Free Republic

Click on the link for a great video report on the attempt by Democrat Rep. James Oberstar and unions to shut down the 1926 passenger steamboat Delta Queen, which sails America's inland rivers.

In one of Senate candidate Al Franken’s literary efforts titled “Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot,” he reveals his personal feelings about a topic important to many Minnesotans. In Chapter 12 of his book, I learned that candidate Franken is against private ownership of guns due to his belief that firearms in the home are “too dangerous.” I believe these views are more consistent with California or New York, where Mr. Franken still maintains corporate interests. His problem is Minnesota has always been a pro-gun state. Remember, a bipartisan majority passed “conceal and carry.” I called the National Rifle...

A federal judge in Minneapolis issued a decision today, upholding the terms of a demonstration permit issued by the St. Paul police department for an antiwar march at the Republican National Convention. U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen rejected virtually every argument made by attorneys for the protest group who had sought a march route that would have come close to encircling the Xcel Energy Center and would have continued later into the day so delegates would see the demonstrators when they arrived for an evening session on Sept. 1. Citing past court decisions, Ericksen adopted the view of the St....

The Twin Cities will become a battleground between security and civil liberties when the Republican National Convention begins in less than seven weeks. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned activists will press for more protections for protesters Wednesday. "There is cause to worry. That's why we're focused on making sure that the laws are in place to protect people as they plan to exercise their rights," Jude Ortiz said. Ortiz is part of the Coldsnap Legal Collective, a group of volunteers who run a hotline to help people in police custody. He explained the group wants certain protections in Minneapolis to...

At 6:05 p.m. on Aug. 1, silence will fall along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. And those standing along the river's banks will remember that at that moment one year ago, the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring hundreds of others. A prayer service on Aug. 1 at the Basilica of St. Mary followed by an outdoor memorial service at Gold Medal Park on the Mississippi River will mark the first anniversary of the bridge collapse. "It was one of the worst days that I will ever be part of that ironically showed...

He was kicked in head after daughter was slapped.Eight males took turns stomping and kicking the head of a father who had yelled at one of them minutes earlier for hitting his daughter's buttocks at Valleyfair, according to assault charges filed in Scott County District Court. The attack happened about midnight on July 4 after the father confronted two men who touched his 12-year-old daughter. The 41-year-old father's wife heard one of the men use his cell phone to say "he needed his boys over here," the charges said. The wife said a minute later several men arrived and assaulted...

Six men remain in the Scott County jail following what police call a brutal assault on a father trying to protect his daughter. Shakopee police say as the crowd was leaving Valleyfair Amusement Park around midnight on the 4th of July, the victim's daughter was confronted by two men. "The 12-year-old daughter was either touched or slapped in the buttocks area," Scott County Attorney Patrick Ciliberto said. "The father confronted (the men) by yelling at them for what they had done to his daughter," he added. Police say the two men called their friends, who were also in the park....

Lawyers for six Muslim prayer leaders removed from a US Airways jet at Twin Cities International Airport in 2006 told a federal magistrate Monday that they want the airline to divulge 10 years' worth of discrimination complaints so they could compare the airline's behavior before and after the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Attorneys representing the airline argued they should have to turn over just three years' worth of such data. The reason, said one: 9/11 changed everything. "The bottom line is we're in a post-9/11 world," US Airways attorney Dane Jaques told U.S. Magistrate Arthur Boylan. "Procedures changed. The world...

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) announced Monday night that he would not launch a third-party bid for Senate. The former professional wrestler, who served one term as governor beginning a decade ago, said on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that he “isn’t going to run, at this moment,” and that it would take an act of God to get him to file by Tuesday’s filing deadline. He said God has never spoken to him before. “If between now and five o’clock, maybe God comes and speaks to me like he did the president, and tells me I should run like...

Moments after boarding US Airways Flight 300 for Phoenix, Michael McCombie, a 3M sales rep from Santa Clara, Calif., jotted a note and handed it to flight attendant Terri Boatner: "6 suspicious Arabic men on plane, spaced out in their seats. All were together, saying '... Allah ... Allah ...' cursing U.S. involvement w/Saddaam before flight. 1 in front exit row, another in first row 1st class, another in 8D, another in 22D, two in 25 E & F." The men in question were six Muslim imams, or prayer leaders, returning home from a conference in Minneapolis. Within minutes of...

An anti-religion Minnesota biology professor expects to receive dozens of consecrated Communion wafers in response to his public solicitation that people send him the hosts in order that he may publicly desecrate them. He also said he wants to point out that "I am under no obligation to revere the sacred objects of the Catholic Church.... I don't have to treat it as a little idol." In an interview Friday, Mr. Myers said he already had received "a double-digit number" of positive responses, from people saying that they would try to get consecrated Catholic hosts for him and that the...

