Bluestem Prairie

Fontgate: MN House Republicans launch late-session crusade for large print formatting

Sally Jo Sorensen — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:29:42 PDT

At two in the morning, the Minnesota House finally took up the bill to allow home-based childcare providers and personal care attendants to organize and vote on union representation.

House Media services has posted the video archives of the session. At 8:15:20 in the House video, Representative Kresha (R-Little Falls) introduced the S0778A39 amendment. At 8:16:50, he begins:

Thank you Mr. Speaker and Members. What I'd like to do with this amendment is to require all signatures for the [union] solicitation materials to be printed in at least 14 point font. I'd like to avoid fine print. Smaller type can be hard on the eyes and even cause headaches according to the National Institute on Aging.

We do have an example of this in statute with park closings . . ."using the closure statements the following language must include in a font no smaller than 14 points." So I would just like to include that for the first part here on the childcare signatures.

It's a good amendment and I would urge your support on this one.

Here's what the National Institute for Aging actually says about font size in Making Your Printed Health Materials Senior Friendly:

Make type size at least 12 point, 13 point, or 14 point. Type that is too small can be hard on the eyes and can even cause a headache. When selecting a type size, keep in mind that some fonts are naturally bigger than others. For example, look at Georgia vs. Times New Roman. Both of these fonts are in 13 point type size and yet Georgia is bigger. Use 14 point type size when working with smaller fonts, like Times New Roman. Headings should be even larger so they will stand out. If your audience has low vision, consider using larger fonts, like 16 point or 18 point. However, for older readers who do not have low vision problems, font sizes that are too large (greater than 14 point) may be difficult to read. [emphasis added]

Throughout the debate, Republicans stood up against fine print on union materials. Former English teacher Sondra Erickson discussed her bonafides as a graphic designer, for example.

Bluestem applauds the offensive on fine print and looks forward to Ron Kresha, Mary Franson, graphic designer Sondra Erickson, Joyce Peppin and other members of the Republican House Caucus standing up for readability in all documents that Minnesotans may have occasion to read in the course of business.

A modest proposal on large type format equality

Let us suggest that not only union organizing documents, but all terms and conditions, contracts and other documents distributed by banks, consumer credit companies, mortgaged lenders, payday lenders and pawnbrokers be printed in 14 pt type. Or larger.

Indeed, given the urgency of this issue, first pressed by Republicans at 2:00 a.m. this morning, we're shocked that they haven't proposed this before. (The amendment was withdrawn after much discussion).

Unless the early morning fantods over fonts was simply time-wasting concern trolling, the Republican House caucus should have golden opportunity today to demonstrate their commitment to Reader Rights and Liberty.

SF1276, a bill to modify mortgage foreclosures provisions and require lenders and servicers loss mitigation, which passed on a 61-1 vote in the upper chamber on May 16, has been substituted for the House version of the bill and, under House rule 1.21, placed on Calendar for the Day Sunday, May 19, 2013.

Will the House Republican Caucus be bold, bold we say, and ask that the House rules on amendments be suspended, and ask their colleagues from across the aisle to require banks and mortgage lenders to produce all home loans, mortgages, and documents related to foreclosures, loan modifications, and evictions in at least 14 point size type, regardless of the font?

Surely, if Kresha's crusade is worthing of imposing on organized labor, banks and other lenders deserve big honking print as well.

At Bluestem's request, our friends at The Uptake are pulling the video of this morning's Fontgate debate. We'll post it here when it is available.

In the meantime, enjoy the #Fontgate twitter discussion from the wee hours.

Photo: Ron Kresha (R-Little Falls), Defender of Large Print Formats.

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Bee's knees or Republican buzzkill? Minority tried to sting DFL on pro-farming legislation

Sally Jo Sorensen — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:47:57 PDT

In April, the Minnesota House Republicans mocked efforts to fund bee habitat in the agriculture bill, seemingly ignorant of the vital role pollinators play in agriculture.

Minnesota Public Radio reports today in Bill would ensure habitat preservation for bees, pollinators:

A conference committee has approved a plan to improve habitat for bees and other pollinators.
Pollinators around the country are suffering from a complex set of problems that is causing their numbers to plummet. This could hurt agriculture, which relies on insects to pollinate crops.

Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, sponsored a bill that requires the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture to ensure they keep pollinators in mind as they are restoring habitat.

One way to help is by choosing plants to ensure there is always something blooming.

