Startling Minnesota numbers: black/white homicides/suicides

These are some startling numbers. Brandt Williams at MPR writes: “There are dramatic differences in the role that guns play in the deaths of white and black Minnesotans. African-Americans are much more likely to be killed by firearms than whites are in Minnesota. At the same time, whites are more likely than African-Americans to use guns to kill themselves. MPR News analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on gun homicides and suicides between 2008 and 2010, which is the most recent data categorized by race. The data show African-Americans are 12-times more likely than their white counterparts to die from gun homicides in Minnesota. The disparity is higher than the national black-white gap — which is 10 to one. … Yet, white Minnesotans are more likely than African-Americans to use guns for suicide. During that same three-year period, about 800 white residents killed themselves with guns, compared to just 17 black Minnesotans.”

Points for persistence. GOP Sen. Sean Nienow is letting go of the very funky funding plan for the Vikings stadium. Says Jim Ragsdale in the Strib: “Sen. Sean Nienow, R-Cambridge, says the Minnesota Vikings should cover any shortfalls in funding for their new stadium. Nienow said he will offer his plan as an amendment to the Senate tax bill, which is expected to be taken up later this week. … Nienow’s plan simply requires the team to pay for any deficiency. The Vikings have said proposals such as Nienow’s violate last year’s agreement with the team to build the stadium, which divides the costs among the state ($348 million,) the Vikings ($477 million) and the city of Minneapolis ($150 million).” So, as a starter, how about the Vikings/NFL lay out that $477 million before we break ground and in straight cash … homie?

Michelle Goldberg of The Daily Beast has this, from Iowa: “An anti-abortion activist in Iowa with ties to Scott Roeder, the man who murdered abortion provider George Tiller, is under fire for calling for the shooting of the people who reopened Tiller’s abortion clinic. ‘If someone would shoot the new abortionists, like Scott shot George Tiller … It will be a blessing to the babies,’ Dave Leach says on a YouTube video. The clip features a recorded conversation between Leach and a man Leach identified as Roeder, who is currently serving life in prison for Tiller’s assassination. Citing an anti-abortion activist who predicted that the abortion ‘industry’ would end if 100 doctors were shot, the man identified as Roeder says, ‘I think eight have been shot, so we’ve got 92 to go.’ ”  

Hoigaard’s has been sold. Steve Alexander of the Strib reports: “Hoigaard’s, a 118-year-old Twin Cities business and long-time fixture in the local market for outdoor gear, has been acquired by a division of Vail Resorts of Broomfield, Colo., for undisclosed terms. The company will continue to use the Hoigaard’s name, said Specialty Sports Venture, the retail division of Vail Resorts, a mountain resort firm with operations in Colorado and California. Todd Brewer, Hoigaard’s president who is married to a fourth-generation member of the Hoigaard family, will remain with the company as will most of the present employees, the Colorado firm said in a statement.”

Alexander also reports: “Supervalu reported a loss of $1.4 billion, or $6.65 per share, for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 23, more than three times the year-ago loss.The company reported an adjusted loss of 14 cents a share, far below the profit of 18 cents that Wall Street analysts had been expecting. The miss on earnings was largely due to weak sales at its grocery stores. However, the net loss doesn’t reflect the Mar. 21 sale of Supervalu’s four largest traditional grocery operations in a $3.3 billion deal with an investment group led by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.” What a mess.

Are we giving this thing three strikes? Christopher Magan of the PiPress says: “Minnesota school districts continue to have trouble with the new statewide online proficiency testing system. For the second week in a row, districts reported that students experienced long waits for test questions to be delivered through the online testing portal provided by American Institutes for Research, or AIR. The state has a three-year, $61 million contract with AIR to administer several state tests, including the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, or MCA, which measures whether students are meeting state learning benchmarks. The AIR deal expires in 2014 but can be extended until 2016.” Isn’t the question whether we can get our money back?

Want to play farmer, without ever actually stepping in anything? An AP story says: “The University of Minnesota Extension Service has relaunched an online trading game that puts players in the boots of a grain farmer. Commodity Challenge is used in high school and college classrooms, and by farmers, to learn about marketing strategies. It’s been described as ‘fantasy grain marketing.’ Grain marketing specialist Edward Usset says the newly updated Commodity Challenge lets players experience the pain and glory of grain trading without the risk. While other games concentrate on a speculative buy low, sell high approach, he says this one focuses on using futures and options contracts to manage price risk.”

The flood threat in Fargo has been downgraded. Says the AP: “Fargo officials plan to scale back flood protection efforts after a lower Red River crest prediction by the National Weather Service. The weather service on Wednesday, April 24, updated its forecast to show the range of the river peak to be between 38 and 40 feet, down a couple of feet from earlier predictions. Forecasters said the revision is due mostly to an ideal melt cycle and expectations for below-normal precipitation.”

You mean like with paper pages and stuff …? Stribber Laurie Hertzel writes: “[Tuesday] was the second World Book Night USA, a celebration of reading during which 25,000 volunteers hand out 500,000 copies of special editions of 30 different books. Each volunteer chooses one title and hands out 20 copies. For me, yesterday afternoon, it took hours.  Unlike last year, my mother was busy and couldn’t go with me. And my puppy had grown from a tiny ball of soft black fur into a squirrel-chasing handful, so this time I set out alone. Down at Como Lake, I gave away two copies of Timothy Egan’s ‘The Worst Hard Time,’ one to a guy in a cowboy hat who said, with delight, ‘I’ll even give it to someone else when I’m done!’ But  I also got a lot of refusals. I wasn’t sure if it was my patter — I decided that opening the conversation by saying, ‘Would you like a free book?’ was the wrong way to go about things, because it was too easy for people to simply say ‘No,’ and keep walking — or if it was the stiff breeze coming off the lake ice.” Did anyone refuse “50 Shades of Grey”?