The spectacle of the coming Republican National Convention will be brought to you by Minnesota's major corporations, even more than planned. Virtually every major Twin Cities company has given money to the convention's local host committee, donated free services or both. The surprise has been the ratio of local donors to national money. "They originally thought it would be a 50-50 split, and it's looking more like 60 percent local and 40 percent national," said Teresa McFarland, spokeswoman for the host committee, which is charged with raising $58 million.

President Bush has often spoken about education reform as a civil rights issue. So we're not entirely surprised to see civil rights groups now defending the No Child Left Behind law against attempts to gut its most effective provisions. Last month, Representative Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, introduced the NCLB Recess Until Reauthorization Act, which would essentially suspend the law's accountability provisions but not the funding. Under Mr. Graves's bill, schools would no longer have to file progress reports that expose achievement gaps between kids of different races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Since NCLB passed in 2002, minority parents in...

Amongst similar anecdotes: Franken Pretends To Kill New Born Daughter At Baby Shower. "AL FRANKEN: My wife came with her sister first and I was going to bring the baby. My other sister-in-law came with me. So I got a doll the exact size of the baby and swaddled it - I told Franny I was going to do this - and there's like thirty women, and I walk in and they're all going like, 'Ohhh . . . ahhhh,' and I was walking in and I hit the baby's head on this piece of furniture and I go up...

On Wednesday night, several members of Congress lined up on the floor of the House of Representatives and issued a call for de-funding Planned Parenthood. They said taxpayers shouldn't be forced to fund the abortion business -- even if the money doesn't directly go towards abortions. Reps. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota and Chris Smith of New Jersey, both Republicans, organized the special order speeches. In her testimony on the House floor, Bachmann referenced recent reports highlighting Planned Parenthood’s targeting more affluent young women in her congressional district. A Wall Street Journal article also cited opening of “express centers in wealthy...

MoveOn.org tried to stage one of their pitiful made-for-the-evening-news events here in Rochester. Their goal? Blame Bush, McCain and the GOP for high gas prices. The Olmsted County GOP caught wind of it and within 48 hours staged one of the most fun coups ever. MoveOn activist Lyle (didn't catch the last name) was befuddled by the strong GOP counter-protest for drilling domestic oil. On the KTTC six o'clock news broadcast he could do no more than stutter when asked if he knew that there was going to be a counterpoint to his protest. He did manage to claim that...

When Republicans said they were a “big tent” party, city officials in Minneapolis apparently took them literally. With the Republican convention set just across the river in St. Paul for the first week in September, Minneapolis parks officials have hiked their rental prices for large hospitality-style tents from a bargain-basement $50 to a sticker-shocking $10,000 — a 20,000 percent increase, MyFoxTwinCities.com reports. In one city meeting, Minneapolis Parks Superintendent Jon Gurban jokingly referred to the price hikes as a “gold mine” timed to coincide with the presidential nominating event. The board faces a $1 million deficit. “We always like taking...

What was supposed to be a quiet protest turned into a scene this afternoon. It all began with some local moveon.org members who wanted to get the word out about alternative fuels. The traffic on Civic Center Drive during rush hour Wednesday muffled the words of protesters, but that didn't stop them from voicing their opinions. Moveon.org member Lyle Abrahamson organized the protest in Rochester for their national event, "A Day of Action for an Oil-Free President." Lyle Abrahamson says, "We're out here showing our support for Obama because we believe that he truly will bring what we call change."...

In an interview with NPR's David Welna that ran today former Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Ind-Minn., says he will run for Senate, challenging incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., whom Ventura defeated for governor in 1998, as well as Democratic nominee and former Saturday Night Live humorist Al Franken. Ventura, born Jim Janos... Ventura had a stormy tenure as governor and horrible relations with the Minnesota press corps. Thus, it was the June issue of a local wine magazine where he chose to drop hints about his pending campaign. Ventura called Franken an opportunist and a carpetbagger. "He hasn't lived...

