 

     Our cities are looted, burned and vandalized.  Mobs move in and shut down highways, blocking traffic and refuse to let emergency vehicles move through.

     The Democrat party in our state, The DFL, seems to have joined forces with these radicals and are refusing to let law enforcement act in a timely fashion.  Lives are lost.  Property is destroyed. Neighborhoods go up in flames… AND the Socialist-Democrats keep winning elections.

Have you had enough?

We have.

The Minnesota Conservative PAC strives to do 3 things.

  • Promote Conservative Values and keep you up-to-date on political events in MN.
  • Find “over-looked” conservatives, who still have a chance, and HELP them!
  • To be be proactive –  do more than “put out political fires”.

The Minnesota Consevative [sic] PAC is not part of any specific political party, candidate committee, or other political organization.  We operate independantly [sic].  This gives us the freedom to work for YOU, the Minnesota conservative voter.

Given Newberger's lack of fundraising for his own US Senate race, we're not sure how much he'll raise for those overlooked candidates in the miasmatic jungles of Minnesota. Our apologies to both Mencken and Arkansas.

Here are the issues upon which the PAC is focusing. There's an events page but nothing listed so far; given the current COVID-19 exposure in Minnesota conservative  circles, this might not be such a bad thing.

The PAC's contact page says "We would love to hear from you!" By all means, readers should consider dropping the PAC a line. Use the old rural Minnesota grandma rule: don't use language you wouldn't use around your grandparents. Your grandparents may vary.

Banner image: From the ABOUT page of MN Conservative PAC.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

Posted by on Oct 05, 2020 at 12:21 PM | | Comments (0)

Oct 04, 2020

Last week in Jim Hagedorn: Grand Canyon & Delta privileges in the power couple's life edition

Grandcanyon

We've missed reporting on the soap opera that is the Hagedorn re-election campaign in Minnesota's First Congressional District, but a review of news assures us that Mr. Conservative /columnist did not disappoint.

There's a clear whiff of toxic privilege in the air--along with the nasty virus swaths of the Republican Party in these parts seem to have embraced.

Saturday in the Star Tribune, Patrick Condon reported in Minnesota GOP's power couple ride political waves:

The most powerful married couple in Minnesota Republican politics are having quite the election cycle.

U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn and his spouse of nearly two years, Minnesota Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan, both have much at stake this November. Hagedorn, a one-term congressman from southern Minnesota, is in a tough fight for re-election even as he’s treated for kidney cancer.

And Carnahan is the public face of the state GOP’s effort to regain political ground, most notably in President Donald Trump’s high-profile push to flip the state in his favor.

As Hagedorn faces a well-funded rematch with Democrat Dan Feehan, he’s had to respond to revelations about the use of taxpayer-funded mail by his congressional office that’s been criticized by his political rivals and government ethics experts.

Hagedorn even found himself subject to an unusually public pushback by his former congressional chief of staff, whom Hagedorn had publicly blamed for the mail snafu. . . .

Dear readers: you knew that. What's new is this:

The DFL, which has criticized Carnahan for not wearing a mask at party events, has kept up the drumbeat. Last week, the party disclosed a string of e-mails, obtained by an FOIA request, that show a staffer in Hagedorn’s D.C. office e-mailing a National Park Service official on short notice last Dec. 19 to request free entrance and private guided tours for Carnahan at several parks in Arizona.

“Mrs. Carnahan would love to have a private guided tour of the Grand Canyon (preferably within the next hour.) She was wondering if the same could be arranged for her as she visits Horseshoe Bend this afternoon, and Angels Landing tomorrow. Likewise, she hopes to get the entry fee waived, as she is a member’s spouse,” the e-mail from Hagedorn’s office reads.

After a park official e-mailed Carnahan to say it may be too late, Carnahan was polite in response: “Thanks. Understood either way,” she wrote.

Carnahan’s DFL counterpart, Ken Martin, said it’s an example of Hagedorn “unethically using government resources for his personal benefit. … Now he’s using his government position to get free things for his wife.”

Hagedorn’s campaign derided the e-mails as “personal attacks.” They responded that “Members of Congress and their spouses are encouraged to inform the National Park Service whenever they visit Park Service facilities. Jennifer is an avid hiker who sought whatever assistance was available and purchased her own park passes.”

