Bluestem Prairie

Minnesota House passes 'Crown Act' hair discrimination bill; will Senate act as well?

We were moved by the Minnesota House floor debate on the CROWN Act this afternoon.

This tweet from one state representative sums up the issue:

Hair discrimination is race discrimination. No one should face harassment at work or school because of the way their hair grows from their head. This bill is long overdue. Thanks to Rep Agbaje @go4esther for all her work. Sharing my top 3 reasons for supporting.❤️#CROWNact #mnleg pic.twitter.com/Tg3nVu6XIL

— Rep Liz Boldon (@LizBoldonMN) February 28, 2022

At the Associated Press, Mohamed Ibraham reports in Minnesota House passes 'Crown Act' hair discrimination bill:

The Minnesota House of Representatives passed legislation with bipartisan support Monday that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their hairstyle.

The “Crown" Act, an acronym meaning “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair," would add hairstyle and texture to a provision in the Minnesota Human Rights Act that prohibits racial discrimination in housing, employment and education, among other areas.

Rep. Esther Agbaje, of Minneapolis, the bill’s author, said the legislation adds explicit language on hair-based discrimination to make it easier for judges that have discrimination cases come before them and to simplify the complaint process.

The bill passed 104-25.

“At the heart of this bill is the ability to allow more people to show up as their authentic selves in school or in the workplace without fear of repercussions because of their hair,” Agbaje said on the House floor before the vote Monday afternoon. . . .

Update March 1, 2022: veteran KARE 11 reporter John Croman tweeted the vote board for the bill, for those readers who've wonder who voted how on the bill:

Here's the final vote board on Rep. Agbaje's CROWN Act bill, which passed by a tally of 104 to 25 in the Minnesota House. The legislation would bar discrimination based on natural hair textures and styles in housing, education and employment. pic.twitter.com/BgQz5QBueD

— John Croman (@JohnCroman) March 1, 2022

Here's coverage from the Minnesota Reformer's Rilyn Eichens, Bill to ban discrimination based on natural hair passes the House:

A bill to specify that Minnesota law prohibits discrimination based on hair styles and textures cleared the House with bipartisan support Monday.

The CROWN Act — which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” — would add a definition of race to the Minnesota Human Rights Act that includes “hair texture and hair styles such as braids, locks, and twists.” 

The bill is designed to prevent discrimination against Black people based on their hair. Fourteen other states have adopted similar language, which supporters say would prevent unfair treatment and ease fears among Minnesotans of color of losing jobs or educational opportunities over how they choose to wear their hair. 

“I have felt the pressure to straighten my hair because of the fear of losing a job, or not being able to be taken as seriously. I straightened my hair for most of my life, only recently allowing myself to be natural,” said bill author Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis. “I’m glad to be carrying this bill to ensure that people have the freedom to show up as they are, in school, at work.”

Hair straightening can be an expensive and time-consuming process, and hair straightening products have been found to contain toxic chemicals. 

State legislatures across the country started taking up bills like the CROWN Act in 2019, after a video showing a Black high school wrestler in New Jersey being forced to cut his dreadlocks ringside put a spotlight on the longstanding issue of discrimination based on natural hair.

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights has already taken on cases of discrimination based on hair under the law’s prohibition of racial discrimination, Commissioner Rebecca Lucero told lawmakers during a recent committee hearing..

Still, the department supports the bill because it’s “important to explicitly name the protection in our statute,” Lucero said, citing cases in other parts of the country where judges ruled human rights laws didn’t extend to unfair treatment based on hairstyles and textures. 

On the House floor, Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul, said a manager at one of her first professional jobs told her she would be more authoritative if she straightened her curly hair. Hollins said the comment made her feel “inherently inferior,” regardless of her qualifications.

Hollins said passing the CROWN Act would help reduce discrimination, given that companies design their human resources policies around state law.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” she said.

A Senate companion bill hasn’t received a hearing so far this session.

We'll share the Minnesota House Information Services' YouTube of the debate here when it is available.

A press release from the House and Senate authors:

SAINT PAUL, MN - This evening, the CROWN Act passed off of the House floor with a vote of 104-25. CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, and the proposal would add a provision to the Minnesota Human Rights Act to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of hair appearance and texture. 

Fourteen states have already passed proposals like this one into law. 

“I myself have straightened my hair in the past, in the fear of looking ‘unprofessional’ in the workplace,” said Representative Esther Agbaje (DFL—Minneapolis). “A piece of normalizing beautiful Black natural hair in the workplace, is providing protection against discrimination. This is a small change to our Minnesota Human Rights Act that will make a huge difference in how safe Black Minnesotans feel in the workplace.”

“We can’t talk about diversity, racial equity and justice in the workplace without talking about discriminatory policies such as a dress code and appearance code, which also prevents black and brown people from accessing economic opportunities, in addition to its impact on our mental health. We are the only ethnic group who has to have a law to protect something that is already a part of our DNA.” said Vachel Hudson, Housing and Financial Capabilities Manager of Urban League Twin Cities. “Our youth and community would have more upside and impact on society if exposed to positive role models who look like us, and we perform better when we can be our authentic selves. As the epicenter for a global racial awakening, Minnesota has continued to be under the microscope of what and how our society wants to move forward.”

“All Minnesotans deserve equal opportunities in the workplace, in schools, and in everyday life and need to come forward when discrimination takes place,” said Linda Sloan, Executive Director of the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage. “The CROWN ACT ensures that Minnesotans have the basic right and freedom to be their authentic selves by wearing their natural hair without negative consequences.”

“​​In building a more just and prosperous Minnesota, the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity (MBCRE) wants to ensure that Black Minnesotans can be hired, retained and can advance at work without race-based discrimination,” said Tiffani Daniels, Managing Director of MBCRE. “MBCRE supports the CROWN Act so that Black Minnesotans can have the freedom to show up as they are in the workplace, which can drive higher employee engagement, productivity, and innovation in the work environment.”

“The CROWN Act is an important measure that will provide protection from discriminatory hiring practices against Black Minnesotans,” said Senator Bobby Joe Champion (DFL—Minneapolis). “I thank Rep. Agbaje for her work on this issue and I'm grateful for the passage of this bill through the House. I urge my Senate colleagues to take up this legislation with a sense of urgency, rather than delaying the bill and keeping it on the Senate’s general register for the rest of session. We have assembled a strong coalition in support of this bill, and over the coming weeks, we will urge the Senate Republican majority to act upon it.”

The bill passed with the support of the Minnesota Human Rights Department. It’s now sitting on the Senate’s general register, waiting for a hearing.

Photo: Rep. Esther Agbaje, D-Minneapolis, speaks to reporters outside of the House chamber in St. Paul, Minn. Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. The state House passed legislation with bipartisan support Monday that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their hairstyle. The “Crown" Act, an acronym meaning “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair," would add hairstyle and texture to a provision in the Minnesota Human Rights Act that prohibits racial discrimination in housing, employment and education, among other areas. Photo by Mohamed Ibrahim, Associated Press.

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Update: Becker County Board of Commissioners asks MnDOT to save Hwy 34's scenic beauty

Just over a month ago, we republished Terry Kalil's  Letter: MNDOT's plan to resurface Hwy 34 may ruin Lake Country Scenic Byway

She's not alone in opposing the clear-cutting of the red pines along that section of Highway 34. 

On Friday, Nathan Bowe reported in the Detriot Lakes Tribune, Becker County asks MnDOT to reconsider tree-cutting on Hwy 34:

Becker County commissioners have joined the chorus of voices asking the Minnesota Department of Transportation to sheath its plans for large-scale tree cutting along scenic Highway 34.

The board voted unanimously to send a letter to MnDOT asking it to reconsider its tree removal plans along the stretch of Highway 34 from Four Corners to Osage.

“I don’t like to tell another agency, that we don’t have any control over, what to do,” said Commissioner Barry Nelson. “We just ask that they reconsider that extreme cutting to that degree … We value the trees in that area, and this is overkill.” . . .

The issue arose because MnDOT plans to remove all trees 65 feet back from the center line on both sides of Highway 34 in Becker County from Four Corners to just west of Osage.

It also plans to clear out the majority of trees in one of the most beautiful parts of Highway 34, on the south side along a seven-mile stretch from Snellman to the Shell River. There, three-quarters of all trees will be removed, from the clear zone back to 150 feet.

The affected area offers one of the best, most visible Showy Lady’s Slipper orchid populations in the region, and opponents fear the logging activity and loss of trees will decimate the state flower in those areas. MnDOT says it will mark those areas to help contractors avoid them.

Bowe notes the range of people who spoke out against the project:

. . .“You don’t see that many lady slippers in the ditch within viewing range,” Dr. Ron Miller of Fargo told commissioners. “Usually you have to go into the woods to find them.”

Miller was one of several people, both in-person and remotely, who spoke against the tree-cutting plans at the Feb. 15 County Board meeting.

“It takes special conditions for lady slippers,” he said. “What will happen when the trees are gone and the shade is gone?”

It’s not just a beautiful stretch of roadway that will be scarred for a generation, it’s also an economic blow to the region, since autumn foliage tourism on Highway 34 has an economic impact of $29 million a year, Cleone Stewart told the county board prior to the vote. She is tourism director at Detroit Lakes Tourism Bureau and Regional Chamber of Commerce. . . .

Bill Henke, who represents the local Izaak Walton League, said the trees will be destroyed out of a misguided effort to enhance roadway safety.

“Really there’s no data to support that diminishing trees that shade the highway (will improve safety),” he said. “The tree removal plan violates the spirit and the mission of the scenic byway program and violates the state’s vegetation policy to protect and enhance the native environment." . . .

Howard Mooney of Detroit Lakes, owner of Howard Forestry LLC, told commissioners that he is “normally a strong proponent of timber sales – but this is a very different matter … if you’re taking out 75% of the trees, it’s not thinning, it’s near clear-cutting.” . . .

When you've lost timber sales guys, MNDOT, it's time to reconsider. 

The paper came out against the project in a February 3 editorial, MnDOT needs to slam the brakes on Highway 34 tree-cutting plan.

Photo: A group of Showy Lady's Slippers along Highway 34. They are the official state flower, but that offers them no special protections. Contributed to the Detroit Lakes Tribune/ Kelly Blackledge.

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. 

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Pants on fire at CPAC: Governor Kristi Noem claims "We kept kids in the classroom"

Reading the text of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2022 speech, we noticed one "pants on fire" fib--that in South Dakota, "We kept kids in the classroom."

It's not true--our romantic partner's grandchildren and the rest of the Summit school district's pupils, weren't in the classroom. Indeed, South Dakota's temporary closure (later extended until the close of the semester) came a few days before that ordered by Governor Walz in Minnesota.

It's not the first time she's suggested South Dakota kept kids in the classroom to an audience at CPAC. What's more, her damning "the left" rhetoric erases some of her own policy making.

About the classrooms closing

Our tweet:

2/2 Here's the transcript in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. https://t.co/0sNvsDSvMb

— Sally Jo Sorensen (@sallyjos) February 26, 2022

In some ways, this year's CPAC speech is a rerun of last year's CPAC speech. On March 2, 2021, Joe Sneve reported in the Souix Falls Argus Leader article, As Noem scores points for her pro-liberty approach to COVID-19, here's a look at what she's done:

. . .Noem doesn't shy away from her reputation as a "hands-off" governor amid the pandemic, and that's only fueled speculation that she's eyeing a presidential run in 2024.

But to say she never issued any shelter-in-place orders and that she doesn't believe government has the authority to close businesses or make people wear masks doesn't entirely vibe with what's taken place in South Dakota during the last 12 months.

It's true, Noem never issued any statewide lockdowns or business closures. But she did use executive fiat to force certain groups of people in specific areas from being in public.

Through an April 6, 2020 executive order, the governor ordered all people with an underlying medical vulnerability and those 65 and older in Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties to stay home.

"This executive order is mandatory for the counties above," read the order signed by Noem, which she defended as a targeted approach to managing the virus versus a one-size-fits-all mandate.

The order ended up lapsing in mid-May, but not until after Noem extended it at the end of April.

Details, details. But there's more:

Noem is also correct that she never formally ordered the closure of any businesses. But following an outbreak at the Smithfield meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls in April, she joined Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken in using their offices to apply pressure on the company to shut down.

Within days, the plant executives announced it was shutting down for two weeks. . . . 

And while other states are still grappling with whether to send kids back to school, South Dakota students have been in the classroom since August.

Noem touted that as the right approach during her CPAC speech.

But she didn't bother to mention she all but ordered the closure of schools in the early days of the pandemic.

On March 13, during a call between health officials and school administrators, schools were told that closing schools wouldn't necessarily help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

Within four hours, Noem's office took a different route, instead recommending all public and private schools be closed. South Dakota school systems heeded that advice and didn't re-open their doors to students until they returned to school in fall 2020.

Of course, she cites the state motto in the latest speech: "Our state motto is “Under God, the People Rule.” No mention of her quashing of the will of the people to legalize adult cannabis via Amendment A, as South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws states:

On Election Day last year, 54% of South Dakota voters approved Amendment A, a ballot initiative to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults aged 21 and over. But after the election, Governor Noem led a taxpayer-funded lawsuit to repeal the law. On November 24, 2021 the South Dakota Supreme Court issued a deeply flawed 4-1 ruling that overturned Amendment A.

Riot-boosting law vs free speech

But Noem isn't just bending the truth about her own orders to close South Dakota schools or her hypocrisy about the will of the people.

At CPAC this year, Noem contrasted "the Left" with conservatives, though she has a short memory about her own efforts to crush First Amendment rights in saying, "The Left crushes free speech. Conservatives celebrate free expression."