Warning: The following contains extreme vulgarity by a candidate for the United States Senate. In the nationally important Senate race in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman is presented with a unique political problem. Should he raise in his ads the issue of comedian Al Franken's offensive vulgarity? Or would this risk a backlash against Coleman for coarsening the public conversation? Remember that when Ken Starr detailed Bill Clinton's most repulsive antics -- stained dresses and such -- it was Starr who was accused of sexual obsessiveness. Franken's defenders explain that his edginess is the result of being a "satirist" --...

twincitiescarry.com is holding a potluck picnic and 2A Day celebration “Minnesota Gun Rights Gathering”, or GRG for short 11am, Sunday, July 13, Lake Harriet Bandshell picnic area, next to the Refectory. We will start setting up around 9 am. GPS address will be 4135 W Lake Harriet Parkway, Minneapolis 55410 42nd and W. Lake Harriet Parkway. Pay parking near, street parking a short walk away. Potluck theme, bring enough for yourself, and enough to share as well. Carry is optional. Please let us know if you plan to attend...we’d like to have an idea of how many will attend for...

DNR is dealt a setback to its mission of conservation The agency must use E85 in its vehicles. And, as the ethanol boom grows, grasslands are lost to corn. Before buying vehicles doesn't the private citizen weigh the pros and cons of the purchase? So why is it so unreasonable for the state to … read more do so? Of course this is the same agency that is going to destroy the current largest fishing lake in Wright County on belief you can't have ducks and fish in the same body of water. This is just one more reason for...

Will Denver or St. Paul have a harder time keeping politicos in line during the national conventions? Our unscientific findings reveal that bad behavior is bipartisan. September is a long way off, but Jessica Giordani already predicts a bump in business in the waning days of summer. "Are you kidding me? Of course it's on my radar!" she said. "It" would be the Republican National Convention. And Giordani would be the co-founder of Smitten Kitten, a Minneapolis adult sex-toys shop. "The sheer number of people who are going to be flooding the area looking for interesting things to do" is...

The fundraiser on Barack Obama's national website might be considered a raffle in Minnesota. Not so, his campaign says. The head of the Minnesota Gambling Control Board said that a solicitation for funds on the national website of the Barack Obama presidential campaign may constitute a raffle, which is a violation of Minnesota gambling laws. [snip] The state Gambling Board website specifically states that one cannot conduct a raffle as a fundraiser for a political campaign. Only nonprofit charities may conduct raffles. He said three elements make a drawing a form of gambling under state law: if it costs money...

Anarchists Announce Plans On-Air to Foil RNC Convention Goers Last Edited: Sunday, 06 Jul 2008, 9:41 PM CDT Created: Sunday, 06 Jul 2008, 9:08 PM CDT RNC Welcoming Committee a.k.a. Anarchist group ST. PAUL -- An anarchist group threatening to crash the Republican National Convention has taken to the airwaves. Ironically calling themselves the “RNC Welcoming Committee,” members of the group shared plans to wreak havoc during the RNC. Their plans include blocking bridges into St. Paul. Those plans, called “Swarm, Seize and Stay,” call for members to try and cut off convention-goers and delegates from the arena.

When I became a gay activist in 1990, HIV/AIDS was one of the key priorities of the movement I joined. Fighting AIDS was promoted as an important reason for gays and lesbians to help elect President Bill Clinton in 1992. Yet now that the gay white men in American cities who are the main funders of the LGBT movement are no longer dying quite so often from AIDS, the lesbian and gay community has moved on to other issues, such as marriage, while millions of people, many of them men of color who have sex with men, are still suffering...

A total of 13,843 abortions were performed in Minnesota in 2007, the state Health Department reported this morning, a 1.57 percent decrease over the previous year but a slight rise compared to the two previous years. In 2006, the state reported 14,065 abortions. The totals were 13,365 in 2005 and 13,788 in 2004. The annual abortion totals in the state have held steady since the mid-1990s, when they dropped below 15,000 and have remained there since 1993. The peak year was 1980 (19,028). Among Minnesota residents, there were 17.4 abortions for every 100 live births. That ratio has held steady...

Star Tribune Co. declined to make a quarterly interest payment Monday to the holders of $96 million in second-tier debt that Avista Capital Partners raised to finance its acquisition of the news company last spring. But Chris Harte, chief executive of the Star Tribune, said in an interview that a lending consortium that holds senior debt of nearly $400 million was paid Monday. The Star Tribune has sufficient cash to make the payment to the "second-lien" debt holders, Harte said, but chose not to as the company works to complete a debt-restructuring plan with its senior creditors and works internally...

Glance at practically any public analysis of John McCain’s vice-presidential options and you’ll find the name of Tim Pawlenty mentioned prominently. The 47-year-old second-term Minnesota governor is, supposedly, at or near the top of McCain’s short list. There is certainly some logic to this. First, Pawlenty is loyal – he sided with McCain early and unflinchingly stuck with him last summer, when everyone else in the world seemed to give up on him – and McCain likes loyalty. Second, Pawlenty would balance McCain’s advanced age and maverick streak with (relative) youthfulness and more appeal to the Republican base. Plus, he’d...

