News Cut Category Archive: Crime and Justice

A lot of us who covered the violence surrounding the Republican National Convention wondered aloud occasionally whether things would be the same if we put away our cameras, tape recorders, and notepads and simply took a hike?

Maybe we have the answer in the violence that broke out Wednesday following protests of the killing of an unarmed man by a Bay Area Rapid Transit policeman. The killing was captured on video by a cellphone camera (you can view it here if you're so inclined).

Near the end of a segment on the subsequent violence, a guest on NPR's Talk of the Nation provided some keen insight into the related question of what role the media plays in crowd behavior.

Demian Bulwa, a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, was at the riot.

"There was also a dynamic with the media at the protest last night where there were so many of us. It was sort of unmistakable; we were part of the thing. You might have one guy confronting a police officer with three camermen, and two reporters, a still photographer, and a blogger, and someone who's live on the air with some sort of Internet radio. And, you know, it concerned me that I thought to myself, 'What if we left? What would happen? What if the police left? What would happen? But, you know, later in the night when all of the TV cameras were gone, I was still with the protesters and they were still smashing stuff."

The other question that ran through my mind is if there hadn't been someone videotaping the shooting in the back of an unarmed man, how might the story of what happened be different, if at all?

(Photo courtesy of Javier Panzar)

Dennis LeTourneau knows where he'd be today if not for some of the people in the Hennepin County judicial system. "I'd be dead," he said without hesitation. He is sure heroin would've killed him.

LeTourneau was one of 23 people graduating today from the Hennepin County Drug Court, a unique program that people who know what they're talking about insist is the answer to reducing the problem of repeat criminal activity from addicts. It's the second graduating class since the program was changed to focus on addicts.

People who choose the drug court system undergo a 12-month program that includes 12-step meetings, therapy, and education classes. They have to report to probation officers and agree to be tested.

"It costs $36,000 to send someone to prison, " Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson said today. "It costs $6,000-$9,000 to get them through Drug Court." Nonetheless it's a tough sell at the Capitol. Magnuson eliminated pay raises for judges in his budget request this year, but included $6 million for Drug Court.

When it comes time to convince legislators, Magnuson could do worse than have them listen to LeTourneau, or Mindy Heinkel, who thanked her probation officers and judges today noting, "It changed my life forever." James Hill said his probation officer joked with him "we can always execute" during his 12-months in the program.

It wasn't a hard program for LeTourneau. "The hard part was making the decision (to go through the program), because I was still in that life," he said. That life was a heroin addiction that started five years ago. He remembers his first shot of heroin and why he took it. "I had a girlfriend who was into it," he said.

LeTourneau has gotten clean, earned his GED, and started a business. He's also mentoring others who are in the program, according to his probation officer, Stacey Pratt (shown below congratulating graduate James Hill). "It was easy for him because he made his mind up at the beginning that he would remain determined to turn his life around."

While receiving plaques at the Hennepin County Government Center this afternoon, many graduates hugged or at least shook hands with a gauntlet of probation officers. A couple muttered "thanks," and walked away, turning their back without acknowledging the people they had to call every day for a year.

But most also knew where they'd be today otherwise. "I know people in prison who'd give their left arm for this chance," LeTourneau said.

MPR's Elizabeth Stawicki says one of the Texas men accused of trying to disrupt the Republican National Convention with Molotov cocktails is scheduled to change his not guilty plea tomorrow in federal court in Minneapolis The brief court document does not reveal any details about Bradley Crowder's plea and his lawyer declined to comment.

Last fall, his father told the Star Tribune that his son "was looking for excitement and hooked up with the wrong people on their way to protest at the Republican National Convention."

Much of the evidence against Crowder and one other man came from an informant from Texas who infiltrated a protest group. (See his affadavit)

Another man, David McKay, is scheduled to go to trial later this month.

Acknowledging his role in the investigation, the informant -- Brandon Darby -- has not endeared himself to the RNC protest groups.

If the second trial is not settled, Darby will have to tell his story in open court.

Stop me if you've heard this before.

Nine Muslim passengers were kicked off a flight from Washington, D.C., to Florida after other passengers reported hearing a suspicious remark about airplane security.

AirTran Airways spokesman Tad Hutcheson called the incident on the New Year's Day flight from Reagan National Airport to Orlando, Fla., a misunderstanding, but defended the company's response. He said the airline followed federal rules and did nothing wrong.

The AP has the story here.

Any similarity between this story and the one from Minneapolis in 2006 is purely... their point.

"It was an ordeal," said Abdur Razack Aziz, one of those detained said. "Nothing came out of it. It was paranoid people. It was very sad."

All but one of the 9 are American citizens by birth.

Jeanne LeBlanc, who writes a travel blog for the Hartford Courant gives AirTran the "what for?"

The AirTran spokesman wants it both ways on this one. He told The Post the incident amounted to a misunderstanding, but said:

"At the end of the day, people got on and made comments they shouldn't have made on the airplane, and other people heard them [and] misconstrued them."

So which was it? They said things they "shouldn't have?" Or they were misunderstood? Who determines what we "should" say? Is that different for people who look Muslim? Are we responsible for the way someone might misinterpret our innocent words?

It was a funny story today, right up until the part where a guy lost his job.

Up in Crookston, Mike Raymond drove a Polk County payloader onto the ice on the Red River where it promptly fell through. Funny stuff.

Today the county sent him a letter, the Grand Forks Herald reports, that said "you're fired."

It did him no good that he's been with the Highway Department for 28 years. It did him no good that his father before him was in the Highway Department. It did him no good that he was a "good employee," as described by his boss.

Raymond's mistake -- and it was a mistake -- was that he was either (a) trying to be a good guy or (b) using county equipment for personal use. He says he thought it would be helpful to ice fishermen if he cleared some snow around the Crookston boat ramp. That violates the rules.