Jeepers. Noem has done a bit of that herself We're old enough to remember 2019's riot-boosting law, which was laughed out of the a federal courtroom. As is often the case, Cory Allen Heidelberg summed up the situation. In Judge Suspends Noem’s Pro-Keystone XL Riot-Boosting Law, he wrote:

In this afternoon’s order, Judge Piersol says, sure, the state has an interest in busting genuine rioters. However, Noem’s “riot-boosting” laws “go far beyond that appropriate interest and… do impinge upon protected speech and other expressive activity as well as the right of association.” Furthermore, Judge Piersol concludes the laws “go beyond what is essential” to punish violent rioters.

Gee, Republican legislators: if you hadn’t been in such a hurry to sit up and bark for Kristi and Canada’s Keystone XL pipeliners, if you had actually listened to the South Dakotans who showed up on deliberately short notice to explain what was wrong with Noem’s anti-free-speech bills, you might have recognized that Noem’s proposals would fail Constitutional scrutiny. But I guess you prefer losing in court….

Governor Noem sought to criminalize as “riot-boosting” not just participating in a riot but directing, advising, encouraging, or soliciting others who participate in a riot and commit acts of force or violence. Judge Piersol took a close look at those four verbs—direct, advise, encourage, solicit—and found that while directing rioters is naughty, advising, encouraging, and soliciting do not involve control and thus “involve expressive activity of many kinds, expressive activity that is protected speech.” To support his conclusion that Noem’s statute is overbroad, Judge Piersol provides examples that answer the questions Noem’s chief lobbyist Matt McCaulley would not answer about the genuine chilling impact of her riot-boosting law:

Sending a supporting email or a letter to the editor in support of a protest is encouraging. Giving a cup of coffee or thumbs up or $10 to protestors is encouraging the protestors. Holding up a sign in protest on a street corner is encouraging. Asking someone to protest is soliciting. Asking someone for $10 to support protesting is soliciting. Suggesting that the protest sign be bigger is advising. The possible violations of those felony or damage creating statutes against advising, encouraging, or soliciting goes on and on. Encouragement, advice or solicitation for the protest on social media would be a fertile ground for damages or charges or both. And each of the examples involve protected speech or expressive activity [Judge Lawrence Piersol, Order, Dakota Rural Action v. Noem, 2019.09.18, p. 11].

Judge Piersol concludes further that Governor Noem would have slapped Dr. Martin Luther King with felony “riot-boosting” for writing his famed “Letter from Birmingham jail” for “soliciting, advising or encouraging another person to break the law.”

Judge Piersol does Governor Noem and the Legislature a small favor by manufacturing a severability clause for them and letting stand the prohibition on directing rioters. But Judge Piersol enjoins punishment of their advisors, encouragers, and solicitors, based on his conclusion that the plaintiffs will likely prevail on the merits, that the plaintiffs face “clear and substantial” irreparable harm, the state faces no harm in losing the chance to enforce a statute that it hasn’t used once since its “emergency” enactment in March, and the public interest in protecting those who exercise basic constitutional rights to speech and association from immediate and financially crushing punishment outweighs the interest in preventing the entirely speculative costs to taxpayers counties that might see protests. . . .

Freedom of speech and expression? One heckova thing.

Related posts:

• South Dakota ethics: Will lawmakers resolve Governor Noem's closed-door meeting with daughter violated public trust?
• SD Gov Noem blames Soros' money for pipeline protests; cuts tribes out of anti-protest bills talk 

Photo: Governor Kristi Noem on a horse.

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. 

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I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6

Was Minnesota's First a "long-held Democratic seat" prior to Jim Hagedorn's 2018 election?

Reading the obituary of Congressman Jim Hagedorn, 59 (Formerly of Blue Earth) in the Faribault County Register, we paused at this passage:

Congressman Hagedorn was first elected in 2018 and made history when he successfully flipped a long-held Democratic seat from blue to red during a challenging midterm cycle. He was re-elected in 2020 to serve a second term, strengthening his support in the district.

As someone who has written about rural Minnesota since the waning days of former Gil Gutknecht's sixth term, we had to wonder who created that copy.

Wikipedia describes the district's political leanings:

From early statehood until after the 2000 census, the district covered only southeast Minnesota. During the 20th century it was generally considered solidly Republican, but it became more of a swing district in the late 20th to early 21st century. In 2004, John Kerry received 47% of the vote in the district. In 2006, Republican Representative Gil Gutknecht lost to Democrat Tim Walz. In March 2017, Walz announced that he would not run for reelection to Congress and instead would run for governor of Minnesota. On paper, the district leans Republican with a CPVI of R+8, but recent elections have been among the closest in the nation, won by less than a single percentage point in both 2016 and 2018.^[5]

The entry notes the election of four Democrats within that area since statehood: one-term wonders Thomas Wilson (March 4, 1887 –
March 3, 1889) and William H. Harries (March 4, 1891--March 3, 1893); Tim Penny (January 3, 1983–January 3, 1995) and Walz (2007-2018).

Now, as the Wikipedia entry notes, the district historically included only southeast Minnesota but redistricting created a more swing district. Indeed as the Wikipedia entry for former representative Tim Penny states:

In 1982, Penny won the DFL nomination for the 1st District and upset four-term 2nd District Republican Tom Hagedorn, becoming only the third Democrat to ever represent this district. Leading up to the election, Republicans were divided after the conservative Hagedorn narrowly defeated two-term First District moderate incumbent, Rep. Arlen Erdahl, in a contentious Republican Convention endorsement contest after redistricting; in addition, Democrats made large gains in congressional elections across the country, which contributed to Penny's victory. Penny was reelected in 1984 with 56 percent of the vote, becoming the first non-Republican to win reelection in the district since statehood. He never faced another contest nearly that close, winning four more times by an average of 70 percent of the vote.

The Wikipedia entry for Tom Hagedorn reports:

. . .He was elected as a Republican to represent Minnesota's 2nd congressional district in the 94th, 95th, 96th, and 97th congresses, serving from January 3, 1975, to January 3, 1983. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to represent Minnesota's 1st congressional district in the 98th congress in 1982. Hagedorn was succeeded in the House by author, businessman, and musician Tim Penny.

Hagedorn's son Jim Hagedorn was elected to Congress in 2018 from Minnesota's 1st congressional district, which contains much of the same territory Tom Hagedorn had represented.

We're surprised that the obituary doesn't mention the elder Hagedorn's congressional service. 

The description of the First as a Democratic stronghold also doesn't match newspaper coverage at the time of the late Hagedorn's 2018 victory. At the Mankato Free Press, Trey Mewes reported in Hagedorn 'excited, humbled' after 1st District victory; Feehan waiting on official returns:

Hagedorn's victory is one of two Democratic congressional seats in Minnesota to flip Republican this year; the other is in northeast Minnesota. It also means southern Minnesota is going back to being a conservative district after 12 years of being represented by Democratic Rep. Tim Walz, who replaced former Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht in 2006.  . . .

In some ways, Tuesday's outcome in the 1st District was to be expected. The district has skewed slightly conservative in House races for decades, even when the rest of the country moved left or right on the political spectrum.

"It seems to be its own place doing its own thing," said Kevin Parsneau, political science professor at Minnesota State University.

Parsneau expects the 1st District to remain a toss-up for years to come, given the divide between liberal and conservative interests across southern Minnesota.

"If anything, it's a slightly Republican district that Republicans got back because Tim Walz wouldn't run for re-election," he said. "It would have gone to the incumbent probably, but Walz ran for governor and so there was no incumbent in the race."

When Walz defeated Gutknecht in 2006, Fox News reported in Tim Walz Ousts GOP Stalwart Gil Gutknecht in Minnesota's 1st District:

Democrat Tim Walz, a retired National Guard command sergeant major, upset Gutknecht in southern Minnesota's 1st District, which was once considered reliably Republican . . .

Walz said he wasn't intimidated by the idea of running against Gutknecht, who won with nearly 60 percent of the vote in 2004.

"I thought it was much more of a pragmatic district, more evenly split than people said," Walz said Wednesday morning. . . .

And MPR reported in 2006's Walz wins in 1st District:

For months, political experts said that democratic challenger Tim Walz was a good candidate, but nobody could beat Republican Gil Gutknecht. In his concession speech, Gutknecht seemed surprised himself.

"You know I've never done this before. I've never had to call my opponent and say it looks like he's got enough of a lead now with the precincts that are out, that I don't think we can catch him," Gutknecht said.

Gutknecht says his race got caught up in a wave of anger at the Republican Party.

"Because I do believe, fundamentally, people here in southern Minnesota are conservative people. And I don't think you really change that. I just think that this year there was a frustration with the war, and with the president, and with some of the scandals that have been in Washington."

One additional measure: the still living former MN01 United States Representatives include special-election and ten-full-term Al Quie, two-term Republican Arlen Erdahl, six-term Democrat Tim Penny, six-term Republican Gil Gutknecht, and six-term Democrat Tim Walz.

Other than that, sure, Southern Minnesota is a DFL-stronghold, but what would historical records and living people know?

Photo: Six-term Republican U.S. Representative Gil Gilknecht campaigning in 2006.

MN Public Radio on 74 Million Report: People worried about masks, critical race theory barrage Minnesota schools with costly records requests

Listening to Minnesota Public Radio Wednesday, we appreciated an interview with seasoned Minnesota education journalist Beth Hawkins.

Tom Crann's MPR story for Thursday, Report: People worried about masks, critical race theory barrage Minnesota schools with costly records requests  looks at the issue. Crann reports:

Minnesota school districts are facing a barrage of records requests from parents and law firms associated with campaigns against masks and critical race theory. And these often sprawling requests are costing districts: Rochester Public Schools estimated it would cost $900,000 to fulfill one, and the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school system said it would take staff two years to complete another.

That's according to Beth Hawkins, who wrote about this for the education news site The 74 Million.

“It should be lost on no one that this is a midterm election year and tapping into parental anger about the COVID issues of the last couple of years has been politically galvanizing,” she said on All Things Considered Wednesday. “We saw that in the fall 2021 elections on the East Coast, and I can only imagine that similar tensions are being stoked here.” . . .

Hawkins considered the requests and the strength of Minnesota's data practices law in Minnesota districts flooded with Freedom of Information requests.

Lately, the phone at the Minnesota School Boards Association has been ringing off the hook with dozens of calls from anxious leaders of small school districts — sometimes very small — facing a common quandary. 

They have been inundated with public records requests seeking millions of documents with information on everything from their schools’ COVID protocols to classroom materials, names of teachers and the buildings where they work, even text messages that mention race or social-emotional services.

Sometimes the requests come from law firms. Often they come from local residents who have protested mask and vaccine requirements at school board meetings. Clearly boilerplates, some letters go to multiple districts at once. 

The school officials making the phones ring are anxious about a range of things. There’s the cost and labor required to fulfill the requests, which districts report have skyrocketed in the last six months. There are demands that information be produced on tight timelines — sometimes bolstered by legal citations that don’t apply in Minnesota. And particularly when the person asking for information has been a loud fixture at board meeting protests, there are fears about being singled out for retaliation. 

It’s a variation of a scenario playing out across the country, as local groups — often loose organizations of people initially angered by schools’ responses to COVID-19 — coalesce around how topics related to race, history, the LGBT community and antisemitism are taught. Some are getting help from national organizations and law firms.

In Owatonna, about an hour south of the Twin Cities, attorneys representing a local organization requested correspondence and documents in August that officials estimated would encompass 2 million pages. The district’s human resources director has been chipping away at it, in addition to her regular duties and the additional strains of keeping schools staffed during a pandemic.

In nearby Rochester, school leaders warned that it would cost an estimated $900,000 to fulfill a 41-page request from the local group Equality in Education for materials mentioning a broad range of subjects including critical race theory, equity and anything with “a sociological or cultural theme.” 

The Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school system received a request that it initially estimated would take two years to fulfill. The requesting attorney, whose Twin Cities law firm takes on far-right legal battles, trimmed the list of keywords he wanted searched, and the district hired two people to review the resulting documents for private data that would need redacting. District leaders now anticipate delivering the records by the end of the calendar year.  

Laws vary from state to state as to what reimbursement schools can collect for answering public records requests, but under Minnesota’s Data Practices Act, districts must cover some potentially significant expenses. This year, the school boards association, among others, is asking state lawmakers to either find funds to pay for fulfilling the requests or allow districts to recover all costs from requesters. 

This, in turn, has prompted freedom of information advocates to ask the Legislature not to change the law or to make accessing public data more expensive. They have on their side a recent Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that government agencies must fulfill even public records requests they find “burdensome.”

There’s nothing new about people frustrated with notoriously opaque school districts. Or about government officials grousing about the obligation to comply with the law — particularly when they find themselves in the hot seat. But freedom of information is never more important than when trust between the public and public institutions is low.

Watching nervously as the debate rages, Minnesota’s government transparency advocates worry: Will freedom of information survive?  . . . .

Read the rest at The 74 Million. 

Photo: Chris Picha, human resources director for Owatonna Public Schools, sits at her desk among the stacks of documents compiled of the first four keywords searched from the data request made by the local group United Patriots for Accountability. (Photo courtesy of Chris Picha). From the Owatonna People's Press story, Local group makes massive data request to Owatonna School District.

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. 

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I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6

 

 

 

Minnesota tourism industry might get some state aid to help paddle own canoe to recovery

In our last post, South Dakota ethics: Will lawmakers resolve Governor Noem's closed-door meeting with daughter violated public trust?, we mentioned Thursday's partisan snarling in the Minnesota House, with a reminder it could be worse--just look at Republican leadership in South Dakota.

