Appleton has a message for the state of Minnesota, and will tell it first to a home audience.
It is hosting a community meeting on the proposal to reopen the Prairie Correctional Facility at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Appleton Armory, 25 North Munsterman Street.
Organizers are encouraging residents, elected officials and interested people from throughout the region to attend.
The first goal is to let people know what the reopening of the facility would mean for the region’s economy, said Gary Hendrickx, a member of the Swift County Board of Commissioners and Appleton business owner.
Organizers hope that getting the message to more people will help state decision makers see the importance and benefits of the proposal, he explained.
If you plan to attend, please be respectful.
Photo: The Walking Dead prison guards. What would The Governor say?
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On December 7, Matthew William Gust allegedly "filled a 40-ounce beer bottle with gasoline, broke the window of Juba Coffee and Restaurant and threw the bottle inside, resulting in an explosion that caused $90,000 in damage."
The Grand Forks Herald reports that Gust hurled the Molotov cocktail through the window just days after words “go home” along with Nazi-like symbols were spray-painted on the restaurant, leading many to suspect that the small business was targeted because the owners are Somali. He's in custody after pleading not guilty, waiting for a March 15 trial.
We are writing to express our deepest gratitude to the Greater Grand Forks community for its residents' most kind wishes and donations.
We are deeply grateful to be part of this community. We have hope in this country because of you residents. Thank you for your generosity.
All of the donations will help us rebuild our restaurant, Juba Coffee and Restaurant, which served all people — any color and religion.
Juba provided free meals to the unemployed and to newcomers. We don't see color and religion. We see humans first.
The horrible act that happened to our restaurant has no place in the Greater Grand Forks community. We know that this hate does not represent North Dakota. The welcoming comments and best wishes from members of the community are truly appreciated.
Again, many, many thanks for the support and donations from members of the Greater Grand Forks community. We sincerely appreciate it. It means the world to us.
Ilhaam Hassan, Abdulaziz Moallin, Noura Ahmed and family
Grand Forks
The owners' mention of feeding the unemployed and newcomers echoes one such story the Grand Forks Herald included in coverage the day after the fire:
. . . Wayne Torrey, who lives at the nearby Ambassador Motel and said he was incredulous of the destruction.
Torrey said he regularly walked past the restaurant on his way to the bus stop and would greet patrons and workers there.
One day, he was having a rough day when restaurant employees offered him a free meal, he said.
“If they’ve got that much heart, I don’t even know why someone would do this” he said.
The Go Fund Me page is still accepting donations here. The effort is still $2,734 short of the goal--we hope readers can help reach that if they have not given already.
Photo: The Juba Cafe in better days.
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On Tuesday, Religious Right activist Bradlee Dean appeared on “The Real Side with Joe Messina,” where he criticized “the homosexual industry, or lobby, in America” for going to “war with Scripture.”
Dean also had a message for “radical” gay rights advocates: “Those radicals need to be lawfully dealt with because they are radical, they mean to divide and conquer, they mean to make war against real Christianity.”
“I’ve yet to find a situation where a homosexual could actually verify the fact that they were the victim of someone actually hating on them,” he said. “I have yet to see it.
Dean struggles after street ministry teams disband
Dean gained national attention in 2011 when he questioned President Obama's faith in a prayer delivered while serving as guest chaplain for the Minnesota House. The prayer was redacted and then-Speaker Kurt Zellers ordered a do-over for that day's session opener.
Later, Dean unsuccessfully tried to sue Rachel Maddow, MSNBC and local Minnesota reporter Andy Birkey for defamation after they reported remarks delivered on his radio show.
The 2013 and 2014 990 reports for Sons of Liberty posted online by Citizen Audit document the decline in the non-profit's revenues since the end of the street teams. Contribution and grants went from $899,202 in 2012 to $740,311 in 2013, then sank to $411,426 in 2014. (It's also possible that large donors departed from the scene).
Photo: On Facebook this week, Dean posted a photo of himself and his children walking on Hollywood Boulevard. We cropped out the kids for privacy sake (and don't link to the Facebook post), but Bradlee's flaxen ponytail and ballcap are unforgettable. Is he about to have that big break in a Netflix original series or just on a family vacation?
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Appeals for criminal justice reform, rather than increasing the number of prison beds in Minnesota have taken root in the Dayton administration. Forum Communications political reporter Don Davis writes in Dayton rejects plan to reopen Appleton prison:
Gov. Mark Dayton will not ask legislators to fix a prison overcrowding problem by borrowing state money to reopen a west-central Minnesota private prison or to expand existing state prisons like his corrections commissioner has suggested, he said Thursday. . . .
The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission last month approved a plan to reduce sentences for many drug offenders, which would reduce pressure on packed prisons. The prison task force has discussed other sentence reductions, too, some of which may take legislative action.
Update: Critics of the effort to reopen the private prison or to expand public prison beds praised the effort. Witness ISAIAHMN organizer Lars Negstad's tweet:
Glad to see @GovMarkDayton Bonding bill doesn't include major expansion of state prisons & invests in recovery beds. #mnleg#NoMorePrisons
Nonetheless, Swift County and its lobbyists will persist, Davis reports:
Swift County and the city of Appleton will continue to work to promote the advantages of the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, according to Swift County Administrator Mike Pogge-Weaver.
“We’re certainly pleased that expanding Rush City or any other facility is not being considered by the State of Minnesota, especially considering there is a vacant and ready to be occupied building here in Swift County,’’ said Pogge-Weaver Thursday when informed of the governor’s statements.
Pogge-Weaver and other members of the local task force will be in St. Paul on Friday for meeting of the prison population task force convened by the Legislature. They will continue to make their point that if the state needs more prison space, the Appleton facility remains the most logical answer.
Photo: The CCA private prison in Appleton, West Central Tribune file photo.
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National Families in Action, an organization consisting of scientists, business leaders, physicians and policy makers released startling statistics from the University of Michigan proving that marijuana use is increased.
This study states that today 8thGrade use of marijuana sits at 7%, 10th Grade-15%, and 12th Grade 21%. In 1991, by comparison, the rates sat at: 8th Grade-3%, 10th Grade-9%, 12th Grade-14%. Worse than that is the growing belief that marijuana isn’t harmful. In 1991, 79% of students believed that smoking marijuana regularly was harmful, but today only 32% share that view.
