Free Republic

Senator Gretchen Hoffman isn’t letting police union opposition to a gun bill she sponsored get to her. Instead, she’s focused on the voices of support she’s received on a piece of legislation she’s dubbed the “Stand Your Ground” bill. The bill (SF 1357) expands gun owners’ self-defense rights. Currently, the use of deadly force is authorized when a person believes they are in danger of bodily harm or death, but the new bill presumes that threat may be posed by a home invader. It also eliminates residents’ “duty to retreat” from a threat if possible, instead allowing deadly force. The...

Minnesota gun and self-defense laws could be set for some major changes if Bill 1467 is signed into law. It's an attempt to enhance the rights of homeowners during an intrusion, and broaden permit-to-carry law. Supporters say the bill only reaffirms and guarantees people rights they should already have under the Second Amendment - the right to bear arms. Opponents disagree, saying it puts people in more danger, most notably law enforcement officials. Bill Bergquist – Clay County Sheriff: “Shoot and ask questions later is what it looks like, so there's some concerns about that.” It's commonly known as the...

Yet this year, as in each of the past three years, Mr. Gulbranson, 57, is counting on a payment of several thousand dollars from the federal government, a subsidy for working families called the earned-income tax credit. He has signed up his three school-age children to eat free breakfast and lunch at federal expense. And Medicare paid for his mother, 88, to have hip surgery twice. There is little poverty here in Chisago County, northeast of Minneapolis, where cheap housing for commuters is gradually replacing farmland. But Mr. Gulbranson and many other residents who describe themselves as self-sufficient members of...

Republican legislators are pressing forward with efforts to bring constitutional amendments to the November ballot. The most recent proposal, filed Wednesday and authored by Rep. Tony Cornish of Lake Crystal, reaffirms the right of individuals to "acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer, and use arms." The legislation adds that any restriction must be subjected to "strict scrutiny." "It's a more strict interpretation" of the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution, said Cornish. Cornish is a veteran in this area, having authored previous gun-rights legislation, including a bill this session that allows county attorneys to carry firearms. He's confident of the...

Loans that collect interest are considered by some to be sinful under Sharia law. Afrik Grocery and Halal Meat on Cedar Avenue needed to expand. Owner Abdi Adem, who operates his business under Sharia law, needed to find a loan that funded the expansion and complied with his religious beliefs. Finding the loan was easier than he expected. Since December 2006, the city of Minneapolis, in partnership with the African Development Center, has given out 54 loans in a way that is compliant with Islamic law by using a fixed rate in place of a variable interest rate, which some...

After an inquiry by U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the Pentagon is reversing a decision to limit the Fort Snelling Memorial Rifle Squad’s access to the ceremonial rifles they use for military burials. And to ensure other veterans don’t face similar red tape, Kline also is introducing legislation that will enable the Army to loan or donate excess rifles to eligible organizations – including local chapters of the American Legion and VFW. The move comes after members of the Rifle Squad complained to Kline, a retired Marine Colonel, that the Army wanted to recoup a number of their vintage ceremonial...

Santorum Delivers a GOP Stunner Former Senator Wins in Minnesota, Missouri; Romney Campaign Plays Down Nonbinding Contests By NEIL KING JR. And DANNY YADRON DENVER—Rick Santorum jolted the Republican presidential race Tuesday by winning nominating contests in Missouri and Minnesota, puncturing Mitt Romney's claim to be the unstoppable front-runner. Mr. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, was running neck and neck with Mr. Romney in preliminary returns from Colorado, a state Mr. Romney won by a wide margin in 2008. With about 70% of the Colorado vote counted, Mr. Santorum had 38%, to 36% for Mr. Romney. Four years ago, Mr....

Minneapolis, Minn. — Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and labor groups say they have agreements with the Vikings that they hope will increase city support for a new stadium on the current Metrodome site. The agreements call for union labor to be used on any stadium, with unions committing to no work stoppages.

