Second poll in less than a week shows John Kline in trouble

from LeftMN by Tony Petrangelo

Last week I covered a PPP poll sponsored by The House Majority PAC which showed John Kline trailing his 2012 opponent, DFLer Mike Obermueller, 42-38. That poll was what you might call a “shock poll.” A poll with numbers so different from anything seen before that it shocks the senses. But shock polls can sometimes be so shocking that it makes one question the validity of the poll itself.

Fortunately, for our purposes, PPP is back with another poll concerning congressman John Kline, and this one confirms the findings of the aforementioned “shock poll.”

Balls and Strikes: Response to messaging snafu anything but rapid for Republicans

from politics.mn by Michael Brodkorb

In the last few days, politics in Minnesota has seen two messaging blunders earn some unwanted attention for both Democrats and Republicans:

• The Chisago County Republican Party posted on their Facebook page a picture of a slave auction with the message: “Pro-Choice; Against slavery? Don’t buy one.”
• Alliance for a Better Minnesota (ABM) used Halloween as an opportunity to hit some of the Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate and governor with a movie-themed blog post. ABM suggested Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson dress as the serial killer from the movie American Psycho, because Johnson is “Seemingly ‘nice’ in public, but actually pretty evil on the inside…”

Two ugly incidents, but the reactions were different from the groups involved and it’s worth examining.

Greater MSP theme is expansive, inclusive and intelligent

from Growth & Justice by Dane Smith

Greater MSP is a relatively new and ambitious effort to attract and retain economic development in  the Twin Cities region,  and the group’s evolving theme has to be one of the most intelligent and expansive in the nation. This week’s annual meeting featured speakers and a new mission statement  that emphasized cultural connectedness and social collaboration in a way I’ve never quite seen before from a business group. Here’s the new and improved theme, handed out on glossy cards to the hundreds of partners and supporters who attended the up-tempo event at the Guthrie Theater. It’s a speech that might be coming soon to an elevator near you. 

The attack of the hipster tomatoes: Getting real with local foods

from streets.mn by Samuel Geer

Re-designing our cities to support local food production and healthy living has been a very popular topic of late, happening against a backdrop of grassroots efforts to create networks of growing, distribution and consumption.  It is interesting to watch this process unfold, seeing how farmers, advocates, and urban design professionals are envisioning and (sometimes) working together to build a local food economy.

Thoughts at the end of the 13th month of the lockout of the Minnesota Orchestra

from Thoughts Toward a Better World by Dick Bernard

In my opinion, two continuing actions of the Orchestra Board led us to where we are now: 1) to the best of my knowledge, they refused to open to the Orchestra their financial records for independent review; 2) they hired a law firm known for expertise in union-busting lock outs (strikes in reverse, by management against labor).

Absent the two above actions, we may still have been going to the Orchestra while negotiations continued.

Photo: First day of busing, Minneapolis, 1971

from MN70s by Dave Kenney

Monica Lash (left) and Molly Johnson (right) were among the hundreds of students who attended new schools under Minneapolis’s controversial Hale-Field desegregation plan during the early 1970s. 

Photos: The beauty of late fall

from My Northern Garden by Mary Schier

We’ve had such a late fall this year that even though it is almost Halloween, we seem to have finally hit peak color where I live, just south of Minneapolis and St. Paul. While walking downtown today, I couldn’t help but notice the vibrant colors of the plantings at our beautiful Northfield Public Library. Bright red burning bush provided a colorful background for seedheads from coneflowers, fading roses and other plants.

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