But it may not be the attention Carnahan and Hagedorn, or the party, need.

And there's Hagedorn's own recent plane travel. At the Minnesota Reformer, Ricardo Lopez reported in Minn. GOP congressmen fly despite possible COVID-19 exposure, angering Delta passengers:

Minnesota’s three Republican congressmen who traveled with President Donald Trump on Air Force One recently are coming under fire for flying Friday after their recent exposure to COVID-19.

Reps. Tom Emmer, Jim Hagedorn and Pete Stauber attended Trump’s Duluth campaign rally on Wednesday, just two days before Trump announced he, along with his wife, Melania, and other top aides, had tested positive for COVID-19. . . .

The flight, which was supposed to take off around 5:30 p.m., was delayed by more than an hour after passengers who had recognized the congressmen complained that they were on the flight. The flight eventually departed with the three congressmen.

A Delta spokesman told the Star Tribune that “there was a conversation with passengers” about the men’s presence on the flight.

According to Delta policy, “We cannot allow anyone to fly who knows they have been exposed to COVID-19 in the past two weeks. To travel with us, you must agree that you are not aware that you and, to your knowledge, those in your itinerary have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the past 14 days.”

. . .Hagedorn on his Facebook campaign page hit back at criticism that he had endangered other passengers. 

As for Delta, the airline and our flight’s captain were fully aware beforehand, because Tom, Pete and I informed them of the facts,” Hagedorn wrote. “You see, one or two Democrats on our plane complained and tried to get us kicked off, which delayed take off by over an hour as Delta’s management in Atlanta considered the Democrats’ complaint. Delta made the decision to fly based upon the facts.”

Bring Me The News' Declan Desmond reports in DFL scorches 3 GOP lawmakers for flying after COVID exposure:

Minnesota Democrats are pulling no punches in their response to the news that three GOP congressmen flew on an airplane shorty after exposure to COVID-19. 

This weekend, the DFL Party issued a statement about the decision of reps. Pete Stauber, Tom Emmer and Jim Hagedorn to board a Delta flight two days after flying on Air Force One with President Donald Trump — who was likely infected with coronavirus at the time.

A number of people around Trump last week have also tested positive for COVID-19, including First Lady Melania Trump, presidential aide Hope Hicks and a number of Republican senators.

Stauber, Emmer and Hagedorn tested negative for the virus, but violated Delta policy when they flew from Washington, D.C. to Minneapolis on Friday. The airline prohibits flying if a person has had a known exposure to COVID-19. 

In its statement on the controversy, the DFL accused the three Republicans of having "deliberately put the health and safety of their fellow passengers at serious risk," and pointed out that "a negative test soon after exposure is nearly meaningless.”

The statement, attributed to DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin, continued:

“Millions of Americans have sacrificed so much to slow the spread of COVID-19, yet Congressmen Emmer, Stauber, and Hagedorn could not even wait a few days to board an airplane. These Congressmen’s stupidity and disregard for the well-being of their fellow passengers is staggering.”

The DFL also quoted infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm, who stated the following about testing for COVID-19 soon after exposure: 

“There is no get out of jail card here with one test. If they were exposed in the last 2 to 3 days, they might not actually come down with this infection and be test positive for up to 14 days… we’ve had onsets late, after 7 or 8 days, and test positives after 7 or 8 days, so having a test in those first 3 days after you’ve been exposed is almost meaningless.”

Goodness gracious.

KARE-11 Boyd Huppert reports Delta Air Lines says it cleared Republican congressmen for flight who had met with Trump.

In a letter to the editors of the Mankato Free Press, Kathleen Keller of St. Peter writes:

Sunday night as I watched the 1st District congressional debate, Rep. James Hagedorn was asked the following question about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic: “Moving forward, how would you balance keeping Americans safe while keeping the country moving to the best of Congress’s ability?”

I was shocked to hear Hagedorn respond by saying the following: “We’ve done a pretty good job of keeping Americans safe.” In my opinion, Hagedorn is delusional about the true impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Two hundred thousand Americans have died, including 2,000 Minnesotans. Many people are still out of work. Our kids have lost so much time in school. We have to wear masks in public spaces. Our elderly and disabled family and neighbors often continue to be isolated. We can’t travel to visit family out of state.

