Let you Legislators know Minnesota should not have a Real ID Driver's Licience. When did we need "papers" to travel to another State in the Union? We cannot allow the Feds to control our Citizen's ability to travel from one place to another. Plus - You cannot be denied your rights to fly by TSA if you don't have this special license. This is nothing but an effort of the Feds to grab more control over a State controled function. What is next? A special Fed License to purchase Groceries? Remember - Obamacare stopped you from buying Insurance across State Lines.
Minnesotans — and many of the lawmakers who represent them — generally want the state to make its driver’s licenses valid for airplane travel and other federal purposes before next year.
Minnesota is one of just three states that have not changed their licenses to comply with the federal requirements and have never received an extension to do so, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The other two are Missouri and Washington. Four other states have expiring extensions to comply.
The Department of Homeland Security last year said that by January 2018, it would require Real ID-compliant licenses from all states. States granted extensions to change their licenses would have until 2020.
Heckova slippery slope toward making the feds the grocery cops.
Photo: Is Rep. Dennis Smith, center, really trying to get the feds to license that adorable shopping cart? Or just trying to get Minnesotans on a plane? (If we recall correctly, the dual-track license solution was part of Representative Rick Hansen's proposal last January,but why solve a problem when an entire caucus can dither for another year). Image via Press and News.
JANUARY FUNDRAISING DRIVE
Please donate! If you enjoy Bluestem's take on the news--and our investigative blogging--please consider throwing some spare change into our paypal account during our January contribution drive. Bluestem relies on reader contributions to continue publishing.
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity . . .
The first few weeks of a legislative session often are sleepy affairs: lots of ceremony, feel-good receptions and meet-and-greets, introductions and informational hearings.
Not this year.
A number of factors combined to create a flurry of early activity . . .
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, who has been at the Capitol since 2003.
Rosen, who leaves on a two-week trip to Myanmar this week, said the Senate’s rush to pass its health care bill last week was not related to her travel plans. Lawmakers were eager to get it done so that Senate and House negotiators could work out differences for final passage by the end of the month, which is the deadline for Minnesotans to sign up for health insurance.
Still, Rosen’s absence is notable because it shows how thin the GOP’s one-seat majority really is. With just one member gone, the Senate conceivably could come to a halt, with Republicans lacking the numbers to move any legislation opposed by the DFL.
Nonetheless, her absence may slow the machinery of power in St. Paul, thus dashing the hopes of the ink-stained wretches in the newsroom of the Crookston Times, who opined on Monday in Compromise in St. Paul:
Compromise in St. Paul
The last time Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton had to work with a Republican-controlled Minnesota Legislature, we had to suffer through a brief government shutdown, as Dayton and the Republicans refused to work together to get anything meaningful accomplished. Dayton said the other day he fears it could happen again, now that Republicans again control both the Minnesota Senate and House. But it doesn't have to, especially not with meaningful legislation like health insurance relief, a bonding bill, and tax bill that, according to last year's numbers, would give Crookston an additional $116,000 or so in Local Government Aid. If Dayton and the Republicans approach each other with reasonable expectations and a willingness to give instead of just take, things could get done. But forgive us if we're less than hopeful that the governor and legislative leaders will work together for the benefit of Minnesotans who elected them.
Were we the least bit cynical, we'd suggest that in the absence of the bread of LGA, the good citizens of Crookston might eat cake, but far be it from Bluestem to even imply such a thing.
Photo: A still from the classic Tale of Two Cities.
Please donate! If you enjoy Bluestem's take on the news--and our investigative blogging--please consider throwing some spare change into our paypal account during our January contribution drive. Bluestem relies on reader contributions to continue publishing.
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.
"Car rental taxes are an easy target for politicians because they only affect visitors, not residents, right? Wrong. Short term rental services have sprung up, catering to downtown residents and others who don't need or want the cost and upkeep of owning a vehicle. But the service couldn't survive with the high rental car taxes plus the high local taxes and fees in the twin cities. It was a double whammy. So Car2go will be gone by the end of the year."
Anderson adds the headnote: "interesting maybe something that could be fixed in the legislative session."
That might be a little--how do we say?--awkward, given that Representative Jeff Backer favors the Minnesota Republican caucus transportation plan, or so he told Morris's KMRS-KKOK Radio in February's State Representative Backer on Transportation Plan:
Ahead of this Friday’s February Budget Forecast, Representative Jeff Backer, R-Browns Valley, is urging support for a long-term transportation plan that would invest $7 billion in state roads and bridges over the next 10 years without an increase in the gas tax. In total, the plan would repair or replace more than 15,500 lane miles of road and 330 bridges statewide.
“As I have traveled across the district, I consistently hear from constituents about the need to improve our roads and bridges,” said Backer. “Our plan not only makes significant investments in our transportation infrastructure, it does so without implementing a harmful gas tax increase.”
Over the next ten years, the Republican proposal invests:
$4.03 billion for state roads $1.44 billion for county roads $583 million for municipal roads $282 million for small cities under 5,000 $139 million for Greater Minnesota bus services $60 million for township roads & bridges
The Republican proposal creates a special fund called the Transportation Stability Fund that collects existing proceeds from dedicated tax revenues and deposits them into accounts for each of their dedicated purpose. There are five accounts that would dedicate a combined $3.078 billion over ten years:
1. Road and Bridge Account – revenue from existing sales tax on auto parts 2. Metro Capital Improvements Account – revenue from existing sales tax on rental vehicles 3. Small Cities Account – revenue from existing rental vehicle tax 4. Greater Minnesota Bus Services Account – revenue from 50% of existing Motor Vehicle Lease sales tax 5. Suburban County Highway Account – revenue from 50% of existing Motor Vehicle Lease sales tax
Backer repeated his support for using existing car rental taxes for the Small Cities Account in a March 2016 legislative update. Nice of him and his conservative colleagues to grab those high rental taxes from an urban car service and other rentals to pay "for street and road repair over the next ten years for communities that have less than 5,000 residents."
Predictably, conservatives in the PiPress's comment section are blaming the rental vehicle tax on those darned liberals, while the intern who wrote the article doesn't seem to have thought to mention that redirecting the tax from general revenues to the proposed "Transportation Stability Fund" is a key feature of the Republicans' avoidance of raising the gas tax.
Perhaps they could save Car2Go and lower or eliminate the vehicle rental tax--but then Backer and his pals have to find another money pot somewhere to rob for the the Metro Capital Improvements Account and the Small Cities Account.
