Free Republic

Now that we have light rail, the progressives are ready to move on to the next step, streetcars along Seventh Street in St. Paul, with more lines to follow. The city council will vote Wednesday night to authorize a detailed study of a streetcar line between Arcade Street and Randolph Avenue on Seventh. That would be a second study, the first one being last year, your money paid out to a consulting firm from San Francisco. Progressives are dedicated to blocking the individual while encouraging the collective, but that offers no evidence of progress of any kind. There are already...

We now know when and where Minneapolis Police officers will soon be testing body cameras on the streets. The Minneapolis Police Department has confirmed that dozens of officers will test the body cameras in three precincts in late September or early October. The tests will be done in precincts that generally have higher police activity. MPD says the body cams will be used for testing purposes only in the First Precinct downtown, the Fourth Precinct in North Minneapolis and the Fifth Precinct in southwest Minneapolis. The city council set aside $400,000 to buy the cameras for the 2014 budget. Mayor...

The Senate overwhelmingly advanced a bipartisan hunting and fishing bill on Monday – but not before facing objections from liberals who criticized the chamber for failing to act on gun-control measures. Senators voted 82-12 Monday evening to move forward on the sportsmen’s legislation, which would boost hunters and anglers through an array of provisions such as helping to build shooting ranges and loosening federal regulations on lead fishing tackle and bullets. The package is a political boon to the host of red-state Democrats up for reelection this year including the bill’s chief Democratic sponsor, North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan. Sen....

The population of Mogadishu is moving to Minneapolis, through the miracle of chain immigration. I don’t know whether there is any limiting principle to this or whether all of Mogadishu will one day reside along the Mississippi, but in any event, the Somali influx is already impacting Minnesota politics. Despite being “natural conservatives”–imagine what they must think of abortion and gay marriage!–the Somalis have so far been reliable Democratic voters. This has created one of this year’s most interesting local races, in which Phyllis Kahn, a left-wing Democrat who has represented her district in the Minnesota House of Representatives for...

The NFL season hasn’t started yet, but one Democratic congresswoman is already trying to score her first sack of an upcoming game.Next season, the Minnesota Vikings will use the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium as a temporary home while their new stadium is built. But Betty McCollum of the state’s fourth congressional district is calling for the university administrators to bar the November 2 game against the Washington Redskins from taking place because she says the team’s name violates the school’s Board of Regents’ Equity, Diversity, Equal Opportunity, and Affirmative Action Policy.McCollum, who co-chairs the Congressional Native American Caucus...

Hobby Lobby is coming to Maplewood, as the craft and home-decor store with the Christian orientation makes an aggressive push into the Twin Cities market. The Oklahoma City-based retailer said Thursday that it has begun to renovate a 49,000-square-foot retail space one block east of Maplewood Mall, with plans to open in late August. Maplewood will be Hobby Lobby's second store in the Twin Cities, after Woodbury, and the company is considering many more, including in Blaine. "We are actively looking in the market and feel that this area could handle 12-15 Hobby Lobby Stores," company spokesman Vince Parker told...

At least 16,000 low-income Minnesotans never received letters telling them that the state needed more information on their MNsure applications for health insurance, and many possibly remain uninsured. State officials disclosed the mistake Wednesday and blamed the problem on human error. The notices were supposed to tell the applicants to provide more information to qualify for the state's Medical Assistance program, but the notices were never sent. The applicants applied through MNsure, the state's new health insurance exchange, but their eligibility for the low-income assistance couldn't be automatically verified. "We understand that this is unacceptable to have not been sending...

Minneapolis, MN – Better Ed — a 501(c)(3) education reform group in Minnesota — has put up another billboard message across from the Minneapolis Public Schools district headquarters. The message draws attention to the district’s high per-pupil spending and low graduation rate. It reads: “MINNEAPOLIS SPENDS $21,000 PER STUDENT. BARELY HALF GRADUATE. NOT COOL.” Better Ed’s previous billboard message (which had been up since December 2013) also highlighted the district’s poor graduation rate, which was 54% for 2013. Indeed, Minneapolis Public Schools has one of the lowest graduation rates among all urban school districts in the country—a fact pointed out...

A Roman Catholic archbishop in Minnesota who had been one of the hierarchy’s most vocal opponents of gay rights is the target of an investigation into allegations that he had a series of sexual relationships with priests, seminarians and other men. The investigation of Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt is being conducted by a prominent Minneapolis law firm hired by the archdiocese after church officials received an allegation against Nienstedt. The archdiocese confirmed the investigation, which was first reported by Commonweal, a Catholic magazine based in New York.... Commonweal’s story cites Jennifer Haselberger, former top canon lawyer for Nienstedt, as...