It's not all a governing disaster zone in both states, however, 

One promising pandemic relief effort in Minnesota is covered by Session Daily's Brian Hall in Sagging MN tourism industry could get a boost:

The continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic can still be seen on the Minnesota tourism industry and House lawmakers are looking to provide some financial help.

The need may even force lawmakers to act more quickly on a bill sponsored by Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) that would appropriate $6 million in fiscal year 2023 for a tourism industry recovery program.

The House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee heard testimony from several members of the state’s tourism industry Thursday, but took no action on HF3616. According to data from Explore Minnesota Tourism, the industry has sustained nearly $12 billion in travel spending losses since 2019.

The companion, SF2769, is sponsored by Sen. Carrie Ruud (R-Breezy Point) and awaits action by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee.

Hansen originally indicated the bill would be laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill. After hearing testimony, he changed his motion to quicken the process. Hansen said the bill – after time to make changes – is expected to be potentially moved by the committee Tuesday.

“I think the case is here for emergency and timeliness just as much as what we’ve heard earlier from businesses,” Hansen said. “I have a lot of people in my district that work in Downtown St. Paul in the bars and restaurants. If we’re going to help out everybody, being One Minnesota, I think we can hold this over, not for an omnibus bill, but to move it.”

Hansen wants to add that tribal governments would be included and add language that would provide randomization of the grants to avoid a first-come, first-served basis. He also might want to increase the appropriation.

“Your idea of potentially moving this forward in a more timely way makes a lot of sense,” said Rep. Josh Heintzeman (R-Nisswa).

Terry Mattson, president and CEO of Visit St. Paul, said the immediate St. Paul area has lost more than $1 billion in sales and $70 million in related tax revenues, along with the loss of 15,000 to 20,000 jobs in the industry during the pandemic.

Hotel occupancy in downtown St. Paul, according to Mattson, was consistently in the “mid-60s percentile” and declined to about 25% in 2020 and 32% in 2021. Mattson said the numbers for January are back to about 25%.

“Minnesota tourism was, and is still, deeply impacted by this global pandemic,” Mattson said. “The pain is widespread. The comeback curve swings widely depending on where you are in Minnesota. Recovery also depends on who you are. While some have gained momentum, there are still many, many challenges and uncertainties for all of us.”

Representing the Minnesota Tourism Growth Coalition, Sarah Psick said the $750,000 appropriated in 2021 for a tourism recovery grant program was accounted for within eight hours of the application period opening.

“So, clearly there’s a need for this funding today,” Psick said.

Here's the hearing on the bill, from the Minnesota House Information Services YouTube channel:

Photo: An empty canoe.

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South Dakota ethics: Will lawmakers resolve Governor Noem's closed-door meeting with daughter violated public trust?

While we were watching Minnesota House committee hearings and a blistering Republican attack on frontline worker bonuses on the floor of the House, our fellow South Dakotans were watching more testimony in the Ravnsborg impeachment hearings. 

One highlight in Pierre? Witness describes interaction between Ravnsborg, sheriff morning after fatal crash from Christopher Vondracek at the Mitchell Republic.

But South Dakota's man-killing Attorney General wasn't the only one under review by state lawmakers

There was this in the South Dakota House, Joe Sneve reports in the Argus Leader, Lawmakers: Noem's closed-door meeting with daughter violated public trust:

South Dakota lawmakers are condemning Gov. Kristi Noem for holding a closed-door meeting with her daughter and various state employees overseeing the South Dakota Appraiser Certification Program in 2020.

A formal resolution was filed in the state House Thursday calling the actions of the governor related to her involvement in Kassidy Peters' appraisal certification "unacceptable," and that she "failed to meet the expectations that South Dakotans have of their leaders."

The prime sponsor, Rep. John Mills, R-Volga, told the Argus Leader he believes a conflict of interest occurred when Noem held the meeting with Peters, who was struggling to earn certification, as well as the long-time executive director of the program, Sherry Bren.

Bren retired in 2021 after settling a wrongful termination complaint against the state, her employer of 30 years, for $200,000.

"I don't think this can be ignored," Mills said.

The closed-door meeting at the Governor's Mansion first came to light in September last year in an Associated Press report, in which Noem is alleged to have pressured Bren into allowing Peters to become certified as a state appraiser.

Department of Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman in October testified to a legislative panel that Peters did not get preferential treatment but did not provide clarity on why Peters was involved in the meeting at the mansion.

Peters has since allowed her appraisal certification to lapse and is no longer involved in real estate appraisal. ...

Read the rest in the Argus Leader.

If anything, South Dakota's Republican-heavy government (governor's office plus both chambers of the legislature) demonstrates that one party rule doesn't guarantee peace in the valley (sorry MN House minority leader Daudt).

How bad is it? The South Dakota Standard reports Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Jamie Smith Said Republicans in Pierre Support Him—Now He Needs to Convince GOP Voters to Do the Same,

Photo: Governor Kristi Noem on a horse.

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CO2 pipelines: who wins & who loses?

As readers know, we've been following the debate over CO2 pipelines in the Upper Midwest, As we noted earlier this month, In November, we posted Coming soon from a cornfield near you: mammoth carbon capture pipeline system. In early January, we noted Mother Jones: USDA Secretary Vilsack’s son works for a controversial ethanol pipeline project and  Iowa county boards scorn construction of CO2 pipelines, use of eminent domain to build them.

One thing we haven't posted about is how the proposed pipelines intersect with Minnesota's regulatory apparatus. Fortunately, a rural environmental group based in west central Minnesota has stepped up to scrutinize the situation.

On Wednesday, CURE Commentary: Who wins and who loses with CO2 pipelines?  ran in Willmar's West Central Tribune, commentary written by Duane Ninneman, the executive Director of CURE.

Ninneman writes:

Have you heard about the new pipeline projects being developed in southwest and west central Minnesota?

If you haven’t, you’re not alone. Even Minnesotans who live, work, and own land in the communities where these pipelines will cross are just beginning to hear about them in drips and drops — maybe in a brief mention in the local paper or a bullet-point item in the minutes of a county board meeting.

Or maybe you’ve heard the rumblings from farmers and communities on the other side of the Minnesota-Iowa border where resistance to these projects is growing.

There are currently two pipeline projects on the horizon in Minnesota — one by Ames-based Summit Carbon Solutions called the Midwest Carbon Express and the other by Texas-based Navigator CO2 Ventures called the Heartland Greenway.

These pipelines are part of the rapidly growing industry known as Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage. If built, they will span thousands of miles of farmland and prairie carrying carbon dioxide (known as CO2) emissions “captured” from dozens of ethanol and fertilizer plants throughout the Midwest to “storage” sites in North Dakota and Illinois.

Already, surveyors for the companies are out in Minnesota farm fields and farmers and landowners are being asked to sign voluntary easements to allow the pipelines across their property.

This is all happening before any environmental assessments, community input, meaningful tribal consultation, or broad public discussions on CO2 pipelines have occurred.

The buildout of this new infrastructure like these CO2 pipelines will bring big changes to the landscape of our communities, with impacts on land use, water use, community health and safety, jobs and worker rights, and tribal treaty rights.

Summit and Navigator have acknowledged that a review of the social and environmental impacts of their projects is important for making decisions around approvals and permitting.

However, they’ve also determined that they should be able to conduct such an assessment themselves, arguing that a “voluntary” environmental assessment would be sufficient.

But can we really trust these companies to prioritize the best interests of our rural communities, even when it might impact their bottom-line?

Landowners, tribes, communities, and all Minnesotans who will be impacted by these pipelines should be part of the decision-making process on if and how they are built. To do that we need in-depth and unbiased information about the impacts of these pipelines and the CCUS industry.

In Minnesota right now, there is no state agency tasked with overseeing a comprehensive assessment of CO2 pipelines, creating a regulatory black hole that puts our communities at risk.

But recently, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission — the state agency that has oversight over most other large pipeline projects — opened a proceeding on whether it should expand state regulations to include liquid CO2 in the definition of “hazardous,” which it clearly is.

This simple change to regulation would give the PUC the ability to conduct a project-wide environmental assessment. A state-led project review would also provide a much-needed forum where members of the public could participate in the decision-making and have their voices heard.

As we work to clean up our energy and industrial sectors, there will be an ongoing debate around the role and development of CCUS and bioenergy — and there should be.

But that debate must be open, accessible, and fair.

Corporate executives and their investors should not be the ones who get to dictate what that looks like and who the winners and losers will be. The places and communities we call home and the lives we cultivate here are too precious for that.

Duane Ninneman is the executive director of Clean Up the River Environment group, known as CURE, based in Montevideo, Minnesota.

Reposted here with the permission of the author.

Related posts:

• Digest: news about carbon dioxide pipelines
• Coming soon from a cornfield near you: mammoth carbon capture pipeline system
• Iowa county boards scorn construction of CO2 pipelines, use of eminent domain to build them 
• Carbon capture in the news & an early March forum 
• Reuters: Before being mothballed, problems plagued Petra Nova carbon capture project
• Project Tundra's clean coal; or, does Petra Nova project's tech really reduce carbon emissions? 
• Cost of coal: Great River Energy to close Coal Creek power plant, wind power's gain.

Screengrab: The proposed Summit CO2 pipeline, which could capture CO2 from ethanol plants, such Granite Falls Energy LLC in Granite Falls, Minnesota, which would help reduce the ethanol plants' overall carbon footprint. West Central Tribune, via Summit CO2 project.

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SD House Select Committee on Investigation reconvenes Thurs to hear county prosecutors' reasons for minor charges against Ravnsborg

 

We've been slogging through the seedling-hating shenanigans of Minnesota's Ag Mafia, and so only now are catching up with South Dakota's own malarky.

At the Associated Press South Dakota bureau, Stephen Groves reports in Prosecutors to testify at Ravnsborg’s impeachment hearing:

The prosecutors who decided against more serious charges against South Dakota’s attorney general in a fatal crash are set to testify at a hearing on whether he should face impeachment.

The South Dakota House Select Committee on Investigation reconvenes Thursday to hear testimony on whether Republican Jason Ravnsborg should face impeachment charges for conduct related to a 2020 car crash that killed Joe Boever who was walking along a highway.

Ravnsborg pleaded no contest to a pair of misdemeanors last year and has said he didn’t realize he struck the 55-year-old man until returning to the scene the next day.

Investigators determined that Ravnsborg would have walked right past Boever’s body and the flashlight Boever had been carrying as Ravnsborg looked around the scene the night of the crash. The flashlight was still illuminated the next morning.

Hyde County Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Sovell, who led the prosecution against Ravnsborg, and the Beadle County State’s Attorney who assisted her in determining charges are set to testify, the Argus Leader reported.

Tim Bormann, Ravnsborg’s chief of staff who was at the crash scene near Highmore at the time Boever’s body was discovered, is also on the witness list as is state Division of Criminal Investigation Director David Natvig.

Gov. Kristi Noem has made it clear that she believes the misdemeanor charges were not enough, and wants Ravnsborg removed from office. She would also get to name the attorney general’s replacement if he is removed.

Friends speculated that she didn't really mean it, but Noem has endorsed a challenger for the attorney general race this year--and not just any stranger. Dakota News Now reported last week in Former political rivals Noem & Jackley endorse each other for upcoming elections:

Two Republicans who once vied against each other in the race for South Dakota governor are now supporting each other in their upcoming election bids.

Gov. Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Marty Jackley issued mutual endorsements Thursday, according to a joint press release from their campaigns.

Noem is running for reelection for a second term as South Dakota governor in the November election. Jackley is seeking to regain his former office against current Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.

Jackley and Noem ran against each other seeking the Republican nomination for the gubernatorial race in 2018. Noem won the primary with 56% of the vote. She then went on to defeat Democrat Billie Sutton in the general election with 51% of the vote.

Ravnsborg, who is also a Republican, won the Attorney General position vacated by Jackley in the 2018 election. Jackley has worked in private practice since the election, and announced last year plans to run again for Attorney General in 2022.

Despite the confrontations in the 2018 gubernatorial primary, which included Jackley accusing Noem of running negative ads, the two appear to now have a shared political enemy in Ravnsborg.

Dakota Free Press has more on that in Jackley Endorses Noem! Noem Endorses Jackley! Ravnsborg Is Toast.

Beats reality TV any day, though we'd like to see less melodrama and more justice for Joseph Boever.

Photo: Ravnsborg's Taurus, via Rapid City Journal. From the New York Times' transcription: "“We know that his face came through your windshield,” one investigator said. The vehicle also had an imprint from at least part of the man’s body on the hood, an investigator said, adding that “at some point he rolls off and slides into the ditch.”

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SD News Watch: Rising anger & violence toward healthcare workers hampering care in S.D.

Another worthy read from South Dakota News Watch:

Rising anger and violence toward healthcare workers hampering patient care in S.D.

by: Bart Pfankuch 

February 23, 2022

Increasing anger and even violence toward healthcare workers in South Dakota and across the U.S. is adding great stress on practitioners who are already enduring the pain and hardship of providing care during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

Healthcare workers in South Dakota have been called offensive names, faced threats at work or at home, had things thrown at them, and occasionally have endured direct physical violence. The aggression is being displayed by both patients and family members.

In the short term, dealing with inappropriate behavior takes the focus of doctors, nurses and aides away from patients who need help. In the long term, the outbursts are driving some healthcare professionals out of the field, worsening a worker shortage that threatens to reduce overall patient care and efficiency of the American medical system.