What additional programs paid out of general funds (diverted under to the plan to the new fund) will get the axe? Mental health funding? Local government aid? Daycare for the children of the working poor? The possibilities are endless--but we doubt the legislators' mileage requests will be in play.
Screengrab: We must say, politicians like those in the Minnesota House Republican Caucus most certainly did find the pot o' money collected with car rental taxes to be an easy target when proposing to raise more money for roads and bridges while not raising gas taxes. Cough.
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen at gmail.com as recipient.
Joseph Wang, CEO of the North American High Speed Group, tells Heather Carlson at the Rochester Post Bulletin that he was "shocked" that America had no high speed rail system when he moved to the United State in 1991.
Bluestem thinks the bigger shocker here is Wang's claim that the Chinese high-speed rail system was built and operational when he lived in China until 1991.
In an interview, Wang said he understands that many Americans are skeptical of high-speed rail. But he said he has seen firsthand the benefit of such projects. Wang was born in Taizhou, China. He worked for China National Technical Import and Export Corp., overseeing construction of massive infrastructure projects financed with foreign dollars. He also did a lot of traveling in China, Japan and Taiwan and saw the impact high-speed rail projects had a region.
"I saw how high-speed rail changed the human beings' lives. How high-speed rail improved the economy and created jobs," he said.
Wang moved to the U.S. in 1991 and became a U.S. citizen. He said he was shocked when he moved to America that there was no high-speed rail. [emphasis added]
That's a charming tale. But Bluestem struggles to understand how Wang could have been shocked at the absence of high-speed rail in the United States when at the time, high-speed rail in the People's Republic of China was only a glimmer in party officials' eyes.
Policy planners debated the necessity and economic viability of high-speed rail service. Supporters argued that high-speed rail would boost future economic growth. Opponents noted that high-speed rail in other countries were expensive and mostly unprofitable[citation needed]. Overcrowding on existing rail lines, they said, could be solved by expanding capacity through higher speed and frequency of service. In 1995, Premier Li Peng announced that preparatory work on the Beijing Shanghai HSR would begin in the 9th Five Year Plan (1996–2000), but construction was not scheduled until the first decade of the 21st century.
According to the entry, high-speed rail was launched in China in 2007. What Wang saw there in 1991 is anyone's guess, but whatever he and Carlson were smoking during that interview, they should learn to share.
The 2007 date is mentioned in Tom Zoellner's une 14, 2016 article in Foreign Affairs, China's High-Speed Rail Diplomacy. It's an interesting read, and includes news of the American regulation ( "a federal mandate that high-speed rail train sets must be manufactured domestically") that shut down the Xpress West proect from Vegas to Southern California. (North American High Speed Rail once claimed to be negotiating to operate that line).
Taiwan's high speed rail line dates from the same year. Time reported in A Brief History of High-Speed Rail that Japan built its first bullet train for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics; by 2009, 1,500 miles of high speed rail lines had been built on the island nation. The article noted:
The sobering expense of high-speed train travel has tempered the expectations of even the strongest rail advocates. "It sounds like a lot of money to Americans, but it's really just a start," James P. RePass of the National Corridors Initiative told the Washington Post. Some critics also predict a massive price tag to operate new rail lines, pointing to Amtrak's perennial shortfalls, and a proposed link between Anaheim and Las Vegas (in the home state of Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid) sparked outrage and derision among many Republicans.
In the seven years since, little headway has been made.
There also exists the strong possibility of a political backlash to the idea of Chinese-financed high-speed rail projects. In 2005, fears of growing Chinese influence—stoked by U.S. politicians and pundits—helped doom a bid by CNOOC, a Chinese firm, to acquire the U.S. oil producer Unocal. Today, anti-Chinese sentiment is running even higher than it was then, thanks in no small part the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who regularly berates Washington elites for not taking a tougher line on Beijing. And critics of Chinese involvement in U.S. rail will no doubt exploit public concerns over safety. In 2011, a malfunctioning signal box caused the collision of two Chinese-built high-speed rail trains near the city of Wenzhou, killing 40 and injuring almost 200 more. The Chinese government moved to squelch criticism, even though investigations found that the rail line had been built hastily with substandard materials amid an atmosphere of official corruption.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an arm of the Treasury Department designed to protect the nation from financial threats to its national security, would presumably review any large-scale involvement by Beijing in a critical piece of U.S. infrastructure. But the CFIUS approval process is somewhat opaque, and the committee’s decisions can apparently be swayed by high-priced lobbyists. When asked about their review process, a U.S. Treasury spokesman responded in email that the committee “does not comment on information relating to specific CFIUS cases, including whether or not certain parties have filed notices for review.”
Details, details.
Whatever the case, Bluestem thinks it's safe to bet that Wang, North American High Speed Rail Group's strategic communicator Wend Meadley and the rest of the gang are full capable of building the high speed rail that flourished in China and Taiwan over 25 years ago.
Perhaps they'll offer Mayor Brede a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge next or market vaporware to the DMC.
Photo: Maybe Wang was thinking of "theAsia Express steam locomotive, which operated commercially from 1934 to 1943 in Manchuria could reach 130 km/h (81 mph) and was one of the fastest trains in Asia" (Amtrak'sAcela Express on the east coast can reach 150 mph). Photo credits: This photographic image was published before December 31st 1956, or photographed before 1946, under the jurisdiction of the Government of Japan. Thus this photographic image is considered to be public domain according to article 23 of old copyright law of Japan (English translation) and article 2 of supplemental provision of copyright law of Japan.
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen at gmail.com as recipient.
After losing the Republican endorsement in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District to sitting Representative Tom Emmer, rabid anti-refugee ranter AJ Kern continues to fight toward the primary.
Sixth District residents should probably be happy that she's running for Congress, rather than running a travel agency.
Minneapolis to Somalia flights. Book cheap flights to Somalia from Minneapolis. Search multiple flight deals from various travel sources with one click.
cheapflights.com
This is followed by sharing a 2013 post, Mogadishu's Best Popular Beach: Lido Beach, from Visit Mogadishu:
Kern would like to serve in Congress, but substitutes cheap shots for due diligence on her campaign page.
We'll help her out, since she doesn't seem able to help herself.
US State Department Travel Warning
Vacation in Somalia? Not recommended by the United States State Department, which issued this Somalia Travel Warning back in late May:
The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Somalia because of continuous threats by the al-Qaida affiliated terrorist group, al-Shabaab. U.S. citizens should also be aware of the risks of kidnappings in all parts of Somalia, including Somaliland and Puntland. There is no U.S. embassy presence in Somalia. This replaces the Travel Warning dated October 1, 2015.
