Minnesota loses 11,400 jobs, but unemployment rate drops to 5.3%
Minnesota officials said that the state lost 11,400 jobs in April, but the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate actually fell to 5.3 percent, the lowest since May, 2008.The U.S. rate was 7.5 percent...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Near Menahga: 'The perfect recipe for a fire'
Minnesota Prairie Roots Photo by Audrey Kletscher HelblingIt’s easy to understand how fire could race through acres of pines under hot, dry and windy conditions. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo...
View ArticleRepublicans agree to stop saying 'scandal' if Obama resigns (joke)
Just to be absolutely clear: This is a joke from consistently funny liberal satirist Andy Borowitz, who writes for the New Yorker.It begins:"Arguing that the American people are sick and tired of...
View ArticleMany mental-illness websites show drug-company bias, study finds
Although mental-health-related websites are generally biased in favor of a biological explanation of mental illness and drug treatments, those owned or funded by pharmaceutical companies tend to be...
View ArticleMayo Clinic expansion subsidy deal nears completion: Legislature may provide...
Minnesota lawmakers are close to agreement on a deal that would provide the Mayo Clinic in Rochester with $400 million in state subsidies for infrastructure improvements as the medical giant makes a $6...
View ArticleBachmann, Tea Party rally against IRS disclosures
WASHINGTON — Rep. Michele Bachmann’s press conference on the IRS nearly turned into a spontaneous, bona fide Tea Party rally Thursday morning.Bachmann was flanked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Big tax incentives coming for specific Minnesota companies
It would hardly be the first time the concept has been applied.Tom Scheck of MPR reports: “A jobs and economic development budget bill headed to the Minnesota Senate cuts the unemployment insurance tax...
View ArticleTwins' Aaron Hicks, despite still-ugly stats, is getting better results
Aaron Hicks got off to such a dreadful start that his overall numbers are going to look ugly for a long time — and maybe even the entire season — but there's no doubt he's putting together better plate...
View ArticleBenghazi talking-point emails afford opportunities to believe what you want
Late Wednesday, as you may know, the White House released almost 100 pages worth of e-mail traffic tracing the evolution of the infamous Benghazi talking points that play such a large role in the...
View ArticleFate in doubt for Minnesota minimum-wage and unionization bills
It appears that two key DFL priorities — raising Minnesota’s minimum wage and unionization efforts for child-care workers — could be the casualties of politics and the last-minute rush to finalize the...
View ArticleStadium funding backup plan entails one-time revenue, ongoing tax money
Key DFL lawmakers are close to agreeing on a backup plan to prop up underperforming charitable-gaming returns and fund the state’s $348 million share of the Vikings stadium.They plan to use both...
View ArticleHouse passes Bachmann's 'Obamacare' repeal bill
The U.S. House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Thursday night, its 37th vote to defund or dismantle the law, or portions of it, since Republicans took control of the House in 2011.U.S. Rep....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gov. Dayton, DFL legislative leaders have tax deal for budget
Gov. Mark Dayton and the DFL legislative leaders outlined their “linchpin” $2 billion tax deal Thursday evening — it built upon a framework proposal released Sunday — that clears the way for Democrats...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The movement for LGBT equality in Minnesota: Storytelling and activism in action
CC/Wikimedia Commons/Ludovic BertronThe policy changes made this week are significant, and yet they do not guarantee equality and justice. We must continue to work together to make Minnesota an even...
View ArticleIranian LGBTs flee persecution via 'underground railroad'
KAYSERI, Turkey — It’s a humid summer night in Kayseri. Several busloads of Iranians trundle through the dusk. Grandparents, toddlers, thirty-somethings and gangly teenage couples stand in the aisles,...
View ArticleBetween the shopping malls, is there space in Dubai for dissent?
Luxury housing built on palm-shaped islands, airports with Fifth Avenue glitz, an artificial ski resort in the desert: This is the easy-going image that the United Arab Emirates projects to the world....
View ArticleIn Syria, terrorist designation means more go hungry
Members of Abu Sayeed’s grassroots aid group were en route to the Turkish border to pick up a shipment of food when the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra announced that his group was loyal to Al...
View ArticleUS loses track of terrorists in witness protection: Poor data sharing blamed
The US has lost track of two known or suspected terrorists given identities under the federal witness protection program, according to a Justice Department audit that indicated the program was so...
View ArticleIran's chief nuclear negotiator: we're being asked to make all the sacrifices
Saeed Jalili, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and a presidential candidate, says that offers from six world powers demand far more short-term sacrifices of his government than the Islamic Republic...
View ArticleFour members appointed to state Board of Water and Soil Resources
Gov. Mark Dayton has appointed four members to the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.The 20-member board sets policy for the state's 90 soil and water conservation districts, 46 watershed...
View Article