An entire family. The ABC News story says: “Five family members, including three children, were found dead in their lakeside home in an upscale western Minneapolis suburb on Thursday in what police said appeared to be a murder-suicide. … Authorities did not release the identities of those killed, but the father’s business posted a notice online identifying Brian Short and his family as the victims.”
The Star Tribune story, by a trio of reporters, says: “Scanner traffic between police and dispatchers indicated that all of the victims appeared to have died of severe injuries. After entering the home, officers secured a small dog, then began a search and found the bodies, one by one, in different areas of the house. … [South Lake Minnetonka Interim Police Chief Mike Siitari] said he has never seen a scene so grim in his three decades of police work, and that finding the bodies was extremely difficult for the officers involved. ‘There’re no words to describe it. … It’s a tragedy,’ he said. ‘This is a tough one to handle.’”
Changed her tune? The AP follows-up on the tale of the necking legislators: “A Minnesota lawmaker cited for making out in a public park with a fellow legislator ‘changed her tune’ between the date of the incident and when details started to trickle out, according to an email from the sheriff whose office handled the case. … The sheriff went on to write that [Rep. Tara] Mack’s attitude had changed two days after the citation when she got wind that some of the park ranger’s notes were part of the public notes in the case. ‘Today 8/27 she changed her tune, she had heard from a lobbyist that there was info that was in the notes,’ the sheriff wrote. [Dakota County Sheriff Tim] Leslie wrote he told her the notes said Mack was in a car with her pants unzipped and down. ‘She did not comment other than to say this is very salacious and that she is married to a minister and her career could be ruined,’ Leslie wrote. ‘I said I understood that but if you are choosing to say that the park ranger lied … I have a big problem.’” What lobbyist got on to that story?
Speaking of bad publicity. A Strib story by Jeremy Olson on Chipotle’s very bad day says: “At least 17 Chipotle restaurants in Minnesota have been linked to a Salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 45 people and sent six to the hospital. While the source of the outbreak hasn’t been confirmed, investigators with the Minnesota Department of Health have a strong suspicion of the contaminated ingredient and said it has already been swapped out from all of the Mexican-themed fast food restaurants in the state. ‘It’s safe to eat at Chipotle,’ said Health Department spokesman Doug Schultz, who ate the fully loaded burrito bowl his wife picked up for dinner Wednesday evening.”
The Wolves will be in good hands. The ESPN story says, “With Minnesota Timberwolves coach and team president Flip Saunders fighting cancer, Sam Mitchell has taken over as the team’s interim head coach, a source told ESPN’s Chris Broussard. … Saunders announced Aug. 11 that he is being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma, and his doctors considered it ‘very treatable and curable.’”
Fed money for ethanol. Says Jim Spencer of the Strib, “Minnesota will get millions of federal dollars to help build hundreds more ethanol fuel pumps around the state. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Thursday named the state as one 21 across the country that will share $100 million to expand the use of renewable fuels in vehicles. The exact amount of money headed for Minnesota remains to be determined. The state also will have to match the grant dollar-for-dollar through a public-private partnership with a robust corn industry. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) believes the available funds will be enough to install 620 new blender pumps capable of dispersing fuel with varying percentages of ethanol.”
Is anyone surprised? Alejandra Matos and Paul McEnroe of the Strib report: “A federal grand jury Thursday indicted the former director of the Community Action of Minneapolis and his son, a Minneapolis police officer, for alleged theft and fraud for misuse of $250,000 in taxpayer money. The indictment in the ongoing public corruption case alleges that Bill Davis ordered that his son, Jordan, to be paid upward of $140,000 from an alleged ‘slush fund’ that was supposed to be used for heating and energy assistance for low-income residents.”
Duluth … solar wonderland. John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune writes, “Minnesota Power will build the Northland’s first community solar garden next year, allowing customers to buy into the benefits of solar energy without erecting solar panels on their homes or businesses. The utility announced Thursday it will build a 40-kilowatt solar array in Duluth at Arrowhead Road and Rice Lake Road near its Herbert Service Station that will be generating electricity sometime in 2016.”
Since every other road is either under construction or full of potholes we might as well walk. The WCCO-TV story says, “The Surgeon General is asking Americans to improve their health by walking more, and community leaders in Minnesota are already taking action. The Minnesota Departments of Transportation and Health are working on the first statewide pedestrian plan. They’ll focus on ways to make communities more safe and convenient to walk. There will be focus groups, community gatherings and online activities to get public input.”
Our job-killing, economy-crushing tax rate continues to … what? The AP says, “Robust corporate, sales and income tax receipts have led to another month where Minnesota’s revenues far exceeded forecaster expectations. The Department of Minnesota Management and Budget said Thursday that the state took in $113 million more than it was counting on in August, or 8.5 percent better than projected.”
Frankly, Our Favorite Neighboring Governor was a lot more fun when it looked like he had half a clue. Jason Linkins of The Huffington Post looks at the bland and bungling campaign of Scott walker and writes, “Yesterday, I noted that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, after a long and troubled period in which he struggled to manage the day-to-day trials of being a presidential candidate (including such challenges as ‘taking a position on issues’ and ‘answering questions from reporters’), had finally hit on a novel way of dealing with the stresses of the campaign trail. Instead of discussing what he would do as president in the face of various Oval Office crises, Walker declared all such inquiries to be unfair ‘hypothetical’ questions, which he was not required to answer. … As one anonymous Iowa Republican told Politico last week, ‘He can’t seem to find his way on any given issue with a handheld GPS. … For the last two months [he] hasn’t made a single policy pronouncement that he or his staff hasn’t had to clarify or clear up within two hours.’ I have an open question to any of the people who lost an election to this guy: How did you lose an election to this guy?” It’s possible alcohol was involved.