This study clearly proves that marijuana through its legalization for medical purposes in many states is only becoming more accessible and more accepted for recreational purposes by our youth. [emphasis added] Undoubtedly having a negative impacts on our youth comparable to alcohol.
This claim appears in the email under the heading Marijuana Use Up Nationally!, though Ingebrigtsen's update focuses on youth marijuana use and attitudes.
Unfortunately for Ingebrigtsen, the document contain data that do not show that legalizing medical cannabis has prompted reefer madness among America's teens. The document also states:
Marijuana , the most widely used of the illicit drugs, did not show any significant change in annual prevalence this year in any of the three grades, nor in the three grades combined. After rising for several years, the annual prevalence of marijuana has more or less leveled out since about 2010.
This year, 12 percent of 8thgraders, 25 percent of 10thgraders and 35 percent of 12thgraders reported using marijuana at least once in the prior 12 months. Of more importance, perhaps, is their daily or neardaily marijuana use (defined as smoking marijuana on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days). These rates stand at 1.1 percent, 3.0 percent and 6.0 percent in 8th, 10th and 12th grades, respectively.
In other words, one in every 16 or 17 high school seniors is smoking marijuana daily or near daily. These rates have changed rather little since 2010, but are from threetosix times higher than they were at their low point in 1991.
That's right: nationally, the use of pot among high school seniors has "changed rather little since 2010."
A total of 23 states, the District of Columbia and Guam now allow for comprehensive public medical marijuana and cannabis programs. Recently approved efforts in 17 states allow use of "low THC, high cannabidiol (CBD)" products for medical reasons in limited situations or as a legal defense.
Many of those initiatives and laws were passed in 2010 or after. Wikipedia's Timeline of cannabis laws in the United States displays the passage of laws in chronological order; it's worth noting that ballot initiatives might have been passed by citizens in states like California in the 1990s, statutes that governed the medicine took a while longer to craft, but as far as we can see, ten states legalized medical marijuana before 2010, two more passed laws or ballot initiatives in 2010, with the rest coming after.
One might as well argue that the spread of medical cannabis that's legal on the state level stopped the upward trend in high school senior pot use, dead in the bong water.
Looking further back, prohibitionists back in 2011 told us that our efforts to legalize marijuana in 2012 would surely send the wrong message to the kids and greatly increase marijuana use. But when you check the rates of use since 2011, college use has increased 3.2 percent while adult use has skyrocketed by 37.5 percent. Teen use, however, is down 6.3 percent. . . .
Looking back even further, the current release of the NSDUH lists monthly use data dating back to 2002. Back then, there were just eight medical marijuana states and legalization was about to lose elections in Nevada (2002), Alaska (2004), Nevada (2006), Colorado (2006), and California (2010). Fewer than one-third of the American public supported marijuana legalization. Prohibitionists then claimed throughout the decade that the spread of medical marijuana and the filing of legalization initiatives were sending the wrong message to the youth and would certainly lead to more teen use. . . .
But as it has turned out, the twelve-year increase of over a third (35.5 percent) among those 12 and older who use marijuana once month or more is driven primarily by the increase of over one-eighth (13.3 percent) among those aged 18-25 and secondarily by the increase of almost two-thirds (65.0 percent) among adults 26 and older.
The teens? Their monthly use has decreased by almost a tenth (9.8 percent), from 8.2 percent who used monthly in 2002 to 7.4 percent who used monthly in 2014.
So, over the past dozen years, if there is any message the kids have received about marijuana, it is that they should wait until they are adults to use it.
There's that. Moreover, Ingebrigtsen stance on another issue related to Minnesota's extremely restrictive medical cannabis law also has its charms:
Now while I completely understand that medical marijuana has medicinal merits, I cannot support its use until it is an FDA regulated drug that you can purchase at your local pharmacy. Until then, I believe current medical marijuana is nothing more than baby steps to full blown legalization of marijuana.
With Big Government regulation approval, Ingebrigtsen would be happy to have medical cannabis available at WalMarts and grocery stores with pharmacies, corner drug stores--hundreds of locations across the state, rather that the (ultimately) eight dispensaries to carefully screened patients as under the current system.
Here's the document to which Ingebrigtsen directed his constituents, followed by the text of the entire email. The headline on the latter document suggests that youth use of many illicit drug is declining Indeed, the document begins:
The results from the latest national survey in the Monitoring the Future series on use of licit and illicit drugs by American teenagers show that some important improvements are taking place.
That's a Blessed and Merry Christmas message the state senator from Alexandria missed a chance to share.
Here's the text of his email:
Friends and Neighbors,
I want to take a quick moment to update you about some things going on around Minnesota. As always please let me know if you have any legislative questions or concerns.
Bill
Marijuana Use Up Nationally!
On the heels of our Governor and his Commissioner of Health unilaterally approving medical marijuana use for thousands of Minnesota, a troubling report was released. National Families in Action, an organization consisting of scientists, business leaders, physicians and policy makers released startling statistics from the University of Michigan proving that marijuana use is increased.
Now while I completely understand that medical marijuana has medicinal merits, I cannot support its use until it is an FDA regulated drug that you can purchase at your local pharmacy. Until then, I believe current medical marijuana is nothing more than baby steps to full blown legalization of marijuana.
This study states that today 8thGrade use of marijuana sits at 7%, 10th Grade-15%, and 12th Grade 21%. In 1991, by comparison, the rates sat at: 8th Grade-3%, 10th Grade-9%, 12th Grade-14%. Worse than that is the growing belief that marijuana isn’t harmful. In 1991, 79% of students believed that smoking marijuana regularly was harmful, but today only 32% share that view.
This study clearly proves that marijuana through its legalization for medical purposes in many states is only becoming more accessible and more accepted for recreational purposes by our youth. Undoubtedly having a negative impacts on our youth comparable to alcohol.
Marilyn and I are blessed to have so many friends and family in Senate District 8. Please take time to visit with friends and family members this holiday season. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Bill Ingebrigtsen
A Merry Christmas indeed, though as Episcopalians, we at Bluestem Prairie are still celebrating Advent in sunny Maynard.