"We have bees that have colony collapse. We have bees that are impacted by pesticides. We have just a reduction in the number of pollinators, so this is an attempt to say throughout the state we have the right habitat," Poppe said. . . .

Check out the whole article at MPR.

How big of a problem are bees and other pollinators facing in Minnesota? On Thursday, CBS-Minnesota reported in Minn. Farmer Blames Pesticides For Big Bee Die Off:

As farmers get underway with their spring planting, some bee farmers in Minnesota are already counting their losses.
In the last couple days one major producer reported that thousands of honey bees suddenly died.

In 2005, Minnesota was the sixth largest honey producer in the nation. But since 2006, millions of bee colonies have died off in Minnesota and across the nation. ...

The University of Minnesota Entomology Department website states:

The service that bees and other pollinators provide allows nearly 70 percent of all flowering plants to reproduce; the fruits and seeds from insect pollinated plants account for over 30 percent of the foods and beverages that we consume. Beyond agriculture, pollinators are keystone species in most terrestrial ecosystems. Fruits and seeds derived from insect pollination are a major part of the diet of approximately 25 percent of all birds, and of mammals ranging from red-backed voles to grizzly bears. However, many of our native bee pollinators are at risk, and the status of many more is unknown. Habitat loss, alteration, and fragmentation, pesticide use, and introduced diseases all contribute to declines of bees.

Republicans joked about a "buzzkill" in their tweets about the legislation written by the Austin-based chair of the Ag Policy committee. Apparently, they had no idea about the job-killing consequences of bee loss as they droned on to themselves.

Here's the CBS-MN clip:

Photo: A honeybee helping out an apple grower.

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Blame Cthulhu: MN Representative Mary Franson channels H.P. Lovecraft in latest letter home

Sally Jo Sorensen — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:48:48 PDT

You'd think that after last year's debacle over comparing feeding people with food assistance to feeding wild animals, Mary Franson might use a bit of caution with her use of metaphor.

You'd be wrong.

In her latest newspaper column updating her constituents, Franson (or the hapless minority communications staff person who may have drafted this) channels the great American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, morphing the limbs of her majority caucus colleagues into those of the children of Cthulhu.

Published in the latest Osakis Review, The Update from State Rep. Mary Franson, May 17, 2013, begins:

Dear neighbor,

The legislative session is coming to a close and the tentacles of Democrat legislators are out and reaching to extract the hard-earned dollars out of your wallet! . . .

Scary.

Or perhaps Franson is channeling older American iconography about corporate power. Or maybe Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism from the late Clark Mollenhoff.

Image: Is cuddly Cthulhu the face of the DFL in Franson's prose? Would that make the tax bill the Necronomicon?

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Alexandria area tea party launches prayer offensive to convert George Soros to Christianity

Sally Jo Sorensen — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:45:03 PDT

Bluestem has no idea whether the Alexandria Lakes Area Tea Party has sought tax-free status, but if it has, its latest project will pose no questions about the application. Their sanity, perhaps.

According to a PDF posted on the group's website, the conservatives have launched a worldwide prayer request asking people everywhere to pray for the conversion of billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros to Christianity. To pray--"perhaps more than once a day":

The Alexandria Lakes Area Tea Party (ALATP), Alexandria, MN, would like to invite you to participate in a world-wide prayer campaign for the conversion of George Soros from atheism to Christianity. Please say a prayer everyday for the conversion of his soul—in fact, perhaps more than once a day. This prayer campaign must be done to the Glory of God--not to glorify the tea party movement.

We are asking that you spread this message to anyone on your contact list via Email, Facebook, Twitter, and the like. We are hoping that by midsummer, the whole world will be praying for Mr. Soros.

A Jew born in Hungary, Soros and his family managed to escape extermination by Nazis in World War II by assuming false identities and hiding, according to his website. He is an atheist who "believes that people of faith and faith communities contribute to the public’s understanding of pressing social issues and often add a principled, moral aspect to debates that are too often dominated by politicians, statistics and polling," a FAQ on his religion notes.

Yes, this is the place that elected and re-elected Mary Franson to the state legislature. The PDF is embedded below.

Meanwhile, on Monday, May 20 in Chanhassen, the SW Metro Tea Party Patriots will be Channeling Alex Jones: Allen Quist & Rolle Neve to host Agenda 21 Hunger Games roundtable. Check out our post from last month--the event appears to have been rescheduled from April 22.

Is there something in the water of our ten thousand lakes? Sadly, it's not a rhetorical question. According to Fox News and other news outlets, our Minnesota lakes are reportedly contaminated with cocaine, antidepressants.