The Obama freaks, antiwar moonbats, and antiwar traitors are going to march on the RNC on September 1st. We can't let the Moonbats get all of the media coverage, so we know what needs to be done. From the Leftists: We can't let this go unopposed. Support the RNC and take away the moonbat's media coverage. Be there September 1st.

Last week, controversy erupted when Archbishop John Nienstedt informed St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis that it could not hold a gay pride prayer service in its sanctuary. The service -- held for several years in conjunction with the annual Twin Cities Gay Pride festival -- celebrates the gay identity. In response, organizers moved the celebration outside the church. One gay activist attended in what must have struck him as a clown's outfit, given the occasion -- the robes of an archbishop, miter and all. David McCaffrey of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) condemned what...

New information could help the woman charged in a deadly school bus accident. Her attorney said there is new DNA evidence that could clear Olga Franco as the driver of a van that crashed into a school bus in February killing four children. At a hearing Friday, attorneys for Franco said they have DNA evidence that proves a man was driving the van. They said DNA taken from the driver's side airbag shows it came from an unidentified male. Franco has told police that her boyfriend, Francisco Sangabriel-Mendoza, was driving the van. Police have yet to locate him.

Scores of heavily armed federal agents last month stormed into Agriprocessors, which produces up to 70 percent of all kosher meat in America. The feds seized almost 400 of the plant's 900 workers in the largest single roundup of illegal immigrants to date, charging about 300 of them with identity theft and using stolen Social Security cards. Some of those workers have since sued the company, alleging abuse, fraud and sexual coercion. Postville, which once sold T-shirts boasting of the peaceful coexistence of its many cultures, has been left "absolutely shattered," said the Rev. Paul Ouderkirk of the town's St....

Elaborate plans are underway to encircle and "shut down" the Republican National Convention at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center in September. The strategies and tactics involved could come straight from a guerrilla warfare manual. Anarchist groups with ominous names -- the RNC Welcoming Committee, Unconventional Action -- have announced a "three-tier strategy" to cut off the Xcel Center. The steps include "blockading" streets and freeways, "immobilizing" delegates' transportation and "blocking" bridges to impede delegates' access to the center. The plan also features a "swarm, seize, stay" strategy. After dividing the city into "sectors," protesters propose to "seize space" through both...

Faced with a lawsuit by its own officers, the Minneapolis Police Department prepares to unveil a long-awaited diversity plan. But is it enough? The plan will be released just hours before a court could agree to award several black officers thousands of dollars in a settlement with the city. The 27-page plan outlines new initiatives by the department to increase diversity. But the agency is being forced to release the plan while under tremendous legal pressure. The Minneapolis force is more diverse than ever, according to the department. They said over 18 percent of their officers are minorities. Commanders admit...

A hostage situation ended with shots fired and a man wounded inside the Morrison County Government Center in Little Falls Tuesday morning. The Star Tribune reports on its website that the mayor of Little Falls says the hostage taker was killed. County authorities would not confirm that. In a news release at 12:30 Tuesday afternoon, Morrison County authorities did confirm they shot and wounded the hostage taker. They say he was taken to St. Gabriel's Hospital. But the hospital will not confirm anyone was taken there. KARE 11 News reporters at the scene say squad cars from Little Falls police...

ST. PETER, MINN. - Mike Meyer says that in his 13 years locked inside Minnesota Sex Offender Program facilities, he's gained insight into why he molested 36 children and young adults, and how to stop himself from doing it again. One technique psychologists taught him is privately repeating a deviant thought over and over until it loses its allure. Another is telling on himself -- confessing to a counselor or support group when he feels a taboo attraction. Both are supposed to break the cycle of thoughts and behaviors that led to his crimes. "When I was offending I felt...

Two people were hospitalized after being shot Saturday afternoon at the Juneteenth celebration in Theodore Wirth Park. Mike Kinghorn, 23, was shot in the ankle and an unidentified female was shot in the leg. Neither person was expected to be in the hospital very long. The shooting happened just after 5:30 p.m.

Troy Molde awoke at 3 a.m. Thursday to police flashlights shining in his face. Two uniformed Lakeville officers were in his bedroom, knocking on the wall to wake him up. They were there, they said, to warn him to keep his doors closed and locked. Their surprise visit was part of a public service campaign. Officers had fanned out across the city, leaving notices on doors to remind residents how to prevent thefts by keeping garage doors closed, not leaving valuables in cars and locking windows or doors. But at Molde's house, they went further. His two sons, ages 5...

