Star Tribune Hires Walz Commissioner Steve Grove as Its Next Publisher

The Star Tribune, one of the largest daily newspapers in America, has named Steve Grove — a former Google executive, consistent donor to Democrat politicians and often the right-hand man to Gov. Tim Walz — as its new publisher.

The Star Tribune, which announced the hiring on Tuesday, joins The Washington Post as the only two traditional print media outlets among the nation’s top 25 (measured by circulation) whose publisher or CEO has past political ties, according to a background search conduct

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Article Shows Ellison Bashing Capitalism, Describing Fear of Crime as ‘White Hysteria’

In a brief Star Tribune commentary from nearly three decades ago, current Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison trashed capitalism for its “exploitation of labor” and accused the paper of contributing to “white hysteria.”

Alpha News obtained a photocopy of the Star Tribune edition printed on Saturday, Aug. 7, 1993. In the “counterpoint” section of commentary, the paper published a brief article by Ellison, a then-litigator who was identified as a participant in that year’s urban peace summit in St. Paul from July 14-18. One of the summit’s speakers appears to have been notorious anti-white racist and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Ellison’s piece responded to what he perceive

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Organization Claims Minnesota Legislative Committees Meeting in Small Groups to Avoid Open Meetings Law

ACLU Minnesota John Gordon

A legal organization said members of the Minnesota Legislature are holding committee meetings in small groups in order to avoid triggering the state’s “Open Meeting Law.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota said legislators have been deliberately meeting in small groups so they can bypass the law, which generally requires that all meetings be open to the public.

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Reporter Calls Star Tribune ‘Frauds,’ Says They Owe Minnesotans Apology for Omar Coverage

  Few reporters have done more to expose Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) than David Steinberg, with the possible exceptions of Preya Samsundar formerly of Alpha News and Scott Johnson of Power Line. The three of them together did most of the grunt work in uncovering Omar’s marriage controversy. Samsundar was reporting on the topic as early as August of 2016, when Omar was running for the Minnesota House. But according to The Star Tribune, they’re just “conservative activists” who can’t even be trusted with a screenshot. ‘Covering their tracks’  In a June 22 article, The Star Tribune took a look at the allegation in question: whether Omar “once married a man – possibly her own brother – to skirt immigration laws.” But much of the information in that article was reported by Steinberg in a series of articles he wrote for PJ Media between August and November of 2018. “The Star Tribune ran a dishonest, cowardly piece of journalism tonight,” Steinberg said in response. “For 3 years, the paper ignored the work of reporters Preya Samsundar, Scott Johnson, and myself on Ilhan Omar’s disturbing past. Ignored our emails offering new evidence. Now, Ilhan Omar is a national disgrace. Globally, anti-Semites…

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Emails Show Omar’s Committee Boasting of Being Able to Shut Down Stories in Star Tribune

  Internal emails released this week show members of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) 2016 Minnesota House campaign committee attempting to “shut down” a story “as we do with the Strib.” “Strib” refers to the nickname used for The Star Tribune, Minnesota’s largest newspaper. The shocking emails were obtained by Powerline from the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board, which discovered the emails during its investigation into Omar’s campaign finance violations. As Powerline notes, the emails were written following the outlet’s publication of an August 12, 2016 story questioning Omar’s marital status—the first story discussing Omar’s alleged marriage to her brother. In response, Omar’s campaign committee temporarily hired Ben Goldfarb as a crisis communications manager. “Does anyone on the team have a relationship with Blois?” Goldfarb wrote in an August 15 email, referring to Blois Olson, best known in media circles for his popular newsletter, Morning Take. That morning, Olson had linked to Powerline’s article in his newsletter. “Someone should probably reach out to talk off the record and shut it down with him as we do with the Strib,” Goldfarb continued. “I don’t know him, but can do it if nobody has a relationship. And we can tighten up the statement today…

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Minneapolis Official Calls for End to Car Ownership

