Brother, can you spare a dime? Is Hennepin County so broke it needs a new tax to fund basic road maintenance?
By Jeff Johnson
Look True North blog, 6/30/10
"Several of my colleagues on the board suggested that it would be all but impossible to find an additional $10 million for roads within our $1.6 billion budget (which would require reallocating just over 1/2 of 1%). Hence, the argument for a new tax."

Charter group ready to forward redistricting plan to City Council
By Steve Brandt
Star Tribune, 6/23/10

Minneapolis wants specifics on pension repayment
By Steve Brandt
Star Tribune, 6/21/10
"Attorneys for the city of Minneapolis have asked a judge to order two pension plans to get specific about how they'll recover $75 million in pension benefits that she ruled were overpaid to retired city police and firefighters."

Mpls. plans to appeal Loring Heights decision
By Steve Brandt
Star Tribune, 6/21/10
"Minneapolis is appealing a judge's decision awarding almost $523,000 to a spurned developer in a case in which it has already sunk more than $700,000 in outside attorney fees and related costs."

Healthy Fat ["We are failing our schools"]
By Speed Gibson
Look True North blog, 6/23/10
"Let me quote another statistic...Minneapolis St. Paul ran on $415 per student in 1962, the suburbs averaging $442. In today's dollars that's $2,998 and $3,193 respectively, and we're clearly spending many times that today. And all that just to tread water on test scores."

Regents review ugly cuts
By Luke Feuerherm
The U faces a $152 million budget shortfall.
AND YET...
Regents approve new construction
By Ashley Bray
"The project has attracted criticism due to its $200 million price tag."
mndaily.com, 6/16/2010

Now Playing: The Hiawatha Line
By Speed Gibson
Look True North blog, 6/16/10
"It's flashy and expensive but as a significant transportation carrier, it's insignificant. And you can't depend on it for mission critical trips to the stadiums or the airports, not unless you leave at least an hour earlier. It's always something with LRT, like when they let you board downtown but somehow forget to tell you that the line is closed further down where you'll find a slower though much more comfortable bus waiting to limp through the rest of the stops."

Count Our Blessings
By Mitch Berg
Look True North blog, 5/26/10
"So of the almost $400,000 hike, a third is hypothetically temporary; half the remainder will be saved with new machines; that means elections are going to be $100K-plus more expensive no matter what. And that's the good news!"

Government distrust runs high among Minn. voters
"Minnesota voters have a dim view of the federal government, with more than three-quarters in a new poll saying they "only sometimes" or "never" trust Washington to do what is right. The Minnesota Public Radio News/Humphrey Institute poll published Thursday also found that more than half of respondents think government has too much power and two-thirds want a smaller government."
kstp.com 5/21/10

Judge orders Mpls. police chief to court
Dolan must respond to claims he broke the law in handling of discipline in brutality cases.
By Matt McKinney
Star Tribune, 5/12/10

EDITORIAL: Guns needed to stop Chicago murders
Washington Times, 5/6/10
"Exceptions to the [gun control] rules enable politicians and their personal friends to own and even carry handguns - but nobody else."

Exclusive: Poll results in the 2010 Minn. gov. race
"Exclusive 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS-SurveyUSA poll results show Republican Tom Emmer as the early front-runner in three hypothetical races."

With Republicans in the Heart of the Beast
By Mary Jane LaVigne
TC Daily Planet, 5/4/10
"Keep it sane. Keep it civil. That should serve us all."

Judge rejects developer's claim he lost $11.7 million
By Steve Brandt
Star Tribune, 4/29/10
"[Judge] Aldrich agreed with Hoyt's argument that bias by Council Member Lisa Goodman violated his procedural due process rights and deprived him of a fair hearing before the council. Aldrich said that Goodman improperly tried to sway other council members and helped organize neighborhood opposition, at odds with her quasi-judicial role in hearing Hoyt's appeal of denials by the Planning Commission."

'Club Book' organizers defend pricey allocation
By Betsy Sundquist
Politics in Minnesota, 4/23/10
"The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, approved by voters in 2008, was a financial windfall for supporters of the state's wildlife and wetlands, drinking water, arts, history and cultural heritage. And for Neil Gaiman. The 2009 Newbery Award-winning author earned $45,000 -- all of it coming directly from so-called legacy-amendment funds -- for an appearance a week ago at Stillwater Junior High School in the kickoff event of Club Book..."

Altered States
WSJ.com, 4/17/10
"...and just last week, Republicans in Minnesota's 5th District passed a secession resolution."

On Thune's Rant
By Matt Marchetti
MNvoters.org Blog/Minnesota Voters Alliance, 4/26/10
"In response to the effort to institute Photo I.D. at the polls to prevent voter fraud, Council Member David Thune exploded in a tirade, filled with invective, insult and a complete lack of logic."

City project will photograph every property in Minneapolis
Minneapolis City website, 4/20/10

Minneapolis enters sixth month without a staff auditor
Three positions have been authorized, but the first won't be filled until at least next month.
By Steve Brandt
Star Tribune, 4/13/10

Study: Minneapolis is among pricier cities for corporate HQs
Corporate relocation expert says more firms are looking for low-cost cities, even for company headquarters.
By Susan Feyder
Star Tribune, 4/10/10
"Minneapolis' property taxes were the main reason for its relatively high ranking in the study"

Students Made to Protest for Social Justice at State Capitol
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth Graders Protest Welfare Reform In Minnesota
kstp.com, 3/24/10
"School director Eliza Goodwin said, "It is something that is absolutely part of our curriculum...I think it's appropriate for kids to be learning about how citizen groups can come together and influence the governor or the legislature."

Your chance to tinker with how Minneapolis is run
By Steve Brandt
Star Tribune, 3/24/10
"Openings on the Minneapolis Charter Commission mean an opportunity to examine how city government is structured and whether it needs changes."

Mpls. will pay $75K to settle lawsuit against police
By Becky Nahm
KSTP.com, 3/11/10
"This case represents at least the eighteenth police lawsuit settled by the city since 2009."

Don Samuels, Chanda Baker, Sondra Samuels: As the teachers union digs in, it's students who suffer
By Don Samuels, Chanda Baker, Sondra Samuels
Star Tribune, 3/8/10

Picking a police chief
By Tony Bouza
Southside Pride online, March 2010

Hofstede's work faulted by colleagues and constituents alike
By Steve Brandt
Star Tribune, 3/3/10

Johnson's hair, cleaning expenses ruled illegal in split decision
By Steve Brandt
Star Tribune, 3/2/10

City: Yep, it's bad out there
By Jake Weyer
Southwest Journal, February 22, 2010 Issue
"Andy Trawick is done driving in his neighborhood for the winter. The Linden Hills resident drove into an ice crater a few weeks ago near his home...spun into a snowbank and ended up with $850 worth of damage to his car."

Minneapolis Plays Politics With Core Services
By Walter Scott Hudson
Fightin' Words blog, 2/18/10

Mayor Rybak to Craft Supplemental City Budget for 2010
Mpls Mirror, 2/17/10

Cost of New Lowry Bridge Questioned
KSTP.com, Becky Nahm, 11/05/09

Hennepin Co. garbage burner
"Between $700,000 and $800,000 is going to be spent for landscaping around the garbage burner"
By Nicole Muehlhausen, Web Producer
KSTP.com, 6/10/09