Fading voice of an access advocate
When Minnesotans suspect their elected leaders or civil servants are hiding something, they can turn to a tiny state agency for help. The Information Policy Analysis Division sounds like a bureaucratic parody.
Category Archives: Minnesota
Facebook atwitter over friendly fox sightings in southern Minnesota
A friendly pet fox named Notchi has gone missing from his Lake-ville home and is gallivanting across southern Minnesota, despite multiple run-ins with humans, a social media campaign and a $1,000 reward for his return. Notchi, a tame, 8-month-old red fox, was rescued from a fur farm as a kit by Mikayla Raines, 21, who has a USDA license to keep foxes.
Mark Dayton: a I couldna t misbehave if I wanted toa
Gov. Mark Dayton and Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith, left, enter the room in the Capitol where Dayton proposed a $45.8 billion two-year budget Tuesday morning, unveiling the proposal in person despite collapsing during Monday evening's State of the State address, at the State Capitol in St. Paul, January 24, 2017. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has said he's struggled with alcoholism and depression in the past, but he says neither is an issue now as he faces health concerns.
Legislature approves health insurance premium relief, sends bill to Gov. Dayton
Gov. Mark Dayton said Thursday he would sign the bill as soon as his office received it, either late Thursday or early Friday. The Legislature on Thursday overwhelmingly approved $326 million to be distributed among Minnesotans faced with hefty health insurance premium increases this year, sending it to Gov. Mark Dayton for his promised signature.
Minnesota governor says he has prostate cancer
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will undergo either radiation or surgery for treatment, he announced Tuesday. Dayton revealed the information a day after he collapsed at the podium while giving the annual State of the State address.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton faints during annual address
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton fainted near the end of a 45-minute state of the state speech Monday night at the Capitol.
Northern Minnesota congressman Nolan may run for governor2 hours ago
U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, a Democrat who represents Minnesota's 8th U.S. Congressional District, is considering a run for governor, Nolan said Wednesday.
Immigrants plead for Minnesota driver’s licenses
Jose Sanchez, right, pleads with a Minnesota House committee Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, to allow undocumented immigrants to be allowed to get driver's licenses.
Appeals court: Minnesota sex offender program constitutional
Minnesota's program for keeping sex offenders confined after they complete their prison sentences is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, reversing a lower-court judge who said it violates offenders' rights because hardly anyone is ever released. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state, which argued that the program is both constitutional and necessary to protect citizens from dangerous sexual predators who would otherwise go free.
Region Five Development Commission Publishes Five Year Report for 2012-2016
Region Five Development Commission's Five Year Report for 2012-2016 was approved by resolution at the 2016 Annual Meeting. "This publication shares the vast breadth and depth of R5DC's body of work over the last five years, however it is the strength of the relationships that were necessary to accomplish shared successes," said Chuck Parins, Board Chair.
Dayton works on final budget, remembers 20111 hour ago
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, watched by House Speaker Kurt Daudt, updates the media on late-session negotiations in May 2016.
Minnesota beats rest of country in banning germ-killer
This April 30, 2013, photo shows the label of a bottle of antibacterial soap in a kitchen in Chicago.
‘Faithless elector’ challenges Minnesota law
To whom does an elector owe a duty of faithfulness? To his political party, to whom he pledged to vote for its presidential candidate, or to his conscience, which requires him not to? And when the elector votes against his oath, what role, if any, should the state play? Muhammad Abdurrahman, the "faithless elector," wants to protest a Minnesota law that requires members of the Electoral College to follow the statewide vote. So the DFL elector disregarded a pledge he made to vote for the Hillary Clinton/Timothy Kaine ticket and cast his vote for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, for vice president.
Federal judge whose reputation ranged beyond Minnesota dies
Miles Lord, a onetime federal judge in Minnesota who presided over a number of groundbreaking cases and spoke out against corporate abuses, has died. Lord served as Minnesota's attorney general and U.S. Attorney before being nominated as a federal judge in 1966 by President Lyndon Johnson.
DFL considering Resolution 54
A resolution putting the DFL on the record against mining is back on the party's agenda during a Central Committee meeting Saturday in Lakeview.
Voters do worry that billionaires buy elections
Call me hooked, but I can't stop dissecting Donald Trump's victory just yet. Not when there's one factor that has been insufficiently credited for his Electoral College triumph and his near-miss in Minnesota - and that matters to the health of this republic in years to come.
Human Rights Department toils with just half of staff it had at peak
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights, a 50-year-old state agency charged with investigating claims of illegal discrimination, has seen its staff shrink by almost half from its historic peak in 1990. The steady drop in full-time enforcement officers and other staff comes amid a growing workload in recent years and heightened racial tensions in Minnesota over the past year.
Gov. Dayton seeking citizens to help set legislators’ pay
On Election Day, 76 percent of voters supported a constitutional amendment that will remove legislators' ability to set their own pay and create a new citizen panel to sort out the salaries. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton said this week that he's taking applications for the group, which will be known as the Legislative Salary Council.
5 states struggle with surging numbers of foster children
The number of U.S. children in foster care is climbing after a sustained decline, but just five states account for nearly two-thirds of the recent increase. Reasons range from creation of a new child-abuse hotline to widespread outrage over the deaths of children who'd been repeatedly abused.
No federal charges for motorist with anti-Clinton message
The U.S. Secret Service says a Minnesota motorist won't face federal charges for having a violent message aimed at Hillary Clinton written on the back of a minivan. Lou Stephens , special agent in charge of the Secret Service Minneapolis Division , tells the Star Tribune the agency has completed its investigation and found no evidence the 47-year-old Zimmerman man intended to carry out an assault attempt.