News Cut: June 13, 2008 Archive

Housing waiting list: Fail!

Posted at 8:00 AM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Economy

Judging by the reports Brandt Williams encountered yesterday in the long line to apply for the waiting list for Section 8 housing in Minneapolis, another system for taking applications should be considered when the waiting list opens up again in five years or so.

The online method isn't working.

An MPR listener stayed up until the early morning hours today hoping that would work. It didn't:

Today (June 12)about 12:30pm I tried to complete an online application. The website ran at a snail's pace. I managed to register for the website before the applicant site crashed altogether and only displayed the message, "Service Unavailable". Now again, 12 hours later at 12:30 am I am getting the same message.
Very disappointing.

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A weekend in Minnesota

Posted at 8:14 AM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (12 Comments)

My trial balloon a few months ago to organize a "Day in the Life of Minnesota" project fell fairly flat. The goal was to get enough amateur photographers around Minnesota to submit one picture of some facet of everyday life on a particular day, combine them with everyone else's contributions, and present a fairly impressive presentation of the varied nature of our fair partly cloudy state.

Maybe we should try it in increments.

Hundreds of people will read News Cut today, many have digital cameras. Just for the heck of it, would you be willing to snap a picture this weekend which captures a particular Minnesota moment and submit it here by Sunday evening? (Update: If you wish, you can use Flickr, but be sure to tag it "Weekend Minnesota.") It could be an event you went to, just something interesting you saw, an interesting person you encountered, or an image of something you did to pass the time (Weeding the garden? Looking for tomatoes? Drag racing on a dirt road? Obeying the law and driving with hands in the 10 & 2 position? Getting the tractor unstuck in the south 40?). I'm less interested in scenery and more interested in people. And the theme could be good, bad, or ugly.

But please do not upload a picture that wasn't taken this weekend.

I think we can do this. If you're in, click the answer below to give me an indication of what to expect.

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Goodbye Ron Paul. Hello Ron Paul

Posted at 8:36 AM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Politics

Stick a fork in him.

Ron Paul has given up his quest for the White House.

The lighthearted L.A. Times political blog isn't buying it:

Once before, three months ago, Paul put out a video message to his hundreds of thousands of supporters saying he was "winding down" his campaign. And we fell for that one hook, line and libertarian sinker. We wrote that the 72-year-old, 10-term congressman "appears to be....

...-- this is so hard to write -- if not quitting, then almost certainly sort of stopping his race for the Republican nomination for president. Probably."

But hundreds of Paul supporters -- see, we didn't call them longshot Paultards -- descended on The Ticket's comment area and informed us of the error of our words. That we were not only wrong but dead wrong. We didn't know anything. Neither did our parents. Or anyone at the leftist neocon L.A. Times, especially our editors. We kind of agreed with some of that.

The word, however, is in: Paul is out. It's right there on his Web site, and the Internet never lies:

Now the question: Where do Ron Paul supporters go?

A somewhat less intriquing mystery, however, is why Paul announced he's out, less than two days after announcing he was going to hold his own convention in St. Paul? Answer: He's forming his own wing of the party.

The exact nature of Ron Paul's role in the next few months is befuddling a few folks, however. The aforementioned L.A. Times, in fact, published a story a few hours ago that Paul had stopped short of dropping out.

Perhaps there's some sort of Laker hangover in Los Angeles.

The architecture poll

Posted at 10:53 AM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Surveys and trivia

I was going to post the "Most boring architecture" poll (mentioned here and here) to coincide with the NBA Finals, and then other work got in the way. After last night's Celtics win over the Lakers, I realize I better hurry up. The NBA finals are about over. There'll be no Purple Reign this year.

Here are some of the nominees.

And here's the poll:

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Earmarks

Posted at 11:06 AM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Minnesota lawmakers get off light in an analysis of earmarks in defense authorization bills released today.

According to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, a House bill contains 20 percent more "earmarks" (some call it "pork") despite pledges in Congress to reduce them. It also found 60% of the members of the House Armed Services Committee got campaign contributions from the companies to whom they steered government funds.

