News Cut: September 1, 2009 Archive

Five at 8 - 9/1/09: The RNC's self-report card

Posted at 7:29 AM on September 1, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

1) It's been a year since the Republican National Convention, so Minneapolis - St. Paul have been navel gazing this week. Yesterday Jess Mador looked at the cases that still haven't been settled by the courts. Today, MPR's Tim Nelson has the story of the organizers claiming the convention was a better-than-expected economic boon to the cities. Hard to believe? Boy, howdy! The picture above was taken at noon one year ago in downtown Minneapolis. It was an indication that retail, at least, wasn't going to get much business. The report even pats itself on the back for Civicfest, a business disaster that was supposed to draw tens of thousands of locals. It didn't happen.

Much of the national media blew town at the start of the convention to go cover a hurricane, and most people (i.e. media) who were at both Denver (where the Democratic National Convention was held) and the Twin Cities, gave the Colorado location the nod.

Denver is also navel gazing this week. A report commissioned by that city is claiming only about half the economic impact on the hotel industry ($15m vs. $28.7m). But it claimed an economic impact more than twice what Minneapolis and St. Paul are claiming. But there's skepticism, too, about the claims that since there's no definitive math at work, the "unmeasurable" benefit must be positive.

In both cases, the reports come from the people who most benefit from a glowing report card. But a 2005 impact on political conventions from Holy Cross had an entirely different conclusion:

The presence of the Republican or the Democratic National Convention has no discernable impact on employment, personal income, or personal income per capita in the cities where the events were held confirming the results of other ex post analyses of mega-events.

Quick! Where was the Super Bowl held last year?

2) We have our first student protest of the new school year. In Mankato, a few dozen students are protesting problems with their financial aid at Minnesota State University, the Free Press reports today. Nearly half the students in the College Access Program, targeted to students that usually don't make it to college, didn't submit paperwork for an audit of their financial aid. "There's 34 of us that might be going home tonight," student Vanessa Chandler said. The students also protested moving the program from the Office of Institutional Diversity to the College of Education.

Related: How bad do you want an education, kids? As bad as Mike Mallah? Mike's parents lost two homes to war - first in Palestine and later Kuwait during the Gulf War. They settled in the United States and began to see a brighter future when they opened a neighborhood convenience store. Then Mike's father, Mohammed, was shot and killed in a robbing. His story is on American Public Media's The Story.

3) Is Joe Mauer the most valuable player in fantasy baseball? The Hardball Times today analyzes the kid from St. Paul, who hit his 26th home run last night. "Any people involved in fantasy baseball tend to dismiss catchers the way that people involved in fantasy football dismiss kickers. But to see a player outperform his positional peers to this degree demands notice," it says.

By the way, the Twins' rival, the White Sox, tossed the white flag after last night's loss to the Twins, trading Jim Thome to the Dodgers. The season won't be as much fun without that rivalry.

4) Another source of renewable energy? Watermelon. Researchers fermented watermelon juice to produce ethanol, according to a study. Of course, we hear a lot about biofuels and all the options available as an alternative to corn-based ethanol. So last evening's Marketplace segment on the future of ethanol considered biofuels alternatives like switchgrass was worth paying attention to. This was the money quote Mark Beemer, the CEO of Alternative Energy Sources in Kansas City:

When you compare that to the corn industry, where Monsanto, SynGenta, Pioneer are investing $1 billion in corn genetics to increase yields, it's almost laughable that everyone wants to talk about switchgrass.

The subject of watermelons never came up.

5) A followup to yesterday's 5@8 on Republican chances for taking control of the Minnesota House. Eric Ostermeier at the Smart Politics blog breaks down the districts that aren't in play. The strongest DFL district in the state, he says, is Rep. Karen Clark's in Minneapolis. The strongest GOP seat is Rep. Steve Smith's in Plymouth.

Bonus: - The Uneasy Congo. Photographer Dominic Nahr has slept in churches in Congo for safety while photographing refugees fleeing their own homes. He's just 25.