His boss says he sent a memo out last year warning county employees against using county equipment for personal use. He's got a fish house on the river too, although he says he didn't clear a path to it.

Lives change with stupid mistakes. Have you ever had a boss who gave you another chance? Do tell.

One of the saddest stories around here in a long time is the death last week of Stephen Posniak of Alexandria, Virginia. Posniak, charged with setting (everyone seems to concede it was an accident) the Ham Lake fire in northern Minnesota that burned thousands of acres, destroyed 150 buildings, and cost $11 million to put out, killed himself.

From all accounts, Posniak was a nice guy who loved the Boundary Waters and couldn't live with the stigma of being "that guy" once the government decided it would extract its pound of flesh, even seeking its $11 million back. Pozniak didn't have $11 million.

Clearly the guy messed up, but surely someone is wondering whether the prosecution was appropriate. "Can't someone just make a mistake?" they ask.

"I'd known Steve since we were classmates at Wilson High School, and what this represents is an accident caused by carelessness, turned into a tragedy by Mother Nature, and then compounded a thousandfold by the malicious zeal of a prosecutor," Andy Moursund, a long-time friend said (Washington City Paper).

Others say people should be held accountable for their contribution to an incident.

OK, then.

The Edge, a blog in northern Minnesota, points out today that on the day before the fire, the U.S. Forest Service sent out this memo:

Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 10:17 AM
Subject: Fire Restrictions

There are no fire restrictions in place for this week in the BWCAW, so
what that means is visitors can have a campfire.

Gunflint Ranger District
2020 W. Highway 61, Grand Marais, MN 55604

Says the writer: "The email was sent despite the fact everyone living in the forest was will aware how dry the forest was and that over the next few days high winds were predicted. Lighting any campfire was certainly stupid but what about the actions of the USFS to even allow fires under such conditions?"

I watched It's a Wonderful Life the other night at the end of another bad week of worry about the economy, hoping for a reminder about perspective. It didn't work, but not for the reasons you might think.

I'd driven up to Ely and back on Friday and so I spent much of the day hearing about the economy. Have you heard? It stinks and it's only a matter of time before it swallows all of us, the narrative seems to suggest.

I couldn't get the day's bad news out of my head as I watched the movie. Here's why: In the course of one afternoon, Uncle Billy misplaced the credit union's receipts, Mr. Potter stole the envelope with the cash, the state banking investigator showed up to audit the books, a warrant was issued for George's arrest and the investigator and cops showed up at the Bailey household a few hours later. All in one afternoon!

Boy, those were the days.

Bernard Madoff ran a Ponzi scheme that ripped off $50 billion (including $100 million from Twin Cities investors) and nobody who was supposed to notice noticed. Bloomberg reports today that the Securities and Exchange Commission never inspected Madoff's books, even though it was required to:

Given what the SEC claims is the magnitude of the fraud, this is something you would hope an inspection would have uncovered," said Mercer Bullard, a University of Mississippi law professor and former mutual-fund attorney at the SEC. "It's hard to imagine a fraud of this alleged size not being accompanied by significant and pervasive compliance problems."

On National Public Radio today, Jim Zaroli reported that a securities industry official warned the SEC in 1999 that Madoff's returns were too good to be true.

Congress doesn't seem to be in too big of a hurry to find out what's going on at the SEC, according to the Wall St. Journal:

A spokesman for Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee which will be the key in writing the new regulatory structure for the financial industry, said that "in due time" the committee would work with the SEC to see "what if any, failings of policy" were revealed from the alleged Madoff fraud. He said Frank hasn't been in touch with the agency.

On NPR's All Things Considered this afternoon, a former SEC official said there aren't enough people to keep up with the crooks (although he didn't use that word). It's a view shared by Columbia Law School professor John Coffee, who told the Journal that the agency is overworked and typically only examines 10% of the new funds that are registered.

The Madoff story, of course, is huge. Even the Dow's drop today is being pegged on it. But Matthew Goldstein, writing in BusinessWeek, suggests it's no bigger than Tom Petters' alleged scam in Minnesota:

Consider how little national coverage a similiar alleged Ponzi scam involving Minnesota businessman Tom Petters has generated. Sure, the alleged damages in the Petters affair are smaller--but a $3.5 billion loss isn't chump change. Some six-dozen hedge funds and their hundreds of individual investors suffered huge losses when federal prosecutors alleged that Petters was borrowing money for several companies that existed on paper only. At least a few of the victims include wealthly widows in their 90s, living in Florida, who invested in one of the hedge funds.

If there's anything to salt away from the Petters and Madoff cases (and the economic meltdown in general) it's this: If you're making money with an investment, find out why.

As I am entering the "you kids get off my lawn" stage of my life, this story from Willmar resonates:

A 50-year-old man told authorities he was fed up with teens toilet-papering his house during homecoming week. This year, he decided to defend his property -- with a squirt gun filled with fox urine.

Now, Scott Wagar is in trouble with the law. He pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court to misdemeanor assault and other charges. He was released on personal recognizance.

I'm not much of an outdoors guy but where does someone get fox urine? At the Fox Urine 'R Us store?

The excellent West Central Tribune has the answer:

Fox urine, it turns out, is readily available online and in stores that sell hunting supplies, pesticides and critter repellents. A visit to Google yielded 192,000 references to the stuff.

The story is causing some reaction, as you might expect. Kentucky checked in on the comments section of the newspaper story:

I am form Kentucky. This is the dumbest stuff i have ever read about. i cant beleive the police are that dumb. I am only 30,,but back when i was a teenager,,,we would get rocksalt or bird shot from a 12 guage in our backside. if you know what i mean. i cant believe this even made the news........how dumb!!!!!!

Fox urine, as it turns out, is regularly used by Christmas tree farms to discourage theft.

Still unanswered, however, is how the Willmar man attacked his attackers. How do you spray fox urine? Do you just keep it in a bucket by the door?

