In the PiPress, Doug Belden asks what the tab will be for winning The Super Bowl? “It’s still not clear what taxpayers will pay to bring the 52nd Super Bowl to town. Carlson Nelson originally had said the bid proposal would be released publicly after the NFL owners’ vote Tuesday, but lawyers for Meet Minneapolis and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority later said the data was nonpublic and would not be released until after the 2018 Super Bowl is played.” Which is as we’re accustomed.
The St. Paul school district paid $17,846 into the retirement account of an accused sex abuser — after failing to report two abuse cases to police, the Strib’s Chao Xiong writes. Walter J. Happel now faces eight charges of sexual misconduct, and officials are promising to make reporting changes. Happel has not been convicted, and the payments are likely guaranteed by union contracts, though the story doesn’t specify.
The Most Fascinating Man at the Fed, Minneapolis Fed president Narayana Kocherlakota, continues to persistently argue against the nation’s 35-year inflation-fighting mania as hurting employment. The Strib’s Adam Belz lays out Kocherlakota’s reasoning: the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target hasn’t come close to being met, running at about 1.3 percent, which at that rate hurts wages and home values. Given the cushion, the Fed should exceed 2 percent in the next few years.
The rejoinder is probably along the lines of, “We stole it fair and square.” Stribber Curt Brown says, “In a new lawsuit rekindling an old dispute, descendants of so-called ‘friendly’ Dakota Indians are asking a federal judge to help them reclaim 12 square miles in southern Minnesota that Congress promised them more than 150 years ago. The class-action lawsuit was filed this week in U.S. District Court on behalf of up to 20,000 great-great-grandchildren of Dakota who helped white settlers during the bloody U.S.-Dakota War in 1862.”
Do we have disclose speeding tickets? Kelly Smith of the Strib reports, “A growing number of Minnesotans like her are traveling out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) using the expedited screening program TSA PreCheck, which allows passengers who pay an $85 fee and submit to a background check to bypass long security lines and avoid the hassle of taking shoes or jackets. Out of an average of 30,000 daily passengers at MSP, more than 7,000 are using the program each day — an 8 percent increase from last year, according to the Transportation Security Administration.”
$60 billion here, $60 billion there … . Allison Sherry of the Strib says, “Rep. Rick Nolan is appalled that of the $100 billion American dollars spent on construction in Afghanistan, more than $60 billion is unaccounted for, according to an Inspector General’s report. The 8th Congressional District DFLer has a proposed amendment, which he got into the National Defense Authorization Act, that will prohibit funding for any new construction projects over $500,000, unless the U.S. government can physically inspect or audit those projects.” The stunner is that this isn’t already the case.
Despite the Exodus-like inflow of Minnesota millionaires and job creators … . The AP tells us, “A federal lawsuit filed by four gay couples in Montana leaves just two states — North Dakota and South Dakota — with gay marriage bans and no legal challenges aiming to overturn them. But that’s likely to change as same-sex marriage advocates there gear up for a legal fight.”
A Fox News presenter, Gregg Jarrett, was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, the Strib’s Joy Powell reports. “Police had been called about an intoxicated man at the grill. Officers reported Jarrett refused to follow orders and was arrested for obstruction of the legal process and taken to jail, where he remained Wednesday night.”
Bonnie Parker she isn’t … . The AP says, “A 23-year-old Minnesota woman accused of robbing five banks within a few weeks has been sentenced to 3½ years in federal prison. Ranya Al-Huthaili of Roseville was sentenced Wednesday. She also was ordered to pay restitution to all the banks. … Prosecutors say in all five robberies, Al-Huthaili walked into the banks, handed the teller a note demanding money and took off with more than $20,000 in total.”
In the National Review, none other than George Will himself dials in on Minnesota’s campaign finance laws. “Minnesota says it has 10,000 lakes. The state also has, according to Anthony Sanders, ‘10,000 campaign finance laws.’ … As an attorney for Minnesota’s chapter of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public-interest law firm, Sanders represents several Minnesotans whose First Amendment rights of free speech and association are burdened by an obviously arbitrary, notably complex, and certainly unconstitutional restriction.” Remind us, George, what did Jefferson have to say about transparency?
I’m sure each of the (billionaire) owners will treasure it forever. John Vomhof of the Business Journal tells his readers, “Each prospective Super Bowl host was allowed to include one gift valued at $100 or less in the bid package it sent to NFL owners, and Minnesota’s bid committee sent throw blankets from Faribault Woolen Mills. Each of the 32 blankets was embroidered with the owner’s team name in its team colors, and with the words ‘Minnesota Super Bowl LII.’” Jerry Jones will look so cute with one over his knees … .
Get off my land
Theoretically, I would benefit from any new land that was won in the lawsuit because some of the Dakota who were exiled to Iowa and Nebraska sneaked back across the border and ended up in what is now Sisseton, my rez of record. But according to the suit I would have to be able to be able to prove that my ancestors were “friendlies” who had tried to help the white settlers. But that would be kind of hard to do since one of them was a hostile who was pardoned by Lincoln at the last minute from being hung at Mankato. So there goes that argument. Dang.
In a state where
half to population hollers from the tallest roof tops the taxes are too high, do you get the feeling the wealthy are the reason the taxes are too high. The entire sports industry is majorly out of control and those of us not interested in a Super Bowl shouldn’t have to be paying part of the price. There should be an event ticket tax to cover whatever the wealthy want to accomplish. When the wealthy are involved there is always secrecy and special dispensation. Pohlad didn’t want the Twins stadium to go to a vote because you knew it would get voted down. Now the cost of the Super Bowl won’t be let out until all the cows have left the barn and nothing can be done about it. It is only that special few, once again, who will benefit from the Super Bowl.
Who gave the gifts? The Vikings? or the taxpayers?
While I’m a big fan of all things Faribo Woolens, color me cynical that the gift was a blanket, not the iPad. Maybe the iPads get sent back to be distributed to schools or something, eh? Nothing worse than a chilly billionaire. Why is a gift even necessary? Does it have any sway?
And Dayton’s comment “so many people in MN will make so much money” with the super bowl in MN…who’s he kidding?
So then if ….
“those of us not interested in a Super Bowl shouldn’t have to be paying part of the price” is the Standard, I’m not interested in nothin’. I’m gonna notify HR to discontinue my withholding.
We should at least be able to see what the price is, right? How much is the public expected to pay, in taxes, for the Super Bowl that even its boosters admit most people in Minnesota will not be able to afford a ticket to attend?
Must be a new sort of Trade Secret: how much we squeeze from the unwitting taxpayer to do our private business.
Public money is our money. We have every right and expectation to know how much of it was spent to bring what will no doubt be a major money loser, given all the expenses, for the Twin Cities and the state.