Scott Walker recall in Wisconsin a ‘go’

It is formally a “go” for the recall election of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. At the Wisconsin State Journal, Mary Spicuzzi writes,:“Despite conservatives’ fears of an army of Mickey Mouses and Adolf Hitlers signing recall petitions against Gov. Scott Walker, elections officials found only five fake names and nearly 901,000 valid signatures collected to recall the Republican governor — far more than enough needed for the election to go forward. The state Government Accountability Board is scheduled to meet Friday morning to vote on the findings of board staff and set dates for the recall elections. GAB staff said in a memo released Thursday that 900,938 valid signatures were collected on petitions seeking to recall Walker, and about 808,990 were gathered on those seeking to recall Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. The minimum needed to trigger a recall was 540,208 signatures for each of them. If the board orders elections on Friday as expected, recall primary elections — if necessary — are expected to be held on May 8, followed by a June 5 general election.”

Patrick Marley’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story says: “Board staff … identified five fictitious names on the petitions to recall Walker — Adolf Hitler, Mick E. Mous, Donald L. Duck, Fungky Van Den Elzen and I Love Scott Walker Thanks. The board identified two other names it believed to be made up — Princess High and Mohammed Ali — but determined they were legitimate after checking voter rolls and telephone directories. There were no fictitious names on the petitions to recall Kleefisch, according to the staff. The board staff recommended removing 4,001 duplicate signatures for Walker and 4,263 for Kleefisch. For people who signed twice, one signature was counted and the other was thrown out, according to board spokesman Reid Magney.The other signatures that the staff believe should be thrown out are for having incomplete addresses, incomplete dates or other problems.”

In Wisconsin’s Capital Times, Jessica Vanegeren paints a picture of voter befuddlement: “Few voters can name all of the Democratic candidates running for governor. The other announced Democratic candidates for governor — Secretary of State Doug La Follette and former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who has twice run for statewide office — are also, perhaps surprisingly, little-known across Wisconsin. Aside from former Sen. Russ Feingold, who has repeatedly said he won’t run against Walker, it’s Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who lost to Walker in 2010 and is expected to announce soon whether he’ll run again, who draws the most knowing nods from voters. In addition to unfamiliar candidates, the Democrats may have an even greater problem on their hands in trying to unseat Walker. Despite all of the momentum built up last year from weeks of protests at the state Capitol and a historic successful effort to collect close to one million signatures to trigger a Walker recall election, there’s a palpable lack of enthusiasm among many voters for any of his potential opponents. Those twin challenges are fueling pre-primary anxiety among tuned-in Democratic voters interviewed last week at campaign stops by the contenders in La Crosse, Madison, Janesville and Beloit.”

The story about a classmate of Twins pitcher Carl Pavano trying to extort money and a car under threats of revealing some kind of homosexual relationship keeps on turning. Jesse Buchanan and Richie Rathsack of the Meridien (Connecticut) Record Journal say: “Pavano’s sister, Michelle DeGennaro, said Christian Bedard, 36, of Southington, was “attempting to extort monetary funds for his fabricated, false information” and that he believes he can hold the Pavano family “hostage” with the information. DeGennaro filed a complaint with Southington Police in December, after receiving messages from Bedard she considered harassing on the social networking site Facebook, The messages included demands for a luxury SUV. ‘The only way your brother is getting out of this … is with a heart-felt apology and a navy Range Rover with tan leather,’ Bedard said in one message to DeGennaro. … DeGennaro called Bedard’s contention that he had a relationship with Pavano “clearly false” and an attempt to ‘extort her family,’ according to the affidavit. Bedard told DeGennaro that he had a $1.2 million book deal. ‘That is my best offer, an apology and a Land Rover and I’ll kill the project,’ Bedard wrote. In a later message, Bedard said he rescinded the offer and said ‘the book is the best deal.’ He also mentions his mother Elaine Bedard’s political connections and the fact that she is a local police commission member.” How about as a counter-offer, a ’79 Datsun with green vinyl seats?