The Hennepin County attorney’s office is investigating whether a private mailbox center in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood has been improperly used as an address for more than 140 voters. State records show that 419 Cedar Avenue S. has been used by some of the voters as far back as 2008. No one lives at the address, which is a Somali-dominated commercial building housing several small businesses and a popular mail center. Several dozen apartments upstairs use a different building number. Records also show that more than 90 of the registrants at that address have voted in previous elections, although it’s unclear...

Absentee voting started Friday, six weeks ahead of primary elections. Already there are strong allegations of voter fraud. The attorney for Phyllis Kahn says he got word Thursday night; there might be hundreds of people who are registering and voting using an address that's not their home. Absentee voting kicked-off Friday morning in a hotly contested democratic primary race for the state house between incumbent Phyllis Kahn and Mohamud Noor. Brian Rice, attorney for the Phyllis Kahn Volunteer Committee, claims there's voter fraud. "I think there is a coordinated effort to use this address to bring voters into the DFL...

President Obama made headlines in Minneapolis on Thursday, rolling out his “phony scandal” rhetoric to address the cascade of questionable acts now receiving public outrage, and not just from Republicans. In a stunning rebuke, the dominant newspaper in the state of Minnesota, the very left-wing and politically correct Star-Tribune of Minneapolis has editorialized a demand for a special prosecutor: The old caution against ascribing to malice what can be explained by incompetence is worth keeping in mind when evaluating a high-profile blunder in either the private or public sector, such as the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for...

Absentee voting started Friday, six weeks ahead of primary elections. Already there are strong allegations of voter fraud. The attorney for Phyllis Kahn says he got word Thursday night; there might be hundreds of people who are registering and voting using an address that's not their home. Absentee voting kicked-off Friday morning in a hotly contested democratic primary race for the state house between incumbent Phyllis Kahn and Mohamud Noor. Brian Rice, attorney for the Phyllis Kahn Volunteer Committee, claims there's voter fraud. "I think there is a coordinated effort to use this address to bring voters into the DFL...

Barack “Yes we can” Obama has already proven that he’s big on slogans. Leaving behind FORWARD, and of course ‘Hope and Change…We Can Believe In,’ the president’s newest catchphrase is “In the shoes,” which describes loafer-lover Barack Obama attempting to reconnect with everyday Americans by metaphorically slipping into other people’s shoes. To infuse added relatability into his plans to do future ‘in the shoes’ walkabouts, the White House is officially calling Obama’s planned encounters with the unwashed masses a “day-in-the-life” series, wherein the POTUS leaves his billionaire friends and devoted low-maintenance wife behind to venture forth onto the highways and...

Multiple law enforcement agencies on Friday afternoon were responding to a report of an armed suspect at the 2900 block of Centre Pointe Drive in Roseville, the Roseville Police Department reports.

fter years of starts and stops, the next frontier has finally arrived for biodiesel. Starting Tuesday, Minnesota will require all diesel fuel sold here to contain at least 10 percent biodiesel -- except during the winter, when the requirement will be 5 percent biodiesel. Currently, state law requires every gallon of diesel fuel to contain at least 5 percent biodiesel -- and 2 percent during the winter -- so supporters are excited to see Minnesota raise the bar to a highest-in-the-nation level.

With Republicans in Washington thus far successfully fending off insurgent tea party challengers in competitive races, odds makers are now indicating that the GOP has a better than even chance of retaking the upper chamber of Congress in November. President Barack Obama’s sinking job approval rating is not helping boost Democrats’ chances. Speaking anonymously to The Hill, one Democratic Senator said Obama’s “unpopularity” is troubling. “It’s a tense time,” the source said.It is with this backdrop that Obama descended on Minnesota on Thursday where freshman Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is seeking reelection. Franken has spent the last six years...

....Obama is pitching his ideas to boost the American middle class in Minnesota, a state that already has embraced a key component of the president's economic agenda by moving to raise its minimum wage....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama headed to Minneapolis on Thursday, the first stop in series of summer road trips where he will aim to spend a "day in the life" of an ordinary American and persuade voters that the White House understands their challenges. The trip is also aimed at reconnecting Obama with Democrats ahead of midterm elections where Republicans stand a good chance of taking control of the Senate, jeopardizing the chance to accomplish goals for his last two years in office. Obama will have lunch with Rebekah Erler, an accountant in St. Paul with two young sons...

With his job approval rating at a low ebb and his policy agenda stymied in Congress, President Barack Obama is trying again to show a common touch and convince more Americans that he is still fighting for their interests. The latest move in Obama's empathy campaign will come Thursday when he plans to meet with a mother identified by White House officials as "Rebekah" of Minneapolis. She wrote to the president to explain her day-to-day economic problems; he read the letter and decided to reach out to everyday people like her around the country.