Our lives have been turned upside down, and yet Hagedorn thinks “we’ve done a pretty good job.” This is a time to act decisively with a plan, not to rest on any laurels.

That's pre-Trump fundraiser, Duluth rally, and COVID-19 hospitalization. She may have a point.

Related posts:

Photo: A credibility gap the size of the Grand Canyon in Minnesota's Fighting First? Photo via National Park Service.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

Posted by on Oct 04, 2020 at 04:56 PM | | Comments (0)

Oct 03, 2020

Vice chair of Minnesota Senate Transportation Finance & Policy Committee busted for DWI

JasinskiSheriffBill

Sunday afternoon update, October 4: The star Tribune's Chao Xiong and Kim Hyatt report in State Sen. John Jasinski of Faribault says he takes 'complete responsibility' for drunken driving over the weekend:

. . . “I take complete responsibility for my actions. This case is pending and I am awaiting the legal process,” he stated. “However, I do want to say that I understand my actions affect my family, friends and constituents. I cannot overstate my gratitude for the public’s understanding, support and thoughts during this time.”

Kathy Brown-Dodds, chairwoman of the Rice County Republicans, said in a phone interview Sunday afternoon that she’s sorry Jasinski “made the wrong choice” and that his actions serve as a wake-up call for himself and others.

“I’m sure he’s going to pay the price for it financially and throughout his campaign and his family,” she said.

The 54-year-old legislator, who is the vice chairman of the Transportation Finance and Policy committee, was cited Saturday with driving while impaired with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit of 0.08, and fourth-degree driving while impaired. Both are misdemeanors.

An official with the Rice County Jail said Jasinski was released Saturday evening shortly after he was booked. Staff declined to release a mug shot of the senator. . . . [end update]

These items came across our twitter feed Saturday night:

The Faribault Daily News has a pretty high firewall, but KSTP 5 has also reported on the charges in State Sen. Jasinski arrested on suspicion of DWI:

Minnesota state Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault, has been arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired.

Court records show Jasinski was cited with fourth-degree DWI and DWI with a blood alcohol level of .08 or more Saturday in Rice County.

He was first elected in 2016 and serves as the vice chair for the Senate Transportation Finance and Policy Committee, which oversees agencies such as the Department of Public Safety.

Jasinski is also an Assistant Majority Leader according to his official webpage at the Minnesota Senate online.  When he won the 2016 contest against former senator Vicki Jensen, Jasinski had served as mayor of Faribault from 2008 through 2016.

A search of Minnesota court case records reveals three  minor driving and parking offenses on Jasinski's part.

On Friday in MinnPost, Walker Orenstein reported in How six state Senate races explain the Republican Party’s strength in Greater Minnesota:

. . . In Senate District 24, where Republican John Jasinski of Faribault beat incumbent DFL Sen. Vicki Jensen in 2016, political groups spent more than $745,000 on independent expenditures. The money largely paid for advertising.

This election cycle, the picture is very different. While election day is a month away, the state’s campaign finance website so far reports no independent expenditures in Jasinski’s race against Democrat Roger Steinkamp at all. . . .

Some districts, like the one Goggin and Jasinski represent, have a history of GOP success before 2016, Walsh said. Jasinski, who was mayor of Faribault, said he hasn’t seen any advertisements against him in SD 24, and is running on “getting small businesses back on track.” .  . .

Steinkamp, Jasinski’s opponent in SD24, formerly ran a business selling products made of sheep milk and worked for NGOs to improve agriculture in several countries including Kenya, Macedonia and Rwanda. He said he’s running to boost access to affordable housing, paid family leave and child care and also wants a universal health care system. Steinkamp said he could win by turning out new voters, such as Somali and Latino residents that are “pretty much left out” of the area’s prosperity and being hurt by the pandemic. . . .

Will a drunk driving charge change things this late in the campaign season?

Photo: Senator Jasinski (left)gets an earful from former Douglas County Sheriff and current Republican senator Bill Ingebrigtsen. We hope he'll advise the Faribault senator to get the help he needs. Via Twitter.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

 

 

Posted by on Oct 03, 2020 at 08:41 PM | | Comments (0)

Oct 02, 2020

CDC report on Sioux Falls Smithfield COVID-19 outbreak redone with ‘watered down’ safety recommendations

Smithfieldapril

Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch

Printed with permission

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved a final report on a massive COVID-19 outbreak at the Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls, then retracted that report and redid a second final report with much less stringent worker-safety recommendations.

