Free Republic

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – U.S. Rep. John Kline talked about the Malaysian Airlines disaster, school lunches and more with Esme Murphy on WCCO Sunday Morning. The downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane happened the day after President Barack Obama announced sanctions against Russia to punish the Russians for their support of the Rebels. For many, the question now remains what more the U.S. should do. “Clearly this is behavior way beyond the pale,” Kline said. “There is no question the Russians are backing the rebels, the separatists. We cannot tolerate that kind of behavior.” Kline said that he supports providing the...

<p>MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Gov. Mark Dayton challenged energy policy and business leaders Thursday to find a way for Minnesota to eliminate coal from the state's energy production.</p> <p>Dayton, who has spoken of his aim to eliminate coal before, said it's time to start talking details so that Minnesota can lead the nation.</p>

Defense lawyers in the Jesse Ventura defamation case rolled out a parade of witnesses Wednesday claiming Ventura got punched out in a California bar. That’s the claim in the best-selling war memoir “American Sniper” by the deceased author Chris Kyle. It’s about to be made into a movie. But the bar fight is a claim Ventura says never happened. For the last two days, Navy SEALs have claimed in court that they saw one part or another of the bar fight. Ventura, described in the book as “scruff face,” is accused of shooting off his mouth about the war and...

CNN’s Van Jones went head to head Tuesday with Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann over the border crisis, saying the congresswoman crossed the line in scapegoating the surge of unaccompanied migrant children for crimes committed by other undocumented immigrants. “Are you scapegoating every one of these kids?” Jones asked Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, on CNN’s “Crossfire.” “Well, hold on a second. There are lines that can’t be crossed here. I’m sorry congresswoman, I’m sorry congresswoman. There are lines that can’t be crossed here.” Bachmann, who acknowledged that 57,000 children have crossed America’s southern border into the country in recent months, also...

Famed homemaking company Betty Crocker once promoted couples making up over a cake. Now, the 90-year old company says it is adjusting to the times by promoting all relationships -- including homosexual couples and cohabitating couples -- as equal to married couples with children. The change in Betty Crocker's focus became well known in August 2013, when the company – a subsidiary of General Mills, which supports same-sex "marriage” -- released a video promoting same-sex couples. At the same time, it provided cakes to homosexual couples who "married" in Minnesota after the ceremony was allowed. Last month, Betty Crocker...

Tuesday’s witnesses at Jesse Ventura’s defamation trial stitched together a scene a California bar that ended with the former governor lying on his back. The latest witness in the case being heard in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, former SEAL Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Paul, said he saw a commotion, then saw Ventura get up from the patio floor and yell that he was going to kill Chris Kyle. Afterward, Paul said, “Chris told me, ‘Jesse was running his mouth and I punched him.’ ”

Two former administrators at Linwood Monroe Arts Plus School in St. Paul have been charged for failing to report alleged sexual abuse by a former custodian. Beth A. Behnke, 48, of Burnsville was principal in 2011 when Walter Happel allegedly spied on an 11-year-old boy in a bathroom. Craig A. Guidry, 52, of Arden Hills was assistant principal. On Monday, Behnke and Guidry were both charged with one count each of misdemeanor failure to report the maltreatment of minors. According to the criminal complaint, on Dec. 26, 2011, a mother of the boy reported to St. Paul police her son...

Laura deShazo of Salt Lake City testified Monday she was at the pub in Coronado California, the night when slain "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle said he punched a man he called "Scruff Face." Kyle later identified the man as Ventura. DeShazo said she was in the bar to attend the wake for a friend of Kyle's. While there, she, her sister and her brother's girlfriend poses for a picture with Ventura.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim to serve in Congress, said a report that the National Security Agency and FBI were tracking the email of five prominent American Muslims is “troubling because it suggests that Americans were targeted because of their faith and civic engagement.” Documents leaked by former government contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the Muslim attorneys and activists were targeted for surveillance from 2002 to 2008 under a program meant to uncover terrorists and foreign agents, according to an analysis from online news organization The Intercept. Among the documents released were training materials that used the...

The head of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans gave a hint of what might come soon to those who pay for health insurance coverage through MNsure, Minnesota's health care exchange. Julie Brunner is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, which is the professional association for the HMOs that offer health coverage through MNsure. Brunner recently told a University of Minnesota symposium that she would "not be surprised if the health plans increased their rates by 8, 10, or even 12 percent." Gov. Mark Dayton tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he would be disappointed by such a...

The defamation trial for former Gov. Jesse Ventura continues Wednesday with a videotaped deposition of the late author of "American Sniper" Chris Kyle. Ventura claims Kyle defamed him in his autobiography by saying he knocked him down during a barroom incident in 2006 after Ventura allegedly made disparaging comments about Navy SEALs. Kyle referred to the man he punched as "Scruff Face" in the book but acknowledged in later interviews he meant Ventura.

ome health care workers in Minnesota are moving ahead with a union election, despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Union organizers presented a petition to state officials Tuesday. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that similar workers in Illinois don't have to pay any union dues. The 2013 Minnesota Legislature passed a bill that allows a unionization vote by workers who provide care to elderly and disabled people in their homes. Minnesota Public Radio News reports more than 26,000 workers are eligible to vote, and the 9,000 cards delivered to the state Bureau of Mediation Services exceeded the 30...

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...