Might just be too soon to tell. MPR’s Brandt Williams reports: “Minneapolis is seeing an uptick in violence, a drop in arrests for violent offenses — and a jump in the number of police community engagement meetings. Is it all connected? … There is no good, single answer. The data, though, are generating lots of questions as the city struggles through a month where gunfire has already left three people dead and eight injured. …Citywide arrests for violent offenses are down by 20 percent compared to the same period in 2015. Traffic stops and suspicious person stops have dropped by more than 30 percent citywide.”
The Star Tribune’s Michael Brodkorb sat down with Gov. Mark Dayton. Among other things, the guv’s impressed with Trump’s campaign slogan: “Dayton complimented the simplicity of Trump’s campaign theme of ‘Make America Great Again’ which he called ‘a brilliant slogan.’ Dayton added, ‘that’s what people want and keeping it at that level of communication, everyone can relate.’”
But can the slogan survive the Franken treatment? In The Week, Ryan Cooper argues that Minnesota’s junior senator is Democrats’ ideal weapon against Trump: “…Al Franken is, so far as I can tell, the only former comedian in Congress from either party. He was on Saturday Night Live for many years, and wrote several comedy books, including Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right — both genuinely funny and full of quite nasty insults. He knows this stuff backwards and forwards. … One thing Franken could do, aside from baiting Trump himself, is teach Democratic politicos how not to sound like the bloodless technocrats who have long since had the personality crushed out of them. He could knock together a few slideshows, hold a conference or two, and teach at least a few how to perform a reasonable approximation of ‘witty.’ Because it’s probably best if people like Warren and Franken et al take point in mocking Trump, allowing Clinton to stay above the fray.”
A little light reading for the weekend. The Southwest Journal’s Dylan Thomas reports: “The Federal Transit Administration released a long-awaited document examining the Southwest Light Rail Transit project’s potential environmental impact Friday. … The Met Council’s SWLRT website was overwhelmed by attempts to download the 17,000-page FEIS Friday morning. Physical copies of the report are also available at Minneapolis City Hall, Minneapolis Central Library, Walker Public Library, Linden Hills Public Library, Sumner Public Library, Franklin Public Library and at various public buildings in other cities along the route.”
In other news…
Seeing red: “As big candy ditches GMOs, sugar beet farmers hit a sour patch” [MPR]
Like, what really is a grocery? “Target wants to know how you think about groceries” [Marketplace]
Fargo sorta feeling the Bern: “Hundreds line up for Bernie Sanders Rally in Fargo” [Valley News Live]
This seems about right: “Stevie Wonder encourages fans to honour Prince by making love to his music” [NME]
Here’s how you get alpaca wool: “Shearing day at alpaca farm is ‘organized chaos’” [Inforum]
Great question!
“Like, what really is a grocery?”
Love it!
Dear MinnPost . . . Please give whoever came up with it a raise (or a special bonus grocery every now and then).
Thanks
Forget about it and get on the bus
No need to bother reading that environmental impact statement because, in a strong showing of solidarity, Kurt Daubt, Joyce Peppin and most House Republicans (looked like at least 30 of them) held a press conference today in which they made it clear as a bell that two things will absolutely, positively NOT be included in this year’s transportation bill:
1) A gas tax increase; and
2) Anything having anything to do with light rail.
There WILL be “transit” in the bill but, as (MN Power Couple of the Biennium) Kurt and Joyce so eloquently explained, that means buses. And just because the (super smart) Republican plan means the state would lose out on a couple trillion dollars worth of more-than-matching federal light rail funds, that’s no reason for ANYone to go along with allowing a single penny more of “railroad-like” funding for any reason whatsoever, even if the people of the (evil) “metro area” would like to tax themselves to do it because, as Kurt ALWAYS says, “as most Minnesotans know,” any and all taxes are job killing economy wreckers so that’s that.
And remember: If there’s no transportation bill this year it WILL be Democrat’s fault. (Kurt made sure to point that out at least 14 or 15 times.)
I’ve always thought
that there was something odd about Republican hatred of trains. Did Santa refuse to deliver the Lionel when they asked for it? Joyce, is that the problem? Or could it be something as mundane as Republicans corporate benefactors not liking them?
Republicans and Siderodromophobia
There is a persistent belief among conservatives that transit, particularly rail transit, is a massive social engineering effort. I seem to recall Soucheray riffing on this at length, saying light rail was just a Bolshevik plot to make city living more convenient, thereby encouraging worthy suburban burghers to move into the ‘hood and vote DFL.
They all make about that much sense.
“Urban Renewal”
Isn’t that the underlying motus?
Siderodromophobia from Wiki (it is Saturday morning, afterall): ….Some patients are afraid of derailments and railway accidents, whereas others are afraid of unknown conductors or other railway employees.
Guess symptoms also depend on cargo, yes?
Missing out?
“means the state would lose out on a couple trillion dollars worth of more-than-matching federal light rail funds”
Which means that just one state out of 50 will miss out on increasing the national debt of over 18 TRILLION dollars. For once, we, as a state, might be doing the right thing. Taking money that doesn’t exist (except in the pockets of future taxpayers) should be considered criminal, not something to be wished for.
Aside From the Blood That Has Been Shed
It’s important to remember that we could have 1,000 LRT lines with the treasure that has we have (deleted) away on misadventures in the Middle East and Afghanistan, with nothing to show for it expect a worsening situation.
Despite that, the foreign policy establishment only promises us more of the same. When viewed in the context of our military (it’s not defense) spending, trains are a blip on the radar.
Could have, Should have…
but Don’t. Frank, I have no idea what this has to do with LRT in Minnesota, other than “platforms.”
I’m Not The One
Who injected the national debt into the discussion of LRT, it was you. And I assume by your tone that you are concerned about the size of the debt. My point was that those who are concerned about the size of the debt should focus on where the lion’s share of the debt ahs come from, and that is military spending over the decades in general. We’ve been fighting two (or more wars) for over a decade and it’s all been paid for by a credit card.
Regarding the decrease in Mpls. arrests
Isn’t this what we all want? People of color are being jailed at ridiculous rates compared to white people. Less arrests, especially in areas of high non-white density, are a good thing.