How many years will they do for something like this? The Pioneer Press’ Christopher Magan reports: “A Ramsey County judge has ruled the Minnesota Board of Teaching broke the law when it stopped processing applications for teaching licenses through a portfolio system. … In a Dec. 31 ruling, District Judge Shawn Bartsh ordered the Board of Teaching to immediately begin processing applications for teaching licenses through the portfolio system it abandoned in 2012. Bartsh also wants Board of Teaching members to report to her Jan. 29 on their progress to reinstate the portfolio licensing system. … Teachers trained out-of-state or in alternative ways see Minnesota’s portfolio licensing system as an important tool for earning a permanent teaching license. Minnesota’s educator licensing system has been under scrutiny for its complexity and what many say are unclear standards.”
Stillwater: where the hockey ponds are cold, and the neighbors are colder. The Stillwater Current’s Shawn Hogendorf brings us up to date on the latest contretemps afflicting the birthplace of Minnesota: “Outdoor pond hockey is a Minnesota tradition. … Shoveling off the neighborhood pond, lacing up the skates and burning off cooped up winter energy on the rink with friends goes back decades in the frozen tundra. … For a few years now, families in the Millbrook neighborhood have shoveled off Millbrook Pond for figure skating and neighborhood games of hockey, but partaking in this Minnesota past time has come with struggle. … ‘Today we were sad to see that somebody had tried to sabotage the rink by throwing a bunch of sand on the ice,’ Millbrook resident Larry Odebrecht said.”
A new hip-hop station is coming to the Twin Cities’ airwaves. City Pages’ Jack Spencer has a Q&A with the music director for Pohlad-owned Go 95.3, Peter Parker:
City Pages: Tell me about Go 95.3’s format.
Peter Parker: If you look at the technical side of things, you’ve got urban radio, you’ve got rhythmic radio, adult contemporary radio … you’ve got different categories of radio. Most of the time, rhythmic stations lean urban, so they’ll play your The Weeknd’s and Rihanna’s and the kinda sing-y, poppy rap songs, then they’ll play the harder stuff, like Future or Jadakiss.
Where we’re changing the game kind of is, we’re a traditional rhythmic stations, but we’re leaning backpack, boom-bap, indie hip-hop. So we’re going to be playing local music once or twice an hour, we’re going to be playing artists like Chance the Rapper, Action Bronson, Mac Miller, Schoolboy Q, Vince Staples, but we’re also playing Rihanna, Drake, Rick Ross, The Weeknd …. We’re playing a little Bieber, a little Selena Gomez, a little Jason Derulo, but then we’re playing all this quality, top-shelf indie stuff.”
Nice work if you can get it. Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s Jim Hammerand writes, “Target Corp. has named Janna Potts to replace Tina Tyler as chief stores officer effective immediately. … Tyler is eligible for unspecified severance payments if she signs a non-solicitation agreement and a release of claims, plus another $3 million if she signs a three-year noncompete and non-solicitation agreement, Target said in a securities filing Monday.”
In other news…
Want to get to know the Democrats running for Congress in the Second District? Looks like you’ll have plenty of opportunities. [MPR]
Emily Larson, Duluth’s first woman mayor, to be sworn in Monday night. [Duluth News Tribune]
Infomercial called “Minnesota Nice” not very… nice. [City Pages]
MnPASS lanes come to I-35E in St. Paul. [WCCO]
Feeling nostalgic? You’re in luck — Minnesota Monthly’s Tim Gihring looked at 37 Minnesota icons and asked the perennial question: Where are they now?
Can the Vikings defeat the Seahawks on Sunday? Maaaaaaybe. [Rolling Stone]
