HometownSource Blogs

If you’re thinking about touting the Little Falls boys hockey team’s undefeated regular season, brace yourself for resistance.
“Who have they played?”
The inherently snotty voice inflection which accompanies those four words will drive you crazy.
When the Flyers completed a perfect regular season Thursday night with a 9-1 win over St. Cloud Apollo, they did not silence the state of hockey’s doubters.
In fact, they most likely only created more. Read more »

The Environment Minnesota Research and Policy Center today (Feb. 26) issued a report on the cost savings it believes adoption of the so-called “Clean Car” legislation would reap Minnesota drivers.

The legislation, which would have the state adopting California’s emission standards, would save Minnesota motorists money in driving more fuel-efficient cars, the report claims.
Indeed, at the price of $1.74 a gallon for gas, Minnesota drivers would spend some $1.4 billion less on gas between now and 2020.

Beyond this, drivers in Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington counties starting in 2020 would annually save some $10 million at the pump driving these cleaner-burning vehicles, claims the report.
The legislation has it’s critics: ethanol producers, Minnesota Farm Bureau, state car dealers association, others.
But the “Minnesota Clean Car Act” is edging forward at the Capitol.

A Senate committee early Thursday evening passed the bill onto another Senate committee.

The legislation has advanced in the House.

The news released Thursday (Feb. 26) about the NCAA deciding to bring the NCAA women’s hockey Frozen Four to Ridder Arena next winter raises an interesting question for the MSHSL.

Knowing that a group of girls hockey parents used a lawsuit to bring the girls state hockey tournament to Xcel Energy Center, I admit their hands were/are tied in the situation, but now that we’ve seen a lot of empty seats all tournament long, isn’t it time to return to the only exclusively women’s hockey facility.

The next MSHSL board meeting should raise the point that the move will not only create a more intimate atmosphere were 2,000 screaming fans will get the place hopping instead of a cavernous 19,000-seat NHL building.

The move would save the league dollars and might even play a small role in recruiting efforts for the U of M. But this program doesn’t have a problem with drawing top talent either.

My vote is for a state tournament at Ridder, not the X.

Jason Olson is at jason.olson@ecm-inc.com

He was just driving the way that he’d been taught and got tagged, explained Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia.

“I got a speeding ticket for simply doing exactly what we were taught years ago,” he told a House transportation committee today (Feb. 25).

Rukavina presented a bill to the committee that would allow motorists to drive ten miles an hour over the speed limit when in the act of passing another car.

“I think it’s a safety issue,” Rukavina agrued.

The safest way to pass another car was to do it quickly, he spoke of drivers’ ed lessons of lore.

But MnDOT state traffic engineer Sue Groth opined that the proposal was expensive and perhaps dangerous.

Groth expressed concern that upping the speed limit for passing could contribute to aggressive driving. In 28 percent of fatal crashes, excessive speed is judged a contributing factor, she said.

And two-land highways in Greater Minnesota are already some of the most dangerous highways in the state, she opined.

Beyond this, adopting the law would cost MnDOT $3 million to $4 million, she said.

That’s because it could force the transportation department to regauge No Passing zones on state highways — there are as many as 10,000 of these zones, she explained.

The reason this may need to be redone, sbe explained, was because additional speed demands greater lengths for stopping.

No Passing zones would need to be adjusted about 200 feet on each end, said Groth.

Signs would need to be moved. New holes dug, she explained.

But a number of lawmakers didn’t buy the explanation, and argued what Rukavina wanted was exactly the way people drove now anyway.

Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, argued rather requiring longer zones, upping the speed limit would require shorter ones — cars would pass cars more quickly.

“I don’t know where the logic is in this,” said Rukavina of the engineer’s arguments.

But a State Patrol official indicated their department did not like the proposed change of law because a speeding motorist could argue when pulled over that they were just preparing to pass another car, or just did.

The committee passed the bill, which was another House committee pit stop.

The real reason law enforcement and others didn’t like his bill, Rukavina argued, was because these agencies have become dependent on fines for funding.

That’s because the state lacks a fair tax system, he opined.

State Auditor Rebecca Otto today (Feb. 25) released a report of municipal liquor store operations, showing a combined net profit in 2007 totaling about $22 million — an increase over the previous year.

Sales continue at a record pace, totaling almost $292 million.

