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Sarah Silander

St. Paul, Minnesota
Commenter for
1 year 44 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 05/13/13 at 05:14 pm in response to Minnesota Senate joins House in approving same-sex marriage

Who made acrimonious comments and what did they say?

I watched the final hour and everyone was very respectful. Hawkins needs to help us understand how the first 3 hours that were at times "acrimonious" evolved into a very calm final hour.

Posted on 04/01/13 at 03:27 pm in response to Are we really leaving the future of Minnesota's wolves up to hunters/trappers and livestock producers?

GP,

Since your idea of governance is to let the local residents decide matters that greatly impact the entire region, then you won't have a problem if we in the Metroplex decide to stop our local taxes from being redistributed to rural Minnesota in the form of LGA.

Oh...if a few of your rural schools close and roads aren't plowed...that's nature's balance...correct???

Posted on 03/25/13 at 04:09 pm in response to Minnesota’s legislators: Are they underpaid?

Their compensation is fair if not generous for a part-timer and much higher than what Mr. Dornfield would have us believe.

The state pays $51,000 per year for a typical Senator's salary and benefits.* Almost $62,000 for those with family benefits.

So no raise.

In fact, cut two months off the length of sessions and 2/5 of their pay. Reason being they don't need 5 month sessions. The real work gets done in 2-3 months starting March 1 just after final forecasts are...

Posted on 03/18/13 at 05:48 pm in response to Which website is better: City Pages or MinnPost?

I read and comment on MinnPost fairly often because you have so much local and regional news.

But IMO you are not serious news because 1) the vast majority of your pieces are regurgitated stories from other local news agencies 2) you do not publish a variety of opinions -- all your reporters lean far left e.g. Eric Black Ink 3) there is little to no original reporting going on.

A small independent news agency in Pennsylvania broke the Jerry Sandusky tragedy -- that is the...

Posted on 03/18/13 at 05:18 pm in response to U.S. Supreme Court waves off Minnesota music downloader

I wonder if light rail to St. Cloud will facilitate or slow urban sprawl.

It would be nice if more non-politicized data about light rail compared to other transit was more readily available.

Posted on 03/15/13 at 08:07 am in response to Gay-marriage supporters tout freedom to persuade Republican legislators

An honorable and right legislator is one who votes in support of the majority of their constituents, not against them.

I support SSM legislation but not this year because what goes around comes around.

If vote counters at the capitol are correct, SSM will pass this session only if a dozen or so legislators give in to lobbyist pressure to vote against the majority will of their districts.

If they defy their constituents, it will establish a precedence that erodes our...

Posted on 03/15/13 at 08:21 am in response to Gay-marriage supporters tout freedom to persuade Republican legislators

Mr. Baumeister,

Why not agree to disagree instead of trying to silence Mr. Krasnoff? True tolerance is reciprocal is it not?

Mr. Krasnoff has a right to repeatedly state his views on marriage equal to your right to repeatedly dispute them.

Posted on 01/23/13 at 08:12 am in response to Return to the U: The Confession

I obtained both of my degrees from the U of M Twin Cities (1983 and 2008). So I look forward to reading future blog posts.

I think it will be an easy transition for you because not that much has changed.

Faculty hierachy and teaching methods are the same. TA's (indentured servants IMO) still teach most freshman and sophomore level courses.

A couple changes worth noting. Very few classes are scheduled on Fridays and the MWF class schedule is gone. Campus is pretty empty...

Posted on 11/23/12 at 12:46 am in response to We're locked out, too: Questions for MN Orchestra management

Matthew Probst,

I believe you are correct in speculating that Henson et al have a covert plan to eliminate the orchestra. And an article by MPR back in 2010* may have been the writing on the wall.

"We see this as a place for many different kinds of events.” This quote from one of the renovation architects supports your theory Matthew, that as far back as 2010, Henson had plans to bring in musicians from around the world.

And if Henson plans on eliminating the orchestra...

Posted on 11/15/12 at 01:25 am in response to Food Stamp Challenge: Try living on $31.50 for food for a week

The $31.50 for the shopping challenge is lower than the 2010 **actual** benefit for one adult living alone.

I found USDA report showing the 2010 SNAP actual average paid to one adult (lives alone/not disabled/under age 60) was $42.24* per week. And for 2012, the weekly maximum is $46.15.

So it seems to me the challenge would better reflect reality if they used either of these amounts.

As for cooking on a budget classes, many of us in the 99% could benefit from such...