The security situation in Somalia remains unstable and dangerous. Terrorist operatives and armed groups in Somalia continue to attack Somali authorities, the troops from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and other non-military targets. Kidnapping, bombings, murder, illegal roadblocks, banditry, and other violent incidents are common throughout Somalia, including Somaliland and Puntland. Al-Shabaab remains intent on conducting attacks against popular restaurants, hotels, locations known to be popular with Westerners, and convoys carrying Somali and other government officials. Last year, there were at least eight prominent hotel attacks located in the heart of Mogadishu, the Somali capital. One U.S. citizen was killed during one of these attacks. Munitions caches and unexploded ordnance exist in various parts of the country and remain a danger to civilians.
In addition, al-Shabaab has demonstrated the capability to carry out attacks in government-controlled territories, with particular emphasis on targeting government facilities, foreign delegations' facilities and movements, and commercial establishments frequented by government officials, foreign nationals, and the Somali diaspora. There is a particular threat to foreigners in places where large crowds gather and Westerners frequent, including airports, government buildings, and shopping areas. Inter-clan and inter-factional fighting can flare up with little or no warning.
There are continuing threats of attacks against airports and civil aviation, especially in Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab continues to conduct attacks against the Mogadishu Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ) using mortars and other standoff weapons. The group also has conducted attacks from within the airport’s secure perimeter and successfully detonated an explosive device concealed in a laptop on an airplane shortly after take-off.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) containing information on the U.S. prohibition against U.S. civil aviation operations in airspace over Somalia due to security risks toward civil aviation. For further background information regarding FAA flight prohibitions and advisories for U.S. civil aviation, U.S. citizens should consult the Federal Aviation Administration’s Prohibitions, Restrictions and Notices.
U.S. citizens are urged to avoid sailing near the coast of Somalia. Merchant vessels, fishing boats, and recreational craft all risk seizure and detention by pirates in the waters off the Horn of Africa, especially in the international waters near Somalia. Pirates and other criminals have specifically targeted and kidnapped foreigners working in Somalia, including two U.S. citizens in the past several years. Consult the Maritime Administration's Horn of Africa Piracy page for information on maritime advisories, self-protection measures, and naval forces in the region.
. . . Looking at the Facebook photos of Omar and Abdirahman together, I thought about the wave of violence eliminating my country’s young brains. I remembered my friend, engineer Abdullahi Barre, who was shot in front of his house in Mogadishu in April 2015. I thought about another school friend, Omar Afrah, who narrowly survived a car bomb. I counted the number of journalists, businessmen, aid workers, teachers and lawmakers who I knew and who had been targeted in attacks over the last few years.
The violence that dominates Somalia is as physical and emotional as it is gruesome and ghastly. Those who have the will and the way are either hiding behind barriers or leaving the country. However, through an unyielding veneer of persistence, people in Mogadishu wake up and go to work every morning. They defy the violence and try to have normal lives – until they don’t. . . .
Bluestem can't discern whether Kern is ignorant, cruel, or sadistically stupid. One thing the post clearly demonstrates--with its indifference to the brutal facts of the Somali Diaspora and current situation--is that she's not congressional.
Photo: People carry away a body away from the Lido beach (top, AFP via the Independent); Kern's Facebook post (middle); Lido Beach (via the Guardian, top).
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen at gmail.com as recipient.
Good for law enforcement. Everyone should be excited about this new approach to educate the public on distracted driving laws. Hopefully it will move the needle.
Our son is one year from driver’s education. He is attached to his device. My wife and I are very mindful of the example we set for our children. If only more people were. People like the House Chair of the Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance, Rep. Tony Cornish (R) District 23B.
Cornish forwarded bills from his committee that increase penalties for distracted driving. His son is a State Trooper and Rep. Tony Cornish frequently cites his own experience in law enforcement.
However, I find it troubling that Rep. Cornish can’t refrain from posting on Facebook while he is behind the wheel. Three of these images are from his personal FB page.
• On April 17, Rep. Cornish documented himself on a highway overpass handing a homeless man a dollar. • On April 8, Rep. Cornish posted an image on FB while waiting for a stop light in Rosemont, MN. • On March 11, Rep. Cornish posted an image on FB while driving to a casino in Hinckley, MN.
Am I alone here or is Rep. Cornish breaking the law he helps to create?
He notes that he'd pitched these images to the media before coming to Bluestem but got little interest. We're posting because we'd wondered about Cornish's posts to Facebook over a year earlier.
Bluestem loves to read State Representative Tony Cornish's Facebook page, with its lively discourse about life and politics. . . .
But the photo from his page that we've screengrabbed and posted above caused us to pause. Not because Cornish (R-Vernon Center) declares that the woman is in need of prayer (isn't eveyone?) or the comments about the bumpersticker, but that the photo was taken while someone--presumably the state representative, a retired lawman who serves as the chairman of the Minnesota House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee--while driving.
We can't say with any certainty that the photo was posted to Facebook while the driver-photographer was still driving. Bluestem believes that he must have waited to post the image and the prayer request after he arrived at his destination.
For purposes of this section, "electronic message" means a self-contained piece of digital communication that is designed or intended to be transmitted between physical devices. An electronic message includes, but is not limited to, e-mail, a text message, an instant message, a command or request to access a World Wide Web page, or other data that uses a commonly recognized electronic communications protocol. An electronic message does not include voice or other data transmitted as a result of making a phone call, or data transmitted automatically by a wireless communications device without direct initiation by a person.
Subd. 2.Prohibition on use.
No person may operate a motor vehicle while using a wireless communications device to compose, read, or send an electronic message, when the vehicle is in motion or a part of traffic.
This section does not apply if a wireless communications device is used:
(1) solely in a voice-activated or other hands-free mode;
(2) for making a cellular phone call;
(3) for obtaining emergency assistance to (i) report a traffic accident, medical emergency, or serious traffic hazard, or (ii) prevent a crime about to be committed;
(4) in the reasonable belief that a person's life or safety is in immediate danger; or
(5) in an authorized emergency vehicle while in the performance of official duties.
Given the different angles in the four photos above (which suggest the device isn't hands-free), it's looking more and more as if the Chair of the Minnesota Public Safety Committee is indeed playing with social media while driving.
He should knock that off--even the appearance of flouting the law.