The first report was dated April 21, 2020, and included 15 pages of recommendations for improved safety. The second report, issued the next day, included many of the same recommendations but with added language stating that safety improvements were “discretionary and not required” to be implemented by Smithfield.

The second report also contains numerous references to safety measures that should be implemented only “if feasible” or “if possible,” including whether sick employees should stay home, whether dirty or wet masks should be replaced, and whether protective barriers should be used to keep workers safe.

The Smithfield pork processing plant in downtown Sioux Falls became the largest COVID-19 hotspot in the country in April; in all, about 929 workers and 210 close contacts of workers were known to be sickened, leading to two deaths, according to the state. Smithfield was fined $13,494 by federal regulators in early September.

The CDC sent in a team of inspectors to the Sioux Falls plant in mid-April to complete what is known as an “Epi Aid” investigation into the outbreak and to make safety recommendations. The review was requested by the South Dakota Department of Health.

A congressional inquiry has been launched to find out who is responsible for what Democratic lawmakers said is the “watering down” of the CDC report recommendations, and to discover why and when the changes to the first version of the report were made. A member of the House of Representatives who chairs a subcommittee on worker safety raised concerns on Sept. 30 that politics may have played a role in the rewriting of the CDC report.

Robert Redfield, head of the CDC, told a U.S. Senate committee in September that the changes were made simply to note that CDC safety recommendations are suggestions and not requirements. However, such notations were not made in past CDC reports, including a report on a COVID-19 breakout at a Colorado meat plant issued just two days before the release of the Smithfield report.

News Watch has confirmed through congressional records that the South Dakota Department of Health was given a “pre-clearance draft” copy of the first version of the report by email on April 20, the day before the initial version was to be released.

Those records also indicate that officials from the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls were also given a draft copy of the first version of the report before its release.

Officials with the health department, including Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon and epidemiologist Joshua Clayton, who is listed as the primary recipient of both CDC reports, did not respond to specific questions sent to them by News Watch.

Instead, health department spokesman Derrick Haskins said in an email to News Watch, “We would refer you to CDC for questions related to its report. Dr. Clayton, Sec. Malsam-Rysdon, and Governor Noem were primarily responsible for requesting the initial CDC and NIOSH support to help assess the COVID-19 mitigation practices at Smithfield Foods and disseminating the investigation findings from the report.”

Changes softened safety recommendations

A News Watch line-by-line review of the two versions of the CDC reports on the Smithfield plant found 24 alterations from the first version to the second version.

The most substantive additions come on the first and fifth pages, with language added to the second version in two places that was not in the first version. Those two added passages both note that, “The recommendations in this memorandum are steps that Smithfield Foods may want to consider implementing to address the conditions we identified at the plant. These recommendations are discretionary and not required or mandated by the CDC.”

In the “Recommendations” section on Page 5, the initial report contains language that was removed from the second report, including that the following actions are recommended “to ensure that existing and future control efforts are effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.”

Later in that section, language in the first version states that Smithfield officials, the state health department and community partners “should develop an implementation plan for these and other interventions … that should be rolled out in the workplace” to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The wording is changed in the second version to say that those groups should “work together to implement recommendations and plans” to reduce the spread.

In all, the second version of the report includes 14 references to implementing safety measures and procedures “where feasible,” “if feasible” or “if possible.”

The “if possible” or “wherever possible” statements are added in the second version to recommendations related to the following:

Replacing dirty or wet facial coverings.

Contactless distribution of face masks.

Use of face masks to enhance worker protection.

Asking workers about recent history of fever, cough or shortness of breath.

Use of signs, in-plant messaging and clear language to educate workers on safety measures.

The “wherever feasible” or “if feasible” language was added to the second version of the report in relation to recommendations that:

The plant eliminate transmission hazards.

Physical barriers should be used in combination with social-distancing efforts.

All employees should wear face coverings over their noses and mouths in all areas of the plant.

