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Baby boomer suicide rates rise, including in Minnesota
The incidence of suicide has risen sharply in recent years among Americans aged 35 to 64 while staying essentially unchanged among younger and older demographic groups, according to a new report by the...
View ArticleNonprofits nervous about proposed Minnesota tax change on charitable...
Minnesota nonprofits are watching nervously to see if a potentially bitter pill ends up in the omnibus tax bill that eventually lands on the desk of Gov. Mark Dayton.Their concern centers on a proposed...
View ArticleGun-control advocates push Thissen for vote on 'doomed' background-check bill
Gun-control advocates pushed back on Friday against the House DFL leadership’s decision to scrap any sort of firearm safety legislation this session.They called for a vote on the issue regardless of...
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Twin Cities area suffers from shortage of ... empty lots
We have a shortage of empty … lots.Jim Buchta of the Strib says:“With new home starts up 53 percent in the Twin Cities, finding a buildable lot is getting a whole lot more difficult. Lot inventory is...
View ArticleObama signs disaster declaration for southwestern Minnesota following April...
WASHINGTON — From the White House:The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Minnesota and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area...
View ArticleWolves makeover: My take on Taylor/Saunders 2.0
By now you have probably heard the news: Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has declined to extend the contract of now-former President of Basketball Operations David Kahn, and replaced him with...
View ArticleMN Blog Cabin Roundup, 5/3
Health and human services omnibus bills make good investments using wrong resourcesfrom Minnesota Budget Bites by Christina WesselPolicymakers have made some important strides in health care this...
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Forget about over-reach; legislators should do now what we know is right
Probably the single greatest warning that we heard at the very beginning of the current legislative session was warning about over-reach. Don’t try to do too much, don’t assume that just because we,...
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Laura Zabel on art's new roles in the community
In the eight years that Laura Zabel has been Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts in Saint Paul, the organization has grown and changed almost beyond recognition. Begun as a place where...
View ArticleInaction on water issues will only create a greater crisis for the next...
Wars have and will be fought over water; it’s a reality that we’ve been lulled into thinking can never happen here. Nonetheless, it will become an increasingly bigger problem with the demand...
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The next multimillion-dollar subsidy: the Mall of America
A $250 million tax subsidy, this one for the Mall of America, hasn’t received much attention to date. But Tom Webb at the PiPress writes: “A long-dormant plan to double the size of Mall of America —...
View ArticleExpand transit in this legislative session? Talk’s cheap
When the 2013 session of the Minnesota Legislature began, transit advocates had great expectations – visions of securing funding commitments to expand the regional bus system and simultaneously build...
View Article'Palestine' finds a new home as Google follows 'lead of the UN'
When the Palestinians won enhanced status for “Palestine” as a non-voting observer state in theUnited Nations General Assembly last November, the Obama administration and Israel blasted the move as...
View ArticleDissident's wife to Obama: 'This is about life and death'
HONG KONG — Standing up for human rights in China sometimes means giving up your own.For the last seven years, human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has repeatedly suffered house arrest, kidnapping,...
View ArticleCould India's polio eradication success story be a model for its other health...
Setarah Khatoon was 15 when she left school to marry a boy from India’s northeast state of Bihar. She was barely 16 when she had her first miscarriage, and by 20, she'd had two more. So when the mother...
View ArticleSyrian rebels used sarin gas, says UN human rights investigator
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan — More than a year after the Taliban issued a set of demands for the Afghan government in northeast Afghanistan's Warduj district, this once-peaceful area is now wracked by...
View ArticleFertilizer plant blast: How lax security hints at regulatory gaps in Texas
During testimony before a Texas House committee last week, state regulators did not disclose knowing that thieves had for years exploited lackadaisical security to infiltrate the chemical storage areas...
View ArticleRepublicans pursue probe of Benghazi attacks, name witnesses for hearing
The chairman of a House investigative committee has named three witnesses who will appear at a May 8 hearing on the US response to the terrorist threat that cost four Americans their lives inBenghazi,...
View ArticleIsraeli attacks inside Syria risk widening war
The sudden and dramatic escalation in Israeli air strikes against suspected military targets in Syriarisks turning Syria’s two-year civil war into a regional conflict. Israel as well as Syria and its...
View ArticleSocial media have their place, but don’t overlook the 'meat world'
My Uncle Bob has known me since I was born, so I guess he has a pretty good idea of who I am and what I’m about. Still, it was surprising to discover recently that Uncle Bob had endorsed me on LinkedIn...
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