TODAY'S QUESTION

A new NASA mission is searching for earthlike planets, and some scientists think the mission will reveal important clues about the potential for advanced civilizations. How likely is it that aliens exist somewhere in the universe?

WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON

I'll have another installment in The Unemployed series by early afternoon.

Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) - First hour: Political update. Opposing viewpoints on health care changes are hitting the road to rally people to their respective causes. Congress soon returns to work on health care bills and the other issues in front of them, such as climate change legislation.

Second hour: Scientists search for life beyond Earth

By the way, here's video of yesterday's appearance by Ben Vereen:

Midday (11 a.m. -1 p.m.) - First hour: St. Johns University historian Nick Hayes discusses the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II.

Second hour: "World War II On the Air," a documentary about Edward R. Murrow's radio broadcasts during World War II.

Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) - First hour: Former Homeland Security boss Tom Ridge suggests in his new book that Bush administration officials pressured him to raise the terrorist threat level for political reasons. Over the weekend, he appeared to back off the assertion. Which is it? He's the first-hour guest.

Second hour: An update on California wildfires and a look at a day in the life of a firefighter. Outstanding coverage is being provided by our sister-station, KPCC in Pasadena.

All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - MPR's Bob Kelleher reports the beloved Duluth landmark and observation point, the Enger tower. is being closed for renovations.

Is wind along -- and on -- Lake Superior a viable renewable energy? Stephanie Hemphill looks at the question.

From NPR, is high-speed rail getting any love in the South? And a story from upstate New York, where the health care issue is said to be dominating the New York State Fair.

(2 Comments)

The Unemployed: Greg Hillenbrand

Posted at 12:03 PM on September 1, 2009 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

14.5 million people in America are officially unemployed. Thousands -- perhaps millions -- more have given up and are not counted. They're not numbers; they're individuals with a story to tell.

Greg Hillenbrand's unique position affords him the opportunity to provide a message to other unemployed people. "Things will get better," he told me today. Hillenbrand, 58, of Vadnais Heights is going through his second round of unemployment and he feels better prepared than the first time.

"The second time around is not quite as scary, especially since I've attended the workshops offered by the Minnesota Workforce Center. Being laid off a second time, there's less fear of the unknown," he said.

Not that unemployment is a picnic, mind you.

Hillenbrand has had two careers. One in manufacturing materials management at five separate local manufacturers where he successfully installed Manufacturing Requirements Planning (MRP) systems. And a second one in software development where he designed and supported software and processes to help manufacturers run their businesses more efficiently.

His software career ended in 2007, when the company downsized. He got almost a year's worth of pay as severance, but he'd have rather had a job. " I liked doing it and I was successful at it," he said. "At that time everybody said, 'This is a great opportunity. You can do whatever you always wanted to do.' I took a few weeks to think about it and came to the conclusion that I had already been doing what I wanted to do."

He started his own company, Tandem Enterprises, in August 2007, working as a consultant for SoftBrands, the firm that laid him off. But business was drying up and it wasn't enough to pay the bills. In March 2008, he joined InSite Group Consulting, helping customers upgrade their inventory systems. But when the firm ran out of customers in January, Hillenbrand ran out of a job.

"I had a gut feeling that this was coming," he said. "My manager was very nice about it. We both felt bad and shortly afterward, my manager got laid off."

"My immediate concern was the health care. It's what we attacked right away." Hillenbrand was able to get a health insurance plan from a broker for $700 a month, less than the $1,200 coverage his previous firm's COBRA plan would've required.

He's not close to destitution by a long shot. He and his wife are empty nesters, he'd set some money aside from his first job's severance and he says he's financial conservative, even acting as general contractor when his home was built. "As a result, we have a low mortgage," he said. But he didn't get full unemployment benefits because of his severance package.

The first time he lost his job, he said he was reluctant to tell people he was unemployed. "You get over that. The first time I was caught by surprise when I was let go."