Alexandria Lakes Area Soros Prayer Project

Photo: George Soros, via the Open Society Foundation.

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Local Congregational church in Mary Franson's district likely to solemnize same sex marriages

Sally Jo Sorensen — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:21:47 PDT

While Representative Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) believes that the freedom to marry should be restricted to one man and one woman at a time, she was willing to allow straights and everybody else to get civil unioned, though only straight folk could marry.

Since this is the one of the few known cases of Franson approving of a union, Bluestem concedes that it was progress of a sort, but she and the other civil union supporters lost the argument.

With marriage equality coming on August 1, the local Congregational church in Alexandria will likely begin to solemnize same-sex marriages. The Alexandria Echo Press reports in Contrary constituents: Some Alexandrians support gay marriage:

Political representatives in the Alexandria area say their constituents do not support the gay marriage bill that was signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton on Tuesday afternoon. Many, however, are celebrating the decision.

Within minutes of the bill passing in the Senate, Pastor Scott Keehn of Alexandria received a text message from a couple in his congregation asking him to perform their ceremony. He accepted.

“All this really does is expand the definition of marriage to include loving couples who had been excluded,” Keehn said. “It’s about granting civil and social rights.”

The church council will still have to approve same-sex weddings, but Keene believes that it will do so. The article notes:

. . .The First Congregational United Church of Christ has an “open and affirming” process, meaning it accommodates for all people to be able to worship.
“I think this will be a good thing for the Alexandria community,” Keehn said. “Our government made the right choice in this matter.”

. . .Pastor Keehn is a member of the Inclusion Network (IN) in Alexandria, an organization that educates the community about differences and promotes the value of diversity. Steph Alexander will be speaking on the transgender experience at Foundation Hall in Alexandria on June 19. For more information, visit www.inclusionnetwork.org.

Photo: Rainbow wedding cake.

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Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen's column sends constituents to anti-gay group MassResistance

Sally Jo Sorensen — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:23:46 PDT

Minnesotans know Glenn Gruenhagen isn't shy about sharing his opinions, however much he whines about how he's a waif amid the forces of political correctness. Yes, it's truly a burden to be asked by one's colleagues not to break into arias condemning butt sex when the topic before the local school board is something else, (see LTE mid-post) but most folks we know just think it's something of a boundary issue for Glenn.

Glenn's back in the news today for Aaron Rupar's viral post at City Pages, MNGOP Rep. Gruenhagen on climate change: "It's just a complete United Nations fraud", but closer to home, he's calling for measures to protect "the right as citizens, parents and school officials to passively resist the gay agenda coming into our schools."

The gay agenda! United Nations fraud! The world is a scary, scary place.

Gruenhagen shares his Thoughts on passage of state’s gay marriage bill with the readers of the McLeod County Enterprise:

This may be difficult to believe, but as a long-term school board member, I do not make this statement lightly. I have personal experience as a board member, where state statutes were changed and eventually school curriculum and speech had to conform. I was then chided for public comments on school issues when I used terminology that was not politically correct.

Here's what his former colleagues said in part in 2005:

. . .With regularity Mr. Gruenhagen inserts his own biases into school board meetings with not the least provocation. Abortion, homosexuality, safe sex, evolution and countless other topics that do not appear on the school board’s agenda are brought to the fore, repeatedly, and forced onto unsuspecting school board members, administrators and individuals in the viewing audience. To do so is rude, a violation of school board decorum, a waste of attendees’ time and a disruption in the flow of otherwise quality public meetings. He ignores the expert advice of the superintendent of schools, two architectural firms, a construction management firm ... Incredible! . . .

Jodi Braband,
Doug Grams,
Loren Mathews,
Nancy Morris,
Mark Rudy
Glencoe-Silver Lake
School Board

The link to the Glencoe paper at the earlier Bluestem post doesn't work anymore, but a diligent researcher could find it in a copy of the print edition.

Gruenhagen continues in the more recent post:

In other countries and in the state of Massachusetts, where gay marriage has become the law, we have observed that citizens who would not succumb to politically correct speech have been charged with hate crimes and their parental rights infringed upon. (See www.massresistance.com for more information.)[Link is live in original MCC post online]

When signed, this bill will become the law of our state. We are a nation of laws, however we still have the right as citizens, parents and school officials to passively resist the gay agenda coming into our schools.