There was a tough call in the investigation of Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich. It was made by the Chicago Tribune, the now-bankrupt newspaper which has new friends today just because of the enemies it has (By the way, yesterday was a good reminder of why we still need newspaper reporters turning over rocks and making enemies on a daily basis).

The Tribune had the "goods" on Blagojevich's alleged corruption but didn't print the story because the feds said it would jeopardize their investigation into Blagojevich. The investigators hadn't yet placed the bugs in Blagojevich's home and office, according to reports.

"In the course of doing our work, we talked to the U.S. Attorney to get comment as we would with any story and at that point they indicated if we publish at that moment, it could jeopardize an unfolding investigation," editor Gerould Kern said. "It's always a difficult decision." (See video)

It's obvious that on this story, the Tribune didn't need much more than a comment from prosecutors for the story they had, but probably extracted a promise from prosecutors for either additional information, or an early tip-off when the governor was going to go down. There had to be a quid pro quo of some sort (Aside: Read the complaint against the Illinois governor).

Fast forward to a story this morning in the St. Paul Pioneer Press about allegations that a backer of Norm Coleman funneled cash to the senator through a business in Texas. The story was headlined:

FBI reviewing allegations involving Norm Coleman ally, source says

The headline makes clear that the story is based on a single source and while the assertion may be true, there's no indication there's any second confirmation, a pretty standard protocol in basing a story on an anonymous source.

It's not like the Pioneer Press didn't try as evidenced by two responses it got:

The Coleman campaign issued a statement last night:

"We are not aware of any investigation that is under way, nor have we been contacted by any agency with respect to this matter. As we have said repeatedly, we welcome any investigation of these lawsuits by the appropriate authorities to get to the bottom of these baseless, sleazy and politically inspired allegations."

And a spokeswoman for businessman Nasser Kazeminy had a similar response when asked if Kazeminy had been contacted by investigators." We have no information along those lines. What you're telling me is news to me," Amy Rotenberg told the Pioneer Press in a statement that invites hours of parsing.

As for the FBI, the Pioneer Press got the same answer you'd get if you called to ask if the FBI was investigating you. "We do not confirm or deny the existence of any investigations."

Conclusion: The Pioneer Press doesn't have enough yet to make the feds nervous about jeopardizing an investigation that may or may not be taking place.

A News Cut reader asked on Wednesday whether the people in Mumbai are allowed to own guns. The answer, apparently, is "yes," judging by blogger Amitabh Bachchan, who wrote a post the other day that concluded with a single line:

Before retiring for the night, I pulled out my licensed .32 revolver, loaded it and put it under my pillow. For a very disturbed sleep.

Apparently, he got pretty well roasted by some commentators and newspaper types, so he's back with a scathing post today:

When I say that I am ashamed of performing an act I have never enacted before, that of pulling out my gun and putting it under my pillow, it is far far removed from your myopic and small-minded interpretation that I do so out of fear. If I had fear I would not volunteer to walk into the bullet along with the millions of my countrymen.

The act of pulling out my revolver is a symbolic metaphor, a figure of speech, to demonstrate my complete loss in faith in the system and in the governance, in providing me, a citizen of India, with my rightful sense of security. It is to demonstrate that now I shall have to personally look after my family and myself and not depend on the state. A state that is just so miserably incapable of protecting its citizens.

AND.. dear pen-pencil pusher, it is also to state, that the level of my tolerance and belief has been breached to such an extent that, were the perpetrator to mess with me and get close enough, I would not hesitate to use said, revolving, six gun facility !!

I'm haunted by photographer Vinukumar Ranganathan's observation that he tried to get Indian police in the railroad terminal to shoot the few gunmen who were in the process of killing scores of people. They wouldn't. If they won't, who will?

Meanwhile, things in Mumbai are getting (mostly) back to normal.

It's a slow period in the news business, so it seems to me that selecting the top story of the day is easy -- and it's not about shopping, a story that is done every year, the same way, on the same day, and never has any real substance to it. It's Mumbai. But then again, I'm old school.

So let's play "you are editor." You're the person who decides what story will be at the top of the newspaper, or lead-off the nightly TV newscast, or be at the top of your organization's Web page.

Last night, as Indian commandos stormed Nariman House in Mumbai (where, unfortunately, the five hostages were killed), KSTP led its 10 p.m. newscast with a shocker -- get it? -- about the state High School League pushing for AEDs in school, CNN featured Larry King talking to some Hollywood bimbo, and Nightline presented a piece on mental illness among veterans, which -- while important -- has been done many times. If you wanted to follow the story on TV, you were out of luck; it wasn't being covered on any national or local channels.

This morning, a check of the major news Web sites in the Twin Cities (about 10 of them) shows that only one -- the Pioneer Press -- considered the Mumbai story the top story. It's a particularly puzzling situation when you consider that the assault happened after people went to bed.

True, the Mumbai story lacks the "elusive Minnesota connection" that we newsies here seem to insist is necessary for Minnesotans to grasp the complexities of a story, but doesn't this story transcend that? And are we really that insular or do news bosses just think we are?

You decide. You're in charge. In what order would you present the day's news, keeping in mind you want people to pay attention to what you have to say? (And be sure to give a reason, you know how your reporters can be!)

By the way, if you're not really into the long lines at Victoria's Secret or Best Buy, you might be interested in following this excellent blog from Mumbai.

Update 10:49 a.m. - I wonder if part of the "problem" (if you consider what's been described as a problem) is an outdated portrait of what a "Minnesotan" is. This image from a story MPR's Mike Edgerly a few years ago is intriguing:

They're all Minnesotans, too. Are their news needs being satisfied? Are they different?

11:11 a.m. a.m. Here's how one area news crew made its decision. This is a screen grab of a Web page at a TV station in Boston, which was once considered the best local TV station in America.

