Free Republic

I wrote an August 1973 cover story for Time magazine that praised Minnesota as “the state that works.” The cover photograph showed Gov. Wendell Anderson, dressed in a plaid flannel shirt, grinning and holding up a northern pike that he had just caught in one of Minnesota’s 12,000 lakes. The story began with this archaic rhapsody: “It is a state where a residual American secret still seems to operate. Some of the nation’s more agreeable qualities are evident there: courtesy and fairness, honesty, a capacity for innovation, hard work, intellectual adventure and responsibility. . . . Minnesotans are remarkably civil;...

(CNSNews.com) – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee appeared to take a dig at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) on Monday when he asked how we can “expect to keep America-hating, anti-Semitic terrorists out of our synagogues when we can't even keep them out of Congress.” Huckabee was referencing the hostage standoff at a Jewish synagogue in Dallas, Texas, during which a terrorist took four people hostage before being killed. The FBI was criticized for saying that Malik Faisal Akram was “singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community.” They said that Akram had spoken...

The school board of St. Croix Prep voted unanimously to expel the student, who has an individualized education program (IEP) for delayed speech and other learning problems, on December 2. St. Croix Preparatory Academy, a charter school in Stillwater, Minnesota, expelled a first grader with speech disabilities for refusing to wear a mask. The school board of St. Croix Prep voted unanimously to expel the student, who has an individualized education program (IEP) for delayed speech and other learning problems, on December 2. The child’s parents had petitioned for weeks to overturn the school’s mask mandate in their child’s case,...

A Minneapolis landlord says he was attempting to have multiple stolen vehicles towed from a lot behind his property when a group of individuals attacked him. Dale Howey manages 11 properties throughout the Twin Cities, and says last week, residents at the Green Rock Apartments, located at 2440 Harriet Avenue in Minneapolis, reported cars illegally parked in the back lot. Howey says it was later learned the cars had been reported stolen. “There was one without plates,” Howey said. “That raised a flag.” On Dec. 30, he notified a towing company the cars needed to be moved. Around 1:30 a.m....

TWO people were hurt in a shooting at Minnesota's Mall of America on Friday evening, and police were searching for a gunman. Bloomington police said that the scene was secured around 6pm, about an hour after a police officer heard a gunshot at the busy shopping center.... ...The police department said in an update late Friday that the officer who heard the gunshot found a man who suffered a bullet wound to the leg. He was taken to a local hospital while a second man, a bystander who was grazed by a bullet, was treated for minor injuries then released...

You sometimes see newspaper headlines to the effect that, say, a “50 megawatt solar power plant” is being constructed. But you shouldn’t count on getting anything remotely approaching 50 megawatts of power from such an installation. Energy expert Isaac Orr explains: Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that production from solar panels plummets in the winter. The graph below shows the percentage of electricity generated by solar panels in Minnesota compared to their potential output. This percentage is called a capacity factor in electricity-industry lingo. ... Isaac’s analysis applies specifically to Minnesota, but bear in mind that...

The Mankato School Board in Minnesota voted unanimously for a new policy that allows non-white teachers exclusively to be eligible for “additional stipends,” and for teachers to be segregated by race. State Rep. Jeremy Munson (R), however, condemned the new policy, which mirrors a new Minnesota statute. “Our largest local school district just voted to pay people differently, not on merit, or by the content of their character, but based solely on the color of their skin,” he said.

Before Daunte Wright was shot and killed by Minnesota police officer Kim Potter, he terrorized his local neighborhood for several years, leaving victims and their families with a lifetime's worth of trauma and suffering.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu), the moral lodestar of today’s Democrat party, is unhappy with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) for rejecting Biden’s handlers’ breathtakingly expensive and wasteful socialism and climate change fantasy bill. Given the Democrat leadership’s abject fear of appearing to be “Islamophobic” by crossing Omar, this could be the most serious challenge yet to Manchin’s role as a sane man in the party of liars, looters, and lunatics.

Gov. Tim Walz has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced Tuesday. According to the governor, his son and wife also tested positive. His full statement is below. "Yesterday, my 9th grade son tested positive for COVID-19. Gwen and I were both tested that same day, and after initially testing negative yesterday morning, last night we received positive COVID-19 tests. "Thankfully, my son has mild symptoms and Gwen and I have no symptoms. My son is vaccinated, and Gwen and I are vaccinated and have received our booster shots, and I am confident that these vaccines are protecting my family...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — State regulators who three years ago issued an air quality permit for a proposed copper-nickel mine in northwestern Minnesota stood by their decision in a report released Monday that said the mine did not provide misleading information on its plans. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency report...does not clear the way for construction. Other major permits remain up in the air because of ongoing court cases or administrative work. Even so, PolyMet CEO Jon Cherry said the action on the air permit “moves us one big step closer” to building the estimated $1 billion mine, which...