Photos: Screenshot from Cornish's Facebook page.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Just in from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) via email:
Due to the potential for severe weather/dangerous driving conditions, we are rescheduling the listening session in Marshall originally planned for tomorrow to Wednesday, February 24 – same time, same location (Open house starts 5:30PM, Listening session begins 6:30PM; SMSU Conference Center, Upper Ballroom). We’ll be distributing this information via our GovDelivery list, and the agency’s social media accounts, but please do share with anyone else who may have been planning to attend tomorrow’s session. We look forward to next week’s session in St. Cloud. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Anyone who has driven Highway 23 between Willmar and Granite Falls when there's any snow falling at all can appreciate this move. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for areas east of Redwood Falls, but roads closer to Marshall can get slick fast.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Despite a $2 billion surplus this session, Drazkowski’s bill (HF 984) that he touted provided not a single new dime of LGA or direct property tax relief for rural homeowners while providing more than $1.3 billion of tax relief for wealthy metro business owners. That’s right – no property tax relief for senior citizens who will see no increase in their Social Security benefits this year, but huge tax breaks for the Canadian owners of the Mall of America. Those are the facts.
LGA helps keep property taxes affordable. Your property taxes will be higher in 2016 because of the failure to invest more in LGA. This session we need to use part of the huge budget surplus to increase LGA to our rural communities and we should invest in much needed property tax relief for our farmers.
Senior citizens, families, farmers and small businesses in rural Minnesota need this property tax relief a lot more than wealthy skyscraper and mall owners in the metro area.
Should the legislature pass a tax bill that begins to restore cuts to LGA, Bluestem has to wonder which party will be more effective in marketing itself on loving Greater Minnesota more. It does seem like the Republican Party brands itself on hating "the metro" more, which is an entirely different thing.
Cartoon: A couple of foxes working it out.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
And if one visits the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development's EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program page, you'll find links to three regional centers:
The organizers of a regional center seeking the “Regional Center” designation from USCIS can find more detailed information on the process and requirements at the USCIS website. The following Regional Centers have been approved or have approval pending by the USCIS to facilitate investment in Minnesota (Disclaimer: The listing of these organizations does not imply endorsement):
Here's a screenshot from the page, with our pointer on the final link, that of the EB-5 visa center connected with the high-speed rail project:
As readers can see, highlighting the link caused the URL for the Liberty Minnesota Regional Center to float in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Click on link from the Minnesota DEED page, and here's what you see at the top of your screen:
In short, the page isn't looking any better than it did in November. The snazzy coat rack was a nice touch.
Bluestem Prairie hopes that Minnesota DEED contacts the Liberty Minnesota Regional Center folks for an updated link and site--presuming one exists--because this sort of link to nowhere really doesn't build confidence in anybody's ability to raise money and construct an elevated 84-mile high-speed-rail line, with or without public funding.
Image: The Snowpiercer. It's fast, it's furious--and it's fiction, if you know what we mean.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Documents sent to Bluestem Prairie shed new light on the strategies used by a corporation and its allies as they attempt to squash foes and win friends in a bid to bill a high-speed rail line between Rochester and the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities.
After checking out Data practices request document: North American High Speed Rail Group's business plan, a reader forwarded additional documents related to the project via a Citizens Concerned About Rail Lines (CCARL) activist. (CCARL activists are concerned about the effects of the high speed bullet train--which would not stop in their communities--on their property, safety and quality-of-life).
We post the two documents below, which were obtained via a data practices request made by the third-party, which wished to remain anonymous.
The first document is a fascinating set of emails and memos offering a glimpse of how a private interest works with county-level officials to frame talking points about their project while cutting off citizen opposition and legislative concerns.
The second is a bid to "transition," or transfer work done for the public "Ziprail" project over to the private company, an interesting sort of wealth transfer.
Lots of gems in both. For example, one of the private corporation's chief "influencers" didn't register to lobby for the association until months after much of the persuasion took place. We're sure there's some logical loophole that allowed NAHSR's strategic communications director contact legislators and local officials prior to registering with the public disclosure board.
County consultant: CCARL, or one is the loneliest number
Perhaps more interesting? An email from the Olmsted County Regional Railroad consulting engineer to county board members that severely understates the number of CCARL members at two meetings on June 25, then using the inaccurate number to dismiss the grassroots group to the county commissioners.
Minutes of the June 25, 2015 Technical Advisory Committee Meeting #7 and the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Meeting #1 reveal a different story that that shared in consulting engineer Chuck Michael's email. The disparity between the consultant's dismissive figure and the actual numbers tend to support the activists' contention that the public is being railroaded by a private special interest.
To: Brown Ken; Devlin Richard; Wilson Paul; Kiscaden Sheila
Subject: Zip Rail TAC and CAC
On Thursday, June 25 we held meetings in Rosemount at DCTC for both the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Community Advisory Committee (CAC). This was meeting No. 7 for the TAC, and the first meeting for the CAC.
Membership lists for each are attached. We recently added several cities to the TAC (including Byron, Pine Island, Wanamingo, Cannon Falls and Zumbrota) and many attended. ROCOG attended via conference call.
Both meetings went extremely well from our perspective. Both were well attended and provided for excellent dialogue between the committee members and the project team, clearing up numerous misperceptions, rumors,and disinformation. . . .
A citizen’s group opposed to the project, Citizens Concerned About Rail Line (CCARL) are members of the TAC and advertised both meetings, asking that all their members attend to support their cause. Only one showed up. In fact,other than a MnDOT communications person and two from CARB, no one else attended. . . .
Here's a screenshot of the attendee listed in the minutes for the TAC (online here):
Two CCARL members (Heather Arndt and Nora Felton) who are part of the TAC, attended, as did Don Evanson, a CCARL member and property rights activist from Winona.
The minutes (online here) for the CAC reveal even more CCARL members in the room:
Four members of CCARL--including two who serve on the TAC--were in the room. Former state representative Bill Kuisle was a substitute for Norma Monroe. Monroe is a CCARL's member who recently spoke to business people in Kenyon about the project:
If there's one thing Bluestem thinks technical staff like engineers should be able to do, it's count. Three CCARL members attended one afternoon meeting, while four (and a substitute for another) were at the evening meeting. Those five people do not equal "one."
The June 25 meetings were held in Rosemount, rather than in the Rochester area.
CCARL's last meeting drew over 50 people in Zumbrota, the Cannon Falls Beacon reported on November 12. The next meeting of CCARL will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 3 at the Cannon Falls High School auditorium.
According to the "transition" document embedded below, the NAHSR group asked to keep Michael on as the project moved from being the public Ziprail project to the private bullet train. Perhaps they approve of his dismissal of citizens via addition errors.