Not only is the top story about a murdered blonde, white TV anchor (Update 6:47 p.m. Just so we're clear here. News is a tough business so my questioning the value of the anchorwoman story is not meant to diminish the value of her life. However, as editor,you do have to explain why her life is more newsworthy than the nearly 200 who died in Mumbai, or even --in this case -- the two people who were killed on Boston's streets on Thanksgiving that weren't considered newsworthy.) but the Mumbai story isn't listed anywhere on the page. It comes up in rotation with 5 other stories -- holiday shopping, someone hit by an Amtrak train, and what kids are thankful for). The Mumbai story is last in rotation. You'd have to watch the screen for 21 seconds (a lifetime for Web pages) before Mumbai appears. So that's how they ranked their story choices, fyi.

The page is put together by the Mendota Heights-based Internet Broadcasting System.

Update 2:40 p.m. Here's how some papers played it:

The Birmingham paper thought it was neither the top, nor second story, but third, about on a par with "Bama fever," which now that I think of it, is a world threat.

The problem in Anchorage, perhaps, is they can't see India from their backyards.

In San Francisco, it turns out cable cars are old technology. Who knew?

The Denver Post, an area with neither cable cars nor "Bama fever." The other paper in town, the Rocky Mountain News (owned by the same person who owns the Pioneer Press) also had just the India story on page one. A lot of people in journalism like to suggest DeanSingleton , the owner, is a threat to the future of journalism. Not today.

In St. Cloud, the big story is the auto dealers are surviving. PS: The hostages died.

What does St. Cloud know, that Lincoln, Nebraska doesn't?

Update 2:58 p.m. - For some really compelling pictures, check out the Boston Globe. Some are very graphic, however. (h/t: Peter Berge via Twitter)

Here's a couple of social media sites that are providing actual information from Mumbai (as opposed to just repeating TV reports)

Mumbai Help -- Is a blog that probably has provided some of the best on-the-ground coverage so far. Today it has put together a five-page list of dead and injured. It's a horrific way to find out your loved one has been killed or is in a hospital, but it's an appropriate statement on the horror of the attacks.

Dina Mehta -- I'm not exactly sure who she is, but she has a social networking blog in Mumbai with some information. But her biggest contribution has been her Twitter page. Twitter has been very helpful in providing information on the attacks early on. But over time, the signal-to-noise ratio has made it difficult to determine who's got first-hand information, and who's just chatting. She's one person who actually has good information, and in one section of her page she calls attention to an abundance of bad information on Twitter that has been rebroadcast by mainstream media, certainly a topic for another day.

Update 1:31 p.m. - Here's a spreadsheet of the dead and injured.

Attention now is turning to who is responsible. The BBC says the siege represents a change in tactics, but by whom? Is Pakistan somehow responsible? Some are saying so, which is frightening since these long-time enemies both have nuclear weapons.

U.S. intelligence officials are said to be examining Pakistan's role.

update 7:56 p.m. - One of the more intriguing rumors of the day was that Israel was sending a commando team to India. The Jerusalem Post, however, reports Israeli officials are denying the report, while at the same time letting India have it for the way it's handled things. The New York Times, meanwhile, has the story of a Brooklyn rabbi who is apparently being held.

NDTV has the last interview with the head of the anti-terrorism unit, who was killed in the assault. He was responding to charges that the ATS used torture in investigating terrorism in India.

update 8:06 p.m. On Twitter @vinu, the person who provided the first images via Flickr yesterday, is posting about action taking place outside his home in Mumbai.

By the way, here's an excellent article from France on how blogs and social media have covered the story.

update 8:29 p.m. - This blog in India has been looking at terrorism and, in particular, strategy.

8:30 p.m. -- Like many people, I'm following the situation in Mumbai and blogs and Twitter have been quite helpful. Social networks have been invaluable in following news of this terror, but not until you figure out which two or three are actually doing citizen reporting, and which are just repeating what they've seen on TV or elsewhere.

Still, it's a strange, strange feeling watching Twitter tonight. Between incredible posts from Mumbai, are many talking about people setting up tents outside Best Buys in advance of Friday's shopping.

One thing worth thinking about and perhaps discussing is how this situation -- described as India's 9/11 -- is followed compared to, say, 10 years ago. We've become accustomed to terrorism so we go about our business and catch up when we can. This evening I'm thinking about the Achille Lauro hijacking and the death of Leon Klinghoffer in 1985. And also the TWA 847 hijacking (also in 1985), during which John Testrake became a household word.

It was so different then, that people would be glued to the TV or radio. While this story has been of great interest worldwide, it's had to compete -- and not always successfully -- with the silly and trivial.

One fairly wonders if a 9/11 were to happen in the U.S. again, how much different our reaction and attention to it might be, compared to 2001.

9:18 p.m. - Vinu has just posted new pictures of the assault.

if you are in Minnesota and have any contacts, family or friends in Mumbai or insights you'd like to share about Mumbai, please contact me.

Gunmen today have been carrying out a series of attacks in Mumbai, India, targeting British and U.S. nationals and they may be holding hostages. The motive for the attacks was not immediately clear, but the city has frequently been targeted in terror attacks blamed on Muslim militants, the Associated Press reports. The Times of India says an unknown group -- Deccan Mujahideen -- is responsible.

Teams of gunmen stormed two of the city's best known luxury hotels and a landmark restaurant. A British restaurant-goer at one of the hotels told Sky News television that the attackers were singling out Britons and Americans.

Here is a Flickr feed of images from there. (link updated)

NDTV.com is providing excellent coverage (the image above is of one gunman, as grabbed off a video feed by NDTV) and reports at least 90 are dead. You can watch live coverage here although it takes forever for the player to load.

A blog has been set up to help victims and is also providing updates, although it also is loading very slowly.

IBN live is providing a live stream, but disappointingly, it's "citizen journalist" section has absolutely nothing. I also recommend this Twitter stream.