Of the 31 cities reporting net losses for 2007, all 31 were from Greater Minnesota.

Metro municipal operations are bigger and more profitable than their country cousins, the report details. Sales for all metro municipal liquor operations averaged about $2.8 million, compared to the average sale of about $888,000 for all Greater Minnesota liquor store operations.

Net profits for metro municipal liquor operations was about $234,000, compared to $64,000 for liquor store operations in Greater Minnesota.

Although municipal liquor operations can make money, the auditor’s report notes that the number of cities operating liquor stores has steadily declined — there’s concerns about insurance costs, profitability.

Among the auditor’s recommendations is that municipal liquor operations with high operating costs should check other operations with lower operating costs and see how the savings are achieved.

Cities in Greater Minnesota with municipal liquor operations include Elk River, Isanti, Cambridge, North Branch, Lindstrom, Milaca and Princeton.

Metro cities include St. Francis, Anoka, Spring Lake Park, Apple Valley, Lakeville, and Farmington.

The U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor published a run of the federal economic stimulus bill’s impact on American school districts.

The run shows some Minnesota school districts receiving millions of dollars under the bill, other school districts much less.

Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said today (Feb. 23) that her department is being very wary in citing federal education stimulus numbers, because the dollar amounts can change and she didn’t want school districts planning their budgets based on bad numbers.

Anyway, as possibly faulty as the numbers are, the run shows in total dollars:
•Big Lake School District: $575,000.

•Burnsville School District: $3.5 million.

•Caledonia School District: $334,000.

•Cambridge-Isanti School District:  $1.3 million.

•Elk River School District: $2 million.

•Farmington School District: $1.2 million.

•Forest Lake School District: $1.9 million.

•Lakeville School District: $2 million.

•North Branch School District: $900,000.

•Princeton School District: $835,000.

•Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District: $5.9 million.

•Spring Lake Park School District: $1.2 million.

•St. Francis School District: $1.6 million.

Minnesota Department of Education officials are still learning more about the recently enacted federal economic stimulus package that could bring about $1 billion in one-time funding to Minnesota schools.

Division of Program Finance Director Tom Melcher, appearing before a House education committee this week, indicated that it may be some weeks before the department has a breakdown of the federal funding to the school district level.

Melcher pointed out that one reported aspect of the funding — that the influx of special education dollars will actually have the feds funding special education at the promised 40 percent level — isn’t borne out by the numbers.

Currently, the feds fund special education at about 15 percent, Melcher explained. Even with the wash of new funding coming in, the percentage of special education funding will only rise to 24 percent, he said.

One concern lawmakers expressed about the stimulus education dollars was that they would be used as ongoing dollars when in fact they’ll disappear in a couple of years.

Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, feels both a sense of pleasure and regret as he drives past the ethanol plant in Little Falls.

Koering, speaking today (Feb. 19) in a Senate committee, explained that he likes seeing the steam come out of the plant — thinking of the jobs created — but recalls back when he was farming how he bought 10,000 shares of ethanol stock at a buck and a half a share.

Later, elected to the Senate and not knowing it’s possible for a lawmaker to not vote on bills that may directly benefit them, in the spirit of good government Koering sold his ethanol stock at the price he bought it.

Now, looking at the success of the Little Falls plant, he wishes he still had some of that stock.

“I can tell you that,” said Koering.

It became evident during discussions about the plant that Koering’s investment, had he kept it, would have made a tidy dollar.

But that’s the price of government service, Koering laughed.

Second District Congressman John Kline, R-Lakeville, was in St. Paul today (Feb. 18), meeting with lawmakers and with reporters in the noisy Capitol rathskeller.

In taking questions, Kline depicted the $789 billion economic stimulus bill recently signed into law by President Obama as power slammed through the House with Democrats neither seeking nor accepting Republican input. Indeed, the actual language of the bill only became public at about 11 p.m. EST, the day before the vote, Kline said.

Maybe he would have been awake to read it were he 25, but he’s not, Kline explained.
“I was asleep,” he said.

Debate on the big spending bill began immediately in the morning with votes beginning around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, according to Kline.
This meant only about 14, 15 hours had elapsed between the votes and the time the bill had become public, Kline pointed out.
“Literally nobody had read the bill,” Kline said.

And this was the biggest addition to the national debt in history, he argued.
Americans were deprived of a chance to study the bill prior to passage, Kline argued, expressing personal frustration.
Still, the bill is now law, said Kline.