Fundraising and letters of transition
The "document dump" also shows in a June 5 document that NAHSR's CEO Joseph Sperber was irritated at the Dayton administration's pace at signing off on "current legislation," and releasing a letter, as he as in China looking for investors:
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the North American High Speed Rail Group (NAHSR) are drafting a letter on behalf of Transportation Commissioner Zelle, which will be released once the Governor signs off on current legislation. Joe Sperber of NAHSR has been meeting with investors in China this past week, and was not happy that the letter had not been released in advance. We are not certain of the effect, if any, this may have on the outcomes of the meetings. . . .
. . .The most recent draft of a letter discussing MnDOT's possible agreement with the rail group states that the company requested the exclusive rights as it "evaluates the feasibility of its project" and states that MnDOT "will refrain from developing a lease of this corridor for passenger rail with other parties." . . .
MnDOT is in the midst of a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement of the high-speed rail corridor, known as the Zip Rail project. Meadley has said that while the proposed elevated rail line would be along the same corridor as the proposed Zip Rail line, the project would be very different. If the project moves ahead, the group plans to change the name of the rail line.
MnDOT and the rail group are also working on a Memorandum of Understanding that would designate the rail group as the sole entity authorized to study, design, build and operate the proposed rail line.
MnDOT spokesman Kevin Gutknecht said neither the letter nor the memo have been signed and both are being evaluated by the department. . . .
Gov. Mark Dayton has not met with representatives of the North American High Speed Rail Group, according to governor's office spokeswoman Cambray Crozier.
Olmsted County Commissioner Ken Brown said he has not seen the letter or memo but he was told the rail group was working with MnDOT and the governor's office. . . .
We used to call this "counting one's chickens before they're hatched.
We'll be pulling out more from the files and taking a look.
Image: The snowpiercer (top) We'll continue to push our way through the fog of the concept development; Simpsons angry peasants (middle); various screenshots of documents.
We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
There is much ado at the State Capitol about the newly construction $90 million Senate Office Building, but Sen. Scott Newman of Hutchinson says he’s mostly concerned about logistics. . . .
Newman also objects to a large increase in parking fees, from his current $50 per month amount to $162 per month at the new office buildings. He said he doesn’t know if he can keep his current parking spot, and then walk over to the new building.
“I’ll be darned if I (have to pay) $162 a month to park my car at the Senate Office Building,” he said, noting he makes $31,000 a year as a legislator.
A Legislator's salary is $31,140 per year (see the House Research Department publication State Elected Officials Compensation). They are also allowed to collect a per diem for living and travel expenses seven days a week during the regular legislative session.
Minnesota Public Radio's Catherine Richert reported in Legislator 2015 per diem reaches nearly $1.8 million that Senator Newman received $11,438.00 in per diem for the 2015 session. This is the full amount he could receive:
Senators earn $86 per day during session. Twenty-six senators requested the full amount of $11,438.
Sen. Melissa Wiklund, DFL-Bloomington, collected $7,912 for the session, putting her at the bottom of the list in the Senate.
Legislators can stipulate when and how much they collect. For instance, Wiklund collected no per diem on the weekends during this session, as well as nine days between March and April.
Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, collects only $80 per day and nothing on Sundays.
The Minnesota state senate has 67 members when it's at full strength. In July, MinnPost's Briana Bierschbach noted in The high cost of being a Minnesota legislator that some senators and representatives can collect a housing allowance. According to a 2010 document online at the Secretary of the Senate:
Housing: Greater Minnesota members (those residing more than 50 miles one way from the Capitol) receive a housing allowan ce to a maximum of $1,200 per month for rent and related expenses both during session and the interim. Leases must be filed in Fiscal Servic es to receive this allowance.
Hutchinson is beyond the minimum distance from the state capitol, but it's possible that Senator Newman makes the commute every day during the session--or that the housing allowance, like the per diem, has changed since 2010. Newman can also collect mileage. (These payments became an issue for Torrey Westrom during his 2014 congressional bid; after the NRCC attacked Collin Peterson for similar expenses for congressional business, the DFL slashed back by revealing payments the Elbow Lake lawmaker).
Finally, there's another source of reimbursement for Minnesota lawmakers: they are able to pay for certain costs of serving in office from their campaign committees. In 2013, Newman reimbursed himself $3,691.75 for mileage and other expenses (since he ran for attorney general in 2014, there's little activity in his senate campaign committee report for that year).
Newman's crying poor mouth about parking rates seems a bit of drama when his total compensation package is added up. According to Doug Belden's report last year in the Pioneer Press, State Sen. Scott Newman to run for attorney general, Newman, now in his late 60s, "is listed in state records as retired and not authorized to practice law."
Photo: The new state senate legislative office building.
We're conducting our November fundraising drive. If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's original reporting and analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
A friend who is an elected official in a Greater Minnesota city forwarded an invite to this event in Scottsdale, Arizona, from December 2-4:
Join other local elected officials from across the country at the American City County Exchange (ACCE) for the 2nd ACCE Policy Summit in Scottsdale, AZ on December 2-4.
We want you to be a part of the positive change taking place in communities throughout the United States. At ACCE, you can work and share ideas with other problem-solvers from across the 50 states. Lawmakers are thinking of new, innovative policies that cut red tape, improve local business climates and create workforce-ready students. And it's all happening at ACCE. . . .
We hope you can join us in Scottsdale for the 2nd American City County Exchange Policy Summit December 2-4. You will meet local elected officials from across the country in a variety of workshops to educate and inform you about policy experiences in other communities. At ACCE, you can also help develop public policy that encourages best practices for both cities and counties.
The ACCE Policy Summit takes place in conjunction with the American Legislative Exchange Council States and Nation Policy Summit, which brings together state legislators across America.
ACCE is an affiliate of the American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC], a 501(c)3 organization, that focuses on nonpartisan research, analysis and educational study to protect hardworking taxpayers. Right now, you can lock-in a low registration rate.
Regardless of your political perspective, we want your input. Come to Scottsdale, share ideas and learn best practices from other elected officials.
Bluestem recommends that readers keep an eye out on city and county board meetings to see if mayors, city council members and county commissioners are going to this conservative fest--and to monitor who is footing the bill for registration, travel, meals and hotel accommodations.
With Congress and the states gridlocked and dominated by special-interest spending, America’s cities have emerged as engines of policy innovation. From efforts to raise the minimum wage and secure paid sick days to bills banning fracking, some of the biggest progressive policy victories in the United States are happening at the local level.
So how has the American Legislative Exchange Council, a powerful lobby serving right-wing interests at the state level, responded to this resurgence of local democracy? With a systematic effort to destroy it. . . .