Britain's Sky News also has some streaming video.

update 3:29 - IBN is streaming live via CNN.com

3:34 p.m. - Here's a Google map showing the attacks

3:35 p.m. -- Again, Twitter has some of the best coverage with people in Mumbai relaying information.

3:38 p.m. Mumbai Metblogs has additional coverage. Not great. But it's something. (h/t: Steve Mullis)

3:41 p.m. - CTV in Canada is also now simulcasting the IBN feed online. 78 now said to be dead.

4:07 p.m. - This is one of the more compelling images from the Vina photostream on Flickr (linked earlier)

Keep in mind it's early in the morning in India, and dozens of people are forming barricades.

4:12 p.m. - From the archives: A Christian Science Monitor account of bombings in Mumbai in 1993, outside the Taj hotel, which is now on fire.

4:32 p.m. - State Department number for Americans wanting to check on status of other Americans in Mumbai: 1-888-407-4747

4:38 p.m. - I'm checking on the status of Northwest Airlines crews in Mumbai. A News Cutter tells me they stay at the Trident Hotel, which reportedly was one of the hotels where hostages were taken. A Northwest spokesperson says they're "working on a statement." But there is no indication that any Northwest employees are affected.

4:47 p.m. - According to Northwest Delta spokeswoman Kristi Baur, "Thank you for your email. We have been in contact with our crew members and we are working to get them home safely.

Here is our statement regarding Mumbai. "Our Safety and Security departments worked quickly and all Delta and Northwest crews have been contacted, and we're trying to get them home safely. Customers traveling to Mumbai may rebook or cancel their flights without incurring fees. Delta considers the safety and security of its passengers and crew its number one priority."

4:50 p.m. - The number for Canadians to check on Canadians. Department of Foreign Affairs at 1-613-996-8885 from inside Canada or 1-800-387-3124 outside.

4:53 p.m. - The South Asia Journalists Association is hosting a Webcast on today's events from 9-10:30 CT this evening. Guests include Benjamin Piven, former Fulbright Scholar in Mumbai; Suketu Mehta, author, "Maximum City: Bombay Lost & Found" and others. To listen in, go here.

5:09 p.m. - A blogger's first-person account of going out to a friend's gallery opening in Mumbai around the time of the attacks. She wasn't involved.

A petrol pump was blown up in Colaba, a couple of minutes walk from where we are. And, just a minor statistic, no doubt, amid the horror of today: a diner was shot while coming out of Indigo Deli, where we were standing minutes earlier.

5:13 p.m. - From the BBC, some images from Mumbai. Strong image warning.

5:37 p.m. - Posted today on YouTube, a tourist's video of the Taj in better times.

5:40 p.m. - Signing off

If you're under a certain age in Minnesota, you can't buy a can of spraypaint because you might paint a bridge or railroad car with it. You can't buy an American flag that's not made in America because it might.... well, I haven't quite figured out why yet. But if you want to buy a laser pointer, you can walk right in to the laser-pointer store, pay your money, and walk out with a weapon that could bring down a plane load of people, apparently.

Officials in the Twin Cities reportedly are investigating nine cases of someone with laser pointers shining them at jets, potentially blinding the pilot.

It's happening around the country and, according to some news reports, with increasing frequency:

On Monday, police in California arrested a 50-year-old man and charged him with shining a laser pointer on a traffic helicopter. The man is a laser pointer salesman and may have been upset about the helicopter hovering around his home.

There have been six cases reported around Montreal this month. An Ontario newspaper this week called for tougher penalties.

In the UK last month, a teenager got a suspended 20-week jail term for pointing one at a police helicopter.

In Scotland recently, the pilots of a 747 had to cover their eyes in the last seconds of their flight, a newspaper reported. That's not a good thing.

Back in the '90s, someone in Woodbury shined a laser pointer into the eyes of opposing quarterbacks for North St. Paul. That community's then-state-rep, Betty McCollum, filed a bill to make it a crime. It passed the Senate 6-0, but died in the House in 1999, and nobody's taken up the cause since as near as I can tell.

And that's an odd thing, perhaps, in a country that raced to ban mouthwash, toothpaste, and bottles of water from carry-on after someone figured out that somehow they could be used as weapons against airplanes.

Australia has banned them. New Zealand may.

In California, a homeless man was ordered to pay $101 million for setting fires that burned down 160,000 acres of national forest. The court also sentenced him to four years of prison.

Slate asks: "How's a guy who sleeps in a tent supposed to pay $101 million?"

We've got a similar case in Minnesota, where authorities have charged a man with leaving a fire unattended that soon turned into the 75,000-acre Ham Lake fire in 2007.

That fire — Minnesota's most destructive fire in 80 years — cost $11 million to control and burned 150 buildings.

Although the cases differ in terms of intent — the California man committed arson whereas the Minnesota fire was caused by carelessness — one could expect that, if convicted, the alleged Ham Like fire starter will be asked to pay for it.

So how does the state collect millions of dollars in restitution? The kicker, courtesy of Slate: It doesn't.

Instead, he's expected to pay a tiny bit every month until he dies. The man, Steven Emory Butcher, currently receives $1,000 a month in Supplemental Security Income, which is basically welfare for the elderly, disabled, or blind. The federal court ordered that Butcher would pay $25 to Los Padres National Forest four times a year while in prison, and then $50 a month once he's released. No one expects him to deliver the entire $101 million--even a spokesman for the prosecutor acknowledged that the odds of Butcher paying it off were "extremely slim"--but they do expect him to pay what he can.

The good news for Ham Lake residents though, is that they'll have full protection from forest fires thanks to a $3 million grant from FEMA to install external sprinkler systems.

Full protection from forest fires, that is, when the forest grows back.

(Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Incident Command System)

When you're a reporter for community media -- a small-town radio station or a newspaper in a suburb -- you have a different role and a different relationship with people than the big-shots. In many ways, it's a better relationship, and the stories are more meaningful, too.