Did Tuesday’s results matter? Nowhere near as much as the results from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida mattered. But primary campaigns rarely reach stasis; momentum shifts, ebbs, and flows, and the trio of contests yesterday offered a few hints that the storyline will change once again.Rick Santorum is on the verge of overtaking Newt Gingrich as the anti-Romney alternative.Santorum began this contest as the man of the hour, the little engine that could in a sweater-vest who challenged and beat the much-better-funded Mitt Romney . . . and yet he has, at the moment, an entire three...

DENVER — Rick Santorum had a breakthrough night on Tuesday by winning the Missouri primary and the Minnesota caucuses, breathing life into his struggling campaign and slowing Mitt Romney’s march to the Republican presidential nomination. Early returns had Santorum running two-to-one over Romney in Missouri, and the Associated Press projected he would win the state’s “beauty contest” primary, which awards no delegates but provides fresh momentum to the former Pennsylvania senator’s campaign. Romney was hoping to extend his winning streak as he tried to strengthen his claim to the mantle of the presumptive nominee, but he was bracing for a...

Open for discussion.

WASHINGTON — Rick Santorum faced an important opportunity Tuesday to become the chief conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, as he was poised for possibly strong showings in Republican presidential contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, was expected to remain the front-runner for the GOP nomination whatever happened Tuesday, thanks to his huge advantages in campaign cash and organization and his impressive earlier wins in New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada. But late polls showed Santorum surging, although polls are notoriously weak at forecasting caucus results, because caucus turnout tends to be low and to require unusually...

THE VIKINGS ARE A LOCK FOR THE SUPER BOWL IN 2013! Really! Why? Because Tom Brady has moved to Minnesota, presumably in order to play for the home team. Not only that, we will have Tim Tebow as his backup. Seriously! Registering Tim Tebow and Tom Brady to Vote in Minnesota ProjectVeritas.com Investigation. Election officials advise no ID necessary to register Timothy Tebow and Thomas Brady to vote in Minnesota. Absentee ballots are discussed, voter registration forms are given out, and Election officials blow the whistle on potential fraud in their own state.

An Eden Prairie High School graduate pleaded guilty Monday to providing material support to Al-Shabab, a Somali group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. Ahmed Hussein Mahamud, 27, now living in Westerville, Ohio, admitted to raising up to $1,500 under false pretenses to help send Al-Shabab recruits from the Twin Cities to Somalia. He also admitted that he and two co-conspirators wired $200 of those funds to Somalia so someone he knew there could buy guns. Mahamud, a Somali native and naturalized U.S. citizen, faces up to 15 years for his role in the conspiracy when he...

Chuck Horton was not at all thrilled with the Un-Fair Campaign. In fact, the Duluth boxing promoter and former owner of Horton’s Gym was downright offended by the Twin Ports initiative that seeks to combat racism by focusing on white privilege. Among its messages is a poster depicting a white woman’s face, scrawled upon with phrases like “we’re lucky we’re white” and “we’re lucky we don’t get followed by security every time we go to the store,” and billboards declaring “It’s hard to see racism when you’re white.”

LAS VEGAS — Newt Gingrich is wooing NASCAR voters. As he charts a possible course to the Republican nomination, aides say Gingrich will paint frontrunner Mitt Romney as the candidate of the PGA golf tour while the former House speaker pursues the blue collar mantle of Dale Earnhardt. It’s a strategy that exploits the class warfare Gingrich professes to oppose. Still, it could pay dividends once the GOP race again swings South. Gingrich sees delegate-rich Texas as a firewall in April. But he must slog through more than 30 contests before that....

Hot on the heels of Mitt Romney’s big win in Nevada come two more caucuses and another primary on Tuesday, in which no delegates will get directly assigned to any candidate. However, both offer opportunities to shape the media coverage of the overall primary campaign, and for Rick Santorum, this might mean some good news. PPP’s latest and final polls from Colorado and Minnesota give bad news to Newt Gingrich, however: Last night’s results in Nevada were bad news for Newt Gingrich and PPP’s first day of polling in Colorado and Minnesota indicates things may only get worse for him...