ALEC task force director Cara Sullivan recently explained to a room full of local officials that when it comes to citizen movements supporting job creation and higher wages, “perhaps the biggest threat comes from the local level.”
Thankfully, she added, ALEC has a solution: “ALEC has passed…state legislation that preempts the polities from within the state from raising the minimum wage higher than the state level.” In other words, if living-wage campaigns succeed at the city or county level, state legislators should intervene, repeal, and ban any such advances.
Sullivan’s comments were consistent with ALEC’s longstanding support for bills to block local control over issues that are important to everyday Americans. Even though ALEC has generally bashed all federal policy affecting the states, and its leaders have claimed that “people are better served by local leaders,” for decades its official policy has been to override local democracy when it threatens corporate interests. . . .
Fortunately, the bill passed early this year (it wasn't partisan), and we'd like to see local leaders hobnob with someone other than ALEC and Coburn. Sheesh.
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:
The mayor of a Greater Minnesota city forwarded us an email the elected official received yesterday from Deer Park Ohio City Councilman Charles Tassell, offering a free year's membership to the American City County Exchange, as well as an invitation to attend the group's convention in San Diego this summer (screengrab below).
The mayor, who wishes to remain anonymous, added:
I got this email in my city inbox and found it curious because it talked about free market solutions to local issues, so I looked a bit closer. Lo and behold it is hosted by the Republican's old friend ALEC.
The corporate lobbying network American Legislative Exchange Council, commonly known as Alec, is seeking to extend its brand of aggressive privatization and tax cuts to the local level, with the launch on Wednesday of a new offshoot focused on America’s cities and counties.
The new network, the American City County Exchange (ACCE), will hold its first public meeting in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday. It is timed to sit alongside Alec’s annual meeting at which the parent body will debate its usual menu of conservative priorities – pushing back government regulation, fighting moves to curb climate change, reducing trade union powers and cutting taxes.
A similar emphasis is evident in the first agenda set for the new offshoot, with the distinction that ACCE hopes to influence elected officials in city and county councils while Alec has its sights largely set on state legislatures. An early draft of the agenda for today’s meeting revealingly listed ACCE’s very first workshop under the simple title: “Privatization” – though in the final version the wording had been sanitized into: “Effective Tools for Promoting Limited Government”.
A later workshop scheduled for Thursday is called: “Releasing Local Governments from the Grip of Collective Bargaining”.
Alec has been described variously as a “corporate bill mill” and as a “corporate dating service”. It brings together lobbyists for big businesses and elected politicians into the same room, and encourages them to frame business-friendly legislation that is then made concrete in the form of model pieces of legislation that are disseminated in state assemblies throughout the country.
The new network, ACCE, will follow the same basic structure, with corporate lobbyists introduced through the organization to elected city and county council members with the aim of promoting policies advantageous to those companies. Big businesses are asked to pay up to $25,000 a year for the privilege of having such direct and intimate input into the legislative process.
While Pilkington calls ALEC a lobbying group, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board has ruled that the group doesn't have to register as a lobbying entity under Minnesota's laws because its one-size-fits-all (to use the political cliche of the session) model laws aren't specifically drawn up for Minnesota.
Oh, good.
However, many citizens may pause at the group's suggestion that their city or county government pay for the out-of-state travel, lodging, registration and expenses for the ACCE convention. Here's the form "request letter" from the conference registration page:
Despite calls for "better stewardship" of local government funds, [ACCE director Jon] Russell now wants local governments to foot the bill for public officials to attend ACCE conferences. ACCE apparently wants government just small enough to fit into its own pocket.
ACCE's website includes a helpful form letter prepared for "<Your Name Here>," which local elected officials use to ask for public funds to cover airfare, a hotel stay, meals, and conference fees at the ACCE conference.
The alleged benefit to the municipality? "Tangible takeaways" that will "make me a stronger advocate."
"With such a rich offering of educational content and innovative ideas <Your city name here> will benefit from my attendance at ACCE Annual Meeting," reads the helpful cookie cutter letter.
The letter associates ACCE with ALEC, "a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities." There is no mention that ALEC is considered by critics to be a corporate bill mill, whose closed-door activities have generated ethics and IRS complaints. Over 100 companies have stopped funding ALEC due to ongoing controversies, most recently including ALEC's role in promoting climate change denial.
For public officials, ACCE offers an early bird special of $150, which jumps to $700 if you fail to register early. For private sector lobbyists, the tab for this meeting is $890, jumping to $1,149 if you fail to register early.
Stay tuned. It is not yet known how many local officials will take advantage of this special offer to hobnob with corporate America, or how much the conference might cost local taxpayers, but we are anxious to find out.
Bluestem recommends that citizen watchdogs keep an eye out for requests for funding for this conference, by checking meeting agendas and minutes, along with video archives. That "free" membership may end up costing local government if your elected officials take up Councilman Tassell's invitation to the annual meeting in San Diego.
Meanwhile, ALEC has spawned a new group to attack children, American workers, and public education. It’s called the American City County Exchange or (ACCE). ACCE will zero-in on those politicians connected to city and county governments as well as local school boards who are willing to accept ALEC’s lavish gifts in exchange for helping to move the group’s conservative, right-wing agenda.
According to newspaper reports, ACCE is already making plans to block employees from having a voice in the workplace and prevent workers from taking advantage of minimum wage increases voters overwhelmingly approved in several states including Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Lovely. [end update]
Photos: The banner for the July 22-23, 2015 annual meeting (above); the email to a Greater Minnesota mayor (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:
One of the talking points Tim Miller repeats and repeats and repeats is that Highway 12 west of Willmar is called "the goat trail" or that it's little more than a goat trail. We heard him say this in debates last fall and he told a reporter for the Star Tribune that "Highway 12 out here is in about as good a shape as a goat trail."
We've never heard anyone other than Tim Miller say this and having asked a number of long-term residents of the area, we've learned that they've never heard it so described either. (One young friend has heard the phrase used by relatives from the Bird Island area, but he's the only one).
While calling Highway 12 "the goat trail" isn't common usage in these parts, talk about working on it west of Willmar shows that highway construction (mill and pave) has been in the works for years, with final scoping on the work between Benson and Kerkhoven completed in February 2013. Work on the stretch is in the Governor's plan released today.
It [Highway 12] is in pretty good shape west of Willmar and beyond. There is the 'old hwy. 12' that still exists parallel to the current route in places. That is goat trail worthy but, not the current Hwy 12.
Dairy farmer James Kanne added:
Well maybe Miller is taking the old Hwy 12 route, assuming his maps aren't any more up to date than his ideas.