Face shields should be used in addition to eye protection

Hand-sanitizing stations should be located wherever employees take anything from a bin.

New safety guidance should be reviewed and implemented as it becomes available.

The second version of the report also changes the word “slaughtering” of animals in the first version to “harvesting” of animals in the second version.

The first version of the Smithfield report was reviewed and approved for publication by two separate CDC task forces; it was obtained by News Watch through the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee.

Inquiries about the two Smithfield reports have intensified as members of that committee and others have interviewed federal officials about COVID-19 and industry, and have asked follow-up questions about the Smithfield reports.

U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., is a member of that committee; a spokesperson for Johnson said on Oct. 1 that he was not aware of the two versions of the CDC report or any language changes being made.

Congressional Democrats seek answers

U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., chair of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, said in a statement on Sept. 30 that she was unsatisfied with Redfield’s statements as to why the new language appeared in the second version of the Smithfield report, and added that she was concerned that political considerations may have played a role in softening the CDC guidance.

“Dr. Redfield’s explanation … for why the CDC felt it was necessary to weaken the Epi Aid report language does not hold water, nor has the CDC provided Congress with any substantive reason for changing the report,” Adams said. “Given the information we currently have, it appears as if politics played a role – ultimately leading the CDC to weaken critical workplace safety guidance putting workers’ lives at risk. I am committed to finding out exactly who was involved in this decision, and why they did what they did.”

Adams and three other Democrats who serve on labor and worker-safety committees in Congress sent letters on Sept. 28 to top officials at federal agencies involved in the Smithfield plant investigation, demanding answers to who altered the initial CDC report, when and why.

One letter, seeking information about the “watering down” of the CDC report on the Sioux Falls Smithfield plant COVID-19 outbreak, was sent from U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., and U.S. Reps. Robert C. Scott, D-Va., and Alma Adams to Redfield of the CDC, Alex Azar of the Department of Health and Human Services and John Howard of the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety.

The letter seeks information and correspondence related to the CDC investigation, the compiling of the two versions of the report and the involvement of any and all parties in making changes to the reports, including the South Dakota Department of Health and Smithfield Foods.

Those members of Congress also sent a letter that same day asking for similar information from Sonny Perdue, secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

In a press release announcing that the letters were sent, the members of Congress wrote that on Sept. 23, Redfield appeared before a Senate committee and “testified that he had no contact with the Department of Agriculture, the White House or Smithfield about this matter, which seems to contradict CDC officials who have confirmed an April 22 phone call between the CDC director and the USDA secretary.”

Gov. Noem said on April 16 that she had been in close contact with USDA Secretary Perdue and officials from the Smithfield plant as the investigation into the outbreak was ongoing.

Noem told South Dakota media on April 22 that the USDA and CDC had been in contact with one another regarding the Smithfield investigation.

In response to questions about the two versions of the CDC report posed by News Watch on Sept. 30, Ian Fury, a spokesman for Noem, said, “It’s the CDC’s report, and we’ll defer to them on how it was compiled.”

When asked if Noem was consulted on the contents of the report at any time, Fury wrote, “She was heavily involved in getting the CDC to Smithfield for the purpose of providing recommendations so that the plant could reopen safely.”

The initial report findings and recommendations, those made before the softening of the language, were sent by email on April 20, 2020, to the South Dakota Department of Health, executives of the Smithfield plant and a local union official in Sioux Falls, according to questioning by committee members on May 28 with answers provided by John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The second, revised version of the Smithfield report was then sent to the South Dakota health department on April 22, Howard said.

“While the substance of CDC’s recommendations did not change between the first and second version, a sentence was added at the beginning to clarify that this was not a regulatory document and throughout there were some working changes (couched in “if phrases”) to reinforce the non-regulatory nature of the report,” Howard testified.

Smithfield says safety measures now in place


The changes to the Smithfield CDC report have become the subject of further discussion and questioning by some members of Congress.

The questions raised by congressional Democrats come amid concerns that the meat-packing industry played a big role in pushing for plants to stay open or to re-open during the pandemic. Several national news organizations have published emails showing that meatpackers and industry groups provided language that formed the basis of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in late April declaring meat-processing companies to be “critical infrastructure” that needed to remain open during the pandemic, even as thousands of workers became infected.