One of the committee members, Rep. John Kline of Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District, has refused earmarks, however. Six other members of the committee -- four Republicans and two Democrats -- also refused earmarks.

The Senate version has fewer earmarks than a year ago, and only two Minnesota projects are included. Sen. Norm Coleman inserted $2 million for hypersonic research at the University of Minnesota (I've written about that here). And Coleman and Sen. Amy Klobuchar inserted $4.5 million for a "fuel cell hangar" for the Air National Guard base in Duluth. Coleman's office issues a news release on that project about a month ago.

"Both parties talk a good game on cutting earmarks, but at first opportunity, the House larded up," Stephen Ellis, vice president of the watchdog group told the Washington Post. "This is just another broken promise."

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Denver vs. St. Paul

Posted at 1:08 PM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

St. Paul vs. Denver. Who's better at putting on a convention?

The early line? St. Paul.

Indications leaked out today that the Democratic National Convention is behind schedule and short of cash.

Last month, for example, the Denver host committee tried to renegotiate its deal to provide up to $55 million to bring the convention to town. Reportedly it was $15 million short. St. Paul? Republican officials are upset that the state of Minnesota didn't back a line of credit in the event of a cash shortfall, but -- at least so far -- there's no report of a cash shortfall. Advantage: St. Paul.

(Update: A news release issued Friday from the GOP said the group had met its fundraising goal for the convention.)

Today, however, the Democratic National Convention Committee angered a fairly powerful contingtent -- the media -- when it canceled a planned walkthrough at the Pepsi Center next week. That's the event during which media organizations plan the infrastructure and workspace required to cover the coronation for Barack Obama. That leaves hundreds of media companies on the hook for airfares and hotel reservations they had arranged.

"We want to be sure that when we host you and other media for this event, we're prepared with the information you expect us to have so that it is an efficient and productive use of your time," said Theodore LeCompte, the director of media logistics for the convention."We recognize the significant inconvenience this may cause in your travel and logistical planning. Postponing the event allows us to work through outstanding issues and ensure a successful event when media do arrive in Denver."

And St. Paul? The walkthrough and planning sessions at the Xcel Energy Center occurred a month ago. An earlier session took place last December.
Advantage: St. Paul.

And earlier this week, I noted that St. Paul will keep its homeless population within sight of the convention. Denver, on the other hand, is trying to hide them. Advantage: It depends on how you feel about the homeless.

In both cities, parade routes for demonstrators has been an issue. In Denver, a route has been finalized for groups who wish to march "toward the Pepsi Center," according to a news release. The groups will be allowed within a half-mile of the convention. In St. Paul, the issue has been more contentious -- Republican conventions tend to draw more protesters -- the protest route will take groups within 300 feet of Xcel Center. Advantage: St. Paul.

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Tim Russert, 1950-2008

Posted at 2:43 PM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Icons

Tim Russert, the host of NBC's Meet the Press, collapsed at work today and died.

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The News Cut Week in Review Quiz

Posted at 5:36 PM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: The Quiz

Two things have never happened in this great country. (1) No team has ever won an NBA championship after being down three games to none and (2) Nobody (as far as we know) has ever received a perfect score on the News Cut Quiz.

Neither of these streaks is likely to end this weekend. Here is this week's quiz. As always, we invite you to take the quiz, then come back and submit a comment, indicating your score and impressing us with your creative writing ability to explain it.

Don't forget this weekend, I'm trying out an idea and I hope you'll be a part of it. Help document a weekend in the life of Minnesota. Details here.

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A time to snap a picture

Posted at 6:23 PM on June 13, 2008 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

You look out the window of your northeast Iowa home and see what -- unmistakably -- is a tornado heading for your kitchen. Do you (a) Head for cover or (b) Run to get the digital camera?

This is a picture making the rounds today. It is, of course, spectacular. You can read all about Lori Mehmen's newfound fame in the Mitchell County Press.

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