Public Policy Polling surveys Tuesday's caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and finds good news for Rick Santorum: Last night's results in Nevada were bad news for Newt Gingrich and PPP's first day of polling in Colorado and Minnesota indicates things may only get worse for him in the coming days. In Colorado Mitt Romney looks primed for another big Western win to match his one in Nevada. He leads with 40% there to 26% for Rick Santorum, 18% for Gingrich, and 12% for Ron Paul. Minnesota looks like a toss up with any of the four candidates having some shot...

NEW ULM, Minn. - A few weeks ago, rape tag was a game no school official or parent in New Ulm, Minn. had ever heard of. After some swift action, it’s game they don’t expect to see elementary school students playing again. Last month, a parent alerted Washington Elementary principal Bill Sprung to the game being played by a handful of fifth grade students. Sprung told KEYC-TV in Mankato he took swift action to put an end to the game, alerting recess supervisors and having teachers speak to their students. The school said rape tag is game similar to freeze...

Updated Full Primary/Caucus Calendar Jan 3 Iowa (caucus) 28 Delegates 28 Unbound - Allocation at State Convention Jan 10 New Hampshire (primary) 12 Delegates 12 Bound - Proportional with 10% threshold Jan 21 South Carolina (primary) 25 Delegates 25 Bound - Winner-take-all per statewide vote Jan 31 Florida (primary) 50 Delegates 50 Bound - winner-take-all per statewide vote Feb 4 Nevada (caucus) 28 Delegates 28 Bound - Allocated on results of primary Feb 4-11 Maine (caucus) 24 Delegates 24 Unbound - Convention elects delegates Feb 7 Colorado (caucus) 36 Delegates 36 Unbound - Allocated at State Convention Minnesota (caucus) 40...

LUVERNE, Minn. (AP) — As political watchers fixated on Florida, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum delivered a message to Minnesotans: The race is still on, no matter the outcome of Tuesday’s primary. Santorum, speaking Monday to a crowd of about 300 people at the Palace Theatre in the southwest town of Luverne, seemed determined to regain the Midwest momentum he’d enjoyed in Iowa — even on the eve of Florida’s primary, in which the senator hasn’t polled well. “I believe we’re going to be in it until the end, and I believe we’re going to win this race,” Santorum told...

Mitt Romney, his family, staff and supporters donated a combined $66,000 to help Tim Pawlenty retire the debt left over from his presidential campaign. Romney, his wife, five sons and brother, as well as his associates from Bain Capital were among those cutting maximum checks to Pawlenty, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign filings released Tuesday. Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, dropped out of the race last summer after a disappointing showing in the Ames straw poll, and quickly endorsed Romney. At the time, there was talk that Romney’s campaign would help Pawlenty’s retire its debt, then in the...

Updated Jan. 31, 2012: Support for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has remained one of the few constants during the Republican nomination race. But as contenders to Mr. Romney have emerged and then faded, the GOP still seems hesitant to embrace him. The most recent candidate to play the Anyone But Romney role is former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who recently finished first in the party’s South Carolina primary. The National Post’s graphics team takes a look at the ups and downs of the race so far. [great grapics at source]

A campaign designed to bring people together and inspire a community discussion about the effects of racism has produced some strong reactions in the Twin Ports and beyond — including what Mayor Don Ness called "threats" and "hateful messages" from around the world. Locally, several people say they are offended by the Un-Fair Campaign, less than one week after it was launched to draw attention to racial inequalities in Duluth and Superior. The campaign uses billboards and other ads and events to say that racism is still a problem in the community. Phil Pierson, a 31-year-old Duluth resident, was so...

One of the two people killed on a slippery road in Superior was facing prison time after pleading guilty in federal court to charges in a widespread identity theft ring. Forty-one-year-old Frances Jones was a passenger in an SUV that collided with another vehicle last Friday. The driver of the SUV, 49-year-old Harry Wilson, was also killed. The U.S. Attorney's Office says 12 people were indicted in the plot that defrauded banks and retail businesses, primarily in the Midwest, of more than $2 million. Jones faced up to 32 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit...