Ashley Kingdon-Reese of Huron, S.D., is an independent nurse who provides at-home care and runs a nursing consultancy. Preventing violence and anger against nurses and other healthcare workers has been a topic of concern for several years, but especially since the pandemic began.

Kingdon-Reese recently experienced violence firsthand while providing nursing care to a woman with behavioral problems who had a potential infection and needed to be taken from her home to a clinic.

The patient grew frustrated and angry after being forced to wear a mask at the clinic, Kingdon-Reese said.

“She jumped out of bed, pushed me against the wall and bit me in my thigh and I had to do what I could to get her off me,” recalled Kingdon-Reese, who serves as the government relations committee chair for the South Dakota Nurses Association. “Part of it was obviously behavioral health, but the other part was she didn’t want to wear a mask and she was very big into social media that said, ‘You can’t tell me what to do.’”

Kingdon-Reese and others are asking medical patients and the public to reduce their tension level before entering a healthcare facility and to try to remember that providers are there to help them, not hurt them.

“It starts with putting the facts out and advocating for our industry so people know that we’re human, and we’ve dedicated our lives to this and it isn’t easy,” Kingdon-Reese said. “We’re not asking for your devotion or appreciation, we’re just asking for decency.”

Dr. Kara Dahl, a physician in the emergency room at the Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center, said there is no doubt that incidents of inappropriate, threatening or violent behavior toward healthcare workers has been on the rise since the pandemic began.

“You can almost guarantee that you’re going to be name-called or disrespected in some capacity at least once a week,” said Dahl, president of the South Dakota Medical Association. “The frequency of getting to the magnitude of calling security is rising at such an alarming rate, it’s no longer just an occasional thing.”

The anger displayed toward healthcare workers has multiplied the stresses of dealing with a deadly pandemic in an industry already beset by worker shortages. The moment anger or violence arises, patient care overall is immediately damaged, not only for the patient involved but for all patients, Dahl said.

“If we are pulled from a more critical situation to have to deal with a behavioral issue, that is definitely impacting patient care,” she said. “The more disruptive the behavior or outburst, the more it takes us away from the bedsides of other patients who need help.”

Politics and stress brought to healthcare settings

Many healthcare practitioners see the rise in anger as an outcome of the political polarization surrounding prevention and treatment of COVID-19, and the rise of misinformation campaigns by conservative television and radio commentators and on social media. Disdain for healthcare workers prior to the pandemic was caused mostly by frustration with the increasing role of insurance companies in what treatments are offered and at what cost, according to experts.

Dahl said the recent anger toward healthcare workers can be traced in some cases to a generalized angst many people are feeling from the ongoing employment, health and social stresses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sometimes those attacks are not even directed at us, they’re directed [by] an overall anger and upset with their overall everyday lives,” Dahl said.

Whatever the cause of the rising tension, the result is that the healthcare industry is seeing workers getting burned out and enduring stress that hampers their effectiveness — with some prompted to leave the field completely.

The long-range result may be that as medical professionals leave the industry, hospitals and clinics will see a worsening of the ongoing shortage of nurses, aides, technicians and physicians, said Dr. Jeremy Cauwels, chief physician of Sanford Health in Sioux Falls.

“I think it’s reasonable to say that there are people leaving health care because of this, because for many people there are easier ways to make a living than being verbally or sometimes physically assaulted,” Cauwels said.

Officials and healthcare providers at Monument Health in Rapid City have been the target of a recent protest campaign by the wife of a man who has been receiving treatment in the COVID-19 ward at the hospital.

The woman has criticized the care her husband has received in numerous online videos and postings. She has held signs outside the hospital, posted the name and phone number of the Monument Health patient liaison, and urged people to call and complain on her behalf. The woman’s social media posts call the coronavirus a “bio-weapon” launched against Americans, refers to the pandemic as a “scamdemic” and insists that Monument employees receive financial bonuses for each patient assigned to the COVID ward and for each person who dies of COVID-19 at the hospital.

In response, someone started a Gofundme account to raise money to buy takeout meals for Monument emergency room staff. So far, the effort has raised $2,150 from 106 donors and meals have been provided to hospital staff, according to the Gofundme page.

Kingdon-Reese has begun to worry that unless the anger, disrespect and violence against healthcare workers abates, nursing positions and other healthcare jobs may go unfilled. In that case, she said, health care may become dominated by less experienced or less well-trained workers.

“Because of this, we’re losing an industry that everybody needs,” she said. “Everyone in their life is going to need health care at some point.”

Leaders of the healthcare industry regularly post articles and information on the growing risks to employees in the industry, and share ideas and procedures to improve safety.

Research confirms rising anger

In the U.S. Congress, an act to protect healthcare and social service workers from violence by requiring employers to create safety protocols remains stalled in the Senate after passage by the House of Representatives in 2019.

South Dakota is one of many states that have taken legislative action in recent years to address violence against healthcare workers.

In 2018, former Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed into law a bill that increased the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony for anyone who assaults a healthcare worker who is providing patient care.

Research into the escalating anger and violence toward healthcare workers has picked up in pace and intensity in recent years.

Survey results published in August 2020 in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that nearly a quarter of all physicians who responded had endured personal attacks on social media. Female physicians were more likely to report online sexual harassment.

The World Health Organization found in February 2022 that as many as 38% of healthcare workers around the world suffered physical violence at some point during their careers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that workplace violence against American healthcare workers nearly doubled in frequency from 2011 to 2018. Violence was found at five times the rate in healthcare compared with all other industries, and healthcare workers made up 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries due to violence in the country in 2018.

Nurses, who have much of the direct medical interaction with patients and their family members, are enduring much of the anger and violence arising during the pandemic.

National Nurses United, a professional association with 175,000 members across the U.S., surveyed 15,000 registered nurses in late 2020 and found that 20% had faced increased workplace violence since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Nearly 80% of nurses reported higher stress levels, about two-thirds reported feeling sad or depressed, and more than half had difficulty sleeping since the pandemic hit.

News reports from around the country and world have highlighted the increase in violence and the rising concerns. A hospital group in Missouri provided panic buttons to 400 nurses; a nurse in Colorado had an unknown liquid thrown at her while working at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic; and many hospitals are advising workers not to leave work while wearing scrubs that identify them as healthcare workers.

Violence and anger toward medical workers is not unique to the COVID-19 pandemic, though surveys and anecdotal reports indicate the pandemic has made the risks to healthcare workers higher and more frequent.

Hospitals get proactive to protect workers

Monument Health officials would not discuss the situation with the protesting woman due to privacy concerns and because the situation is ongoing, spokesman Dan Daly said.

But the West River hospital group is far from unique in facing backlash from patients or family members who are upset or

angry, said Nicole Kerkenbush, director of nursing at Monument Health.

Monument has taken a proactive approach to reducing unhelpful or tense interactions between people in its hospitals, Kerkenbush said.

Monument has a Workplace Violence Committee that meets monthly or more frequently if needed to discuss recent incidents but mostly to develop strategies to reduce tension or potential violence.

“We look for ways we can prevent these situations from happening at all,” she said. “But also, how do we make sure people know how to react when they do happen?”

The hospital group has provided training for nurses, physicians and others in de-escalation techniques and on how to react respectfully and safely when tension arises. The group holds regular meetings among security officials and employees to develop strategies to identify potential hotspots for tension and to develop ways to protect both employees and patients.

One recent review showed that in-patient settings, where people have been admitted for treatment, are prone to negative interactions with patients or visiting family members, Kerkenbush said.

The hospital also collects and analyzes data on where negative interactions occur and has adapted its security strategies as a result.

Additionally, to bring its messaging to all who enter, the hospital has erected a series of posters that urge people to “Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.” The posters also note that, “Your words matter. Your behaviors matter. Our patients and teams matter. Take a slow, deep breath and make sure your energy is in check before entering.”

Kerkenbush doesn’t rule out that misinformation or binary political views on the pandemic are driving some of the inappropriate behavior toward medical professionals. However, she said her belief is that the rise in tense or angry incidents among patients and family members is being driven mostly by the overall tension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people have had disruptions in their workplaces, at schools, in access to shopping or leisure activities, or have lost a loved one, she noted.

At a recent conference, Kerkenbush said she heard and took heed of the phrase, “Hurting people hurt people,” which helps her understand the pain and agony many have suffered during the pandemic and how it may cause some to act in ways they otherwise would not. Additionally, she pointed to a rise in drug and alcohol use during the pandemic as fueling some negative patient or visitor behaviors.

“It’s mostly people who are worn out or stressed or angry, as they’re not here in the hospital because they’re having their best day ever,” she said.

Cauwels said that the politicization and misinformation surrounding COVID-19 have created distrust in the medical community that is unprecedented and unwarranted.

Wherever people are receiving inaccurate messaging about COVID-19 prevention and treatment, the result is that some patients arrive at the hospital with a predisposition to distrust, resent or even feel violent toward nurses, aides and physicians, Cauwels said.

“With cancer or pneumonia, you don’t try to pick your own treatments; instead you defer to the expertise of the expert in the room,” he said. “My recommendation would be that since you would trust us to make profound medical decisions and do things like transplant your liver, or do surgery on your heart, you can trust us again to make these decisions in the case of COVID or any other illness when you come into the hospital, because it’s what we’re trained to do and these are the decisions we’re trained to make.”

Cauwels said individual patient care can suffer when anger or the threat of violence permeates a medical setting by distracting medical workers from their critical duties or by making them emotionally uneasy and less focused.

Patients are encouraged to learn about their conditions and should feel free to raise questions or make suggestions about potential treatment, Cauwels said. But maintaining a collaborative, respectful demeanor should be expected on both sides of the equation, he said.

“I would never expect your doctor to scream at you to get a certain treatment in place, nor would I expect a patient to scream at me to give a certain medication,” he said. “We have to ask: How do you protect those folks while they’re working on the front lines, working in extremely stressful situations on their best day, and then you have the added difficulty of people who are challenging the therapeutic options they are given but doing so in way that is not respectful or constructive?”

Healthcare workers seek help and support

Some patients or family members make frequent angry calls to the hospitals that also take practitioners away from patients who need help.

Lori Popkes, head of nursing at Avera Health, said Avera has seen an increase in healthcare workers asking for mental health assistance or entering into employee assistance programs due to stress.

Popkes said she has seen a shift over the past couple of years in how medical professionals are viewed by the public, almost “from heroes to zeros,” she said. While nurses and doctors were once viewed with appreciation at the start of the pandemic, they are now held in contempt.

“I do think maybe the public underestimated how much their support and acts of kindness meant to healthcare team members,” Popkes said.

“We saw a number of different things, such as businesses sending letters saying thanks, or organizations stepping forward to provide a special lunch. That’s just something that went by the wayside and got overshadowed with some of this negativity,” she added.

Healthcare workers say they are devoted to helping people and just want to do their jobs well. Dahl said she hopes patients and family members will keep that in mind when visiting a hospital or clinic for any reason.

“Our big ask would be just for people to have some patience and understanding that there are critically ill people here, whether it’s COVID-related or not, and we’re trying our best to prioritize and take care of as many people as possible,” she said. “We’re really doing this because we just want to help people.”

Bart Pfankuch, Rapid City, S.D., is the content director for South Dakota News Watch. A Wisconsin native, he is a former editor of the Rapid City Journal and also worked at newspapers in Florida. Bart has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, editor and writing coach.

Used with permission. If you like the reports published by South Dakota News Watch, consider donating here.

Photo: Nurses and other medical professionals have been subjected to repeated name-calling, threats and even physical violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: News Watch file, courtesy Monument Health, via South Dakota News Watch

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Second Walz administration drought relief bill meets with GOP crabfest in committee

UPDATE 2/23 #1: Our attention has been pointed to the Walz administration's October 13, 2021 proposal, Minnesota DNR announces $13.3 million funding proposal to address 2021 drought impacts on natural resources, which is the impetus for HF3598. [end update]

UPDATE 2/23 #2: Apparently Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture Thom Peterson didn't believe his own testimony in the second YouTube below, when he told the Minnesota House Agriculture committee on the record on February 16, "our administration's position is at some point have those bills married together, travel together." 

In Petersen: Drought Package Needs to Move This Week via Ag Take, there's this February 21 item:

MORE: Via Red River Farm Network, VERBATIM: “During the Fosston Farm Forum, Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said action is needed now.” PETERSEN: “We really need to pass that bill in the next bill in the next week whether it has the DNR piece attached to it or not, because it will take months to get checks out to farmers or for farmers to apply,” said Petersen. “We have to do a RFP (request for proposal), farmers have to apply and we have to cut the checks. Even if we do it by March 1, the soonest we’d get money to people would be April 1.

Did he mean his February 16 testimony or his February 21 testimony?  Does Walz approve throwing the DNR under the bus? 

Since this Bluestem Prairie post went up on February 22 , Senator Torrey Westrom has signed on as author of SF 3479, which will get its first reading in the Senate on Thursday after being Posted on 02/23/2022 12:28pm. The senate bill will be referred to the Agriculture and Rural Development Finance and Policy committee, which Westrom chairs. 

The committee meets on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3 p.m., but Monday's agenda has yet to be posted. Here's a screenshot:

And only HF3420(Sundin) is listed on the agenda of the House Ways and Means committee for Monday.

We're puzzled that rather than putting HF3598 on the agenda and merging the bills, that Chair Rena Moran and House Speaker Melissa Hortman are going along with this Ag Mafia foolishness. [end update]

Reporting for the Forum News Service, capitol press staffer Dana Ferguson reports in $23 million drought relief bill moves forward at the Minnesota Capitol:

A proposal to send aid to farmers and ranchers and to provide money to plant trees and seedlings after historically dry conditions in 2021 picked up bipartisan support.

