Tag: Twin Cities

Minnesota State Fair Canceled for First Time in More Than 70 Years

Anthony Gockowski

The general manager of the Minnesota State Fair announced Friday morning that the annual gathering will be canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve been working hard and doing our very best with preparations for the 2020 State Fair. The picture was cloudy in March, but things have cleared up considerably since then. Right now is the time of year when things need to really take off if we’re going to have a fair, but we can see that we’re out of runway and can’t get off the ground. There will be no State Fair this year,” General Manager Jerry Hammer said in a statement.

Read the full story

Minnesota Senate Bill Would Require Governor to Seek Legislative Approval for Extending Future Peacetime Emergencies

Anthony Gockowski

The Minnesota Senate passed a bill last week that would require the governor to obtain legislative approval before extending any future peacetime emergencies.

The bill, authored by Sen. David Osmek (R-Mound), passed Friday in a vote of 36-31, but failed to advance in the DFL-controlled House before the legislative session expired Sunday night.

Read the full story

Star Tribune Accepts $150,000 Grant from Facebook

Anthony Gockowski

The Star Tribune accepted $150,000 in grant money from Facebook, the tech giant revealed Thursday.

According to a press release from Facebook, the company awarded $10.3 million to 144 local U.S. newsrooms as part of a “COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program.” Another $5.4 million was awarded to 59 North American newsrooms that participated in Facebook’s “Local News Accelerator” program, including The Star Tribune.

Read the full story

Republicans Move to Suspend Walz’s Six-Figure Salary Until Shutdown Ends

Anthony Gockowski

A Republican lawmaker put forward an amendment Thursday that would suspend Gov. Tim Walz’s salary during the course of his peacetime emergency declaration.

The move is the latest escalation in a battle between Republican and Democratic lawmakers over the best course of action in addressing the coronavirus pandemic. House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) announced last weekend that he would block a public works bill from being passed until Walz agreed to relinquish his emergency powers.

Read the full story

Minnesota County With Highest Unemployment Rate Has Zero COVID-19 Cases

Anthony Gockowski

More than 600,000 Minnesotans have filed for unemployment since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the state has had 633,405 applications for unemployment insurance since March 16. That number represents a little more than 20 percent of the state’s workforce, Fox 9 reported Wednesday.

Read the full story

House Republicans Will Block Major Legislation Until Walz Ends Peacetime Emergency

Anthony Gockowski

The leader of the Minnesota House Republicans said Saturday that his caucus will block a bonding bill from being passed while the governor’s emergency powers remain in effect.

Republicans have made three unsuccessful attempts to end Gov. Tim Walz’s peacetime emergency declared in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The emergency declaration expires May 13 but can be extended for an additional 30 days. Walz has already extended the peacetime emergency once.

Read the full story

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

Anthony Gockowski
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.

Read the full story

Minnesota’s State and National Dems Want to Cancel Rent and Mortgage Payments

Anthony Gockowski

  An executive order from Gov. Tim Walz bans evictions, foreclosures, and lease terminations for the duration of the state’s peacetime emergency, but one Democratic lawmaker wants to take things a step further. State Sen. Jeff Hayden (DFL-Minneapolis) recently called for a “rent and mortgage moratorium” in Minnesota, an idea championed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) in the U.S. Congress. “Every Minnesotan deserves to have a safe, reliable place to call home. Right now, communities across the state are facing loss of income and increasingly exacerbated economic hardships during this public health emergency, while their rent and mortgage obligations continue to pile up,” he said in a statement. Without the “suspension of these payments,” the state will continue to see “devastating consequences both during this public-health emergency and after,” according to Hayden. “Our priority should be to provide the immediate relief Minnesotans so greatly need in a timely manner, and that includes a moratorium on rent and mortgage payments,” he concluded. The Minnesota House is currently considering a bill that would appropriate $100 million from the general fund for housing assistance grants. Under that bill, Minnesotans who are unable to pay their rent or mortgage because of a public-health emergency…

Read the full story

Minnesota Republicans Introduce Bill to End Peacetime Emergency, Return Power to Legislature

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota House Republicans introduced a resolution Monday that would end Gov. Tim Walz’s peacetime emergency declaration and restore power in responding to the pandemic to the State Legislature.

The resolution was introduced shortly after Walz announced that he has extended the state’s peacetime emergency for 30 days, which allows the governor to act unilaterally in adopting “necessary orders and rules.”

Read the full story

Minnesota Governor Walz’s Ten Minute State of the State Focused Only on Coronavirus

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz touched on nothing but the coronavirus pandemic during his second State of the State address Sunday night.

The address was originally scheduled to take place March 23 before a joint meeting of the House and Senate, but was canceled because of the pandemic. Instead, Walz delivered a televised address from the Governor’s Residence that was just over 10 minutes long.

Read the full story

Minnesota Group Wants Unemployment Insurance for Illegal Immigrants

Anthony Gockowski

A progressive group in Minnesota wants state and national lawmakers to pass a “stronger unemployment insurance package” that includes benefits for illegal immigrants.

TakeAction Minnesota, a progressive community organizing group, released a list of policy proposals that it would like to see included in any stimulus package passed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the full story

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison Wages War on Price Gouging During Coronavirus Pandemic: ‘My Office and I Are Coming After You’

Anthony Gockowski

Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office received more than 500 complaints about price gouging in Minnesota last week alone.

The influx of complaints is part of Ellison’s effort to stop companies from hiking their prices on essential products during the coronavirus pandemic. Doing so is now illegal under an executive order issued by Gov. Tim Walz, which will remain in effect for the duration of Minnesota’s peacetime emergency.