The Shakopee Valley News is providing a great example of that this week. Unfortunately, it's happening in the context of the killing last week of Ruth Ann Maddox. Readers of the paper are submitting remembrances of their encounters with her on various stories. It's a not-to-be-missed read.

Her husband is charged with second-degree murder. The story appears in this week's paper, pretty near Maddox's last story about a 5-year-old who's collecting crayons and coloring books for orphans in India.

Last week, the St. Paul Police and Ramsey County Sheriff's Office asked the public for help in identifying a man who was apparently assaulted on the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Maybe they're getting somewhere. Maybe not. An e-mail today claims:

I dont know if you guys know who the victim in the RNC protest is yet but he is my husband's uncle, (name withheld). He is the man with the white shirt being assaulted by the rioters and I'm not sure if he has filed any charges yet, but I believe that he should. We are a military family and I believe that, from the sign he was holding, apparently fell to the ground as he is being assaulted, he was there to voice his opinions about military servicemen and families like us.

I'm trying to contact him today.

Update 10:09 a.m.: Bogus phone number

Just by looking out the window of the world headquarters of News Cut, we see a lot of good reminders. Unfortunately, today's is a reminder to pay attention to people in crosswalks.

The Minnesota Lawyer blog posted this fascinating video of the deliberative approach we take when it comes to voting for judges.

Most of the races on my ballot were uncontested. Why don't more people want to be judges?

10:14 p.m. - Rep. Jim Abeler has won re-election. He is one of the targeted Republicans (by Republicans) who were punished for voting to override Gov. Pawlenty's veto of the increase in the gas tax. The seat of another Republican who was run out of office by her own party -- Kathy Tingelstad -- has fallen to Democrats.

Republicans had hoped to make hay out of the outrage over the increase in the gas tax. So far it hasn't worked, although a couple of races may go their way. In District 56B, Republicans ran a merciless campaign against Rep. Marsha Swails over the vote, and the DFL did little to help her. She's trailing in her race so far. Swails is now leading her race.

10:22 p.m. - The DFL has lost District 51A. It was an open seat and that was a "yes" gas tax vote.

10:41 a.m. - Aaron Peterson's DFL seat is in danger of falling to the GOP. The DFL is up by 100 votes in the open seat race.

10:43 p.m. - Rep. Rod Hamilton, one of the GOP's "override six" wins re-election .

10:52 p.m. The lone House seat in the hands of an African American in Minnesota will stay in the hands of an African American. Jeff Hayden wins Minneapolis Rep. Neva Walker's seat over Green Party candidate Farheen Hakeem.

10:57 p.m. - Forty-eight House races have been decided. The DFL has picked up a net gain of one seat (Two seats went GOP to DFL; One went GOP to DFL)

11:27 p.m. - The first "Override Sixer" falls. Rep. Ron Erhardt falls to Republican Keith Downley. Erhardt was running as an Independent.

11:34 p.m. With half the vote in Rep. Frank Moe's DFL seat is tilting Republican. John Persell is trying to hold onto the Bemidji seat for the DFL. It's early in that race.

11:39 p.m. Override Six seat of former Rep. Bud Heidgerken stays Republican. Paul Anderson wins the seat easily.

11:41 p.m. - There's only one Override Six seat left. District 41B where Rep. Neil Peterson lost in the primary. The DFLer and GOPer are separated by just 115 votes with half the vote counted. Slight edge to the DFL.

12:11 a.m. - Incumbent DFLer Shelley Madore loses her District 37A seat (Apple Valley) to GOP challenger Tara Mack. She is the first DFLer to vote for the gas tax to lose her seat to the GOP tonight.

12:16 a.m. Rep. Marsha Swails retains her District 56B seat rather easily as it turned out. Julie Bunn retained her seat in District 56A. Is Woodbury losing its reputation as a GOP stronghold?

12:36 a.m. - Still 25% of the vote is out, but District 41B is looking like it will go to the DFL.That's Neil Peterson's seat, the final member of the Overrride Six, who lost in the primary. So the GOP's targeting of its own party cost it two seats to the DFL.

12:37 a.m. - That's it for me for tonight. We'll pick it up in the morning.

The ATF says it's disrupted a plot to assassinate Barack Obama and who among us is surprised?

For most of the the last two years, it's been the unspoken fear that , coincidentally, has been spoken in the last few weeks.

Just last week, for example, Saturday's Globe and Mail shocked its readers in an op-ed piece that started, "where were you when Barack Obama was shot?". The article takes the easy way out -- connecting a potential assassination with the McCain-Palin tone of the last few weeks. But there's plenty of demented skinheads in America that had people concerned long before now.

More shocking still isn't that people are so worried about an assassination, but that so many people actually expect it. Charles Onyango Obbo, writing in Kenya's Daily Nation last week said, "an Obama victory would leave many Third World intellectuals and nationalists either jobless, struggling for relevance, or scurrying back to the drawing boards to explain an America led by a black president. Of course, they will also wish that he met some misfortune at the hands of a red-neck."

Update: Here's a site in Wisconsin showing a flyer it says was distributed in Wausau. However, I see nothing there that connects it with the Republican Party.

The cars of a Missouri congressman were vandalized overnight, with the message being the same one that was spraypainted on the homes of some of the congressional delegation in Minnesota.

Given that it happened a day after all the publicity about the Minnesota assaults, it's unlikely it was part of a coordinated protest.

(h/t: Tom Weber, MPR)

An indictment was unsealed today against a Minnesota state worker who allegedly embezzled more than $1.1 million.

At the time the allegation first surfaced -- September 26th -- I asked, "So now the question isn't when did it begin, but when did it end?" And now we know: September 10th, 2008. It started in 2003.