Sadly, our humble Chippewa County home is now getting undue attention at a Minnesota-focused Big Data Scraping Listicle News article, Most People Don’t Know These 13 Super Tiny Towns In Minnesota Exist, as the world has been told these super tiny towns "are just as much a crucial part of Minnesota as anywhere in the Metro."
On the positive side, the One Minnesota message does seem to be making the rounds if the data miners are saying it.
Image: Senator Ingebrigtsen's email banner.
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Severe pain soon will be a reason Minnesotans may use medical marijuana, something supporters say will reduce the need for powerful and often-dangerous prescription medicines.
State Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger Wednesday announced he will add intractable pain to nine specific conditions that qualify for using pills, vapors and oil made from the marijuana plant. Smoking it is not allowed under state law.
Those who favor Ehlinger's move say the marijuana products could result in less use of drugs such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine. Those medicines, known as opioids, increasingly are being abused across the country.
Opioid addiction was one reason Ehlinger said he decided to allow those suffering from severe pain, which cannot be relieved by other means, to use marijuana extracts.
The only two companies allowed to grow marijuana in Minnesota said Ehlinger's decision will improve health.
"Opioid use kills more Minnesotans than homicide or car wrecks," LeafLine Labs CEO Manny Munson-Regala said. "States with medical cannabis laws have lower annual opioid overdose deaths than states without such laws."
Minnesota Medical Solutions CEO Kyle Kingsley said that his firm can provide an alternative to "opioids and other highly addictive and dangerous prescription pain medications."
Marijuana supporters say it is virtually impossible to overdose on products from the plant, while about 46 Americans a day die from opioid overdoses. . . .
Davis reports that " patients will be able to enroll for pain management marijuana on July 1 [2016] and pick it up a month later.
About time.
Photo: What legal medical cannabis looks like in Minnesota: an extract or oil from one of two companies that grow and process the plant. Whole plants (leaves) for smoking? Not allowed.
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As the whole world knows by now, North Minneapolis community members organized by Black Lives Matters are occupying Plymouth Avenue in front of the Minneapolis Police Department's Fourth Precinct following the shooting of Jamal Clark by a police officer.
Now a prominent Republican state lawmaker and former lawman has shared his opinion of the dispute with his Democratic colleagues and their staff, according to an emailed document a source forwarded to Bluestem.
Saturday morning, Minnesota House Public Safety Chair Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, sent file to this distribution list:
Cornish also posted the text on his Facebook page on Saturday morning, asking friends to share on their own pages. As of this time, 398 people had shared the post. Here's a pdf of the document he emailed Democratic state lawmakers and staff:
We'll give Cornish credit for one thing: he admits he'd feel regret at the death. That's more than union head Robert Kroll would concede last night on TPT Almanac. Kroll also claimed that "many" of those protesting are "outside" of the community and on the payroll of the SEIU. [Update: Kroll has come to public attention for extreme behavior and outlandish statements since 1995, according to this 2007 report in City Pages].
Photo: One of Tony Cornish's Throw Back Thursday photos, via Facebook.
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We've posted coverage and the report itself in that article.
One of the organizations that had worked to legalize medical cannabis in 2014 was the Marijuana Policy Project, which respond to the report in a statement today. From the press release:
The Minnesota Office of Medical Cannabis Intractable Pain Advisory Committee posted its recommendations on the question of whether intractable pain should be a medical cannabis qualifying condition late Wednesday. A majority of the panel opposed adding intractable pain, despite marijuana’s relative safety when compared to commonly prescribed pain medications. The panel also listed a variety of conditions that it suggests be met if the Commissioner of Health were to ultimately decide to add intractable pain to the program.
The recommendations — which include a 21 and older age restriction and a requirement that “traditional” methods of treatment be exhausted — will now be considered by Minnesota Commissioner of Health Ed Ehlinger. If he decides to add intractable pain, with or without added criteria, he must notify the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative health and public safety policy committees. Intractable pain would become a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, effective August 1, 2016, unless the legislature passes a law stating otherwise.
There are currently 18 other states that allow medical cannabis to be used to treat intractable, chronic, or debilitating pain. Multiple studies conducted in the University of California system showing the efficacy of medical cannabis at treating pain can be found at http://bit.ly/1frBiOI.
“It is unfortunate that a majority of the panel opposed recommending intractable pain, especially in light of the research done by the University of California system demonstrating marijuana’s efficacy at treating severe pain,” said Robert Capecchi, deputy director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Medical cannabis is a much safer alternative to prescription painkillers, and recent studies show those states that allow individuals to treat severe pain with medical marijuana experience lower rates of fatal prescription painkiller overdoses than states that don’t. I hope the commissioner listens to the science, overwhelming public support, and the experiences of the vast majority of medical marijuana states and ultimately decides to add intractable pain to the list of qualifying conditions.”
The Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s largest marijuana policy organization, has been responsible for changing most state-level marijuana laws since 2000. For more information, visit http://www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.
Photo: What legal medical cannabis looks like in Minnesota.
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In one of those moments that define irony, a commercial for a prescription intended to relieve the symptoms of OIC (Opioid-Induced Constipation) happened to be blithering on in the room when we opened Jennifer Brooks' post, Panel opposes letting pain patients into medical marijuana program, at the Strib.
A state panel that spent months studying whether to expand Minnesota’s medical marijuana program to pain patients came out in opposition to the idea Wednesday.
Minnesota has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the nation and as of last Friday, just 662 patients had enrolled in it. Adding intractable pain as a qualifying condition could potentially open the program to thousands more.
“Panel members expressed concern that patients eligible to use medical cannabis for pain have expectations that it would provide total relief and that such a perception may leave patients to abandon other proven pain management methods, such as physical therapy,” the recommendation noted. “Panel members agreed that medical cannabis should not be the first line of therapy in treating intractable pain, but that it could be an option after exhausting other standard treatments.”
The panel’s decision frustrated Cassie Traun, who enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program to treat her Crohn’s disease. Not only does cannabis treat her Crohn’s symptoms, she said, but it eases the pain of her arthritis as well, and she knows many other patients who use marijuana as a pain reliever.