A Minnesota environmental committee on Tuesday, Feb. 22, moved forward a proposal to provide more than $23 million in grants to farmers and communities hit hardest by the 2021 drought.

On a 12-6 vote, the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee advanced the Walz administration proposal to allocate $5 million to the Department of Agriculture to issue $10,000 grants to livestock producers and specialty crop farmers. Ag officials said priority would be placed on helping those in areas of the state that experienced "exceptional" conditions.

The funds could also go toward reimbursing farmers that traveled within 25 miles to buy hay or forage. Another $5 million would go to the Rural Finance Authority to fund drought relief loans.

Walz administration leaders [link added] also proposed that an additional $10 million be sent to the Department of Natural Resources to help the department, tribal nations, counties and landowners to replace seedlings and shade trees. And $3.3 million would be used to resolve well interference spurred by the drought and to set up systems that improve water efficiency.

"It's very important that as we go through this drought, which may be the shape of things to come with erratic weather caused by climate change, we are going to have a number of responses," Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, said. "We have to protect the public resource."

Here's the YouTube of the Environment committee's hearing:

Ferguson noted Republican resistance to this bill:

Republicans on the panel said the funds for farmers and ranchers were more pressing than water efficiency or tree replanting funds. And they urged Democrats to pull the provisions out so that an aid bill could more quickly move through the Capitol.

“I don’t think the governor’s office or apparently your office gets it," Rep. Dale Lueck, R-Aitkin, said. “I’m really deeply disappointed that we’d ball this thing together and that ag bill wasn’t already dealt with a long time ago. That should’ve been out of here."   . . .

We found that sentiment fascinating. The legislature convened on January 31, so it's difficult to see how "that ag bill" could have been dealt with "a long time again." 

Indeed, the Minnesota House Agriculture committee heard "that ag bill" on February 16, a mere six days before. Representative Lueck should know that, as he sits on both the agriculture and environment committees. 

Ferguson reported on February 16 in Legislative panel approves agricultural aid related to 2021 drought in Minnesota:

. . . State Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said the Walz administration was working to bring a similar bill forward this week and have a finished product approved in March. That could allow the state to turn around checks to farmers and ranchers in April.

Drought relief efforts have picked up bipartisan support at the Capitol and members of the panel said they hoped to see them make it through the Legislature quickly.

“I don’t want to see in any way, shape, or form this bill delayed even a minute,” Rep. Dale Lueck, R-Aitkin, said. “There are real, legitimate emergencies out there. If you’re sitting there, trying to figure out if you’re going to be able to continue to operate this spring, that’s not a really comfortable feeling and even a week or two delay … I have great difficulty following that.”

Session Daily's Brian Hall reported on February 16 in Bill seeks more funding, increased eligibility for drought relief to MN farmers:

Farmers devastated by last year’s drought could see more assistance and increased eligibility as House lawmakers make a quick push for further aid.

Sponsored by Rep. Mike Sundin (DFL-Esko), HF3420 would appropriate $5 million to the Department of Agriculture to reimburse livestock farmers and specialty crop producers.

An additional $5 million would go to the Rural Finance Authority Disaster Recovery Loan Program and change eligibility from those with at least 50% of average gross income coming from farming over the previous three years, to 20% in the past year.

Receiving bipartisan support, HF3420, as amended, was approved 12-0 by the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee Wednesday and referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

There is no companion bill.

Members agreed that aid is needed and hope the bill can move quickly.

“We’re not talking about stuff that is going to happen,” said Rep. Dale Lueck (R-Aitkin). “We’re talking about people that have had to take pretty, pretty substantial action that puts them right at the edge of surviving.”

Livestock farmers and specialty crop producers could receive up to $10,000 to cover drought-related expenses between April 1, 2021, and May 1, 2022. . .  .

You'd think that instead of whining about the progress of two related bills, perhaps the rural Republican committee members might urge their fellow Republicans in the Senate to sign on to both bills. It's not as sexy as culture war or threatening to fire commissioners, but not all policy making is.

Both House bills are headed to the House Ways and Means Committee, and on February 16, Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen testified "our administration's position is at some point have those bills married together, travel together."

Here's Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen's statement about that:

We'd think both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate would have occasion to sign the "yellow jackets" on both bills and get this done, so that eligible farmers would get their checks and the Department of Natural Resource could start replacing saplings that perished in the drought.

Perhaps the House Republicans might have fewer tantrums in committee.

The Walz announced the outlines of drought relief in September, Governor Walz Announces $10 Million Drought Relief Package for Farmers, Producers. There was chatter about a September special session at Farmfest.

And there were headlines like Why getting drought relief to Minnesota farmers may hinge on the state health commissioner’s job status and Minnesota Republicans drop call to remove health commissioner, jumpstarting special session talks.

In November, MinnPost's Peter Callaghan reported in Why talk of special sessions of the Minnesota Legislature is a lot more common than actually holding special sessions:

People in and around the Minnesota State Capitol talk (and talk and talk) about special sessions like they are a common occurrence.

They’re not. With a few exceptions that fit into two specific categories, the Minnesota state Legislature rarely returns to St. Paul once the business of a regular session and the adoption of the state budget is wrapped up.

This year, a months-long debate over whether lawmakers will return has become part of a familiar political songbook. Since finishing legislative work in the Capitol in early July, Gov. Tim Walz and Senate GOP leaders have engaged in a back-and-forth about calling a special session to give bonus checks to frontline pandemic workers, provide drought relief for farmers and get help for hospitals and nursing homes battling COVID-19.

Just when it appears they will, they say they won’t. As it turns out, special sessions called to quickly pass bills on emergent issues in Minnesota are as common as unicorns. 

It might not seem that way after the monthly sequence of special sessions of 2020, triggered by Walz’s decisions to extend his peacetime state of emergency. But those sessions were historic exceptions to the rule that makes it difficult to strike the sort of political agreements that would make governors comfortable in calling a special session that has no end. . . .  .

Initially, a Labor Day special session was anticipated to ratify an agreement among the parties to give away $250 million in federal funds to essential workers who couldn’t work remotely during the pandemic. No such agreement has been reached. Then it was about getting help to drought-stricken farmers, who are still waiting for help. Then it was to tweak state laws regulating hospitals to give them flexibility to respond to the latest COVID-19 surge. Walz said last week that he’s waited so long for legislative action that he’s found ways around their inaction. . . .

Federal assistance?

We were curious whether Minnesota farmers had received any federal drought assistance, but this information is hard to come by.

There's an  early August announcement from Senator Amy Klobuchar's office, for instance:As Drought Continues, Klobuchar, Smith Announce USDA Disaster Assistance for Minnesota Farmers and Livestock Producers.

We did find this early September press release from the USDA, USDA Expands Assistance to Cover Feed Transportation Costs for Drought-Impacted Ranchers in Minnesota:

In response to the severe drought conditions in the West and Great Plains, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today its plans to help cover the cost of transporting feed for livestock that rely on grazing. USDA is updating the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) to immediately cover feed transportation costs for drought impacted ranchers. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will provide more details and tools to help Minnesota ranchers get ready to apply at their local USDA Service Center later this month at fsa.usda.gov/elap.

“USDA is currently determining how our disaster assistance programs can best help alleviate the significant economic, physical and emotional strain agriculture producers are experiencing due to drought conditions,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The duration and intensity of current drought conditions are merciless, and the impacts of this summer’s drought will be felt by producers for months to come. Today’s announcement is to provide relief as ranchers make fall and winter herd management decisions.”  

ELAP provides financial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.

ELAP already covers the cost of hauling water during drought, and this change will expand the program beginning in 2021 to cover feed transportation costs where grazing and hay resources have been depleted. This includes places where:

• Drought intensity is D2 for eight consecutive weeks as indicated by the S. Drought Monitor;
• Drought intensity is D3 or greater; or
• USDA has determined a shortage of local or regional feed availability.

Cost share assistance will also be made available to cover eligible cost of treating hay or feed to prevent the spread of invasive pests like fire ants.

Under the revised policy for feed transportation cost assistance, eligible ranchers will be reimbursed 60% of feed transportation costs above what would have been incurred in a normal year. Producers qualifying as underserved (socially disadvantaged, limited resource, beginning or military veteran) will be reimbursed for 90% of the feed transportation cost above what would have been incurred in a normal year.

A national cost formula, as established by USDA, will be used to determine reimbursement costs which will not include the first 25 miles and distances exceeding 1,000 transportation miles. The calculation will also exclude the normal cost to transport hay or feed if the producer normally purchases some feed.  For 2021, the initial cost formula of $6.60 per mile will be used (before the percentage is applied), but may be adjusted on a state or regional basis.

To be eligible for ELAP assistance, livestock must be intended for grazing and producers must have incurred feed transportation costs on or after Jan. 1, 2021. Although producers will self-certify losses and expenses to FSA, producers are encouraged to maintain good records and retain receipts and related documentation in the event these documents are requested for review by the local FSA County Committee. The deadline to file an application for payment for the 2021 program year is Jan. 31, 2022.

Additional USDA Drought Assistance

USDA has authorized other flexibilities to help producers impacted by drought. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) extended deadlines for premium and administrative fee payments and deferred and waived the resulting interest accrual to help farmers and ranchers through widespread drought conditions in many parts of the nation. Additionally, RMA authorized emergency procedures to help streamline and accelerate the adjustment of losses and issuance of indemnity payments to crop insurance policyholders in impacted areas and updated policy to allow producers with crop insurance to hay, graze or chop cover crops at any time and still receive 100% of the prevented planting payment. This policy change supports use of cover crops, which improves soil health and can help producers build resilience to drought.

Meanwhile, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical and financial assistance to improve irrigation efficiency and water storage in soil, helping producers build resilience to drought. In response to drought this year, NRCS targeted $41.8 million in Arizona, California, Colorado and Oregon through Conservation Incentive Contracts, a new option available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, focused on drought practices.

USDA offers a comprehensive portfolio of disaster assistance programs. On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool can help producers and landowners determine all program or loan options available for disaster recovery assistance.

The federal programs don't take the state off the hook, but we do believe Commissioner Peterson and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture are moving to help with drought related issues. Instead of petty bickering, pull together

Photo: Drought conditions in Minnesota. Via Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

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SWO archivist: "We are committed to them . . . to bringing them home like the chiefs that they are"

On Saturday morning, my beau--a Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate elder--and I attended the signing ceremony of affidavits by the relatives of two boys who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. 

The process of bringing the young men home requires the documents to be signed by family members. 

Since it was a solemn occasion for Mike, I chose not to work at the event.

A Bismarck-based journalist for Forum News Service (who was invited by the tribal archivist Tamara St. John to cover the ceremony), Jeremy Turley reports in Boys' remains could come back to the Dakotas from notorious Native American boarding school:

On Nov. 6, 1879, four boys and two girls from the eastern edge of the Dakota Territory stepped off a train in Carlisle, Pennsylvania — more than 1,000 miles from the rolling plains they had called home all their lives.

The Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux children numbered among the first students to arrive at a boarding school explicitly designed to assimilate Native American youth into a white man’s world by stripping them of their culture, language and family ties.

By May 1881, three of the boys — Amos LaFromboise, Edward Upright and John Renville — were dead, all before the age of 17.

Amos and Edward, both sons of influential tribal leaders, are still buried near the site of the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Their graves are marked with white military-issued headstones containing glaring spelling errors and no biographical information other than the day they died.

But after more than a century away from their native lands, the boys may soon find a final resting place in the Dakotas.

Officials and elders from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Spirit Lake tribes met at the Dakota Magic Casino in Hankinson on Saturday, Feb. 19, to take a crucial step in bringing the boys’ remains back home.

In a ceremony that included prayer and storytelling, relatives of Amos and Edward signed affidavits attesting their familial bonds to the boys. Submitting the documents to the U.S. Army, which maintains the cemetery in Carlisle, will set off the process of exhuming the boys’ remains and returning them to the tribal nations as early as this summer.

Spirit Lake resident Marva Tiyowakanhdi said she almost started crying as she watched her aunt Helena Waanatan sign the affidavit affirming her relation to Edward.

“I felt so much honor and respect and love,” Tiyowakanhdi said. “It’s almost like she brought him home in the spirit, like she was welcoming him back.”

If all goes according to the families’ plans, Amos will be buried beside his father Joseph in the St. Matthew’s Cemetery on the South Dakota side of the Lake Traverse Reservation, and Edward will lie next to his father Chief Waanatan II in St. Michael’s Cemetery on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota.  . . .

Many Americans only recognize Carlisle as the alma mater of legendary athlete Jim Thorpe, but [ an archivist at Dickinson College in Carlisle Jim] Gerencser and a team of researchers have uncovered a much darker side of the school’s history over the last decade.

At least 233 students, nearly 3% of the 7,800 who attended Carlisle, died while enrolled at the school.

Amos LaFromboise was the first to perish.

On Nov. 26, 1879, just three weeks after the 13-year-old arrived at Carlisle, his body was laid to rest in a government-owned plot in the town cemetery. His cause of death remains unknown, but documents refer to him as being ill shortly before he died. .  . . .

Read the entire article at the Grand Forks Herald. 

Reporter Turley tweeted:

This is the first story in @inforum's "Buried Wounds" series, which examines Native American boarding schools and their impact on North Dakota tribes. pic.twitter.com/94yl9jupRr

— Jeremy Turley (@jeremyjturley) February 20, 2022

There are many stories to tell.