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota jury on Monday began deliberating manslaughter charges in the trial against former Minneapolis-area police officer Kim Potter for shooting and killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright in April 2021. The 12-person jury – made up of six men and six women – heard instructions from Judge Regina Chu on Monday morning, followed by the closing arguments from Assistant District Attorney Erin Eldridge, for the prosecution, and defense attorney Earl Gray. The state's rebuttal was presented by prosecutor Matthew Frank. During deliberations, the jury will be sequestered to a local hotel, and will only be allowed to contact family....

Press Rocket button, get mortgage. Press Elie Mystal, get outrage. That's Mystal's shtick, and that's why Cross so frequently has him on her show. He procures airtime by serving as a surefire, professional provocateur, a verbal bomb-thrower par excellence. Introducing him as a "Cross Connection favorite and my pal," Cross invited Mystal to comment on the trial of Kim Potter, the ex-police officer accused of manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright. And Mystal reliably delivered the outrage. A supremely skeptical Mystal rejected Potter's tears during her testimony as phony. He characterized it as: "You are a racist. You killed...

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said on Sunday that Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) reasons for not supporting Democrats' social spending bill are "bull----" after the West Virginia moderate shocked lawmakers Sunday by announcing he was a "no" on the legislation. "Let’s be clear: Manchin’s excuse is bull----. The people of West Virginia would directly benefit from childcare, pre-Medicare expansion, and long term care, just like Minnesotans," Omar tweeted. Omar said Manchin's position was what progressive House lawmakers had warned for months — that the Senate did not have all 50 Democratic votes needed to pass Biden's spending package. “This is exactly...

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), filed a seven-page complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar for failing to disclose a lucrative book deal she signed in January 2019 in her Annual Financial Disclosure Reports for both 2019 and 2020, the latter which was filed on August 13, 2021. NLPC also alleges that she undervalued the worth of her husband’s political consulting company at less than $1,000 even though she reported that it may generate income up to one million dollars. NLPC also alleges that she omitted disclosing any checking or savings accounts. “NLPC...

Senator Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.) says he’s done with President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation. And if saying so on Fox News wasn’t enough, he added an explanation point in a statement released shortly after his appearance, in which he declared: “My Democratic colleagues in Washington are determined to dramatically reshape our society in a way that leaves our country even more vulnerable to the threats we face. I cannot take that risk.” It is, of course, possible that once they stare into the abyss of defeat, Biden and Democrats may decide to finally cave and give Manchin everything...

Democrats, media pundits, and Hollywood stars threw tantrums on social media on Sunday after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told Fox News Sunday that he would not vote for President Joe Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar “Build Back Better” bill. Rolling Stone, for instance, published an article titled: “Joe Manchin Just Tore Out the Heart of Biden’s Agenda.” It went on to explain: “Build Back Better was the centerpiece of Biden’s domestic plans.” Now it is unlikely to pass the Senate.

Progressives slammed Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., after he revealed Sunday that he would not support President Biden’s massive social spending bill known as the Build Back Better Act after months of party negotiations."Let’s be clear: Manchin’s excuse is bull----," Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., tweeted. "The people of West Virginia would directly benefit from childcare, pre-Medicare expansion, and long term care, just like Minnesotans. This is exactly what we warned would happen if we separated Build Back Better from infrastructure." Manchin said earlier on "Fox News Sunday" that he had spoken with Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority...

The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) recently warned residents about new ways criminals are gaining access to peoples’ homes and luring them into carjackings. The “department has seen an increase in robberies and specifically home invasions,” according to a recent email alert from the police. “Two or more suspects are following victims by car, to their home and robbing them. These suspects are reported to be armed and some victims have been physically assaulted.” According to MPD, carjackings are so common that it’s no longer safe to exit a vehicle if it’s involved in a fender bender. MPD described “bumping into...

Meteorologists are monitoring as a system with the potential for damaging winds and severe thunderstorms is moving into the region Wednesday. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued multiple advisories for the region, adding Wednesday's forecast hasn't been seen before in mid-December and is unprecedented. A Tornado Watch was issued for part of the KSTP viewing area shortly before 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Storms and high winds are expected to move in around 5 p.m. Tornado Watch now through 8 PM across southern/south-central MN & Iowa. A few tornadoes are still possible across SE MN and the metro as well as...