It's quiet...too quiet

Posted at 7:21 AM on July 3, 2006 by Mike Mulcahy (1 Comments)

No, I'm not describing the news today (although how did I get stuck working July 3?). I'm talking about the relative lack of explosions in my St. Paul neighborhood last night.

Typically a couple days before July 4 the fireworks are going off non-stop. It got even worse a few years ago when Gov. Jesse Ventura legalized some fireworks--supposedly the ones that don't fly or explode. People in my neighborhood took that as an invitation to open a free-fire zone.

Anyway for some reason last night all was quiet on the East-metro front. I wonder if that can last?

Comments (1)

Here in Woodbury all is relatively quiet. Can it be that people are wisely choosing to forego fireworks due to our very dry conditions? (Might I hope my pet peeve of cig butt flicking is also reduced?) Or are they bored or have no disposable income left after higher property taxes and paying to fill gas tanks?

On a totally unrelated topic, where has all discussion of Diebold voting machines gone? I was hoping to enter a discussion. My concern is that Kiffmeyer will purchase loads of these things at great expense and no benefit. All I read is that she has purchased 4,000 Automark machines (which sound somewhat helpful to a minority, and don't actually tally votes thus no risk of miscount) and some electronic ballot readers (like we use in Twin Cities) for out state polling places.

My perspective is that the most effective argument against MN, or any other state, buying these machines is that they are cost prohibitive relative to output. We now mark our ballots in one of many privacy booths (low tech and cheap) then place our ballot in an electronic reader (old tech and pretty cheap.) Only one reader is needed for each polling place. There is very little waiting in this system. If we change to the Diebold voting machines (high tech, expensive and that pesky fluke of no assurance of accuracy) either multiple machines must be purchased for each polling place (one machine, one voter at a time) or there will be serious waiting times for voters. Will machines be allocated so that wealthier precincts have more machines per voter? Long waits are definitely more likely to discourage poorer voters who have less job protection or resources for children, etc. Is anyone else interested in this topic with elections coming up in the fall? Anyone know Kiffmeyer's plans?

Posted by laura | July 3, 2006 12:18 PM

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