“Cannabis is not a magic bullet. It’s like any other medication,” she said. “To restrict people who are in extreme amounts of pain, and unable to live normal lives; to restrict their treatment options is, honestly, criminal in my mind. It’s really disappointing.”
The final decision is in the hands of Minnesota Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger, who has until the end of the year to decide the intractable pain issue. Ehlinger will hold a public forum on the issue at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Wentworth Library in West St. Paul.
We're with Traun on this one and hope Commissioner Ehlinger will override the panel's recommendation. The panel suggested some restrictions on qualifying patients for medical cannabis in the event of an override--and some of these are common sense.
On the other hand one suggestion--prohibiting medical cannabis for patients under age 21 who are expected to live a normal life span--seems foolish in the face of the approval of oxycontin for use in treating children as young as eleven by the F.D.A this summer.
The advisory panel included a substance abuse treatment expert, two primary care physicians with expertise in pain management, a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician with subspecialty certification in pain medicine, a physician’s assistant with a pain management specialty, an advanced practice registered nurse with pediatric pain management focus, a pharmacist, and a board certified clinical psychologist with specialty experience in pain management.
Photo: This is what legal medical cannabis looks like in Minnesota: an extract or oil from one of two companies that grow and process the plant. Whole plants (leaves) for smoking? Not allowed.
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While the supporters of re-opening the private prison in Appleton appear to have declared victory after a Prison Population Taskforce informal informational hearing in which no recommendations were made, an article by Forum News Service reporter Don Davis suggests that the issue is far from a done deal.
Moreover, we've noticed that local leaders from Appleton and Swift County are claiming both that keeping the prison shuttered spells economic doom for their residents and that they've developed economic development strategies that don't include the prison.
We took a look at recent jobless rates in Swift County and surrounding counties--and were surprised at what we found.
Let's hope that Goff Public isn't advising its clients and their supporters to assert what the union and other opponents believe--and that members of the press seek out opponents of the project to speak to their positions.
Supporters of a shuttered private western Minnesota prison face plenty of roadblocks before they could get state inmates back in the facility.
Optimism was strong Wednesday when two Democratic senators said they liked the idea of the state leasing and running the prison facility, with unionized state workers.
But American Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees Council 5 union, which represents state prison workers, apparently will keep pressure on Democratic lawmakers to oppose the Appleton prison plan.
“AFSCME opposes a lease arrangement that would give CCA a foothold in Minnesota,” AFSCME spokeswoman Jennifer Munt said about the Corrections Corporation of America, which used to run the prison itself. “Our union believes that private prisons should be prohibited. They shouldn’t be able to operate or lease their facilities in our state because it’s morally wrong for corporations to profit from human incarceration.”
Munt said that the union supports using the facility, which has been closed since 2010. For it to be used as a prison, however, she said an acceptable option would be for the state to buy it.
“Criminal justice is a core responsibility of government, and public workers should be protecting public safety,” Munt said. . . .
FYI. AFSCME opposes a lease agreement that would give CCA a foothold in Minnesota.
One of the more interesting parts of the discourse at the end of Thursday's hearing when the Appleton option was raised after hours of other possibilities dealt with conflicting claims for reopening the prison, made by local officials.
Claims: Reopening Appleton prison paves way to fewer beds; hard times but no bubble
Munt is on to something when she speaks of the foothold in Minnesota, and the conflicting claims within Appleton and Swift County officials' testimony give us pause.
It's claimed that Swift County is suffering from the prison's shuttering in 2010, but that the county has moved away from the prison (originally owned by a corporation set up by Appleton leaders hoping to turn a buck on prisoners; when the group defaulted on its bond, they turned their nose up at the option to sell the facility to the state, taking an offer from CCA instead).
Reopening the prison will cause the city to bloom again, but it will also spur the state to reform the criminal justice system, and a temporary lease will save money by avoiding bonding for more state prison space.
Under an outline Appleton and Swift County officials presented, the state would lease the prison but the Corrections Department would run it and could staff it with union workers. Hendrickx and Appleton Mayor Chadwick Syltie told the task force that reopening the prison would provide a boost to an area with high unemployment. Roy downplayed the CCA option, saying it could cost $50 million a year to run the Appleton facility, compared to his plan that would add a $16 million annual operating cost. . . .
Some task force members warned local officials that they could face a second prison closing if they are successful in prison populations
“It would be my intent that it would be the first one to be closed” as prison populations fall, Rep. Dan Schoen, D-St. Paul Park, said, adding that he opposes the Appleton prison even though he has family in the area.
“We could be creating a bubble that is going to burst,” Rep. Raymond Dehn, D-Minneapolis, said.
After the meeting, Appleton and Swift County officials said they have diversified their economy since the prison closed in 2010 and are better able to handle it if the prison reopened and later closed. . . .
Just how jobless are Swift County and West Central Minnesota workers?
Here are the September 2015 figures for Swift County and surrounding areas (click on the photo for a larger view):
While Swift County's 3.8 percent unemployment rate is the highest in the area, most of West Central Minnesota hovers between 2.1 percent and 3.2 percent.
When we look at historical data for 2014-2015, we find that Swift County did have a big bump about the time the commissioners hired Goff Public, but the unemployment rate has declined even in the benighted prairie county (click on the photo for a larger view):
However, the non-adjusted Minnesota rate is 3.2 percent, so Swift County's rate is .6 points higher, while the rest of the counties in the area are equal to or below the state non-seasonally adjusted rate. The highest unemployment in Greater Minnesota is found in the Range and vicinity, with the city of Hibbing topping the map with a 8 percent non-seasonally adjusted rate.
We don't see anyone pushing to open the Appleton prison--which is a privately-owned prison, not a public building for which bonding could be used to repurpose the facility for a mental health or drug treatment center, as Senator Barbara Goodwin, Dfl-Columbia Heights, suggested on Thursday--also advocating a sunset on the lease accompanied by a timeline of reform to reduce the prison population.
Instead,without such assurances, this looks like a plan to help CCA draw some compensation for its idle property. (And perhaps the silliest thing said during Thursday's hearings was Mankato state senator Kathy Sheran fretting that Swift County would lose property taxes if CCA went bankrupt. We suggest that she read the company's financial reports to ease her mind).