Our beau Mike's father and aunt attended boarding schools in the first part of the 20th century; his aunt died at nine years of age under circumstances that were never investigated, though the family was able to bury her with the rest of her family. Despite being beaten when he spoke Dakota at the schools, his father spoke the language at his home with his own son.

Related posts:

• SWO moves closer to bringing ancestors home from Carlisle Indian School with affidavit signing ceremony
• Video: Return of Our Sisseton-Wahpeton Children

Screengrab: The gravestones of Amos LaFromboise and Edward Upright contain spelling errors in a cemetery near the site of the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Photos provided by the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center via the Grand Forks Herald.

There's more about Amos LaFramboise and Edward Upright at the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center, maintained by Dickinson College.

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Research shows lead from hunters' ammunition is harming North American eagle population

We've posted in the past about Minnesota House hearings of bills to ban lead ammunition and fishing tackle. Now evidence has emerged that lead ammunition isn't just an upper Midwest problem.

Based at the Duluth News, John Myers reports in Research shows continentwide lead problem for eagles:

New research shows that lead poisoning is impacting eagles across the North American continent, the first evidence that lead is having a population-level impact on the big birds of prey.

Scientists from Conservation Science Global, Inc., the U.S. Geological Survey, West Virginia University, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and other institutions found that nearly half of the bald and golden eagles they studied showed chronic lead poisoning, and that lead poisoning is an important barrier to the growth of eagle populations across North America.

This paper, “Demographic implications of lead poisoning for eagles across North America,” is the first to show continentwide consequences of lead poisoning on any species of wildlife.

Lead is a highly toxic heavy metal ingested by eagles and other scavenging wildlife when they feed on the remains of animals that have been shot with lead ammunition, often deer carcasses or gut piles of animals that were shot with lead bullets, or birds that have been shot with lead shotgun pellets.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers documented in 2012 that lead exposure is a significant mortality factor in bald eagles that inhabit the Upper Midwest Region. But the recent study appears to show a broader problem.

“This is the first study of lead poisoning of wildlife at a nationwide scale, and it demonstrates the unseen challenges facing these two iconic eagle species,” Vince Slabe, lead author on the study and Research Wildlife Biologist for Conservation Science Global, said in a statement. “Medical science tells us that, for humans, there is no safe amount of lead. Today, we also know that redistributed lead in our environment is harming eagle populations across North America.”

This study evaluated lead levels in more than 1,200 bald and golden eagles sampled between 2010 and 2018 and found age-related and seasonal variation in lead poisoning. . . . 

Minnesota lawmakers earlier this month heard testimony from wildlife biologists and wildlife veterinarians that lead ammunition should be banned for hunting in the state, especially considering nontoxic alternatives to lead are widely available and reasonably priced, such as shotgun shells filled with steel pellets or rifle ammunition using copper bullets.

"A single piece of lead the size of a grain of rice will kill a bald eagle," Victoria Hall, executive director of the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center, told lawmakers. Hall said more than 85% of eagles admitted to the center for any problem have unhealthy lead levels in their blood and that as many as 30% die due to fatal lead levels.

Lead shot has been banned for all waterfowl hunting in the U.S. for decades. It’s also been banned in gasoline and paint since the 1970s due to the extreme detrimental impacts of lead poisoning in people, especially children.

Bills have been introduced at the Minnesota Legislature to ban or restrict lead ammunition but so far have been defeated by efforts of the National Rifle Association and the gun industry group the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which say lead from ammunition is not a major animal or human health issue. They also said hunters would be faced with severe supply-side ammunition shortages if lead is banned or phased out for hunting. . . .

Read the rest at Forum news chain papers.

Curiously, it's not just banning lead ammunition that's getting pushback in Minnesota legislative committees. Earlier this week, the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Committee heard Minneapolis DFL state representative Sydney Jordan's HF2650, which would replacement residential lead service lines.

Since lead is harmful to children and other living things, you'd think the bill would be a slam dunk. You'd be wrong. Watch the hearing starting at the 02:22 on the Minnesota House Information Service's Youtube here.

Related post:

• On Groundhog Day, MNHouse Preventive Health Policy Division heard about dangers of lead (2022)
• Twenty-one conservation groups petition DNR to ban lead tackle, ammunition in state parks, SNAs (2021)
• Getting the lead out permanently: watch girl scout speak up for trumpeter swans (2021)
• Getting the lead out: Minnesota House considering lead fishing tackle, ammunition bills (2020)
• MN swans died of lead poisoning, likely from anglers' sinkers; use nontoxic alternatives (2019)
• MN rep says lead is a-okay because it's natural; or, poisoning is life on Planet Josh Heintzeman (2017)
• Lead shot debate: bald eagles keep dying and here's what the MN House had to say about it  (2017)

Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) researchers examining 58 dead bald eagles in 2012. Sixty percent had detectable concentrations of lead; 38 percent had lethal lead concentrations. Credit: USFWS.

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MN Secretary of State Simon issues statement on Congressional District One Special Election

Early this morning we posted Spouse Jennifer Carnahan: MN01 Congressman Jim Hagedorn dies peacefully in the night.

In a statement, Governor Walz Orders Flags Flown at Half-Staff in Honor of Congressman Jim Hagedorn:

Governor Tim Walz has ordered all United States and Minnesota flags to be flown at half-staff at all state buildings in the State of Minnesota immediately until sunset on Saturday, February 19, 2022, in honor and remembrance of Congressman Jim Hagedorn.

“Congressman Hagedorn proudly served Minnesota’s First District since 2019,” reads the proclamation issued by Governor Walz. “The State of Minnesota requests that all flags be lowered to honor and remember Congressman Hagedorn’s life and service.”

Individuals, businesses, and other organizations are also encouraged to join in lowering their flags.

It seems premature to write about filling the congressional seat left open by his death, but Minnesota law outlines a process for the fairly swift replacement by voters.

Within the hour, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon today issued the following statement via email

 

“I want to offer my condolences to the family and friends of Congressman Hagedorn. He served the people of his district with an admirable passion. May his memory be a blessing.

His passing has created a vacancy in the office of U.S. Representative for the 1st Congressional District, which by law will be filled by a special election.”

Details are as follows:

The filling period for candidates will be announced with the writ of special election, which will be issued by the Office of the Governor.

The filing period must end by March 15. Our expectation is that the filing period will be at least two weeks.

A special primary for the seat will be held May 24, with early voting by absentee beginning April 8.

The special election for the seat will be held August 9, with early voting by absentee beginning June 24.

The special election will take place within the current congressional district boundaries, not the new 2022 redistricting maps. [emphasis added]

The candidate winning the special election will serve the remainder of Congressman Hagedorn’s term.

Note: August 9 is also the date of the statewide primary election.

Earlier in the day, Forum News Service capitol reporter Dana Ferguson explains in Southern Minnesota voters to decide who will fill vacancy after Rep. Jim Hagedorn's death:

Voters in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District will decide who should replace the late U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn in an August special election coinciding with the state's primary contests.

Minnesota law spells out the conditions for filling legislative vacancies. And it says that the governor within three days of the death of a sitting lawmaker will provide notice of the special election and potential primary contest.  . . .

Gov. Tim Walz, a former 1st Congressional District representative who was challenged by Hagedorn in 2016, was expected to announce details for the special election within the three-day window.

But even without an announcement, state law lays out the timeline for an election. Here's what voters can expect based on that framework:

• On May 24, voters in the 1st Congressional District will be able to cast their ballots in partisan primaries to decide who moves on to a special election.
• Then on Aug. 9, voters in the current 1st Congressional District will elect a representative to serve out the remainder of the term that runs through January.
• Also on Aug. 9, voters around the state will participate in partisan primary elections for the 2022 general election.

Voters in the 1st District could opt to send a representative to Congress for a few months and then choose someone else to serve out the following two-year term that starts in 2023. Or, depending on which candidates throw their hats into the ring, voters might be able to choose the same person to serve out both terms.

Meanwhile, a third group of voters could vote in the special election: Those who were in the 1st District before new voting maps based on U.S. Census data were issued this week.

A panel of Minnesota judges on Tuesday, Feb. 15, issued new voting maps that reshaped the state's eight congressional districts. The new boundaries move some current voters out of the district and add new ones to CD1 that had previously resided in neighboring districts.

Those who were in the 1st District before the new lines were drawn could vote in the special election to fill the vacancy — as well as participate in the primary in their new district.

Elsewhere in the Post Bulletin, check out Matthew Stolle's excellent review of Hagedorn's career in Congressman Jim Hagedorn dies at age 59.

Photo: Jim Hagedorn campaigning in Rochester in 2020.

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SWO moves closer to bringing ancestors home from Carlisle Indian School with affidavit signing ceremony

In September, Bluestem Prairie posted Video: Return of Our Sisseton-Wahpeton Children, about the efforts of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate to bring home two oyate ancestors who perished at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in the late nineteenth century.

Those efforts are moving forward.

In a story picked up statewide, Elisa Sands of the Aberdeen News reports in Tribal leaders one step closer to bringing home remains of boys who died at Carlisle Indian School:

Moving home the remains of ancestors of notable tribal leaders of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate will move one step closer on Saturday.

Descendants of Amos LaFramboise and Edward Upwright will gather with tribal leaders at the Dakota Magic Casino Convention Center just across the state line in Hankinson, N.D., to sign the necessary affidavits. That will allow the remains of the two young boys to be removed from the Carlisle Indian School cemetery in Pennsylvania and moved to the Dakotas.

Amos LaFramboise was the son of Joseph LaFramboise. He and his sister, Emily, arrived at the school in 1879, but his stay was extremely short. He died Nov. 26, 20 days after his arrival in Pennsylvania, according to history collected by Tamara St. John, tribal historian and District 1 state representative.

Joseph LaFromboise was a founding father who helped set up the Lake Traverse Reservation government after the Sisseton Wahpeton treaty was signed in 1867. 

As he was one of the first to die, LaFramboise was first buried at the county cemetery, but was later moved to a cemetery on the school grounds when county residents objected to having a Native American buried in their cemetery. He was later moved again when the school cemetery was relocated in 1927.

Upwright, who died in March 1881 from the measles, is the son of Waanatan II, an early tribal chief.

St. John previously said that bringing Upwright home would be comparable to bringing home the son of Sitting Bull.

While there are many boarding school cemeteries, this one is on property owned by the U.S. military, which sent notices in 2016 giving tribes the opportunity to claim the remains of the 188 Native American children buried in the cemetery. Part of that process includes gathering signed affidavits from living relatives of those buried in the cemetery.

Here's a poster for Saturday's signing ceremony at the Dakota Magic Casino, tweeted by SWO tribal archivist Tamara St. John, who has worked unceasingly to bring the children home. She also serves as a Republican state representative in the South Dakota legislature.

Saturday February 19th. It’s been years of work and the support of our Rosebud relatives has been key. There were days when it felt like no one was listening and I made promises to a boy who couldn’t have even imagined me. Amos and now Edward, -you are not forgotten. #carlisle pic.twitter.com/qKBVlX3Okf

— StJohn_Tamara (@tamarajstjohn) February 16, 2022

Photo: The first Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate children to arrive at the Carlisle Indian School in 1879 were Nancy Renville, Emily Justine LaFramboise, Edward Upright, John Renville and George Walker. Amos LaFramboise is not pictured. Young John Renville died of typhus the next year, and his father, tribal chief Gabriel Renville, journeyed to Pennsylvania to retrieve the body of his dead son and the person of his living daughter. Photo and links via the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center.

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Spouse Jennifer Carnahan: MN01 Congressman Jim Hagedorn dies peacefully in the night

Update 2/19: On social media, readers have asked how the open congressional seat will be filled for the remainder of the late Jim Hagedorn's 2021-2022 term. Please see our post MN Secretary of State Simon issues statement on Congressional District One Special Election. [end update]

In a Facebook post this morning, former Minnesota Republican Party state chair Jennifer Carnahan wrote:

The entire post:

It is with a broken heart, shattered spirit and overwhelming sadness I share my husband Congressman Jim Hagedorn passed away peacefully last night.

 

Jim loved our country and loved representing the people of southern Minnesota. Every moment of every day he lived his dream by serving others. There was no stronger conservative in our state than my husband; and it showed in how he voted, led and fought for our country.

Jim was a loving husband, son, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew, friend, brother-in-law, son-in-law, Vikings, Penguins and Twins fan and will be missed and remembered by many.

 

While nothing can accurately prepare you for the unimaginable pain, intense sorrow, suffocating grief and seemingly never-ending emptiness that engulfs the entire body, soul and spirit when your forever love passes away; at least we can smile knowing Jim is smiling from heaven encouraging us to keep chasing our dreams, loving unconditionally and fighting for the country.

Jim Hagedorn, I love you. I miss you. I feel empty without you. I will forever be holding your hand.

Carnahan also tweeted the sad news, KEYC-TV reports in Minnesota Congressman Jim Hagedorn has died: "According to a tweet this Friday morning from his wife, Jennifer Carnahan, Hagedorn passed away in his sleep peacefully, Thursday night."

 

CBS News reported in Congressman Jim Hagedorn of Minnesota dies at 59:

Hagedorn announced his kidney cancer had returned in July 2021. In January, he checked into the Mayo Clinic after testing positive for COVID-19. 

At the Washington Post, John Wagner reports in Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.) dies at 59 after battle with kidney cancer:

Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.) died Thursday night following a battle with kidney cancer, his wife announced in a Facebook post on Friday. He was 59.

“It is with a broken heart, shattered spirit and overwhelming sadness I share my husband Congressman Jim Hagedorn passed away peacefully last night,” wrote Jennifer Carnahan, a former chairwoman of the Minnesota Republican Party. . . .

