Big minimum wage protest. The Star Tribune’s Tim Harlow writes: “On Tuesday morning, about 100 cleaners wearing Santa hats sang holiday carols modified with lyrics supporting workers rights as they marched through Eden Prairie Center to the main entrance of Kohl’s where they made their wishes for $15 an hour wage known to company management. … Kohl’s locked the protesters out … The rally in Eden Prairie was the second of three events Tuesday in which fast-food employees, janitors and other low-paid workers continued their push for a $15 an hour wages. Earlier in the darkness, hundreds rallied outside a south Minneapolis McDonalds to draw attention to their cause. … Though police characterized the predawn assembly as peaceful, they did make 21 arrests, said Minneapolis Police Department spokesman Scott Seroka. None resisted arrest and were immediately released.”
Come on, people. WCCO reports: “In the first 10 days after Donald Trump won the presidency, there were 34 reports of harassment and intimidation in Minnesota, according to a new report from a civil rights advocacy group. … The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an Alabama-based legal advocacy nonprofit, released an election aftermath report Tuesday highlighting hate incidents across the country. The group says there were 867 hate incidents reported in the U.S. in the 10 days after the Nov. 8 election.”
The other shoe drops. The AP reports (via KARE): “Minnesota residents buying health insurance through the state’s exchange are getting more help from the federal government. … … MNsure said Tuesday that the average subsidy for health plans is $637, three times higher than last year. That extra financial help is critical with premiums skyrocketing for 2017 coverage.”
Seems conservatives really don’t want Rep. Keith Ellison to be DNC chair. The Minnesota Daily reports: “As Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison’s runs to fill Democratic National Committee’s chair vacancy, multiple news outlets have reported on columns Ellison wrote, which some say were controversial, for the Minnesota Daily while he was a third-year law student at the University of Minnesota. … The Daily retrieved Ellison’s four columns from its archives, written under the alias Keith E. Hakim in 1989 and 1990. The columns cover a wide array of topics — from reparations for slavery, issues surrounding campus free speech for students of color and Ellison’s stance on leaders of the Nation of Islam, namely the perceived anti-Semitism of Abdul Alim Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan.”
In other news…
Seeking formal recognition: “Lawsuit by Prairie Island members seeks to elevate status of Mdewakanton Sioux Indians of Minnesota” [Rochester Post Bulletin]
Big chicken: “Pilgrim’s Pride buys St. Cloud-based Gold N’ Plump for $350 million” [Star Tribune]
Actually, it debuted at the Guthrie, but a nice review nevertheless: “Waiting for Cod-ot?: The delightful absurdity of ‘Nice Fish’ ” [The Economist]
Quite a story: “Great Lakes shipwreck 50 years ago today brought tragic loss, incredible survival” [Duluth News Tribune]
What happened to Car2Go? “On the decline of carsharing in the late 2010s” [Transportist]
That “Liberal” Media
I’m always amused by the Liberal Media that goes out of it’s way to find unsavory connections to Ellison and Obama (Rev. Wright) that are 25-40 years old, while the current Prez-Elect gets a free pass for his current, on-going relationship with Alex Jones. I guess that’s just the Lefty bias.
Bigger One Than Jones
Let’s not forget Bannon. He’s actually in the room with Trump. But, yes, that Lefty bias is something the poor Right just struggles against. Read the piece on Scott Johnson whining about the unleveled playing field. They have a remarkable ability to turn issues inside out. Hillary is the liar while the guy who spews lies daily is somehow the one to lead us. “Millions voted illegally” while voter suppression and disenfranchisement a basic building block of the Republicans and Bannon even supports it.