The senators' remarks, along with Swift County weeping about its unemployment crisis, are found on the MnHouse Info channel's YouTube of the entire hearing, which runs four hours, nine minutes. The debate over Appleton begins at the 3:18 minute marker, at the very end of the long hearing. Here's the outline of time stamps from the House's channel:
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UPDATE 10/12/2015: In an email, Lars Negstad, an organizer for ISAIAH MN, confirms that the paper didn't contact the organization for the story. ISAIAH-MN conducted a prayer vigil at the state office building before last month's Prison Population Taskforce informal meeting, and the group is a leader in the coalition seeking criminal justice reform over profiting on a glut of inmates. [end update]
One never knows what editors leave on the news room floor, but based on the copy in a report about re-opening the CCA prison in Appleton, Bluestem finds the usually excellent West Central Tribune reporter Tom Cherveny coming up short.
Economic tipping point triggers prison campaign does a good job of presenting the point of view of those scheming to re-open the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton. Unfortunately, it also allows those folks to frame and answer the objections that those opposed to the project have raised.
We doubt that religious leaders at ISAIAH or union officials--or those they represent authorized Goff Public or its clients to speak for them.
Ever since, a task force from Swift County and the city of Appleton along with Sen. Lyle Koenen, DFL-Clara City and Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, have been working to convince the state: Leasing the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton is the answer to the state’s needs. . . .
The task force members also believe that state staffing resolves the concerns of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the bargaining unit for state employees. AFSCME wants to maintain union workers in the state corrections system.
One would think that a call to AFSCME Council 5--rather than the opinion of the local task force--would be a more reliable source on the union's concerns. Jennifer Munt is the union's Director of Public Affairs & Public Policy. She, not those pushing the facility in Appleton, is authorized to speak for the union's concerns.
And there's this:
Adding to the challenge for making the cause on behalf of the Appleton facility are calls by legislators and organizations in the state for prison reform. Those calling for reforms want the state to reduce its prison population, the two legislators said. . . .
Fidler said the Department of Corrections is confident that the county jails are meeting all that is asked of them. He also pointed out, however, that no one is making the case that county jails can provide the long-term services needed by many of these inmates.
Leasing the Appleton facility could allow the state to provide the programming and save it the expense of building new cells. Miller and Koenen both noted that building new prison cells would take up a large share of any state bonding measure. It would also obligate the state to maintain prison cells for another 50 to 100 years that might not be needed if prison reforms are achieved.
If the state leases prison cells, it can always end the relationship when the need for the cells no longer exists, Fidler said.
“A home run for everybody,’’ he said of a possible lease agreement.
Again, one would think that those raising these concern would be best to speak to them, rather than those who are pushing revive a local economy by re-opening a shuttered prison.
Indeed, Cherveny closes the article by marshalling numbers assembled "a few years ago" by the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission and the city of Appleton assembled that looked at the economic impact of the prison and its closing.
No one on the local re-opening task force--and certainly not the two legislators on it--would benefit from the "home run" for the "prison reform."
Those advocating reform call it criminal justice reform--a discussion that addresses sentencing, alternative courts such as drug courts, mental health services and substance abuse treatment, among other things. All of these issues came up at the state Prison Population TaskForce meeting, while Saturday's article suggests that re-opening the Appleton Prison was one of the centerpiece proposals of that first meeting.
Let's see Miller and Koenen introduce or support measures for criminal justice reform, push them through, insist on them as a condition for the lease--making it temporary, if it is indeed the most cost effective option for beds in a time of reform.
Otherwise, this simply looks like what the Appleton prison has always been--an attempt first by the city, then by CCA, to cash in on projected inmate gluts. Those who seek to base a region's economic development on this have only a disincentive to move criminal justice reform, whatever lip service to it their lobbyists tell them to spin in the media and St. Paul.
Photo: The shuttered prison at Appleton.
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Now that the dust and hard feelings have settled in the scrappy DFL primary in the special election to fill the seat left vacant by by the death of Representative David Dill, the Tower Timberjay revisits the "man camps" question.
As anyone who paid attention to the race knows, Bill Hansen’s suggestion that a copper-nickel boom would bring man camps to house workers, and that those camps would bring increased crime to the area, was widely derided as an attack on union construction workers and PolyMet.
That attack line was far-fetched from the beginning, and I see very little evidence in the poll returns to suggest it had much impact on voters. Hansen always had an uphill battle simply because of population and geography, and his campaign was well aware of it. . . .
Hansen’s claim that a copper-nickel boom (of the kind envisioned by Frank Ongaro of Mining Minnesota) would bring man camps is inarguably true, as was his prediction that such camps would bring social problems to the area.
Indeed, the suggestion would come as no surprise to anyone who took part in the planning efforts conducted by the East Range Readiness Committee back in the mid-2000s, since housing for workers and their impact on communities, was one of the major topics of discussion. It wasn’t Hansen raising those concerns at the time. It was then-Hoyt Lakes Mayor Marlene Pospeck, a copper-nickel mining supporter, who was calling the potential for man camps a “big concern,” according to a Minnesota Public Radio report from 2006.
The story continued: “Construction workers are often set up in makeshift trailer camps— places Pospeck says are known for rowdy behavior, frequent police calls, and an increased need for social services. It’s one thing to deal with one major construction project, but two or three or more could be a huge strain on the local communities.”
No one attacked Pospeck for disrespecting the Iron Range building trades for raising such obvious concerns. But then, it wasn’t the political season, when little things like facts and context are often tossed out the window. . .
. . .We can argue about how severe those problems might be, but anyone who suggests Hansen simply invented this concern, or was slamming local construction workers, should familiarize themselves with a little Iron Range history.
Helmberger looks back to the 1950s taconite boom and more in a column worth reading.
Photo: 1st mining camp near Mountain Iron 1893, via Mining Artifacts. Probably not what anybody meant during the primary, but it's a cool old picture.
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Forum News Service writer Jonathan Knutson reports in the Mitchell (SD) Daily Republic article, Industrial hemp gains ground:
Even so, industrial hemp continues to face major challenges. To critics, the crop is too much like marijuana and allowing its production would be risky.