It's been nine months of ups and downs. "There's been a number of job opportunities that looked promising, then just kind of dried up. Companies have a tendency not to call you back, and they don't return calls when you call them," he said. "For one of the jobs, they said that they were looking for a very specific set of skills or background experiences, but they wouldn't say what they were."

When he gets a whiff of a job opportunity, he allows himself to get excited, even if it increases the amount of disappointment when it doesn't come through. "I think it's good to get excited," he told me.

Hillenbrand isn't interested in retirement. He says older workers benefit companies because they don't have the responsibilities that take younger people away from their jobs, and they don't use the job as a stepping stone to still-unfolding careers. But he acknowledges that many companies are looking for young people.

"There doesn't seem to be a market (for him) because companies have... just like people have gotten afraid of the unknown, companies are holding onto whatever cash they have," he said

But he says he's optimistic that once things turn around, there will be a market for someone experienced in software consulting and technical support.

He's networking online, attending a job support group in Wayzata (where, he hears, more people are reporting getting jobs recently), and today was attending the first of four workshops for the unemployed at the Maplewood Library, sponsored by the Soar For Jobs support group. He's also volunteered at the Second Harvest Food Bank, worked around the house and lost 12 pounds, "just by not going out to eat lunch."

"My primary job is to find a job," he says. "But I'm also learning to survive by making my savings last as long as possible

(Unemployed? Let me tell your story. Contact me. See other posts in this series. )

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Check out the map below to read what people in MPR's Public Insight Network are telling us about the job climate around them.

(2 Comments)

Caisson connections?

Posted at 1:06 PM on September 1, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)

At Arlington National Cemetery this week, Marine Sgt. William Cahir got what Cpl. Ben Kopp of Rosemount couldn't get: A horse-drawn caisson to take him to his final resting place.

Perhaps you recall the controversy caused when Kopp's family was told they'd have to wait about three months for a full military funeral with caisson. There is a shortage of them at Arlington and the demand for them is too high. The Kopp family was told they'd have to wait until October to have a funeral, according to Stars and Stripes. Kopp's mother called it "a slap in the face."

Kopp was killed in Afghanistan in mid-July. Cahir was killed about two weeks ago, also in Afghanistan. Why was Cahir's family able to get a caisson two weeks after he was killed, while Kopp's family was told to wait three months? E-mail and phone calls to Arlington National Cemetery officials have not yet been returned.

Cahir was a high-profile hero. He was a former Washington-based reporter, ran for Congress, and was once an aide to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. The Washington Post said he "was no ordinary enlisted man." He gave up a lot to go off to war. Journalists and politicians attended his funeral.

No less a hero, Ben Kopp probably fits the model of an enlisted man. A hard-working kid in high school, who loved football, and had -- according to his friends -- a great sense of right and wrong.

A New York Post article on the Kopp controversy last month said, " Some have accused Arlington of playing favorites and allowing others to jump ahead of the line. Last month, retired Maj. Gen. David Wherley and his wife were buried in Arlington -- complete with an F-16 jet flyover -- a week after they died in June's DC commuter train crash."

Update 8:03 p.m. David Foster, public affairs spokesman for Arlington National Cemetery sent this explanation:

Arlington National Ceremony works in conjunction with the Military District of Washington National Capitol Region. ANC verifies eligibility requirements and performs burial services. MDWNCR provides the personnel from the respective military service for body bearers, firing party, caisson, etc.

There are on average 27-30 burials performed each weekday at ANC. At the time of the burial service of CPL Kopp the cemetery was performing burials at 9 and 11 am, and at 1 and 3 pm. The Kopp family's concern and accounting of the delay is justified and one in which the Army agreed with and worked to solve. Our nation's fallen deserve the most timely, respectful burial we can provide. ANC and MDW reviewed the resources available and added a 3:45 time to the aforementioned schedule so SGT Cahir's service could take place in a more timely manner. We will continue to do our very best to meet the desires of families of our nation's fallen and sincerely appreciate their sacrifice.

(6 Comments)