Now the job is to study it, learn what the bill contains, and make sure Minnesota doesn’t get shortchanged in the allocations, Kline explained.

His knowledge of the bill is imperfect.
“They’re (Minnesota lawmakers) asking me (about it) — I don’t know,” he said.

On the future of House Republicans, Kline was upbeat.

“I’m thinking 2010 is going to be a great year for us,” he said.

In addition to history arguing for Republican gains in the upcoming, off-year election, House Republicans “sort of found our footing again,” said Kline.
“I just feel we’re getting our voice,” he said, citing improved caucus communications.

Commenting on the war in Afghanistan, Kline endorsed Obama’s decision to send more troops to the country.

Although it would be desirable for Afghanistan to be a democracy, American’s No. 1 goal should be to ensure the country doesn’t revert back to the Taliban era, Kline opined.
Kline, a former U.S. Marine officer, contrasted the Afghan war with the Iraqi war. The terrain is “unbelievable” in Afghanistan, the fighting is different, too.

It’s less roadside bombs than actual firefights. And the Taliban, fueled by profits from drug sales, are well armed.

“I’ve seen some of the plan — it’s a good plan,” Kline said of U.S. military strategy for Afghanistan.

But Kline views the strategy as not completely developed.

The congressman sees support for the Afghanistan war in Congress as generally solid.

“Things may change,” he said.

More troops in Afghanistan are needed — NATO troops, Kline opined.
But they’re not going to be of much value if they aren’t willing to leave their compounds and move about, he argued.

Medical marijuana legislation passed a House health committee today (Feb. 18) on a 9 to 6 vote.

Representatives Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, Tom Emmer, R-Delano, and Tara Mack, R-Apple Valley, voted against the bill.

Rep. Paul Gardner, DFL-Shoreview, voted for it.

A handful of lawmakers on the Health Care and Human Services Policy and Oversight Committee were not present for the vote.

Thanks to Bill Roehl for this post. It seems some people have forgotten that news comes printed on dead trees. A sign of the times????

The White House Press Office has been busy sending releases out on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $789 billion federal stimulus package.

The big federal bill promises to create or save some 3.5 million jobs across the country over the next two years. A congressional district breakdown for jobs for Minnesota shows: 2nd District, 9,200 jobs; 6th District, 9,500 jobs; and the 8th District, 8,100 jobs.

All told, the estimate out of Washington has the legislation creating or saving some 66,000 jobs in Minnesota.

Republicans have criticized the federal stimulus bill for spending, spending, spending.

Minnesota lawmakers are working on dovetailing the federal stimulus money to the reeling state budget.

The Governor’s 21st Century Tax Reform Commission released a report today (Feb. 13) calling for the modernization of the state’s tax system, saying the state budget crunch presents an opportunity for tax reform.

The 15-member commission heard testimony from tax experts, business leaders, others, and recommend a series of reforms — a number of which Gov. Tim Pawlenty has proposed in his state budget.

Some of these include the repeal of the corporate income tax — the governor proposes to cut it — and simplifying the state property tax system.
The commission went on in their recommendations to suggest that to pay for the tax reform lawmakers should consider extending the sales tax base and increase the excise tax on cigarettes.

Although Pawlenty is opposed to raising taxes, he has indicated a willingness to consider it if the impact is revenue neutral.

For the next month and a half, section and state tournaments will be ramping into high gear and this year its extra special for me. I have more interest in more teams that usual, after moving literally across town from Thisweek Newspapers to ABC Newspapers. In all, the teams I’ve covered/followed this winter reaches 15.

A tentative labor agreement was struck today (Feb. 12) between the Inter Faculty Organization (IFO) — a group representing more than 3,000 faculty staff at the seven state universities — and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) officials.

It calls for no across-the-board salary increases or annual step increases for the next two years.

The current labor contract expires on June 30.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been calling for government employee salary freezes.

Rod Henry, IFO president, said in a press release the tentative agreement is “appropriate for these extraordinary times.”

MnSCU Chancellor James McCormick said the early-reached contract agreement would give state university presidents certainty as they planned for budget cuts.

“We are hopeful that maintaining salaries at current levels will result in fewer layoffs and fewer severe program cuts than they otherwise would have planned,” McCormick said in the press release.