At the PiPress, John Shipley writes: “Pavano was not with the team for a spring training game at the Pirates McKechnie Stadium, so no one had talked with him after the story broke in the Record-Journal newspaper of Meriden, Conn. ‘The first I heard of it was on the ride up here,’ general manager Terry Ryan said. … ‘I haven’t even talked to Carl. I don’t even know if he’s bothered or (ticked) off,’ manager Ron Gardenhire said. ‘I haven’t even had a chance to talk to him yet. It’s really unfair for me to say anything until I talk to Carl and see whatever his take is on the whole thing.’ ” Bedard is now claiming the extortion thing was “a joke” but that the relationship is true.

Not just a cold Omaha, but a broke one, too … if the Vikings leave … if you believe corporate boosters. Tim Nelson’s MPR story says: “Stadium boosters say a host of other marquee events would also skip Minnesota without a new stadium. [The story includes a graph that mentions the Seventh Day Adventists and Alcoholics Anonymous conventions, at $70 million each]. ‘If we can’t get the stadium deal done and the Vikings organization leaves Minnesota, it would be a serious loss for our entire community,’ said Richard Davis, CEO and president, U.S. Bank, in a release from Home Field Advantage, a coalition of stadium boosters that released a favorable poll last week. ‘The loss of an NFL franchise would have a negative effect on our economy and our future ability to grow and attract jobs.’ ” So, do I have this right? If the Vikings leave, they’re taking the Metrodome with them, leaving Alcoholics Anonymous with no place to convene?

What are you going to do with your $30? John Welbes at the PiPress reports: “When the shuffling of interim and new electric rates for Xcel Energy Inc. is complete later this year, a typical residential customer can expect a refund of about $30. On Thursday, March 29, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission agreed to a settlement negotiated by Xcel and its business customers. While the end result is a rate increase of 2.73 percent, consumers will see lower rates soon. That’s because an interim rate approved by the PUC — which was in place during Xcel’s request for a higher rate — will be reduced in May. The average residential customer will see a $2 per month reduction beginning that month, said Patti Nystuen, an Xcel spokeswoman. The $30 average refund will come sometime this fall, though the precise date hasn’t been set. That refund will appear as a credit on a monthly bill, Nystuen said.” A credit? Dang, I was going to blow it all on electronic pull-tabs.

Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem’s recent Strib commentary — scolding the DFL for throwing up distractions to doing the people’s work — was too ripe (and easy) a target for DFL Sen. Roger Reinert to let pass. He responds, saying: “[T]he Republican leader describes a 2012 legislative session that bears little resemblance to reality. At least not to the one in which I, and the vast majority of Minnesotans, are living. Senjem wants us to believe that ‘since the beginning of session, Senate Republicans have taken action on important issues like jobs, the economy and government redesign.’ If only. In reality, the 2012 session has been defined by the majority’s focus on an partisan agenda that attempts to ‘redesign’ our state’s Constitution to look like the Republican Party platform. … So far, Senate Republicans have pushed a ‘right to work’ proposal that has been proven to bring lower wages and unsafe workplaces in other states. They led the way in passing the ‘shoot first’ bill that could create the same legal loophole in Minnesota that has caused the breakdown of justice in Florida surrounding the Trayvon Martin shooting. And just last Friday — the same day that Senjem’s commentary directed DFLers to stay on task, the Republican majority in the Senate passed a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for thousands of law-abiding Minnesotans to exercise their right to vote. None of that legislation would create a single job, help a single family nor fund a single school in our state.” But I’m sure they’ll get to that before they adjourn.

There’ll be more emerald ash borer traps than last year. Conrad Wilson at MPR writes: “The Minnesota Department of Agriculture will hang about 6,500 traps in ash trees around the state — that’s 2,000 more than last year. … Friisoe said the plan is to detect places where the insect is making inroads. Four counties, including Hennepin and Ramsey, won’t have traps because the ash borer infestation is already well documented in those counties. ‘Within Minnesota, it’s probably several hundred trees in the metro area that have been removed because they were infested or very close to an infested area,’ Friisoe said. The traps themselves are purple containers to be hung in trees to attract and capture the beetle.”