Hagedorn, who was elected to the House in 2018, was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in 2019 and began receiving care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., according to KSTP, a St. Paul, Minn., television station.

Hagedorn announced he had a kidney removed as well as cancerous tissues surrounding the kidney, the station reported. In July 2021, he announced a reoccurrence of his kidney cancer.

Statement from Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller on the passing of Congressman Jim Hagedorn https://t.co/hspse2GY2N

— Minnesota Senate Republicans (@mnsrc) February 18, 2022

“I'm saddened to hear of the passing of Congressman Jim Hagedorn last night. Our hearts go out to his wife Jennifer and all his loved ones in this difficult time. (1/2)

— Republican Party of Minnesota (@mngop) February 18, 2022

“I'm saddened to hear of the passing of Congressman Jim Hagedorn last night. Our hearts go out to his wife Jennifer and all his loved ones in this difficult time. (1/2)

— Republican Party of Minnesota (@mngop) February 18, 2022

Sad to hear the news this morning of the passing of Congressman Jim Hagedorn. My condolences to Jennifer Carnahan and Jim's extended family on this loss. May you find peace during this time of grief and remembrance. #mnleg @MinnesotaDFL

— Ken Martin (@kenmartin73) February 18, 2022

Hagedorn was still running for reelection as recently as Tuesday, when a spokesperson told us he "looks forward to campaigning for a third term and getting to know the new residents" of redrawn 1st CD. He died Thurs after a long battle with kidney cancer https://t.co/GAFliNXeH5

— Briana Bierschbach (@bbierschbach) February 18, 2022

Our condolences to Carnahan and the Hagedorn family.

There will be a time to consider the electoral and political consequences of Congressman Hagedorn's demise, but this is not that time. Rest in peace, James Hagedorn.

Photo: Jim Hagedorn campaigning in Rochester in 2020.

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Dornink to move to Glenville to run in District 23; "Patriot Princess" Lisa Hanson declares bid

Redistricting has changed the outlines of Minnesota politics this week. One of our favorite wrinkles is in the new Senate District 23, wherein incumbent senator Gene Dornink will be moving to a property he owns in the district--to avoid a contest with Senator Carla Nelson--and the freshly liberated lockdown martyr Lisa Hanson dwells.

Both are seeking Republican endorsement for the senate seat.

Many Minnesotans first met Hanson through Randy Furst's coverage in the Star Tribune of the Pariot Princess's plight in articles such as Albert Lea bar owner who defied COVID restrictions and has been on the lam is arrested in Iowa and Albert Lea restaurant owner found guilty of violating state COVID mandate.

But let us first consider the first Republican to declare for the new, open seat. For the Albert Lea Tribune, Sarah Stultz reported Wednesday in  Dornink to run for new Senate District 23, to move to rural Glenville:

Republican state Sen. Gene Dornink said Wednesday he will run for office in the new Senate District 23, and he and his family will move to a house he owns in rural Glenville.

Dornink, a Republican in his first term in the Senate, said living in Hayfield on the edge of District 27, he knew it was likely his address would be moved to another district when the new boundaries were released Tuesday. 

He said he buys distressed properties and fixes them up for his business and had previously purchased a property to fix up west of Glenville.

“Ends up, it’ll be the house I’ll be moving into,” Dornink said. Also moving with him will be his wife, Vicky, and three children still in school. 

Running in the new District 23 will allow him to serve much of the same areas he represents now, including all of Freeborn County and most of Mower County. The new district no longer includes any of Dodge County, but includes parts of Waseca and Steele counties and further expands west into Faribault County. 

He said his children and grandchildren are in the district, as is a lot of his business. 

“I feel like I have more work to do,” he said. 

With the release of the new district maps, Dornink said his priority is finishing what has already been started at the state Capitol — and then after that the campaign will begin. 

“I’m focused on supporting law enforcement, doing meaningful tax relief for Minnesotans, supporting our parents and teachers,” he said. “That’s my focus now.”

He said he is excited to run for re-election to serve the people in the new Senate District 23.

“I will continue to work hard to ensure we have safe neighborhoods, prosperous agriculture communities, and permanent tax relief for all Minnesotans — especially our seniors on fixed incomes,” he said. 

He plans to keep his house in Hayfield that he built in 2000, as it is where his children were raised. 

The article appeared Thursday in the Austin Daily Herald.

Thursday, Stultz reported in Former Interchange owner to run for state Senate District 23 seat:

The former owner of The Interchange Wine & Coffee Bistro in Albert Lea, who was recently released from the Freeborn County jail for opening her restaurant in defiance of state executive orders tied to COVID-19, announced Thursday she is running for the newly formed state Senate District 23 seat. 

Hanson, of rural Hayward, joins Republican District 27 Sen. Gene Dornink, of Hayfield, who this week announced he would also run for the seat, and plans to move from his present home to rural Glenville. 

Hanson made the announcement about her run for office during a press conference at her family’s business, A-Best Sew and Vac in Albert Lea, with about 20 supporters. 

“As your senator, I will boldly advocate to restore the rule of law and to return our government to the people, where it rightfully belongs,” she said. 

Hanson has been a vocal voice against the state executive orders that shut down restaurants for in-person dining in late 2020 and early 2021 and has faced both criminal and civil court cases as a result of opening her restaurant for in-person dining at that time. She has argued that the matter is one of Constitutional rights and said she will continue to fight for those rights, not only for herself but for others across the state and nation.

She was convicted in December of six misdemeanor counts of violating an emergency executive order tied to opening her restaurant during the restrictions, and has a separate case with three criminal counts that is still outstanding. She has filed a motion to dismiss the charges.

“I stood against unconstitutional and fraudulent-issued executive orders dictated by our own Gov. Walz,” Hanson said. “I stand for the people as the relentless voice against lawless lockdowns and tyrannical abuse of power. 

“This battle is not over. We have a great deal of work to do.”

She said to guarantee that what she described as “corruption and usurpation of power” never happens again, she announced she would take up the fight in the state Senate. 

She said she spent many hours in prayer and in discussion with family and friends about the decision to run and had actually been thinking of doing so for over a year. However, it was when she was in jail, that she decided for sure to move ahead with the idea. 

She had decided initially to run for the House District 27A, but when the new district boundaries were released this week, her residence and all of eastern Freeborn County will be in a House district with most of Mower County instead. She said she did not have any interest in challenging current District 27B Rep. Patricia Mueller in the new District 23B, so instead she decided to run for Senate District 23. Senate District 23 includes all of Freeborn County, most of Mower County and parts of Faribault, Waseca and Steele counties. 

Hanson said she had not yet spoken with Dornink about her announcement to run for the seat, but said she planned to call him in the near future. 

When asked if she would abide by the party’s endorsement for the seat, she said it was hard for her to answer at this point.   . . .

Action 4 Liberty's Jake Duesenberg was giddy with his support in Heroic Lisa Hanson Runs for Minnesota Senate:

.  . . While being held as a political prisoner, she missed the birth of her newest grandchild, her anniversary with Vern and Christmas with her whole family. Walz and Keith Ellison targeted her because she is a patriot who refused to comply with their unconstitutional lockdowns and business closures.

To right this wrong, she is now running for the open Senate seat to restore our Constitutional government in Minnesota and make sure that Unilateral Emergency Powers NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!

"When you see deficiencies or even corruption within government" stated Lisa, "it is our duty to hold government accountable and this requires action from the People. If we want to effectuate change we cannot sit home and complain about it, we have to take action.”

I view Lisa Hanson as a hero who stood up for what was right. Now she wants to make sure future generations don't lose their liberties by a tyrannical governor.

A choice of conservative candidates in this stretch of the Big Woods and prairie isn't completely new.

2020's conservative choices in Dornink's race

Voters had a taste of conservative choices in Dornink's old district in 2020. Minnesota Reformer's J. Patrick Coolican reported in Some legalize cannabis candidates are giving off very MAGA vibes:

The Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate Tyler Becvar posted a video for his putative opponent Dornink on his Facebook page on May 25, according to a screenshot obtained by the Reformer. His Facebook page is filled with support for Trump and attacks on Democrats, with some George Soros conspiracy theories, as well. Becvar did not respond to a text message. 

After the election, the Reformer's Max Nesterak reported in DFL campaigns blunted by marijuana candidates, burning chance of legalization:

A marijuana candidate seems to have affected at least one state senate race, with Gene Dornink edging out Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, by just over 1,500 votes. Legal Marijuana Now candidate Tyler Becvar won over 2,500 votes. Becvar posted a video for his putative opponent Dornink on his Facebook page in May, according to a screenshot obtained by the Reformer. His Facebook page was also filled with support for President Donald Trump and attacks on Democrats.

A test of Hanson organizing?

Bluestem suspects that old school establishment Republicans might underestimate the organizing ability of Hanson's followers. The Herald reported in Murphy wins Freeborn County Republican straw poll for governor:

Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy won the GOP straw poll for governor Tuesday night amongst participants at the Freeborn County Republican Party caucus.

Murphy received 75 out of 230 votes, or 32.6%, while the next leading candidate, former state Sen. Scott Jensen, received 64 votes or 27.8%. 

State Sen. Paul Gazelka received 45 votes, or 20.9%; Kendall Qualls received 22 votes, or 10.2%; Neil Shah received five votes, or 2.2%; and Sen. Michelle Benson received four votes, or 1.7%. Fifteen people said they were undecided.

Freeborn County Republican Party Chairman Robert Hoffman said over 300 people attended the party’s Tuesday caucus, which he said was great for a non-presidential election year.

“As the chairman for the county Republicans, I couldn’t be more proud of the excitement level we’re seeing,” Hoffman said. “Metro Minnesota doesn’t reflect the values of southern Minnesota, and in Freeborn County every Republican candidate on the ballot won during the last election. This election seems to mean even more to Minnesota because of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state races.”

Hoffman said he was surprised to see the county straw poll winner be Murphy but was also surprised to see how few votes other candidates received. He attributed this to the many new people participating in the caucus.

Murphy appeared to be the candidate favored by Hanson's allies. However, over in Mower County, the straw poll followed the rest of Republican straw ballots more closely, KIMT3 reported:

In Mower County, GOP voters chose Doctor Scott Jensen as their favorite with 51 votes. 

Minnesota State Senator Paul Gazelka came in second with 21 votes. 

Doctor Neil Shah came in third with 19 votes. 

We'll keep an eye on this state senate contest.

Related posts:

•  COVID vaccine stealing guy gets booted from Lisa Hanson's Dodge County Courthouse hearing
•  Freeborn County judge has a point about Interchange owner's counterclaims against state
• National Action Task Force: From the mixed-up files on founder Mr. Mark Emery [Boswell]

Map: The new senate district, from Action 4 Liberty's Heroic Lisa Hanson Runs for Minnesota Senate.

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[VIDEO] House environment committee approves certification program for salt deicing applications

It's good to see a bill to protect Minnesota's water moving toward passage on a bipartisan basis. The House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee approved HF2908 16-0 Thursday, referring the bill to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee. 

Session Daily has the news:

House panel approves certification program for salt deicing applications

by Brian Hall

Hoping to stem the tide of increasing chloride levels in Minnesota waters, lawmakers could establish a certification program for salt application as a means of deicing.

After several years of stalled attempts, the program now has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

Sponsored by Rep. Peter Fischer (DFL-Maplewood), HF2908 would create a voluntary certification program for commercial applicators through the Pollution Control Agency. The agency would promote best practices and provide training and certification for those who complete the training program. Liability protection for applicators, and homeowners and lessees would also be provided.

The House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill 16-0 Thursday, referring the bill to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee.

Its companion, SF2768, is sponsored by Sen. Carrie Ruud (R-Breezy Point) and awaits action by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance Committee.

“I think the path is more encouraging this year,” Fischer said. “When it gets to conference committee, I think that, while there might be some little differences between the two bills, I have high confidence that they’ll be able to work it out by the end of the day and we’ll be able to get it done this time.”

Fischer said the liability protections would get a closer look in the judiciary committee. Rep. Josh Heintzeman (R-Nisswa) said he supports the bill and the protections but noted some people might take issue.

“I hope that we recognize, not just in the legal community but a number of other places, folks that are actively trying to push this, that this is necessary, to have some protections built into this language to protect applicators from lawsuits,” Heintzeman said. “We have, unfortunately, a scenario where the threat of a lawsuit is encouraging the massive over application of chloride.”

Fischer said some applicators who have taken training programs related to salt use have reduced their impact by up to 70%. He said there are multiple reasons for elevated chloride levels but the amount being applied to roads, sidewalks and parking lots represents the biggest factor across the state.

Connie Fortin, a senior project manager at Bolton and Menck, said she’s helped developed training programs and written training manuals to accompany the classes. Fortin said one possible alternative for applicators would be a move to liquid deicers from granular products.

“It’s a culture change,” Fortin said. “Like if somebody wanted us to change the way we brush our teeth, we have to know about it. We have to know about the new tools, and we have to maybe have some encouragement and incentive. We have to understand it’s going to be safe and effective. It’s a learning process.”

Here's the video of the hearing:

Photo: Shrubbery damaged by saline de-icing.

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.

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Private grant from Native Hope will fund SD Attorney General's MMIW/MMIP coordinator

Early Tuesday morning, we shared a Minnesota story, After 28-year public safety career, Lower Sioux member Juliet Rudie will lead state's MMIR Office, noting at the close of the post that a similar position authorized here in South Dakota had yet to be funded.

