[image_credit]MinnPost photo by Peter Callaghan[/image_credit][image_caption]Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka[/image_caption]
For KMSP-TV Theo Keith says, “Days before a coronavirus outbreak in the Minnesota Senate Republican caucus, the GOP held a large, in-person dinner party to celebrate their election results. A GOP spokeswoman confirmed the Nov. 5 victory dinner party this weekend in response to FOX 9’s questions about it. Republicans had not previously disclosed it, even as controversy erupted over the outbreak. The spokeswoman, Rachel Aplikowski, did not say why she had not disclosed the party in earlier public statements about the situation. At least three senators, including Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, have now tested positive.”
In the Star Tribune, Neal St. Anthony and Dee DePass write, “JXTA and the Capri are the veritable bookends that border an unprecedented $125 million worth of commercial-residential projects underway or planned for 2021 between Bryant and Penn on W. Broadway, said Erik Hansen, the city’s director of economic development. ‘We are about to experience a building boom on W. Broadway,’ said Hansen, 46, a Minneapolis native who remembers far-leaner times when he was trying to drum up business amid vacant store fronts. The W. Broadway corridor experienced modest progress in redevelopment and business expansion after the 2008-2009 recession. Now, that has given way to a redevelopment wave that portends to be the biggest building surge ever on the near North Side.”
Says Kirsti Marohn for MPR, “A budding young scientist made an unusual discovery in a Sherburne County lake last summer. Twelve-year-old William Guthrie of Big Lake, Minn., was volunteering with his family to comb lakes for aquatic invaders when he discovered a golden clam — an invasive species not previously found in Minnesota lakes — in Briggs Lake, southeast of St. Cloud. Experts with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources confirmed the discovery, said Megan Weber, an educator with the University of Minnesota Extension and Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center.”
In the Grand Forks Herald, Carolyn Lange reports, “John Dahl knows what humble pie tastes like, and it isn’t good. The 49-year-old New London man spent nearly a week in the hospital in May after being diagnosed with COVID-19. After he left Carris Health Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar, the nurses told him he wouldn’t be back to his regular routine for a couple months. Dahl pooh-poohed it and told them he’d be back to normal in a couple weeks. That didn’t happen. ‘I’ve eaten my words, and then some’, he said. ‘Humble pie is very bitter’. It’s been about six months since Dahl left the hospital and his energy level still has not fully rebounded. It’s difficult for him to do any extra tasks at home after putting in a full day at work and — most concerning — his lung capacity is functioning at about 80% of normal and that may be as good as it gets.”
Says Paul Walsh in the Star Tribune, “A post office opens Monday in a portion of the vacant Kmart building on Lake Street as a temporary replacement for the two U.S. Postal Service stations that were lost in the riots that followed George Floyd’s death in late May. The Postal Service has said the new full-service post office will fill in for up to two years for the two stations just off Lake Street, 110 E. 31st St. and 3033 S. 27th Av. The city owns the Kmart tract and is receiving about $30,000 in rent from the Postal Service.”
Says Bob King for the Duluth News Tribune, “While modest, the Leonid shower is ever-reliable, producing 10-20 meteors per hour most years. This year’s peak occurs on Tuesday morning, Nov. 17. Every 33 years, around the time the comet cycles back toward the sun, we get much more spectacular shows with meteor counts in excess of 1,000 a minute. Only then does the Leonid meteor shower truly live up to its name. Meteor-watchers call them Leonid storms, and the last one occurred in 2001. After a couple of off-peak years, the next big storm is expected in 2099. Whoa, that’s a long time! To tide us over, we should see meteor counts in excess of 100 per hour when the comet returns again in 2031 and 2064.”
KSTP-TV’s Ben Henry reports: “Minnesota is home to the reigning U.S. chess champion once again. Despite preferring to play “over the board” — chess speak for in-person — Wesley So recently became a US champion for the second time while playing virtually. … So, who now lives in Shoreview, grew up in the Philippines and became a chess grandmaster at the age of 14. He’s the seventh-youngest person ever to hold the title. He moved to the United States at 18 and quickly became one of the world’s top players.”
They also didn’t inform the restaurant where they had their dinner of the outbreak. From the article:
“When asked whether the GOP Senate caucus had notified the Lake Elmo venue where the dinner was held about the positive COVID tests, Gazelka told MPR News on Sunday that ‘based on your questioning, we realized we had not notified the event site. I just got off the phone with the owner and apologized for our oversight.'”
Seriously? How selfish and irresponsible can you get????
It’s positively Trumpian…
Ah yes. Now Gazelka is complaining Susan Kent is “politicizing” this after the whole election strategy of his party was to do just that. Liberate the caucus!
What airline does Leader Gazelka propose to use to get home from Florida and when?
For a party that bills itself as the party of personal responsibility they are a acting irresponsibly. Well we knew that was baloney, but this really highlights the horrible handling of the virus by the Republican party. We’ll be at a quarter million deaths soon and the majority of those were unnecessary. Those are lives that we needlessly lost because Donald refused to do his job and the entire Republican party agreed with him. In a sane world they would be driven from the public square and never allowed to return, unfortunately they’ve created this insane world that the rest of us must deal with.
He knows he’s positive and planning to fly to Florida?
This is not normal. This is not responsible.
This is criminal denial of the pandemic, even while spreading it.
Did he remember to tell the airlines he was flying while carrying COVID?
What is wrong with these people?
“Gazelka said his symptoms weren’t serious and he expected to recover.”
If Gazelka were less self absorbed and more empathetic, he would realize the possibility of spreading the virus to someone who isn’t expected to recover.
I hope you get better, Mr. Gazelka.
Where did they eat in Lake Elmo. I want to skip going there!
I know you were joking, but this kind of joke hurts the folks most in need of our economic support.
The restaurants aren’t spreading this, it’s us people.