"I think it's a social push to get everyone to be accepting of marijuana," says Bill Ingebrigtsen, a Republican state senator from Alexandria, Minn., and former sheriff. "Industrial hemp is a baby step. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means, but there are those out there would think we should legalize illegal drugs, and I truly think this is just a movement in that direction." . . .
But hemp suffers because some people confuse it with marijuana. "We have to distinguish it (hemp) from its cousin," Eken says. "I liken it to throwing someone in jail because they have a cousin, who they closely resemble, who did something wrong."
Several farmer friends suggest to us that that genetic difference matters. You'd have to smoke a telephone pole-sized joint to get a headache from industrial hemp.
Photo: Grumpy cat Ingebrigtsen was given some hemp hearts, but still isn't having a change of heart about industrial hemp farming.
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The state’s prison population currently exceeds facility capacity. That provided myriad ideas from legislators and others at the inaugural meeting of an informal working group.
No action was taken Friday by the Prison Population Task Force, which received an overview of the overcrowding and provided the more than 30 people gathered around the table — including about a dozen legislators — chances to express their thoughts.
“It’s a conversation that’s long overdue,” said Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL-Mpls). “One size doesn’t fit all.” . . .
Read the rest at the Session Daily. Over the weekend, Bluestem will post more analysis of the hearing, but for now present The Uptake's Youtube of the meeting, along with the Department of Correction's powerpoint presentation. Both are embedded below, after the video.
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Here's the Department of Corrections presentation to the Prison Population Taskforce:
Photo: Representative Dan Schoen, DFL-Cottage Grove, a police officer and consultant for a medical cannabis firm, spoke of the need for public safety, but also about how education and living wages are the best crime prevention measures.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Note: This post is part of our continuing coverage of the effort to re-open the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, a private prison owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). For earlier coverage, check out the links at the bottom of the post.
On Wednesday, Senator Ron Latz issued the following statement about the informal task force and process:
State Senator Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) has assembled a Prison Population Taskforce to review issues related to the growing prison population in Minnesota. Currently, over 500 inmates are housed in county jails across Minnesota. As a result, the Department of Corrections has requested over $140 million in a bonding to build a new prison housing until at the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Rush City.
The Prison Population Taskforce is an informal group of legislators and stakeholders who will discuss the status of and solutions to the current prison population in Minnesota. Taskforce members include legislators from the House and Senate, officials from the Department of Corrections, public defenders, law enforcement, and associations of probations workers, among others.
The first meeting of the Prison Population Taskforce will be held on Friday, September 25th at 9:00 AM in Room 10 of the State Office Building. No formal action will be taken and the meeting is open to the public. The agenda includes a presentation by the Department of Corrections and a discussion on potential issues to address in-depth at future meetings throughout the fall and winter.
“It is imperative that the discussion on the complex and weighty issue of our prison population begin now. The legislative session begins on March 8th of next year, allowing only 10 weeks to tackle this difficult topic and huge request for bonding dollars,” says Sen. Latz. “Through the Prison Population Taskforce, it is my intention to have a public discussion prior to the legislative session on the possibilities of reform with those who understand the issue best. The Taskforce is going to take a hard look at the causes of our rising prison population and, with the input of the Department of Corrections and other stakeholders, identify areas of concern and solutions within the prisons system. It is my hope that after the taskforce’s work is done, Minnesota’s criminal justice system will emerge stronger and become the model for other states to aspire to.”
For our earlier coverage of the plan to re-open the Appletin prison, check out the links below:
Photo: Prairie Correctional Facility, the shuttered CCA prison in Appleton, which is being proposed as an alternative to expanding the state-owned and operated facility in Rush City. The public affairs/lobbying firm hired by Swift County insists that if re-opened, the Appleton prison would be operated by the state.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Note: This post is part of our continuing coverage of the effort to re-open the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, a private prison owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). For earlier coverage, check out the links at the bottom of the post.
It's easy to understand how those reading the Memo of Understanding and Goff Public proposal might get confused about what's Goff Public and Swift County are proposing.
The head of the public affairs/lobbying group signed the MOU with Swift County that says the goal of the contract is "to promote the currently closed prison [Prairie Correctional Facility] as a solution for the State of Minnesota’s challenge to house inmates within existing facilities." Reasonable people would take that as re-opening the closed prison which CCA owns.
Moreover, the Goff Public proposal notes:
From our understanding of Swift County’s situation, Goff Public is well-positioned to provide you with a broad range of services to achieve your goals of raising the profile of your available infrastructure, increasing awareness of how it may be the most cost-effective option for the State of Minnesota to address its growing prison population, and potentially pursue state bonding dollars to reopen your facility for the state’s use.
This is fascinating language, since the prison isn't "your [Swift County's] available infrastructure" or "your [Swift County's'] facility. The Prairie Correctional Facility is owned by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). In the past, CCA housed Minnesota state prisoners.
And the notion that "state bonding dollars" would be used to reopen the privately-owned facility--whether that privately-owned facility were operated by CCA or the Department of Corrections--since a January 2015 Information Brief from the non-partisan Research Department of the Minnesota House, Capital Investment and State Bonding (pdf here) notes this requirement on page 3:
Publicly owned: Bonds issued under the capital improvements provision may only be for publicly owned projects, whether state or local. “Publicly owned” includes projects of the Minnesota Historical Society, but not projects owned by public radio, public TV, Indian tribes, the federal government,or private sewage systems even if they will serve the public
If that's the case, we're curious how state bonding will be used for a prison owned by a private corporation. It's certainly understandable that lawmakers have been concerned about the state making capital improvements for private corporations.
Photo: The privately-owned Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton. The infrastructure is located in Swift County, but it's not Swift County's infrastructure. It is owned by Corrections Corporation of America, a for-profit corporation with headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Note: This post is part of our continuing coverage of the effort to re-open the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, a private prison owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). For earlier coverage, check out the links at the bottom of the post.