Does this explain the nickname "Goat Trail"?
Now for something real: Willmar presentation on Highway 23
While the milling and repaving of Highway 12 (as it's known in these parts) is part of routine infrastructure care, the big project that's going to improve travel in these parts will be the upgrade of Highway 23 to a four-lane highway from St. Cloud/ I94 to Willmar as part of the Corridors of Commerce.
The project is in MNDOT District 8, which includes most of the counties in Miller's House District, MN17A. While the Highway 23 four-lane project isn't in MN17A, tying Willmar to the Interstate system with a four-lane highway will help open opportunities "down the road."
On Friday, Senate Transportation Committee Chair Scott Dibble is bringing his committee to St. Cloud and Willmar for presentations and a hearing. From a press release:
To hear from the public firsthand about the transportation needs in Greater Minnesota, the Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee will travel to St. Cloud and Willmar on Friday, February 20. The visits will include tours, presentations on transportation projects and opportunities, and a public hearing.
Chair of the Committee, Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis) is encouraging people to provide their input on the state’s transportation network, as well as the Senate’s transportation funding plan.
“Minnesota has over 144,000 miles of roads and bridges, stretching across our vast state. As Minnesota continues to grow, the pressures on our aging transportation network grow as well. By going on the road, our committee can see firsthand where the need for state investment is, and give us the opportunity to hear from the people that depend on this network every day,” Dibble said.
Details of the Friday February 20 tour itinerary are available below, all stops are open to the press and public to attend:
9:30 AM - Arrive at the Miller Center at St. Cloud State University for transit presentation
720 4th Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN 56301
11:30-1:30 PM - Public Hearing with testimony in St. Cloud City Council Chambers (media advisory available immediately following the hearing)
400 2nd Street South, St. Cloud, MN 56301
3:20 PM - Willmar Presentation on Highway 23 (Northern States Supply, 600 Industrial Blvd, SW, Willmar, MN 56201)
Like so many Republicans, freshman Tim Miller has muddied the waters about where gas tax money would be going while insisting in a recent email to constituents that a tiny transportation package would take care of our needs for road and bridge repair and replacement.
UPDATE: A reader has sent a photo of the Miller constituent email, as adapted for a legislative report in the February 12, 2015 Renville County Register (no website). It's pretty astonishing, as Miller lumps all the taxes and fees--including the seven-county metro-only sales tax that will pay for transit--into one $9 billion sum so that 17A residents think our gas taxes are paying for transit in the metro.
Here's the item:
The Senate DFL communications office has put together a video primer addressing the GOP talking points:
Learn more about MNDOT District 8 (Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, and Yellow Medicine counties).
Photo: Highway 12 near Murdock. It's like, you know, a two-lane highway in rural Minnesota.
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:
“When I think of a vacation in Minnesota, I kind of imagine, like a really cold, dreary climate and a bunch of people who sound like they came out of ‘Fargo.’”
That’s what a man says in a video Explore Minnesota Tourism Director John Edman has been showing to House committees. The video includes interviews about travel in Minnesota with people on the street in other states.
“Ouch,” says Edman when the clip ends.
“That was an inspiring video,” was the sarcastic response of Committee Chair Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) at a House Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee hearing held Monday at St. Paul’s RiverCentre, where Explore Minnesota is hosting its annual tourism conference.
But Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau), sponsor of HF434, a bill to boost Explore Minnesota’s funding, wasn’t ruffled by the video: “I did come out of Fargo, so I’m OK with that.”
Ok, then. Here's the tourism awareness video:
Photo: A still from Fargo.
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:
The Land Stewardship Project, which has a field office in Lewiston and deep roots in southeastern Minnesota, raised a holler about that bias in Friday's action alert, Citizens Shut Out of Frac Sand Hearing at State Capitol.
Now embattled Chisholm state senator Tomassoni (DFL) is organizing a field trip for the Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Budget Division Committee to a Uniminn silica sand mine "near Mankato" (there are two in Le Sueur County, one close to Kasota and another at Ottawa).
Here's the audio of the invitation in the committee:
It's especially curious to us why the House and Senate are taking up with the industry lobbyists after both sides were so thoroughly heard out during the 2013 session and a compromise reached at that time. It's not like the state isn't facing tough questions about enforcing buffer strip laws or preserving pheasant hunting through habitat conservation (more on that discussion in Tomassoni's committee in a future post).
Bluestem hopes that this excursion will be open to the press (and perhaps the public) in accordance to Minnesota's open meeting law.
We also hope that the press does due diligence on the history of the mine, including the full history of the lawsuit which lead to the creation of the nearby Kasota Prairie preserve, as well as examining how the Uniminn mines on the middle Minnesota might be working in an area that's geologically different from Southeastern Minnesota--as well as using some critical thinking about whether one mine is representative of the entire industry.
After all, we wouldn't want lobbyists and industry to completely frame the perceptions of this industry via guided tours for the state senate and restricted testimony in the house, would we?
But perhaps Dennis Egan, the former mayor of Red Wing who resigned under pressure when he took a job leading the Minnesota Industrial Sand Council, can tag along on the tour and offer Tomassoni some advice about what to do when public service and career opportunities pull a guy in different directions.
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:
Motorcyclists' lives matter, says Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa).
To demonstrate he's in the legislative sidecar of those constituents on two wheels, the state representative from Wabasha County has introduced a new anti-motorcycle profiling bill in the Minnesota House.
According to Drazkowski, police officers have gotten out of hand when it comes to stopping motocyclists. They habitually pull them over when no law has been broken simply because law enforcement officials think anyone on a bike has a high probability of malfeasance. . .
Not so, says Public Safety committee Chair Tony Cornish (R- Vernon Center), himself an avid biker who is best known for his passionate advocacy of Second Amendment rights.
In Cornish’s experience, it’s not a widespread problem. He said that he hasn’t been profiled while riding and conversations with other bikers didn’t reveal an overwhelming problem.
“I found the bill, for what’s going on, seems to be a local problem with a few departments that are operating a little bit outside of the norm,” Cornish said. “But it doesn’t warrant spending tens of thousands of dollars of training.”
How expensive and complicated would implementation of the bill be? Hudson reports:
. . .Cornish said that he would “rather not give it a hearing.”
“I’m not saying profiles never occur,” Cornish said. “I’m just saying that it hasn’t occurred in the amount to warrant spending tens of thousands of dollars to model a policy.”
He said that the process to create the rules would take a lot of time and money. If passed, the bill would require four law enforcement groups to draft the policies. That would include consulting with as many Minnesota State Patrol, sheriff and police departments as possible.