Ellison’s office announced a statewide crackdown on businesses engaged in “pandemic profiteering” last week and encouraged Minnesotans to report instances of price gouging to his office.

Read the full story

Gov. Walz Self-Quarantines After Contact with COVID-19 Patient

Anthony Gockowski

  Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday morning that he is in self-quarantine at the Governor’s Residence after contacting someone with the coronavirus. “After learning I had contact with someone who has COVID-19, I plan to lead by example and work from home. I currently have no symptoms and will continue working tirelessly to combat the spread of COVID-19,” Walz said on Twitter. After learning I had contact with someone who has COVID-19, I plan to lead by example and work from home. I currently have no symptoms and will continue working tirelessly to combat the spread of COVID-19. #StayHomeMN — Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) March 23, 2020 He later revealed that a member of his “dedicated” security detail tested positive for COVID-19 late Sunday night. “He did everything exactly right. I had been with him a few days prior, so according to the CDC and Minnesota Department of Health regulations, I am self-quarantined with my family here. We are operating everything as normal,” the governor said in a video message later in the day. This isn’t a typical Monday morning but we’re still hard at work to combat the #COVIDー19 crisis. Minnesotans have been through long winters before, we’ll get…

Read the full story

‘Stealth Newspaper Campaign’ Exposes ‘Jew Hatred’ at the University of Minnesota

Anthony Gockowski

  A self-described “stealth newspaper campaign” is seeking to expose “Jew hatred” on campuses with a history of anti-Semitic activity, including the University of Minnesota. “Stop University Support for Terrorists,” a project of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, distributed 1,000 copies of its new report on the University of Minnesota campus. The report is titled: “An Epidemic of Jew Hatred on Campus: the Top Ten Neo-Nazi Incidents,” and highlights a March 2018 incident that occurred at the University of Minnesota. At the time, the university’s Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies held an event dedicated to promoting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as part of the school’s “Divest Week,” organized by Students for Justice in Palestine. “This rampant support for the anti-Semitic and genocidal BDS movement on the part of an official university academic department is a flagrant violation of the proper role of an academic institution and reveals the depths of Jew hatred on the University of Minnesota campus,” the report states. According to a press release from the David Horowitz Freedom Center, printed newspapers were “placed in public locations such as student centers, dining halls, classroom buildings and elsewhere where students would encounter them.” “So…

Read the full story

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

Anthony Gockowski

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…

Read the full story

Minnesota Activist Groups Protest Trump’s ‘Fake National Emergency’ Across the State

Anthony Gockowski

Resistance groups across the state organized protests Monday against President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration. The statewide protests were part of a national grassroots effort to oppose the president’s “fake national emergency.” According to USA Today, rallies took place all across the country, many of which were organized in conjunction with MoveOn.org. “We’re mobilizing rapid-response events on President’s Day against Trump’s fake crisis and racist deportation force and to stand with immigrant, Muslim, and black and brown communities to stop Trump’s dangerous and illegal power grab,” MoveOn.org explains. A map of events provided by MoveOn.org shows that at least five protests happened across Minnesota, including ones in the Twin Cities, Mankato, Rochester, Winona, and Alexandria. The Minnesota Sun found that these protests were organized by a somewhat covert protest group called “Indivisible Minnesota,” which consists of affiliate groups like “Indivisible MN-03” and “Indivisible St. Peter and Greater Mankato.” “If progressives are going to stop Trump, we must stand indivisibly opposed to him and the members of Congress who would do his bidding,” a Facebook description of Indivisible Minnesota states. One of Monday’s protests took place outside of Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) Minneapolis office, according to a statement from Indivisible MN-03.…

Read the full story

Minnesota’s Met Council Approves $4 Million in Funding for Shared Electric Cars

Anthony Gockowski

The Twin Cities Metropolitan Council announced Friday that it has approved roughly $200 million in funding for transportation projects across the region, including $4 million for a new shared electric-car program. According to a press release, the Met Council allocates roughly $200 million to local transportation projects through its “Regional Solicitation” process every two years. During this funding cycle, the Met Council selected 57 projects across 37 different cities throughout the metro area. One of the most talked about projects is a $4 million partnership with HOURCAR, a car-sharing service that will install electric vehicles and charging stations near transit stops in the Twin Cities. “The City of St. Paul submitted the proposal featuring a fleet of all-electric vehicles and its network of charging stations. This unique project partners with HOURCAR, is supported by Xcel Energy and aims to reinvigorate car-sharing in the Twin Cities,” a press release explains. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said that “expanding access to electric vehicle transportation will help create a more connected St. Paul,” and will “significantly boost our work to build a sustainable future for our children.” “This project does not just benefit HOURCAR members. By reducing vehicle emissions and congestion, this project…

Read the full story

Zero Democrats Co-Sponsor Bill That Would Tackle Female Genital Mutilation in Minnesota

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) recently introduced a bill that would expand the criminal definition of female genital mutilation (FGM), but zero Democratic House colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors. Under current Minnesota law, it is illegal for doctors to perform FGM, but there are no penalties in place for parents who subject their children to the gruesome procedure, a press release from Franson’s office explains. “The threat of female genital mutilation remains a very serious issue facing our state,” Franson said. “We need to send a clear message to parents that there are consequences for this practice. I will always stand up for the safety of little girls, and will keep working to put an end to this abusive practice and punish parents who subject their daughters to these often life-threatening horrors.” This is Franson’s second go at passing an FGM-related bill. During the 2017 session, her bill passed the House in a 124-4 vote, but never even received a hearing in the Senate, which Republicans have yet to explain. Franson’s new bill, House File (HF) 373, would expand the criminal definition of FGM in Minnesota to make any “parent, guardian, or other person legally responsible or charged with…

Read the full story