  Sam Rockwell, president of the Minneapolis Planning Commission, suggested in a recent op-ed for The Star Tribune that in order “to save the planet, we have to get over cars.” “The way we live our lives is how we got into this climate catastrophe in the first place. Of course we have to change. And that means driving less, not just switching which model sedan we buy. It means transforming how our personal needs relate to stewardship of our Earth and our communities,” Rockwell said in the article. He was responding to a May 20 article published in The Star Tribune that “paints a picture of an electric-vehicle-filled world,” which he doesn’t think would be enough. Rockwell pointed to Minneapolis’ “2040 Plan,” which explains that “even with the adoption of electric cars, a 38% reduction in passenger miles traveled by automobile is needed.” “If we are obliged to reduce car travel—and perhaps even ownership—does that mean we’re stuck with Jordan’s ‘dreary post-apocalyptic future’? Only if you believe Paris, Vancouver, and New York fit that description. These communities and many others are built around comprehensive transit systems,” Rockwell continued. “Success of these systems, and the dense land uses that support…

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City Pages Readers Roast City Pages for Running Smear Piece on Minnesota Sun

City Pages, a subsidiary of The Star Tribune, recently published a story titled: “Minnesota Sun: A Republican mega-donor site masquerading as ‘local news.’” The article was based on a Snopes “investigation” of Star News Digital Media, Inc., the parent company of The Minnesota Sun as well as The Ohio Star, The Tennessee Star, and Battleground State News. On Facebook, City Pages captioned its story with a tagline of “all the right-wing propaganda that’s fit to print,” but the outlet’s own readers weren’t buying it. Many comments on Facebook pointed out the “irony” and “hypocrisy” in City Pages’ article. “So good to know that CP has Snopes for their resources,” one reader wrote. “Thank you! I never had heard of them, but I now have a news source more reliable and truthful than City Pages and MinnPost,” another added. “What about all the left-wing bulls– you guys print?” yet another asked. Others comments in response to the City Pages article included: One reader even claimed that City Pages runs ads for “hookers” in its print edition. The organization’s print edition, which is available free-of-charge at many businesses throughout the Twin Cities area, does regularly include advertisements for strip clubs and phone…

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Klobuchar 2020 Preview: All Signs Point to Running as State Media Give Pass

Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) advance crew was busy prepping Saturday afternoon for her “big announcement” scheduled for Sunday. An early visit to Boom Island Park showed staffers moving in and out of heated tents while they erected a stage with the Minneapolis skyline as a backdrop. Temperatures were slightly above zero early Saturday and those on the scene were decked out in snow gear, making it unlikely that Klobuchar would subject her staff to freezing wintry weather to announce that she isn’t in fact entering the 2020 race. Plus, Klobuchar’s daughter flew in from New York City for Sunday’s event, and posted a video from Boom Island Park Saturday afternoon. “My mom invited me to this big announcement happening Sunday, but she forgot to tell me it was happening outside,” she said. Abigail here! I'm taking over mom's Twitter for a second with a message about tomorrow. Go to https://t.co/Hz91NGmwT1 for more details! pic.twitter.com/dmk4l54EDD — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 9, 2019 Klobuchar boasted that the event will have hot “cocoa,” “camp fires,” “music”—”the whole bit.” The Sunday announcement will come amid multiple reports that Klobuchar runs an abusive and demeaning office, as The Minnesota Sun reported. It’s widely known that the…

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Minnesota’s #MeToo Casualties Al Franken and Garrison Keillor Plot Comebacks

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and iconic Minnesota Public Radio host Garrison Keillor were among the biggest names brought down by the #MeToo Movement, but both are plotting comebacks as the dust begins to settle. Franken, a one-time SNL cast member, is trying his hand at podcasts, and has so far produced three episodes of his yet untitled show. Franken recently sat down with comedian Dana Carvey to discuss the passing of President George H.W. Bush, whom Carvey famously impersonated. His other shows have been with former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt, and author David Frum, who recently published a book titled “Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic.” Franken, who resigned in early 2018 after facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, has also been doing some writing. He published an article on Medium called “He’s Doing the Best He Can” in which he claims that it’s “time for Republicans who knew they put a dangerously unqualified buffoon in the White House to either help contain the damage or get the hell out of the way.” Keillor, meanwhile, has been performing sold-out shows at Crooners Lounge and Supper Club in Fridley, Minnesota, and…

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