Once drafted, law enforcement agencies would then have to train every officer and verify that with the state, Cornish said.
We'll be eager to see how The Draz and House Majority Caucus blames the sputtering death of this proposal on inner city DFLers.
Photo: A photo of motorcycles posted on Cornish's Facebook page in 2014.
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:
•Approved the payment of regular hourly wages for Detective Chuck Strack during his attendance at an upcoming Colorado conference on for opponents of marijuana legalization.
Our email correspondent added:
It surprised me that the City was paying for this, and kind of taking a position on the issue, based on the seminar description: "for opponents of marijuana legalization". Things that make you go "hmmm".
It certainly hearkens back to concerns raised during last year's legislative session that law enforcement personnel and their spokespeople were dictating policy and law about medical cannabis to the legislature, rather than enforcing the law.
A quick google of "Chuck Strack" revealed that he is on the board of the Minnesota State Association of Narcotics Investigators, an organization that opposed the initial, less restrictive medical cannabis bills in the Minnesota House and Senate. Moreover, in a March 2014 article, Strack announces run for Morrison County Sheriff, the detective spoke of his opposition to legalizing cannabis for any purpose.
Given this background, our reader's question was good one. However, a brief investigation uncovered that the reporting in the Record was a bit misleading. The only conference that we could find happening in the Rocky Mountain High State in the near future is the Marijuana Impact on Public Health and Safety in Colorado Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police event that's taking place in Denver on January 14-15.
It's not gathering of and for "opponents" of legal marijuana.
While the sold-out conference is sponsored by a law enforcement association, the agenda reveals a broad spectrum of speakers and concerns, mostly related to how the state rolled out new laws and regulation, such a dealing with "Driving Stoned," "Data Collection and Economic Impact" and the "Industry Perspective."
It may well be that Strack continues to hold his opinions about cannabis, but the conference isn't one for "opponents" of legalizing marijuana. Indeed, the Denver Post reports in Colorado pot symposium draws Alaska officials:
A Colorado symposium on how the state has dealt with legalized marijuana will draw Alaska law enforcement officers and public officials preparing for pot sales.
At least a dozen Alaska officials will attend the three-day conference, "Marijuana Impact on Public Health and Safety in Colorado," that starts Jan. 14 in Lone Tree, a suburb of Denver, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (http://bit.ly/1EVKADZ ) reported.
"We are just trying to learn as much as we can from what Colorado has already experienced," said Brad Johnson, Fairbanks Police Department deputy chief.
Alaska voters in November approved a ballot measure that will make it legal to grow, possess and sell marijuana in Alaska.
There's much to be learned in Colorado, and Bluestem hopes that state and local officials from Minnesota who work in areas in addition to law enforcement will attend the gathering.
Photo: Little Falls detective Chuck Strack, via the Morrison County Record.
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:
Bluestem believes that the committee's name is an attempt by the majority caucus to make Representative David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake) feel appreciated for his lifestyle.
Dill said he believes the House Republican majority will be pro-mining.
And he said metro-centric DFLers, including some who were defeated, have never asked him about going fishing, snowmobiling and ATVing. “They don’t understand us and our lifestyle,” Dill said.
With the advent of the Mining and Outdoor Recreation Committee, Dill may finally have the empathy he claims to have never found from those unnamed "metro-centric DFLers," who maybe shouldn't have gone fishing on lakes and rivers in their own districts.
Range-based blogger Aaron Brown reacted to news of the Dill-appreciating committee name on our editor's Facebook page:
Aaron Brown Ha. Now THAT'S a committee. Almost perfect, if only Mich Golden Light was in the name, too.
Not everyone on social media is reacting with the same generosity as the genial writer:
On our stretch of the prairie, there's Swift County's Appleton Area Recreational Park, where families enjoy ATV and motocross entertainment in a re-purposed gravel mine. We will inquire if facilities exist for a committee field trip.
Photo: David Dill, who will finally be appreciated for his lifestyle, especially if no Range-dedicated funds are raided by his Republican colleagues in the House. Photo via Politics in Minnesota.
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:
Email subscribers can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen at gmail.com as recipient.
Crude oil rail shipments have exploded in recent years thanks to the North Dakota oil fields. Rail cars began moving oil from North Dakota in 2008, and now account for 71 percent of the crude transported from the Williston Oil Basin. Rail capacity this year is projected to hit 1.2 million barrels of oil a day — 38 times the volume handled six years ago.
We include the entire paragraph. Unfortunately, some of the dark humor arises from the fact that crude oil rail shipment have indeed exploded.
US regulators issued a safety alert after a train carrying oil crashed and caught fire earlier this week in North Dakota, where surging production has helped lead a renaissance in domestic energy and driven the state’s unemployment rate to the nation’s lowest.
The type of oil pumped from the shale formations of North Dakota may be more flammable and therefore more dangerous to ship by rail than crude from other areas, the Transportation Department said in the alert. Regulators are considering imposing tougher rules on railcar construction, among other things, potentially raising the costs of moving the crude to market.
Pipelines could be affected as well.
“Regulators have to take heed that anything they do is going to go beyond the rail industry, beyond the tank car industry,” Jason Seidl, a rail analyst at Cowen & Co. based in New York, said in an interview.
This week’s incident, near the town of Casselton, is the fourth major derailment in six months by trains transporting crude. An explosion of a runaway train carrying North Dakota oil in July killed 47 in Quebec. Restrictions on railcars could worsen a shortage of capacity for moving oil to refineries.
Yes, indeedie. Regulations, not exploding trains that kill people, are so going to "threaten" the boom.
Even with these dire Onionesque warnings from the hydrocarbon industry and Daily Currant-like promises from the tycoon-controlled railways, the United States House of Representative Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials is going to oppress the oil shale industry by holding a hearing.
Walz's congressional office sent out the following statement:
Today, Representative Tim Walz, a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, applauded the announcement that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing later this month to review rail safety standards. Following a meeting with concerned citizens in southern Minnesota, Walz joined several of his colleagues in sending a letter to Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Denham (R-CA) to request the Subcommittee hold such a hearing in order to evaluate safety standards, particularly for the transport of hazardous materials. To view that letter, please click here.
“We must do everything we can to protect the communities that these hazardous materials are shipped through,” Representative Walz said. “I’m pleased Representative Denham agreed that a hearing was necessary to examine ways to increase safety for passengers, shippers, and our local communities.”
The hearing, “Oversight of Passenger and Freight Rail Safety,” will be held by the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on February 26 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
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.
.jpg){kind=link}
Recent Comments