The FBI has identified the Twin Cities as one of the 10 worst areas of the United States for mortgage fraud and said it has literally dozens of criminal investigations underway here as part of a national crackdown on the problem. Deputy U.S. Attorney General Mark Filip and FBI Director Robert Mueller called a news conference Thursday afternoon in Washington to announce a special enforcement effort targeting mortgage fraud and mortgage-related securities fraud. The multi-agency initiative is called Operation Malicious Mortgage. From March 1 through June 18, the government charged 406 defendants in 144 mortgage fraud cases around the country....

Mayme (right) and Clarence Vail are the longest married couple still living in the United States, and were photographed Thursday , July 19, 2007 at their retirement center in White Bear Lake, Mn. The couple has been married for 83 years. (Scott Takushi, Pioneer Press) (Staff)Little did Clarence Vail know when he wed his high school sweetheart in 1925 that those vows would one day make them famous. Clarence and Mayme Vail became local celebrities as their commitment surpassed the 80-year mark, making them contenders for the Guinness Book of World Records and international symbols of a healthy marriage. But...

Goldy Gopher has gone sexy on us. Next month, the University of Minnesota mascot will appear in Victoria's Secret stores, adorning hoodies, T-shirts (pictured) and panties (not pictured) in the chain's Pink collection of lounge wear for young women. The lingerie chain, which has been trying to broaden its appeal as it struggles with declining sales, will carry merchandise from 33 universities as part of a licensing deal announced this week. Big Ten rivals Wisconsin, Michigan and Penn State also made the cut --

Warning: The following contains extreme vulgarity by a candidate for the U.S. Senate. In the razor-close and nationally important Senate race in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman is presented with a unique political problem. Should he raise in his ads the issue of comedian Al Franken's offensive vulgarity? Or would this risk a backlash against Coleman for coarsening the public conversation? Remember that when Ken Starr detailed Bill Clinton's most repulsive antics -- stained dresses and such -- it was Starr who was accused of sexual obsessiveness. Franken's defenders explain that his edginess is the result of being a "satirist"...

New poll numbers show Barack Obama’s lead over Johon McCain slipping among Minnesota voters. The exclusive 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS/SURVEY USA Poll shows Obama holding a one-point lead over McCain, with the margin of error at a statistical dead heat Tuesday. Just two weeks ago, Obama held a five-point lead in Minnesota. Nationally, it’s a slightly different story: A new ABC News poll has Obama ahead of McCain 48 to 42-percent. Obama’s lead is down a percentage point from one month ago.

If there were an election for President of the United States today, would you vote for Republican John McCain? Or Democrat Barack Obama?Obama: 47% McCain: 46%

ROCHESTER, MN (KTTC-TV) -- A local business that is clashing with Police could lead to a liquor license lost. They have a long list of police calls and a self-admitted problem with gang violence. Now, the future of Westfire Grille, is very close to burning out. For the second time in the last month the Rochester City Council is finding the future of a bar in their hands, but this time around it's not about neighbors. The problem is with the police. Rochester Police Lt. Dan Pulford says, "1 o'clock in the morning, 2 o'clock in the morning, I will...

<p>Former Gov. Jesse Ventura would trim support from both Sen. Norm Coleman and Coleman's DFL challenger, Al Franken, if he were to enter the U.S. Senate race, a Survey USA poll has found.</p>

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura would trim support from both Sen. Norm Coleman and Coleman's DFL challenger, Al Franken, if he were to enter the U.S. Senate race, a Survey USA poll has found. The poll of 700 Minnesota adults, taken last week, showed Coleman winning a three-way match over Franken and Ventura. Forty-one percent of poll respondents said they would support Coleman, compared with 31 percent for Franken and 23 percent for Ventura. The margin of error on that question was plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. If Ventura doesn't enter the race, 52 percent said they support Coleman and...

For fathers, it's "the best of times and the worst of times." So says the National Fatherhood Initiative of Gaithersburg, Md., echoing the opening lines of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities." Today, many dads are more engaged than ever in their children's lives. They put bread on the table, as their grandfathers did, but they also diaper the baby, coach soccer and help with birthday parties. At the same time, father absence has hit record levels. About 25 million children -- roughly one in three -- are not living with their biological fathers, according to the U.S. Census...

Beau Zabel, 23, came to Philadelphia from Minnesota six weeks ago, eager to experience urban East Coast living and to become a math teacher in the city school system. He found a place to live through roommates.com in South Philadelphia near the Italian Market, and took a temporary job at the Starbucks at Fourth and South Streets. He recently updated his page on MySpace.com, which proclaims his optimism: "Just waiting for life to begin." But his life ended about 1:30 a.m. yesterday, when police said Zabel was ambushed as he walked home from the midnight shift at the coffee shop....