According to the indictment (which you can read here), Kim Austen, 47,of Hudson, headed the Department of Human Services unit that submitted Medicaid claims for payment. Starting in August 2003, the indictment says, Austen created an account for an adult man who was not a Medicaid provider, then added dummy invoices into the state's system that automatically generated checks.

At a news conference last month, Sen. Linda Berglin said the woman was caught thanks to some recently implemented controls. "This would not be able to happen today," she said. "It got started before the controls that are in place today were installed, and this hasn't got caught until today."

I had an interview on Future Tense today with a tech writer who selected "viral video" as the technology having the most impact on the '08 campaign.

There's the other side of the coin, too, where video is concerned -- and by "video," of course, I mean You Tube.

Up in Superior, Wisconsin, three 13-year olds have been linked to a "series of small homemade bombs that had gone off around town over four days," according to the Duluth News Tribune.

They were inspired, the story says, by videos on YouTube.

They couldn't be "inspired" by algebra videos?

Every now and then we here stories, as we did today, of people being charged with setting forest fires accidentally. Although we don't often hear of prison sentences, they're not rare in cases like this.

Stephen Posniak, 64, is charged today with starting the Ham Lake fire, which burned 118 acres in Minnesota and Canada, by leaving a campfire unattended, and then lying to Forest Service officers. As usual, the cover-up is what gets you in trouble.

He faces five years in prison.

Earlier this year, a former Forest Service worker was sentenced to six years in prison for accidentally starting the 137,000 acre Hayman fire in the Pike National Forest in 2002. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the millions of dollars; tough to do on a government salary.

Another Forest Service employee, this one in Arizona, got two years in prison in 2007 for starting a prescribed burn that got out of control.

In 2003, a woman who admitted she started the worst fire on record in the Sequoia National Forest got 18 months in prison. She had lit a campfire that get out of hand.

Things went easier for a hunter who started one of the biggest forest fires in California history when he was sentenced to just 6 months of jail time, rather than the 5 years in prison he could've faced. Thousands of people lost their homes and the judge ordered the man to pay $150 a month restitution. The fire started when he got lost and set a signal fire. Fifteen people were killed in that fire.

A few years ago, my sister visiting me from Vermont, had a potential problem when heading back home. Vermont doesn't have photo IDs to show the security agents along with her boarding pass. And she had a bag full of knitting with, of course, knitting needles. I was sure she'd be spending another night at Casa News Cut after being turned away, but she had a pretty good plan. "I'll find a security agent who looks like a grandmother and knits," she said.

She got through faster than I ever did.

Though it impressed the heck out of me, apparently it wasn't such a big deal. Anybody can get through security at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, suggests an article in this month's The Atlantic magazine.

In Minneapolis, I littered my carry-on with many of my prohibited items, and also an Osama bin Laden, Hero of Islam T-shirt, which often gets a rise out of people who see it. This day, however, would feature a different sort of experiment, designed to prove not only that the TSA often cannot find anything on you or in your carry-on, but that it has no actual idea who you are, despite the government's effort to build a comprehensive "no-fly" list. A no-fly list would be a good idea if it worked; Bruce Schnei­er's homemade boarding passes were about to prove that it doesn't. Schnei­er is the TSA's most relentless, and effective, critic; the TSA director, Kip Hawley, told me he respects Schnei­er's opinions, though Schnei­er quite clearly makes his life miserable.

"The whole system is designed to catch stupid terrorists," Schnei­er told me. A smart terrorist, he says, won't try to bring a knife aboard a plane, as I had been doing; he'll make his own, in the airplane bathroom. Schnei­er told me the recipe: "Get some steel epoxy glue at a hardware store. It comes in two tubes, one with steel dust and then a hardener. You make the mold by folding a piece of cardboard in two, and then you mix the two tubes together. You can use a metal spoon for the handle. It hardens in 15 minutes."

Jeffrey Goldberg also used fake boarding passes, made by an acquaintance on a laser printer. But it's not just our local airport, according to his article.

The reaction of the people in charge? A spokeswoman characterized the article as "more of an entertainment piece than a treatment of security. ... It's absurd to think that we take things from people because of what they wear," according to the Star Tribune.

She acknowledged no level of security can provide 100% protection.

Not much has changed in Twin Cities newsrooms since I wrote an article in 1999 on the clumsy application of ethics when it comes to naming the names of people who are arrested on the suspicion of committing a crime, but who have not yet been charged.

Remember Richard Jewell? He was the guy who was arrested for the Atlanta Olympics bombing. He didn't do it, but he was named as a suspect and that was enough to ruin his life at the time.

Minnesota Public Radio has a policy of not naming suspects until they're charged precisely for that reason. But everything gets blurry when (a) Another media source names the name and (b) the person is "famous."

Today, the news is out that the co-host of a popular talk show on a Twin Cities radio station has been arrested -- but not yet charged -- for allegedly possessing meth. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. In any event, it doesn't matter anymore. At best, his career is over.

Read the old article and then let's hear your opinion.

The Minnesota State Patrol is starting a crackdown on seat belt use, according to a story today on MPR.

There is one clarification needed. In Minnesota, you can't be stopped for not wearing a seat belt. The Legislature toyed with the idea of making failure to wear a seat belt a "primary offense," but the bill failed in the House last May.

However, if you're stopped for some other infraction -- and how difficult is it to stop you for some other "infraction"? -- you can be charged with violating the law if you're not wearing a seat belt.

One of the exceptions? If you're driving a car in reverse, you don't need a seat belt.

The bottom line. It's the law that you have to wear a seat belt, but you can't be penalized unless you are stopped for another reason.

Yesterday, several politicians announced they intend to either return or donate campaign contributions from Tom Petters, the Minnesota businessman who is now in jail awaiting trial on fraud charges.

Today, at least one business is also trying to put some space between it and Petters.

TCF Bank issued a statement late Friday saying, "Neither TCF Financial Corporation, its subsidiaries, nor any senior executive of TCF Financial Corporation have any investment or lending exposure to Petters."