Tampa, Fla. — If the polls are correct, Rick Santorum will not win tonight’s primary. But he tells National Review Online that he remains in the hunt for the nomination. “This is a game of survivor,” he says. “I’m under the strong belief that we are going to hang in there. You are going to see some more ebbs and flows in this campaign. We are going to get our opportunity.” Santorum sees hope to the west, from the Upper Midwest to the Rocky Mountain region. Leaving behind Florida’s air wars, where television advertising ruled, he is confident that he...

A host of Republican Senators, including Judiciary Chairman Warren Limmer, member of leadership Ted Lillie and Environment Chairman Bill Ingebrigtsen, have introduced a bill to implement a Voter ID requirement by way of constitutional amendment. A total of 10 senators have signed on to two versions of the bill, SF 1577 and SF 1578, that would bypass Gov. Mark Dayton’s threatened veto and instead put the controversial elections reform measure before voters this fall. The bills will be formally introduced Thursday in the Senate. The Senate bill’s chief author, Sen. Scott Newman, said Thursday that his bill would simply amend...

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2011 file photo, Republican presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., steps from her campaign bus to greet supporters after winning the Iowa Republican Party's Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa. (Associtated Press, File) Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced today she will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House following her failed presidential bid. Bachmann declared her plans in an interview with the Associated Press. The Republican congresswoman had been mum on her plans since folding her presidential campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.

Newt Gingrich has a large lead in Minnesota...for the moment. Our weekend polling there found him with 36% to 18% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Rick Santorum, and 13% for Ron Paul. If Santorum's out of the race by the time Minnesota's vote comes around it could work to Gingrich's further advantage. Santorum voters prefer Gingrich to Romney 44-20 if they had to pick between the two and overall Minnesota Republicans pick Gingrich 50-29 in a head to head with Romney.

Arlington, Va.—May the government force entrepreneurs to do useless things, like build extra rooms in their stores that they do not need and will never use, just to prove they are serious about their business? That issue is at the center of a major lawsuit filed today, January 19, 2012, in Minnesota State District Court by the Institute for Justice (IJ) on behalf of Verlin Stoll, the 27-year-old owner of Crescent Tide Funeral Home in Saint Paul.

Minnesota lawmakers today will begin looking into the issue of payments for unused sick and vacation time to retiring state employees. The joint legislative subcommittee hearing follows reports by the Pioneer Press and KSTP-TV in November about $57 million paid out in unused sick time to state employees - a practice largely unheard of in the private sector - and $32 million paid out in unused vacation time between January 2008 and June 30, 2011.

In November 2011, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reported $86 million in unused vacation pay, sick time, and other severance had been paid to departing state workers and MnSCU employees in the past three years. And the total is growing by the day. Now, the University of Minnesota has released its separate payroll records, showing it paid departing employees $30 million during the same time period. That brings the total to at least $116 million for all departing state workers in the past three years.

In November 2011, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reported $86 million in unused vacation pay, sick time, and other severance had been paid to departing state workers and MnSCU employees in the past three years. And the total is growing by the day. Now, the University of Minnesota has released its separate payroll records, showing it paid departing employees $30 million during the same time period. That brings the total to at least $116 million for all departing state workers in the past three years.

E.R. Companion, of Eagan, writing to the editor in Sunday's Pioneer Press, wondered why our elected officials would commit to spending billions of dollars for a so-called high-speed rail line from the Twin Cities to Chicago. (Well, because they're nuts.) Companion was referring to a story that appeared Jan. 12 featuring the idea that the Minnesota Department of Transportation has begun studying environmental impacts along the 400-mile route, which would take passengers to Chicago, through Milwaukee, in an advertised five hours and 30 minutes. Companion wondered what was high-speed about that, and I could not agree more with his sentiment....

