At City Pages, Aaron Rupar tells us, “This session, a bill to strip legislators of their immunity from most non-felony arrests stalled in the Senate amid disagreement over whether new legislation was really needed in order to make state senators and representatives subject to DWIs. Today, outgoing Secretary of State Mark Ritchie cleared up any confusion by announcing that his office will simply stop issuing the cards at the start of future legislative sessions.” Place your bets on how it takes someone to take him to court over this one.
Even if you’re bad at math you know -16 percent is not good. Kavita Kumar of the Strib says, “Target Corp. said this morning that its first-quarter profit fell 16 percent, in line with its expectations but slightly below what investors expected, as the company has worked to recover from the data breach and improve its Canadian operations. Net profit amounted to $418 million, or 66 cents a share, in the period ended May 3. Adjusted to exclude the effect of costs related to the data breach, Target earned 70 cents a share, just below the 71 cents expected by analysts.”
MPR's Bob Collins notes the Minnesota Supreme Corut ruled it's OK to revoke a drunk driver's license even if she was fleeing from her abusive husband. The court said it was up to the Legislature to resolve the knotty question of making victims choose between driving drunk and their personal safety.
The Strib's Pat Condon reports that GOP gubernatorial hopeful Marty Seifert might not abide by next weekend's convention endorsement. MPR's Tim Pugmire has Seifert blaming high delegate costs to get to the Rochester convention, as if this was a totally unforeseeable problem.
NPR's Planet Money shows the awesome power of Rochester, Minnesota buying power.
In the Washington Post, Niraj Choksi reviews our legislative session and says, “Minnesota is among a handful of states that have seen a significant tax rebound since a start-of-the-recession peak, according to a recent Pew analysis. Revenues in Minnesota surpassed their 2008 peak in 2011 and were up 20.6 percent by the final quarter of last year. Only North Dakota and Illinois posted a larger bump.”
And the Mayor wants what? Another 100,000? Curtis Gilbert of MPR reports, “The population of Minnesota's largest city has surpassed 400,000 for the first time since the 1970s, according to a preliminary estimate from the Metropolitan Council. Minneapolis grew by almost 9,000 residents last year, Met Council researchers said in a draft report sent to the Hennepin County Board this month. That 2 percent annual growth rate is the fastest the city's seen since the 1930s.”
Hey dummies, don't paddle on Minnehaha Creek after torrential spring rains. The Strib's Kelly Smith says water is flowing over Grays Bay Dam twice as fast as is considered dangerous.
We’re Number 1! … and Wisconsin is improving. The AP says, “Minnesota has retained the No. 1 spot in an annual report on senior health, but Wisconsin's rise to 10th in the nation was the biggest leap of any state. The United Health Foundation's study, ‘America's Health Rankings Senior Report: A Call to Action for Individuals and Their Communities,’ showed Wisconsin rose from 19th. The findings showed that nearly 15 percent of Wisconsin residents 65 and older reported falling within the past 12 months, compared with about 27 percent nationally … .” Of course, knowing our fine and wonderful neighbors, this falling problem may not be entirely age-related.
Post-Super Bowl “victory,” the Strib’s Rochelle Olson says, “Before the presentation, Minnesota’s steering committee members kept their cards hidden, but afterward they revealed the bid’s theme and emphasis on the ease of navigating the Twin Cities and plans to make the Mall of America a hub of action. They also told the owners that the St. Paul Winter Carnival has agreed to build an eight-story ice castle — its first since 2004.” Will all the potholes be filled to allow smooth travel to and from “The People’s Stadium”?
For the AP, Steve Karnowski says, “The Super Bowl is expected to draw 100,000 visitors to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, while over 100 million people across the U.S. watch it on TV from the warm comfort of their homes and sports bars. Civic boosters and business leaders see it as a huge opportunity to lure conventions, meetings and other business that goes elsewhere in the winter.’" It worked so well in 1992.