If this were Japan, it might have been worse for her. Stribber Jennifer Bjorhus writes: “The chief information officer of Target Corp. is resigning as the retail giant overhauls its information security and compliance operations amid investigations into a damaging network break-in late last year. The resignation of Beth M. Jacob is immediate … . [Target] has created the position of chief information security officer and is hiring outside for that position. It has also started an external search for a chief compliance officer.”
Who among you dares take on any of these kids? Paul Walsh of the Strib says: “Minnesota is drawing closer to finalizing its field of five spelling whizzes who will vie for national television fame — and a nice stack of cash — at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in suburban Washington, D.C. … Already bound for national spelling glory from the state are: Shane DeSilva, an eighth-grader from Pacelli Catholic Schools in Austin; Kellen Rodriguez, an eighth-grader in the Fairmont School District; and Alyssa Boynton, a seventh-grader at Murray County Central.”
With today’s heat wave, I know you’re planning your vacation up north … The AP says: “Voyageurs National Park will launch its campsite reservation and fee system next month. The park on Minnesota’s northern border will phase in the system staring April 1. Officials have chosen 34 sites that will be marked with “reservation only” signs for the first year and will expand the program for 2015.” I’d like a “mosquito-free” site, please.
OooooOoooo … “mystery buyers.” Jim Buchta of the Strib reports: “After years of legal limbo and rumors about its fate, the unusual 22,000 square-foot house built by Jimmy ‘Jam’ Harris is one stop closer to a new beginning. Several weeks after a live auction that solicited multiple bids, JPMorgan Chase approved the winning bid of $2.6 million. … Listing agent, Scott Stabeck of Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty in Wayzata, said that … he won’t reveal the identity of the buyers.” The asking price was $4.9 million.
In the Rochester Post-Bulletin, Brett Boese reports: “The Rochester School Board on Tuesday unanimously approved a donation that will see the top-of-the-line Metrodome artificial turf installed at Mayo Field for the upcoming fall sports season. The donation means the Spartans will become the first Rochester high school team to have a turf field, though Superintendent Michael Munoz says it remains a priority to also procure turf for John Marshall and Century.” Will there be special heritage markings for everywhere Christian Ponder was sacked?
On the endless argument over airport noise, Jim Spensley, a Minneapolis resident, writes in a Strib commentary: “In southwest Minneapolis, more noise intensity per departure resulted from procedural changes and from lower rates of climb, not from ‘more precise’ instrument routes. The proposed routes were not — are not — in use. That was not the change. Southwest neighborhoods are complaining about more noise per flight and noticing more flights because the flights are lower and louder than in 2010.”
Another matter with no apparent end in sight … Joseph Lindberg of the PiPress writes: “A sock with a gun in it found outside a Minneapolis home last October has tested positive for Terrance Franklin’s DNA profile, police announced Wednesday morning. The handgun, a 9mm Desert Eagle, has a serial number matching that of a gun stolen on May 9, the day before Franklin was killed, according to police. The weapon was found on Oct. 28, wedged between the foundation and deck of a home in the 500 block of 28th Street West — the same block Franklin ditched a vehicle with officers in pursuit and five blocks from where he was shot and killed by police nearly five months earlier.”
I’m losing track of these projects … Dan Kraker of MPR reports: “Enbridge Energy is proposing its largest pipeline project ever to transport more Canadian tar sands heavy crude to the U.S., the third major oil pipeline expansion or replacement it’s planning across northern Minnesota. The Calgary-based company this week proposed spending $7 billion to replace its 46-year-old Line 3 pipeline, which runs from near Edmonton to Clearbrook, Minn., on to Superior, Wis.”
Finally, a terrific bit from Our Favorite Congresswoman, talking the insider talk to her people. At Right Wing Watch, Brian Tashman writes: “Speaking with Family Research Council head Tony Perkins yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann warned that President Obama is ‘threatening Israel,’ and by doing so is fulfilling biblical prophecies and bringing about the End Times. … ‘I just believe that as believers in Jesus Christ who see the authority of scripture, I believe that the Lord and his strong right arm will have Israel’s back and will be her protector,’ Bachmann said. ‘The question is, will we as the United States cooperate in standing with Israel and blessing Israel, or will we join those nations that come against her? We are definitely on the wrong side. It is jaw dropping, it is stunning, it’s breathtaking.’ ” Tom Emmer will never be as much fun.