The House Education and Labor Committee leadership, in a press release issued Sept. 30, noted that such statements, or “weakening phrases,” are not included in any other CDC Epi Aid reports beyond the Smithfield report.

News Watch reviewed a similar Epi Aid report issued by the CDC after an investigation of a COVID-19 outbreak at the JBS USA beef processing plant in Greeley, Colo. That memorandum was issued on April 20, just one day before the release of the initial CDC report on the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls.

The JBS memorandum, published in a similar format as the Smithfield memorandum, contains no language indicating the report recommendations are “discretionary” or “not required or mandated” or should be implemented only “if feasible” or “if possible.”

For example, the second, softened version of the CDC memo on the Smithfield plant says that “employees who are ill should stay home if feasible,” with the “if feasible” clause added after the revision of the first report.

Meanwhile, the JBS memo issued only two days earlier states that if plant workers have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, “they are told to return home, surrender their plant identification card, follow up with a telehealth provider” and be notified of available pay and benefits.

In the section outlining CDC safety recommendations, the JBS memo states, “The health and safety committee and labor representatives should develop an implementation plan for these and any other interventions.”

The two versions of the CDC report on the Smithfield plant were sent to company officials Russ Dokken, Scott Reed and Mark Wiggs as well as B.J. Motley, president of the local United Food and Commercial Workers Local 304A union in Sioux Falls. News Watch requests for comment to Motley were not answered.

In response to News Watch questions, Keira Lombardo, Smithfield Foods executive vice president for corporate affairs, said the company has cooperated fully with government inspectors and scientists during the pandemic and has spent $500 million on plant safety.

“We implemented a wide range of measures and protocols well in advance of any government guidance,” Lombardo wrote in an email. “To be very clear, we have implemented CDC recommendations and guidance whether those recommendations and guidance are mandatory or not. Our measures have been working – active cases among our U.S. workforce are at a fraction of 1% and have been for a sustained period.”

Haskins, of the health department, said the state provides updates on COVID-19 clusters when there are more than 40 cases in a single setting. The department has not reported on any new clusters at the Smithfield plant, Haskins said on Oct. 2.

Photo: The Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls.

If you appreciate our posts, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient

Posted by on Oct 02, 2020 at 08:00 PM | | Comments (0)

Oct 01, 2020

West Central Minnesota state representative predicts nice debate on Pioneer Public TV tonight

Millerdolan

We don't often agree with state representative Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, but a civil debate between two candidates would be a welcome event.

Is that Facebook post a Minnesota Nice criticism of Tuesday's presidential debate?

Remember: Viewers are encouraged to call (1-800-726-3178), tweet (@PioneerPBS) or email ([email protected]) questions to the candidates during the debates.

And "Viewers will be able to livestream the debate from the www.pioneer.org website."

From Pioneer Public Television:

Pioneer PBS will host three debates on Thursday, October 1 featuring District 17 House and Senate candidates. Starting at 7 p.m., the first debate will be between incumbent Minnesota House District 17A Representative Tim Miller (R) of Prinsburg and challenger Ben Dolan (DFL) of Appleton. At 8 p.m. Minnesota House District 17B Representative Dave Baker (R) of Willmar will debate challenger Logan Kortgard (DFL) of Willmar. At 9 p.m., Minnesota Senate District 17 incumbent Andrew Lang (R) of Olivia and challenger Fernando Alvarado (DFL) of Willmar will respond to viewer’s questions. These debates will be broadcast live from Pioneer PBS’s studio in Granite Falls and will be moderated by Jim Thoreen.

Viewers are encouraged to call (1-800-726-3178), tweet (@PioneerPBS) or email ([email protected]) questions to the candidates during the debates. The debates will b eavailable for online viewing on Friday, October 2 by noon on www.pioneer.org/meetthecandidates. For more information, contact Patrick Moore, communications director, at 320-841-1487 or email [email protected]. Viewers will be able to livestream the debate from the www.pioneer.org website.

Screengrab: From Tim Miller's campaign website.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.

Posted by on Oct 01, 2020 at 12:55 PM | | Comments (0)

« Previous
Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz

Archives

More...

Become a Fan

Bluestem Tweets

    follow me on Twitter

    Recent Posts

    Recent Comments

    Blog powered by Typepad