Rain and havoc to continue

On his blog, Paul Douglas tells us the water will just keep coming. “Midwest Monsoon Season. At some point the sky has to run out of water, right? Not so fast. A stalled (hot) front just south of Minnesota will trigger more T-storms over the next 5 days; no continuous rains, but when it does decide to rain downpours falling on saturated ground may lead to more flash flooding. NOAA models suggest another 2-6″ of rain for the Upper Midwest by next Monday; heaviest rains falling on southeastern Minnesota.”

Still, despite that miserable winter, wretched spring and now all this rain, everything is … close to average. Says the AP, “Despite widespread rain last week, Minnesota farmers have managed to reach planting levels close to the five-year averages. According to the U.S. Agriculture Department, 97 percent of Minnesota’s expected corn acreage has been planted, only 2 percentage points behind average. Ninety-four percent of the planted corn has emerged, only 1 point behind normal.”

Well, this one got weirder … . Pat Pheifer of the Strib reports, “Charges of assault and arson have been dismissed against Twin Cities attorney David J. Gherity, who was accused of setting his longtime girlfriend on fire while she slept at his Burnsville home. The Dakota County attorney’s office said Monday that Gherity, 61, ‘has a substantiated alibi at the time this incident occurred. The matter remains under investigation’. … According to the complaint, when firefighters arrived at the condo, the woman was sitting, on fire, at a table.”

Apparently those upset with him did not prevail … . The AP story says, “The chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities has agreed to a new three-year contract. MnSCU (MINN’-skew) said Monday that the Board of Trustees has entered into a second three-year contract with Chancellor Steven Rosenstone.”

Former State Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge reminds Strib readers of the role the Archdiocese played in tamping down disclosure in sexual abuse cases. “The past year of disclosures came about because legislation was passed in Minnesota in May 2013 opening the courts to those who suffered sexual abuse. But why only then? Why weren’t disclosures made years ago, so that other children could be protected from the trauma of sexual abuse? It could have been otherwise. Sexual abuse survivors worked for years to pass similar legislation to open the courts to such disclosure. But the sobering reality is that opponents, including Catholic church leaders, vigorously and successfully resisted its passage.”

A couple valuable factoids to keep in mind the next time someone starts on the ruinous 39.6 percent corporate tax rate. Strib business columnist Lee Schafer writes, “Only a handful of companies in its industry have a lower effective tax rate than Medtronic’s, about 17.3 percent of pretax income. The average tax expense for a group of about two dozen big medical-device companies is about 25 percent, according to a May study by the investment firm Morgan Stanley. … Morgan Stanley found that on average, the big medical-device companies had about 60 percent of their cash held offshore. The company with the highest percentage of cash held offshore of any on the list, at 95 percent, was Medtronic.”

At MPR, Martin Moylan writes, “Morningstar analyst Debbie Wang said companies may be feeling pressured to do these tax deals before Congress blocks them. ‘We do think that the window on these types of tax-advantaged deals will be closing,’ Wang said. ‘We think that was probably a factor as Medtronic contemplated this opportunity.’ Medical-device manufacturers also have been trying to broaden their product lines and rein in costs in response to price curbs forced by the nation’s new health care law.” THIS Congress block a sweet tax dodge? Ahahahahaha.

At WCCO-TV Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield reports, “Six months ago, a Twin Cities business took a risk few have voluntarily taken. Before state law changed minimum wage laws in April, the owner of Punch Pizza increased wages to $10 an hour — a $2.5 million investment over the next 10 years. … John Puckett is a Punch Pizza co-owner and he is two weeks from opening store number nine in Maple Grove. … The company has the financial stability to expand at an unexpected time — just six months after raising their wages. … Since the announcement and over one of the coldest winters, sales jumped 10 percent year to date.”

And remember … Start Seeing Motorcycles … . Another WCCO-TV story says, “A 23-year-old man was arrested last week after police say he was swerving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed — at one point, hitting 146 mph — while on a motorcycle. … [Tyler] Gese was transported to Polk County Jail. Upon arrival, he told officers his speedometer did not work properly and he didn’t realize he was going that fast. He said he’s previously driven his motorcycle near 200 mph on a track.”

MPR’s Martin Moylan (again) asks around about what Target needs in its next boss. “John Wood, a CEO recruiter with Heidrick & Struggles of New York, expects Minnesota connections, values and tradition will weigh heavily in the selection of Target’s new CEO. ‘To find somebody who’ll fit with the values not just of Target but of the community is another level of complexity,’ he said. ‘You need to get the right sentiment and sensibility in that job because it faces the community pretty prominently. Especially in companies that are culture-rich and part of the community, ideally you find somebody inside.’”