The flooding, it’s a disaster. The AP reports (via MPR): “Gov. Mark Dayton is asking for federal help after heavy flooding in southern Minnesota last month. … Dayton formally asked President Barack Obama to declare the flood damage a major disaster in a letter released Thursday. The storms and subsequent flooding on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22 caused an estimated $8.3 million in damage to public infrastructure.”
Great story about two immigrant communities supporting each other. Through vegetables. MPR’s Emma Sapong writes: “Customers at the Minneapolis Farmers Market wait to purchase habanero peppers on Sept. 17. The peppers are a common ingredient in many African dishes. … Blama Kollie and his family of four pulled up to the Minneapolis Farmers Market one Saturday last month at 5:30 a.m. Vendors were still unpacking, some carefully arranging their goods on tables, others unloading boxes from trucks, all by the light of the full moon. … The Kollies set their gazes upon a stall heaped with freshly picked greens piled three feet high on a folding table. Wooden buckets brimming with multi-colored peppers and varieties of eggplants beckoned in the predawn darkness.”
Ever wondered why you see so many more deer by the road this time of year? The Rochester Post-Bulletin’s John Weiss has your answer: “The simplest answer is that it’s the time of the year when bucks begin chasing does to mate with them, said Gretchen Miller, assistant Department of Natural Resources wildlife manager in Rochester. As sunlight decreases in fall, the bucks begin scraping the ground and using antlers to mess up trees as a way to signal they are around. Bucks also lose a lot of their usual hesitance to come out into the open and move day and night, chasing does that might be in heat. … Colder temperatures also prompt the movement. … But the situation is actually a bit more complex than sex and weather, she said.”
Interesting legal approach. The Star Tribune’s Joe Christensen reports: “Gophers football players Carlton Djam and Tamarion Johnson have been served with restraining orders that would keep them from attending home games, according to documents obtained Wednesday by the Star Tribune. … The players’ attorney, Lee Hutton, said he has and will continue to appeal on their behalf. … The woman who filed the restraining order in Hennepin County Court was involved in an incident on Sept. 2 that led to the suspension of Johnson and three other players but not Djam. No arrests or charges came of the incident. … The alleged victim participates in the university’s home football game operation, and the TCF Bank Stadium address is listed as one of two restricted addresses in the restraining orders.”
Oopsies! The Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson reports: “Fox Sports has apologized to the Vikings for Photoshopping Sam Bradford’s head onto Teddy Bridgewater’s body for a graphic used during NFL broadcasts. … Bradford didn’t know about it until Monday. … ‘Someone showed me in the locker room, but it can’t be that hard to find a picture of me,’ the Vikings quarterback said. ‘I don’t think we get offended easily, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.’”
In other news…
And when can we see some polling on the 2020 presidential race? “Minneapolis is getting polled about the mayor’s race. Is there a mayor’s race?” [City Pages]
Will still shoot your eye out: “MN Supreme Court: BB guns are not a firearm” [MPR]
Sign o’ the times: “Forest Lake candidate investigated over signs disappearing” [Pioneer Press]
Bra! “Swedish American Newspapers Available Online for the First Time” [Minnesota Historical Society]
BB Because
As the owner of a cedar-sided house of apparently favorite pecker hue, twice each year the woodpeckers play their games with me. With no good deterent other than re-siding, and with no intention of harming anything (including birds), I went out to purchase a simple BB pistol last year. The sales clerk astonished me by saying they were not legal in Minnesota. I then spoke with a local police officer to confirm this, learning I essentially could do nothing but shout or throw stones at my siding. The Blue Jays certainly refuse to earn there peanuts here, so I’ve been working on a plan this week.
Yes, I know that hanging fake owls is supposed to disuade these guys…and all our songbirds, no doubt. Not an option. I’m going out to buy a simple BB pistol (clearly marked with orange tip to indicate it’s not a Ruger .22). What’s more, I see that I can also purchase biodegradable pellets rather than the metal shot. That’s even better for all concerned, and a leap of responsibility.
I have only one question that begs answers: Should I purchase the BB pistol now, while the peckers are still at work; or, should I wait until after the cataract surgery?
[Disclaimer: No pets, children, other humans or other innocent critters live here but the occasional mouse.]