Yesterday, we saw this tweet:

A Native American outreach center is funding a liaison to coordinate investigations of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

The state-government position has been vacant since it was created July 1.https://t.co/OadcGa5Iig

— SDPB News (@SDPBNews) February 16, 2022

At SDPB, Lee Strubinger reports in Native group funds liaison for cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people:

A Native American outreach center is funding a liaison to coordinate investigations of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

The state-government position has been vacant since it was created July 1.

The Native Hope outreach center in Chamberlain is issuing a grant to the Attorney General's Office to fund the liaison for three years. The grant is for $85,000 each year.

. . . Democratic Rep. Peri Pourier is Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge. She got the bill passed last session.

“You look across the news and you don’t ever see good news stories. Today, let this be a good news story that we work across sectors. We work across aisles,” Pourier says. “When there is an important issue that needs to be addressed, we work in partnership together.”

Supporters say grant dollars mean the position can get filled right away and won’t get stalled under the typical budgeting process.

At the Mitchell Republic, Christopher Vondracek reports in Nonprofit to fund SD's liaison for missing, murdered Indigenous people:

A year after the Legislature created and Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill to fund a position in the Attorney General's Office to coordinate tackling the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous persons, the long-awaited funding for the position has arrived.

"When we learned the news there were difficulties in funding the office, we wanted to break down any barrier," said Jennifer Long, executive director of Native Hope, a nonprofit based on the St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota. "We want to impact this critical interest. No more missing sisters. No more missing endangered people."

At a Wednesday, Feb. 16, news conference, Long said that Native Hope will fund at $85,000 a year for three years the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons liaison position created by statute last year. The organization is an outreach of St. Joe's in Chamberlain that has advocated against human trafficking and domestic violence.

In January, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg told a state tribal affairs committee he'd yet to hire an individual to assume the role, calling the position an "unfunded mandate."

On Wednesday, that underlying bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Peri Pourier, D-Pine Ridge, said she hopes to see the position eventually funded by the state.

"If you want to talk about resources, look to your federal government," said Pourier, who noted that tribal law enforcement for the Oglala Sioux Tribe was perennially underfunded.

Senate Minority Leader Troy Heinert, D-Mission, said he hopes the position will be filled soon now that the funding has come forward.

"We don't have to wait for the appropriations process," said Heinert.

Earlier this week, the remains of a woman and teenage girl were recovered on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, law enforcement announced. They are the fourth and fifth deaths this year alone on the sprawling reservation in southwestern South Dakota.

The organization provided more details in a press release, Native Hope Announces Major Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Funding:

. . . The Office of Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) will coordinate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Department of Justice and state and tribal law enforcement agencies to bridge gaps in coordination and training . . .

. . . Challenges arise because tribal police and the FBI handle missing persons and criminal cases on reservations. But they are managed by local and state agencies elsewhere. Cases might involve multiple jurisdictions, and communication and coordination between various agencies become crucial. . . 

Like the Sacred Heart Center in Eagle Butte, S.D., Native Hope is an outreach of St. Joseph’s Indian School. “Native Hope is doing the right thing for our students and families,” noted St. Joseph’s Indian School President Mike Tyrell. “Even one missing person is too many. Students at St. Joseph’s have lost loved ones and family members through this human tragedy.”

Some 40% of sex trafficking victims in South Dakota are Native women and children, disproportionate to the 8.57% of Native residents. Domestic violence is another contributing factor to MMIP.

Among Native Hope’s MMIP efforts are Red Sand Project and Never In Season events that target the multi-billion-dollar human trafficking industry; work with the Red Ribbon Skirt Society; a short film “Voices Unheard” to raise awareness; and a working relationship with Call to Freedom. In addition, Native Hope works with Counseling Services at St. Joseph’s on educational events and resources on the issue.

The Associated Press reported in Private grant funds SD AG’s missing Indigenous coordinator:

. . .“We want to impact this critical issue in our state,” said Jennifer Long, the director of Native Hope. “No more missing sisters; no more missing Indigenous people.”

The announcement comes after two women were found dead on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation last week.

“In Pine Ridge, the Oglala Sioux Tribe public safety is underfunded,” said Democratic Rep. Peri Pourier. “This is an outstanding opportunity to bridge those gaps of all people coming together and saying what can we do?”

Gov. Kristi Noem is also pushing for ongoing funds for the position.

A somewhat more critical view of the past history of funding the position is shared by Dakota Free Press' Cory Allan Heidelberger in Native Hope Gives Three-Year Grant to Fill MMIP Position That Ravnsborg Ignored:

Killer Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has spent the past year ignoring a 2021 law requiring that he hire a specialist to focus on the problem of missing and murdered indigenous people. His excuse for flouting the law was that his office (which he expanded in 2018 by creating a chief of staff position that costs $118,140.12 a year without any asking for any additional budgetary authorization) hasn’t received any funding for the position.

The Chamberlain-based non-profit Native Hope has taken that excuse away. They are donating $85,000 a year for three years (28% less than the annual salary of Ravnsborg’s chief of staff) to help the Attorney General’s office meet its legal mandate to find missing and murdered indigenous people. . . .

Funding public services with private dollars is problematic. Waiting for Native Hope or St. Joseph’s Indian School to fund enforcement of a law to protect indigenous people is like making rape victims pay for the police and prosecutors who handle their case, or like making victims of arson cover the full cost of rolling the fire trucks to their flaming businesses. Jason Ravnsborg didn’t have to spend a year begging for private donors to fund his new chief of staff; why should we have to rely on private donors to do actual work required by actual law? We’ve passed a law, we should fund the execution of that law.

Representative St. John and Senator Red Dawn Foster are working on that: their House Bill 1194 would immediately provide $70,000 to cover the liaison position for one year. But despite the emergency clause on HB 1194, House Judiciary dilly-dallied and kicked the bill to House Appropriations, which in turn dithered and kicked it to Joint Appropriations. Native Hope helps us jump past that delay and guarantees a longer solution than our slowpoke legislators and inattentive A.G. have mustered. We should be grateful that Native Hope has stepped into the gap; we should be disgusted that they had to do so.

Let's hope the permanent funds are allocated to this position--and public safety is adequately funded for tribal nations. 

Related posts:

• After 28-year public safety career, Lower Sioux member Juliet Rudie will lead [Minnesota's] MMIR Office
• South Dakota AG Ravnsborg unable to fund office for missing Indigenous persons
• Native News Online: State rep Heather Keeler aims to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day
• Not just a "bargaining chip" for Paul Gazelka, MMIR office finds place in public safety deal
• Via Star Tribune op-ed page: update on Minnesota's MMIR (MMIW) Office
• [VIDEO] Shakopee Town Hall discussion about state rep. Keeler's effort to establish MMIR office
• House Judiciary Finance & Civil Law Committee sends bill for MMIR office to Public Safety
• For National American Indian Heritage Month: Keeler to MnHouse; Kunesh-Podein to MnSenate
• Minnesota's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force releases report

Photo: Rep. Peri Pourier speaks during a press conference about Native Hope donating $85,000 for three years to fund the missing persons specialist. Behind her at left is Rep. Tamara St. John, R-Sisseton, an enrolled member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate. Tribal archivist, she has worked with young tribal members on the issue as well as authoring bills addressing the problem. Jennifer Long, executive director of Native Hope, is third from the left. Photo by Lee Strubinger/SDPB.

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.

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Bury me not on the lone prairie? Lawmakers seek to clarify who decides what happens to SD dead

While yesterday was Redistricting Reveal Day in Minnesota, leaving some lawmakers pondering whether to challenge party colleagues, move or retire, that issue was settled weeks ago in South Dakota.

Thus, we bring readers a South Dakota story that's not about political career metaphors (at least not as far as we know) from South Dakota News Watch.

Legislation seeks to clarify who decides what happens to the dead in South Dakota

by Bart Pfankuch

South Dakota has some of the weakest laws in the nation when it comes to regulating who decides what should happen to the body of someone who dies, and the vague laws are causing greater expense for survivors, creating emotional trauma for grieving families and funeral directors, and occasionally leading to contentious lawsuits.

But state lawmakers are poised to update so-called “disposition” laws to make clear who has the final say over whether a body is embalmed and buried or is cremated, and over where it should be buried or who keeps the remains.

A bill moving quickly through the legislative process, House Bill 1152, would enact eight separate sections of legal language that would spell out specifically how bodies should be handled after death. The measure is modeled on legislation developed by the National Funeral Directors Association and is backed by the South Dakota Funeral Directors Association, whose members have regularly endured stress and uncertainty when disposition challenges arise.

South Dakota laws now allow someone 18 or older to legally dictate his or her own disposition plans before death, though current law allows for challenges of those plans to be made after death. In deaths where a challenge arises, a lawsuit may result and a judge may be called on to decide disposition of a body.

In a death without any legal pre-arrangements in place, state law requires all surviving direct family members to agree on disposition in order for burial or cremation to take place.

Beyond that, however, South Dakota disposition laws are unclear on several points and have become inadequate to address legal issues that are arising more often than in the past, said Mitch Steinhoff, director of Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings.

For example, obtaining consensus on burial plans from all surviving family members has become far more difficult as people have become more mobile, families have become more geographically dispersed and estrangement among family members appears to be more common, Steinhoff said.

“The biggest thing is that the law has just been outdated for some time, and the law the way it reads now is very vague on a lot of issues,” Steinhoff said. “This will really clean it up and give us direct law on how things have to happen.”

The proposed law would make it much harder for a pre-arranged disposition to be changed, allowing a challenge only if the decedent made it clear before death that he or she was open to other plans, and only from survivors the person designates in advance.

While a signed and notarized “pre-need” legal document makes it much easier to determine disposition intent, many people die without making such arrangements, Steinhoff said.

The current law requiring consensus among survivors of people without pre-need arrangements is unhelpful when there are only two surviving siblings who disagree, if there are varying opinions within a group of survivors or when one or more surviving family members cannot or refuse to be located or contacted.

Unexpected deaths or those without pre-need documents can lead to family arguments, causing high stress during a time of grief and sometimes requiring costly litigation. Disputes over disposition also place logistical and emotional burdens on funeral directors who cannot process a body until disposition is legally settled.

“Under this bill, it’s clearly defined in terms of the order in which it goes and how things operate if a family ever had an issue,” Steinhoff said. “It makes it so much simpler for everybody. It will be very easy to show them, ‘Here is the law,’ and we don’t have that now.”

Rep. Charlie Hoffman, R-Eureka, the prime sponsor of the legislation, said the revised laws are needed “to assist families and funeral homes to make decisions that successfully avoid many of the circumstances that can stalemate or stall funeral arrangements.”

Hoffman said all states allow someone to designate in advance the disposition of his or her body after death. About half of U.S. states have enacted four or more of the eight major provisions in the proposed model legislation, but only three states, including South Dakota, have not adopted any of the revised legal principles, Hoffman said.

Jason Glodt, lobbyist for the state funeral directors group, said the weak South Dakota laws have led to expensive and needless litigation in contested disposition cases and caused undue hardship for families and for funeral directors caught in the middle.

In one example highlighted by Glodt, a non-Native man in South Dakota was charged in the death of his son, but then refused to agree with the wishes of the mother, a Native American, to bury the boy’s body on a reservation.

A judge had to intervene to grant the mother’s wishes, Glodt said. The new law would remove disposition rights from someone charged in the killing of a family member.

In another case, two siblings arguing over the estate of their late father could not agree on the disposition of their mother after her death, with one sibling refusing to be contacted after the mother’s death in an apparent attempt to gain emotional leverage over the other sibling in the ongoing estate case.

The mother’s body remained in refrigerated limbo for months at the funeral home until a judge settled the disposition. The new law would forfeit the disposition rights of someone who cannot be contacted or refuses to be contacted within three days of a person’s death.

In another case, a body was held in storage for several months while survivors bickered over how to dispose of it. The new law would allow a simple majority of survivors to agree on disposition, rather than requiring all survivors to agree.

Other elements of the law would remove disposition rights of someone who cannot be located, give funeral directors legal immunity in cases of disputes and allow for disposal of unclaimed remains.

Rep. Mike Stevens, R-Yankton, brought some personal experience, and some levity, to the discussion of the bill before the House Judiciary Committee, where it passed unanimously on Feb. 9.

Stevens, an attorney and member of the committee, shared how a client who died and was cremated had no one to claim his ashes, so they were brought to Stevens’ office where they remain to this day. Stevens referred to the client only as “Jim.”

“They’re in the corner of my office and I can’t get any of Jim’s family members to come and get his remains,” Stevens testified. “I have to explain to my clients why they’re sitting next to Jim.”

In all seriousness, however, Stevens said the update to the laws is needed to avoid unsettled disposition of bodies.

“This is a lot more common than people actually really think, so for us to have that and get it taken care of is very important,” he said.

HB 1152 was passed unanimously by the full House of Representatives on a consent motion on Feb. 14 and now moves to the Senate.

Steinhoff said future legislation is needed to further clarify the obligations and responsibilities of South Dakota funeral directors. But he said the disposition bill now under consideration will be a great aid to funeral directors and families.

“The reason we become funeral directors is that we have a calling to help people,” he said. “Obviously, if an issue arises, the grief process is not being helped, and it can become a horrible situation because not only are you dealing with the death of a loved one, but now you’re fighting with other loved ones or relatives.”

Bart Pfankuch, Rapid City, S.D., is the content director for South Dakota News Watch. A Wisconsin native, he is a former editor of the Rapid City Journal and also worked at newspapers in Florida. Bart has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, editor and writing coach.

Photo: Members of the South Dakota Funeral Directors Association are backing legislation to further clarify who decides on the disposition of bodies of people who die in the state. Photo: Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch

Used with permission of South Dakota News Watch. Like what you read? Donate here.

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