MONTEVIDEO — Unconditional bail was set at $750,000 this morning for Darek Jon Nelson, 24, of Montevideo, who faces murder and manslaughter charges for the stabbing death of 18-year-old Vinessa Lozano Friday night in Montevideo. Nelson made his first appearance before District Judge Dwayne Knutsen in Chippewa County District Court. According to the complaint, Nelson began planning to kill Lozano on Jan. 9, after he became upset that Lozano didn’t come to his home on Jan. 8. Nelson told investigators that he hid a knife in his hooded sweatshirt while he worked his shift at the Pizza Ranch restaurant. He...

FOREST LAKE, Minn. - A Forest Lake homeowner says he is livid about an "outrageous, unnecessary ending to a great wildlife story" after a police officer came onto his property at about 7 a.m. on Saturday and shot two orphaned fawns that often slept in the dog house at close range without warning. Jeff Carpenter contacted FOX 9 News about the weekend shooting, saying an officer "brutally gunned down" the twin, 6-month-old fawns his family had come to love thirty yards from his home. Carpenter said he was working in the home office when he was startled by a shotgun...

What was Tom Emmer thinking when he applied for a faculty position at Hamline University? Surely he knows that our campus intelligentsia generally view conservatives like him as knuckle-dragging Neanderthals. At many campuses, Emmer might have made it to the second round of interviews if he had been a disabled "person of color" or confused about his sexuality. But even then he probably couldn't have overcome the cardinal rule of campus "diversity" -- diversity of political views will not be tolerated. Given his rejection by Hamline (after he thought he had a job), Emmer might be pleased to know that...

At a mid-town Wells Fargo bank a large group of Minnesota Somalis gathered Friday to remove their money from the bank and protest. The group says Wells Fargo has been unwilling to work with them to get money to Somalia. Last December more than a dozen Twin Cities businesses known as Hawalas stopped offering money transfers to the east African Country. They stopped because of provisions aimed at keeping funds out of the hands of terrorists. “This is a humanitarian crisis,” said Abdirahman Muse, a former Wells Fargo customer. “Hawalas are the only way we can send money to our...

Gov. Mark Dayton and top DFL lawmakers proposed a jobs plan Wednesday that they contend would put thousands of unemployed Minnesotans back to work. The DFL's prescription includes the $775 million bonding bill, which would include money to help businesses expand. But it also would give Minnesota businesses a $3,000 tax credit for each unemployed person, veteran or recent college graduate they hire over the next year and a $1,500 credit for each new hire through June 2013. Leaders said the $35 million program would create 10,000 private-sector jobs this year and would be paid for by closing corporate tax...

Find below a state government request for you to provide public comments on the Obamacare "essential health benefits" requirement for individual and small group insurance policies. Note that this list of benefits (health care services), whether you agree or find them objectionable, will be imposed by the State....as allowed by the federal government.  The Feds are being gentle now, allowing "flexibility" for States to do as they wish, but that is likely temporary. Once the State has acquiesced to the presumption of federal control, expect the Feds to mandate the health care services they want included, and exclude the services they...

MARINE ON ST. CROIX — Shawn Lawrence Otto thinks many of the world's problems - especially its political problems - can be attributed to a lack of scientific rationale. Potentially harmful myths he identified: global warming is a concocted idea, vaccines cause autism and cell phones cause brain cancer. Such beliefs are what spurred the 48-year-old Marine-based screenwriter and blogger to complete his latest writing project, a nonfiction book published in October called "Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault of Science in America" (Rodale Press Inc.). The tome started last year is targeted toward a general audience. He's now in...

A mixed martial arts fighter from Minnesota has been knocked out from his job as an assistant wrestling coach following comments he made about President Obama last month, he told FoxNews.com. Jacob Volkmann, 31, of White Bear Lake, Minn., said he was placed on paid administrative leave on Friday by the White Bear Lake School District after he invited Obama to make an appointment with him for a "glass-ectomy" on Dec. 30. "A glass-ectomy is when you cut your belly button out and put a piece of glass in there so when you have your head up your butt you...