[the] Prison Population Taskforce will meet on Friday, September 25 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 10 of the State Office Building, according to the Minnesota Senate calendar. The notice reads:
The meeting is for the Prison Population Taskforce, an informal discussion by a group of stakeholders including the Senate Judiciary Committee, members of the House of Representatives, and officials from state and local agencies, among others. Rep. Tony Cornish will serve as the co-chair of the meeting
The Uptake will also be on hand to videotape the hearing, although it's uncertain whether the video news service will be able to livestream from the room.
We live in a time of mass incarceration and prison expansion.
Despite falling crime rates, Minnesota has the second highest growth in incarceration rate – up 42% since 2000. Now our state prison system is more than 500 inmates over capacity. The Department of Corrections is requesting $142 million to expand Rush City state prison. For-profit prison giant Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is angling to re-open their long-shuttered prison in Swift County, a 3 hour drive west of the Twin Cities. PR and lobbying firms like Goff Public are also profiting from this scramble.
As Minnesota's prison population has increased, so has the racial disparity. African Americans make up 35% of prisoners despite being just 6% of the state’s population. Native Americans are locked up at 10 times their share of the state’s residents.
As people of faith, we believe the expansion of for-profit incarceration in a racially unjust criminal justice system is a profound violation of human dignity. No one should profit off a father, a brother, a son who seeks forgiveness of their debts to society.
Please join ISAIAH in a Prayer Vigil outside the meeting room where the Prison Population Task Force will convene to discuss solutions to this issue.
The meeting is open to the public and you are free to stay and keep witness throughout the discussion. The meeting starts at 9:00am in Room 10 (lower level) of the State Office Building.
A "faith-based coalition of more than 100 member congregations that lets communities in Minnesota more effectively live out their faith in biblical justice and the common good," the group has also started a Groundswell petition, Tell Goff Public: Stop Promoting For-Profit Prisons. Follow the link to view the petition.
Goff Public is a metro-based public affairs and lobbying firm which was one of two firms to pitch their services to Swift County in its bid to get the private prison, owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) re-opened. CCA has faced relentless scrutiny nationally for profiting from captive populations.
For our earlier coverage of the plan to re-open the prison, check out the links below:
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Note: This post is part of our continuing coverage of the effort to re-open the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, a private prison owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). For earlier coverage, check out the links at the bottom of the post.
In a tweet on Monday, ISAIAH MN, a faith-based social justice group, documented its meeting with Goff Public about the public affairs and lobbying firm's contract with Swift County to promote reopening the the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton.
We've contacted ISAIAH MN for a pdf copy of the letter to embed and will update this post as more information comes in.
Update: we've been sent a text copy of the letter:
Goff Public 255 E. Kellogg Boulevard St. Paul MN 55101 VIA HAND DELIVERY
September 14, 2015
Dear Mr. Georgacas, Ms. Emerson, and Mr. Roznowski:
As people of faith, we are gravely concerned about the potential expansion of our current prison system that unjustly and disparately impacts people of color. Minnesota has the second lowest rate of incarceration in the nation, yet has the second highest growth in incarceration rate – up 42% since 2000. This is despite falling crime rates. African Americans are vastly over-represented in our prisons, making up 35% of prisoners despite being just 6% of the state’s population. Native Americans are locked up at 10 times their share of the state’s residence.
We are shocked that Goff Public is working to promote the opening of a private, for-profit prison in Minnesota. Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is the largest and oldest private prison owner and operator in the US. Approximately 71,000 people are currently locked up in CCA facilities, which generated nearly $1 billion in profits over the past 5 years. In 2014, CCA profits amounted to $3,366 per individual man or woman incarcerated, while the top six executives collected nearly $12 million in total compensation.
As reported recently, CCA profits from the detention of toddlers and pregnant women. In addition, “the company’s prisons have been dogged by allegations of maltreatment, neglect, and abuse—as if the practice of detaining toddlers wasn’t controversial enough.”
Further, CCA has been found to operate prisons that were so substandard and unsafe for both prisoners and prison guards that in at least one case in Arizona the facility was deemed too unsafe for state auditors to visit.
This is abhorrent and unexcusable. Minnesota has no place for a company which employs these heinous practices. Even leasing property from this company is beyond the pale of moral acceptability.
We therefore call on you to cease and desist your efforts to promote the CCA facility in Appleton MN or any for-profit incarceration enterprise.
Sincerely,
ISAIAH
ISAIAH MN is no stranger to the western prairies, as members have been active lately in Willmar, advocating for restoring voting rights for people convicted of felonies who have served their terms.
For our earlier coverage of the plan to re-open the prison, check out the links below:
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Update September 14: At the Pioneer Press Rachel Stassen-Berger reports Mack and Kelly apologize, step down from ethics committee. Kelly has apologized to all law enforcement and his constituents. Read the Pi Press article for details. [end update]
In the latest wrinkle in the melodrama over the nuisance necking citations issued to Minnesota state representatives Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, and Tara Mack, R-Apple Valley, their DFL colleague from Cottage Grove, Dan Schoen has asked them to apologize for claiming the Dakota County deputy who issued the ticket lied.
Schoen, a police officer and medical cannabis security consultant, makes a good point, but maybe the lawmakers need to start apologizing to their constituents, since both serve in legislative districts where voters are perfectly able to vote for Democrats.
The 2012 Presidential vote in Kelly and Mack's districts, both of which favored President Obama, and presence of Democrats (Matt Schmit and Greg Clausen) in the state senate suggest that the Republican Party doesn't have a lock on either state House seat.
A Democratic state representative with a long police career wants apologies from two Republican Minnesota lawmakers who accused a park ranger of lying after he claimed they were kissing in an Eagan park.
A park officer ticketed State Reps. Tim Kelly of Red Wing and Tara Mack of Apple Valley last month when he found them in a car at 4:30 p.m. His notes indicate Mack’s pants were pulled down and he said the two were “making out.”
The lawmakers originally said they were innocent and claimed the officer included false information in his reports. Last week, they maintained their innocence, but paid each paid a $260 fine under a nuisance law, saying it would be best for their families.
Rep. Dan Schoen of St. Paul Park wrote to House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, Friday, saying more is needed than just paying fines.
