Minnesota’s oldest citizen turns 113

Happy birthday, ma’am! The AP says: “Minnesota’s most senior citizen is celebrating her birthday with a series of parties. After all, it’s not often someone turns 113.Only this year did Anna Stoehr move from her farmhouse near Potsdam to an assisted-living home in Plainview. At one party this week, Stoehr celebrated with her children, grandchildren and seven of her 25 great-grandchildren. Her birthday cake was ablaze with all 113 candles.”

While Edina gets a new dome and outdoor ice rinks, Maplewood gets… to keep its movie theater. Say Raya Zimmerman and John Brewer of the PiPress: “Coming attractions at Maplewood Plaza Theatre will keep coming. A nearby church will take over operations at the second-run movie theater and, after a renovation, reopen and resume showing films. It means the two-screen theater will remain an east metro destination for cheap dates and inexpensive entertainment for families. … The church will pay to convert to digital and renovate the theater, which has operated since 1967.” Will the church show the “Fifty Shades of Grey” movies?

Think “next year” on that day-care unionization law. Jim Ragsdale of the Strib says: “The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considering a challenge to the Minnesota law by child care providers opposed to unionization, ruled on Tuesday that the Minnesota law remains blocked while appeals continue. Two appeals are pending: a challenge to the Minnesota law by anti-union providers that was rejected in federal court in Minneapolis; and a separate case from Illinois that has been accepted for review and decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. That decision should come by next June, said Bill Messenger, an attorney for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which is representing union opponents in both lawsuits.”

Three Minnesotans have been nominated for National Book Awards. Hillel Italie of the AP says: “Minnesotan Matt Rasmussen’s poetry collection ‘Black Aperture’ (Louisiana State University Press) is among the finalists. The collection, which focuses on his brother’s suicide, already has won the 2012 Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. He teaches literature and creative writing at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. Gene Luen Yang is a nominee in the Young People’s Literature category for ‘Boxers & Saints,’ a two-volume graphic novel. He teaches in the Hamline University low residency MFA writing program for children and young adults. Mary Szybist’s poetry collection ‘Incarnadine,’ also a nominee, is published by Minneapolis-based Graywolf Press.”

Predictably, the oil company and experts are at odds over how much goo was spilled in the recent North Dakota pipeline break. James MacPherson of the AP says: “Tesoro Corp. said it came up with its more than 20,000-barrel spill estimate using ground analysis. But oil spill experts say a more accurate assessment likely would come from calculating how much crude went into the pipeline versus what was supposed to come out at its terminus. … Purdue University engineering professor Steve Wereley said Tesoro’s calculation of how much oil it released in the North Dakota wheat field likely is, ‘at best, a guess.’ “

Shocker! Local Republicans are upset with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Tim Pugmire of MPR says: “Republican lawmakers have been pounding Ritchie for developing an online voter registration system, without first obtaining legislative approval. Among them is state Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, who is considering another run for the secretary of state job she once held. Kiffmeyer lost her bid for a third term as secretary of state to Ritchie in 2006. … Senate Minority Leader David Hann said there’s been a clear pattern of behavior. ‘It seems that the Democrats have this idea that they should do things that they think are good, regardless of whether they have authority under law to do it, and see if anyone pushes back,’ said Hann, R-Eden Prairie. ‘Well, that’s just not how we should govern this state. We should look to the law that the Legislature has passed and try to be faithful to that.’ “

On days like this, the conservative blogs are irresistible reading. At Power Line, Paul Mirengoff is already urging the faithful to “move on”: “Certainly, mistakes were made — either by Ted Cruz and House hardliners (as I believe) or by Republicans who disagreed with Cruz’s approach. … But in 2015, campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination will begin in earnest. Most, if not all, of the candidates will have taken a position on the CR/shutdown. Some who were front-and-center in this controversy will probably be candidates. At that point, the question of who was right and who was wrong about the shutdown will not be academic. If, for example, the shutdown turns out to have been a win in the fight against Obamacare, big government, and/or Democrats, this outcome will weigh heavily in favor of Ted Cruz’s candidacy (if it materializes). And vice versa. Until then, it would be nice to move on.” I assume this means no mistakes were made by bloggers.

There’s been no fresh post at the six-person FratersLibertas site for six days, other than a radio show re-cap.

At Shot in the Dark, Mitch Berg’s anger is directed at … media bias. “[T]he Strib had to hire think-tanker Katherine Kersten to give its columnist’s row a veneer of balance (as a generation of Strib columnists tut-tutted about What It All Meant).  While the non-profit MinnPost originally claimed to want to shoot for multipartisanship, the best they could do was Cyndi Brucato – as a reporter.  That, on a site staffed with DFL apparatchik Doug Grow, former Dayton comms guy Brian Lamberg [sic], and a raft of other committed libs.” What does a guy have to do to earn “apparatchik” status — volunteer as a gulag guard?

All Ed Morrissey at Hot Air can say is: “[T]his could still get delayed by Ted Cruz or Mike Lee if they don’t allow unanimous consent — but that may be why the House is going first, too. If the House passes this deal, then it’s all over but the shouting …. and thirty more hours of shouting in the Senate won’t make much difference.  Better to live to fight another day.” At each stop the underlying message is: “Mistakes were made by others.”