Anoka-Hennepin teachers want to get rid of the district's controversial policy governing classroom discussions about sexual orientation - and they don't want a proposed new one to replace it. Union representatives of the 2,800-member teaching staff voted Monday against having any policy that would place dictates on classroom conversations about sexual orientation or any other topic deemed controversial, according to Julie Blaha, president of Anoka-Hennepin Education Minnesota. Those results were presented to the Anoka-Hennepin school board Monday night. "Despite the good intentions of it, it turned out to be more confusing and limiting than helpful," Blaha told board members, referring...

Jacob Volkmann admits he’s trying to make a name for himself as a fighter. The problem is it’s getting him in trouble at his other job. Following a fight last Friday, the 31-year old White Bear Lake man was being interviewed by Joe Rogan. Volkmann told Rogan that President Obama should call him to schedule a “glass-ectomy.” Rogan then asked what a “glass-ectomy” is. “A glass-ectomy is when you cut your bellybutton out and put a piece of glass in there so when you have your head up your butt you can see where you’re going.” Volkmann said. The White...

A $409 million tab projected for retiree benefit costs looms for the cash-strapped St. Paul Public Schools. Some on the school board are urging the district to tackle the liability more aggressively. But officials say there's little they can do to put a dent in the costs, which have bumped up tax bills and diverted money from the classroom. St. Paul recently started socking away money to help cover the benefits, slated to sunset in 2014. But the investment came later and started out smaller than planned, and recent market turmoil chipped away at it. "I feel we're throwing a...

The parents of a Minnesota teenager who severed his spinal cord in a high school hockey game said he will not walk again, MyFoxTwinCities.com. Jack Jablonski, 16, who attends Benilde-St. Margaret’s in St. Louis, Minn., suffered broken vertebrae and a severed spinal cord last Friday when he was accidentally checked from behind in a hockey tournament. Doctors performed a successful spinal fusion surgery on him Wednesday at Hennepin County Medical Center. However, Jack’s parents, Leslie and Mike Jablonski, wrote on Jack’s CaringBridge page that he will not walk again.

What makes a "green" job? A Minnesota hair salon once identified its hair stylists as being in green jobs. Another business claimed a bartender was green. But after two years of study, state labor market researchers have come up with a more conservative view of the new and emerging jobs in the "green" sector. Funded through a stimulus grant of $1.6 million, the state scoured job descriptions at thousands of companies and talked to many of them one by one about the nature of their job openings. Minnesota now defines a green job as one that is directly related or...

“This is not a time for us to shrink. This is a time for us to have bold colors, not pale pastels.” -- Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum campaigning at the Rockingham County Nursing Home in Brentwood, N.H. It doesn’t look like Mitt Romney could lose New Hampshire, but then again, he can’t really win it either. Even a 20-point landslide by Romney in New Hampshire would be instantly discounted as merely meeting expectations for the former governor of the neighboring state who keeps a summer home there. The only way Romney could make news in New Hampshire would be...

One reason I've been eager and impatient for the Iowa caucuses is that I assumed at least a couple candidates would reconsider their presidential bids based on the results. But that looks to be increasingly improbable. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are too viable to be discouraged by early upsets, Rick Santorum is poised to exceed expectations, Ron Paul has never been deterred by his unlikelihood to secure the nomination, Rick Perry considers Iowa to be the equivalent of the first mile of a marathon and Jon Huntsman says New Hampshire picks presidents. That leaves Michele Bachmann, who has clung...

Thank you - and your colleagues Edward Lotterman, Frederick Melo and Ruben Rosario - for shedding light on the city of St. Paul/Ramsey County real estate tax "system." That system puzzles me. Should I conclude that it is broken? Perhaps even a less than artful attempt, like mine below, might add to your helpful analysis. Compare the real estate tax system to the "progressive'' income tax. A published schedule indicates the basic tax burden that a particular amount of income will bear. Or, compare the real estate tax to the "regressive'' sales tax. A product purchase price leads to a...