Meanwhile, David Brauer at MinnPost reports one of Petters' companies closed its doors today.

According to a news release that's crossed the inbox, lawyers for a homeowner in St. Paul are suing the city over a police raid on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

Says the release:

The first lawsuit resulting from the police invasion of a St. Paul home prior to the Republican National Convention will be announced at a press conference October 10. Notice will be served on the city of Saint Paul that lawyers representing Michael Whalen will seek $250,000 in damages. Whalen's duplex on Iglehart Avenue was cordoned off by St. Paul police working with the FBI and Homeland Security people. Whalen and his tenants and guests were held at gunpoint for several hours, not allowed to leave - and no one allowed to enter.

It has not been disclosed what prompted the raid. An FBI agent (perhaps Scott Zimmerman) had requested entry an hour earlier. When denied he apparently called the St. Paul authorities who sent two dozen or so officers into the streets, alleys and entrances of Whalen's home.

When these officers also were denied entry, they held the premises under armed guard while police tried to create a legitimate reason for an invasion. After an hour or two, Officer Langfellow swore that Mr. Whalen had supported Irish Independence some 20 years ago, had co-owned a bookstore for a whole year with Sarah Jane Olsen also 20 years ago, had recently failed to put his address numbers on one half of the duplex and had received heavy boxes by US Mail.

The sworn affidavit, supporting the request for a search warrant, also contained a straight-out falsehood about Whalen's activities that day. Amazingly, a judge of the District Court found all this sufficient to issue the warrant - for the wrong address! The items listed in the warrant for seizure did not include Irish literature, letters from Ms Olson, unused address numbers nor the vegan literature in the heavy boxes.

It might be noted that Whalen's guests included journalists who are part of the growing people's independent press movement, which documents and web-publishes police abuse around this land of ours. Some of these folks were raided again elsewhere and some were arrested as they documented the new face of St. Paul, formerly the most livable city in America.

Mr. Whalen is represented by attorneys Ted Dooley and Peter Nickitas, both members of the National Lawyers Guild. Dooley will be among the speakers at the press conference.

On Thursday, MPR's Laura Yuen took a look at St. Paul's protection against lawsuits like this, an insurance policy the city required the organizers of the convention to buy.

The city required the Minneapolis-St. Paul host committee to buy insurance costing $1.2 million that would pay up to $10 million in damages. The policy doesn't have a limit on legal expenses.

That means St. Paul won't have to tap its self-insurance fund unless the damages exceed $10 million. The policy also covers other cities that provided officers for security during the RNC.

A judge today sentenced Olga Marina Franco Del Cid to 12 1/2 years in prison for the accident that killed four students aboard a bus near Cottonwood in February.

The accident has been a lightning rod from the start, not only for the tragedy, but for the fact that the woman, who still denies being the driver of a vehicle that hit the bus, was in the United State illegally.

Now, the sentence itself is part of the controversy.

"That's IT! This is insane!," one commenter on the West Central Tribune Web site said after the sentence was announced.

"She should get the death penalty for killing those kids. Then we wouldn't have to waste more resources on illegals. Maybe that would send a signal. If you are here illegally and get caught, you hang," said another.

Things aren't any quieter on the Marshall Independent's bulletin board.

Typical online commentary, or does it speak to the emotion of the immigration issue in an area of the state where it is more acute?

Clearing out the inbox.

People are still trying to figure out why federal agents raided the worldwide headquarters of Petters Group earlier this week. Tom Petters has his hands in many different business, but a look at a statement released by Fingerhut yesterday indicates the involvement of Petters in the operations there has been somewhat diluted:

Minneapolis -- Fingerhut Direct Marketing, Inc., a leading direct-to-consumer marketing company, today announced its business operations continue as usual and are not affected by the investigation of Petters Group Worldwide by law enforcement agencies.

Fingerhut is an independent, standalone company in which Petters Group Worldwide is a passive minority stockholder. Petters Group has no involvement in the day-to-day management of the company.

Fingerhut's financial strength is excellent, having recently completed a new round of equity financing of more than $50 million of additional capital from controlling investors Bain Capital and Battery Ventures.

Fingerhut Direct Marketing, Inc. is an online and catalog retailer of general merchandise featuring more than 500 national brands and nearly 25,000 items. The Fingerhut brand has been in existence for more than 50 years and has enhanced the lives of millions of customers through its commitment to high quality merchandise, convenient and flexible credit terms and extraordinary levels of customer service. FDM Inc. is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minn.

Bain Capital. Controlling investors. Sound familiar at all? It's the company founded by Mitt Romney.

Update On the bigger issue, a warrant has been unsealed that provides a glimpse into what the feds think they've got on Petters.

There's never a good time to have a scandal in a gubernatorial administration, but the one that's apparently hitting Gov. Tim Pawlenty is especially ill-timed.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press, citing sources, says an employee of the Department of Human Services allegedly stole $1 million from the Medical Assistance program for the employee's personal use.

How does one person in an agency of 7,200 people steal a million dollars by him or herself without anyone noticing until now?

According to the paper, that question -- and any others -- will go unanswered:

Terry Gunderson, a spokeswoman at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, said no information about any ongoing investigation would be made public.

Now, about that timing thing. The state just went hat in hand to the federal government (most of the money that funds the state's Medical Assistance program is federal money), asking for more time to explain why Minnesota shouldn't lose $130 million in federal assistance to provide health insurance to low income adults.

Federal Medicaid money is normally targeted for kids, but Minnesota already insures low-income kids through the state-funded (with a tax on health care providers) MinnesotaCare program, so Minnesota uses the money to insure their parents, by virtue of a waiver from the federal government allowing it to do so. The feds are threatening to eliminate the waiver.

Minnesota isn't the onliy one fighting this kind of battle. The feds are also threatening to strip the cash from Massachusetts, which also has a state-subsidized health care program. That state is