“Members of the Legislature making false claims against law enforcement officials is a serious issue…” Schoen wrote. “I find it very disappointing that Rep. Mack and Rep. Kelly would try to harm the credibility of this law enforcement official simply to rescue their own.”
If the deputy's report stands, then Mack and Kelly should apologize to the Dakota County Sheriff's Department, while making amends to their spouses, families and colleagues. . . .
Meanwhile, Kelly isn't apologizing, Davis reports:
On Friday, Kelly, 51, said he stands by statements that he disagrees with details of the report, although he would not give specifics.
“We simply have a disagreement,” Kelly said. “It doesn’t warrant an apology.”
He said the matter has been settled since he and Mack, 32, paid the fines.
“The reason we settled and paid the fine is because we wanted to move forward,” Kelly said. “I did that because that’s what would be best for my family.”
Schoen stopped short of filing an ethics charge, which still could happen. Kelly sits on the House Ethics Committee and Mack is an alternate member.
According to these narratives--which political insiders shared with Bluestem--Mack had been groomed to replace Kline, to the point where some of her supporters were suggesting to the retired Marine that he get out of the young up-and-comer's way. Kline was not amused.
When after the Kelly and Mack story broke, the story goes, Kline could retire and flip off those who had been pressing for his departure and replacement with Mack. Bluestem has our doubts, since the timing of Kline's retirement most likely has more to do with House rules that would take away his committee chair than Mack's public exposure. Chronology isn't causality.
As for the alleged hostility between the two? We're not that close and thus not in a position to suss that out. Whatever the case, Mack and Kline are linked through staffers. Bethany Dorobiala, Mack's legislative assistant, is the younger sister of Brooke Dorobiala Schaeffer, Kline's district director.
There is another wrinkle in the case. Tea-Party favorite Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, who may run for Kline's U.S. House seat, serves in 21B, the other half of the senate district where Kelly serves. Freshman DFL senator Matt Schmit, who took the seat from John Sterling Howe, wouldn't be a lonely target in the Red Wing bluff area.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Note: This post is part of our continuing coverage of the effort to re-open the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, a private prison owned by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
[the] Prison Population Taskforce will meet on Friday, September 25 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 10 of the State Office Building, according to the Minnesota Senate calendar. The notice reads:
The meeting is for the Prison Population Taskforce, an informal discussion by a group of stakeholders including the Senate Judiciary Committee, members of the House of Representatives, and officials from state and local agencies, among others. Rep. Tony Cornish will serve as the co-chair of the meeting.
Transparency: Latz requires informal meeting to be taped
Bluestem has learned that the informal taskforce's meeting will be audiotaped at the request Senator Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, who created the task force this summer as part of his oversight for corrections as Chair of the Finance - Judiciary Budget Division and Judiciary Committees.
Since the task force is informal, rather than created through statute or executive order, there's no legal requirement for video, audio or minutes to be kept, but we're told that in the interests of transparency, Latz decided to have the audiotape created and archived.
This decision is commendable. Bluestem hopes that interested parties and media organizations such as The Uptake will also videotape the public meeting.
Who will be at the September 25 Prison Population Taskforce meeting?
In addition to the list of task force members in the chart below, some state lawmakers have sent notice to Latz that they will be at the September 25, 2015 meeting. They are:
Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center Sen. Dan Hall, R-Burnsville Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights Rep. Raymond Dehn, DFL-Minneapolis Rep. Paul Rosenthal, DFL-Edina
With the exception of Eaton, all of the senators serve with Latz on the senate Finance - Judiciary Budget Division and Judiciary Committees, so the policy under discussion will be important in the coming bonding session. Eaton serves on the state and local government committee, which may also hear materials related to criminal justice matters, as since counties maintain jails, where some felony offenders are housed.
In the House, the chair is Rep. Tony Cornish who has been on top of this, he [Miller] said. "He has been willing and open to talk about this, and that would be an important piece, too," Miller said. Cornish spent 32 years as a law enforcement officer and is a rural legislator from Vernon Center southwest of Mankato.
A shortened version of the article for non-subscribers to the paper is online here at the Swift County Monitor's website; it does not include Miller's remarks.
Here are the task force members. John Harrington is listed as he is sitting in as the representative for the Chiefs of Police Association:
FIRST NAME
LAST NAME
AGENCY/ORGANIZATION
Tom
Roy
DOC
Kathleen
Lonergan
DOC
Ron
Latz
MN Senate Judiciary Chair
Tony
Cornish
MN House Public Safety Chair
Warren
Limmer
MN Senate Judiciary GOP Lead
Debra
Hilstrom
MN House Public Safety DFL Lead
Janet
Marshall
Judicial Council
Luke
Kuhl
Governor's Office
Nate
Reitz
Sentencing Guidelines Commission
Raeone
Magnuson
Office of Justice Programs, DPS
Cathryn
Middlebrook
Appellate Public Defender's Office
Kevin
Kajer
Board of Public Defense
Bill
Ward
Bourd of Public Defense
Robert
Small
MN County Attorney Assoc.
Ryan
Erdmann
MN Assoc. of Community Correction Act Counties (CCA)
Amy
Chavez
MN Assoc. of Co. Probation Officers (CPO)
Rebekah
Moses
MN Coalition for Battered Women
Josh
Esmay
Council on Crime and Justice
Sarah
Walker
Second Chance Coalition
Kelly
Mitchell
Robina Institute, U of MN
Mark
Haase
Defense Lawyers Assoc.
Jim
Franklin
Sheriff's Association
John
Harrington
Chiefs of Police Assoc
(Harrington is a substitute for Tom Freeman)
Sarah Walker, representing the Second Chance Coalition, formerly lobbied for CCA as a consultant for Hill Capitol Strategies, a public affairs and lobbying firm that unsuccessfully bid on the Swift County lobbying effort, which Goff Public received. We reported on this wrinkle in the story in Orange is the new green, regulatory capture edition: Hill Capitol bid on county CCA lobbying.
For our earlier coverage of the plan to re-open the prison, check out the links below:
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
All of the statements, opinions, and views expressed on this site by Sally Jo Sorensen are solely her own, save when she attributes them to other sources.
The opinions, statements, and views of contributing writers are their own.
Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors. While progressive in outlook, she does not caucus with any political party.
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