Mayor Ness targeted for anti-racism campaign, beet lobby power, rampant walleye violations

Posted at 6:20 AM on January 31, 2012 by Michael Olson (2 Comments)
Filed under: Around MN

Anti-racism campaign brings backlash to Duluth Mayor
Northland News Center: "I've been getting really threatening and ugly emails from all over the world," said Duluth Mayor Don Ness. Those messages, says Mayor Ness, have come from White Supremacist groups."

Inside Congress, no one beats the beet lobby
Star Tribune: "American Crystal Sugar has become one of the country's most powerful lobbying groups, doling out cash contributions to lawmakers at levels approaching big-business groups like the American Bankers Association. And it's all for a single objective: To guarantee tariffs and price supports allow sugar beet farmers to make money, even if it drives the cost of sugar above the global market."

DNR sweep of lake nets scores of violators
Pioneer Press: "Conservation officers with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently swept through Lake of the Woods, revealing an eye-opening number of violations among walleye fishermen."

Romney campaign swings though Eagan
MPR News: "Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has scheduled a campaign stop in Minnesota on Wednesday. Romney, a former governor from Massachusetts, will hold a campaign event in Eagan on Wednesday afternoon. He's making the appearance with former Gov. Tim Pawlenty at the FreightMasters building in Eagan."

Candidates vie for 8th District DFL endorsement
Duluth News Tribune: "Across the 8th Congressional District DFLers do have a pretty heated race for U.S. Congress. Former Duluth city Councilor Jeff Anderson, former St. Cloud area state Sen. Tarryl Clark and former 6th District Congressman Rick Nolan of Crosby."

Minn. lawmakers watch transportation bills closely
MPR News: "Minnesota and other states may lose federal highway funding under legislation that could be introduced by House Republicans as early as this week to renew spending on the nation's infrastructure - highways, bridges and transit."

Pine County Sheriff offers new details of misconduct probe
KARE11: "The Sheriff of Pine County, Minnesota is offering more details of an internal department probe of alleged misconduct that could eventually lead to criminal charges."

Mankato TV anchor, infamous for impaired newscast, is charged with DWI
Pioneer Press: "A KEYC-TV anchor who was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, two weeks after what some suspected was a drunken newscast, has been charged."

Fight cuts short hip-hop concert to honor military
St Cloud Times: "A hip-hop concert planned to honor the military was cut short Saturday night after fights broke out."

Increase in snowy owl sightings
WDIO: "Snowy owls are fairly common around the Northland during the winter months. But as of late, these Arctic birds have been spotted over a thousand miles from it's tundra home. Wildlife Manager, Martha Minchak, says these are food stressed owls just searching for a meal."

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Minnesota wrestles with U.S.-Dakota War 150 years later

Posted at 2:45 PM on January 31, 2012 by Michael Olson
Filed under: Around MN

150 years later, war's wounds still cut deep
Captured Sioux Indians in fenced enclosure on Minnesota River below Fort Snelling.
Photographer: Benjamin Franklin Upton (1818-)
Minnesota Historical Society Photograph Collection 1862-1863

Star Tribune: "A 150-year-old loop of rope, knotted into a hangman's noose, sits in a climate-controlled case in the underground archives of the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul.

Some say it should be burned, buried or returned to the hands of the Dakota people.

Others argue it should be displayed, like piles of shoes at Holocaust museums, as a powerful artifact to help people confront the grim story of the U.S.-Dakota War, which erupted in Minnesota in 1862 and ended with the largest mass execution in U.S. history.

The noose, and just what to make of it, is one sign of the historical reckoning looming this year as Minnesotans wrestle with how to mark the 150th anniversary of one its ugliest, yet often overlooked, episodes."

Also on MN Today No deal struck in Crystal Sugar labor talks, company says 'window is closing' Forum of Fargo Moorhead: "American Crystal Sugar Co. and the union representing locked-out workers are blaming each other for an unproductive negotiating session held Monday."

Coalition raises $830K for gay marriage ban
Fox9: "Minnesota for Marriage, a coalition of groups working to pass a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, says it raised $830,000 for its campaign last year."

$40K In Cattle Stolen From Minnesota Farm
WCCO: "The hunt is underway in western Minnesota for a steer thief.Police said someone stole 26 steer over the weekend in Madison, Minn."

After years on run, Maplewood man sentenced for $860,000 in fraud
Star Tribune: "More than three years after fleeing the continent upon conviction, a Maplewood man has been sentenced in federal court in Minneapolis for stealing more than $860,000 from people's bank accounts."

Bachmann presidential campaign ended 2011 in debt
Capitol View: "Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign committees ended the year owing a total of about $447,000, according to Federal Election Commission reports."

St. Paul teachers reach tentative contract deal
AP: "St. Paul Public Schools and its teachers' union have reached a tentative contract agreement with assistance from an outside mediator."

Minnesota's aerial moose count starts
AP: "Recent snowfall in northeastern Minnesota is letting researchers finally get going on their annual aerial survey of the region's struggling moose population."

iPad version of Kevin Kling children's book free today
Star Tribune: "Big Little Brother is a children's book by iconic Minnesota storyteller Kevin Kling that chronicles the experience of being an older brother with a younger, but larger sibling."

Arts Week on Midday: design for abandoned places

Midday: Marianne Combs hosts "Arts Week" on Midday, with today's co-host, architectural historian Larry Millett.