What is MassResistance? From the Wikipedia entry for the group:

MassResistance is a Waltham, Massachusetts-based anti-gay group^[4]^[5] that promotes socially conservative positions on issues relating to homosexuality, abortion, anti-bullying, gun control, the transgender community and same-sex marriage. It was founded by Brian Camenker in 1995 as the Parents' Rights Coalition, and in 2003 it changed its name to Article 8 Alliance. It adopted its current name, MassResistance, in 2006.^[3]^[6]

MassResistance's activism takes several forms, including promoting its views via its website, blog, email, lobbying, and voters' guides.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

The group has been critical of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for maintaining moderate positions on LGBT rights during his term as governor.^[8]^[12] The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated MassResistance an anti-gay hate group, in part for its claim that suicide prevention programs aimed at gay youth were "put together by homosexual activists to normalize homosexuality".^[3]^[5]

Lovely. And there's more:

Since March 2008, the nonprofit civil rights organization^[26]^[27]^[28] Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has listed MassResistance as an active anti-gay hate group.^[3]^[5]^[29]

In 1996 MassResistance's leader, Brian Camenker claimed that suicide prevention programs aimed at gay youth actually were “put together by homosexual activists to normalize homosexuality”. MassResistance also asserted that groups such as the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which support school anti-bullying programs, actually want to "lure children into homosexuality and, very possibly, sadomasochism".^[3]

MassResistance has also insisted that gays were "trying to get legislation passed to allow sex with animals", later adding, "They [gays and lesbians] are pushing perversion on our kids".^[3]

MassResistance has made claims that no homosexuals died in the The Holocaust of World War II, that the "pink triangle the Nazis forced imprisoned gays to wear actually signified Catholic priests", and that "gays are dangerous to kids". They have also made comments regarding "skyrocketing homosexual domestic violence"^[3]^[30] and called a gay pride event a "depraved" display that featured "a great deal of obviously disturbed, dysfunctional, and extremely self-centered people whose aim was to push their agenda".^[3]

If that's where the Glencoe Republican gets his information when he goes online, no wonder he's so afraid. Gruenhagen goes on in his column to cite one "self-confessed homosexual" coming after his religious rights:

As an example of this threat to religious liberty, University of Minnesota constitutional professor Dale Carpenter, a self-confessed homosexual, errantly wrote an editorial arguing that the religious freedoms in our Bill of Rights is “limited to the right to worship” only in our churches, instead of the current robust religious freedoms we enjoy. In truth, it is the right of each American under the Bill of Rights to act in accordance with their conscience and religious beliefs in the public square, not just in our churches. As you can see by the professors comments, the threat to religious freedoms is real.

What was Carpenter's "errancy"? Here's the editorial (the link to which Gruenhagen forgot to provide, unlike the one to the hate group) in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Dale Carpenter: The rites and rights of marriage. Here's part of what Carpenter said:

. . . Nor is there any basis for fearing a flood of lawsuits against religious individuals or businesses. Consider an obvious fact: there is no right to sue simply because you don't like what someone else believes or does. You must have a legal basis, a "cause of action," spelled out in the law. The Minnesota Human Rights Act ("MHRA") prohibits discrimination by businesses against people because of their race, sex, or religion.

Since 1993, the MHRA has also prohibited businesses from discriminating against a person based on sexual orientation in jobs, housing, and services. In 20 years, despite what opponents predicted at the time, there have been very few claims of such discrimination in Minnesota. This is partly because there are comparatively few gay people, partly because most businesses have no interest in discriminating against customers and hard-working employees who happen to be gay, and partly because the MHRA specifically allows religious nonprofit associations and schools to discriminate against gays.

There is no additional cause of action provided in the marriage bill. That's why it's puzzling that opponents claim business owners and others with religious objections will be punished for their religious beliefs. On what ground would a gay person sue a business owner or religious association simply because he's now married?

If he did not have a valid claim before passage of the marriage bill, the newly married gay person will not have one now. If a religious organization was exempt from compliance with the MHRA before the marriage bill, it will be exempt afterward. In case there was any doubt about this, the marriage bill explicitly states that it "does not alter or affect the protections or exemptions provided in" the MHRA to any "religious association, educational institution, business, labor organization, place of public accommodation, employer, or other person." The exemptions in the MHRA are already among the most expansive in the country, especially where claims of anti-gay discrimination are concerned... .

Carpenter really didn't get into a discussion of schools, so Gruenhagen's representation of the editorial is peculiar.

How threatened are religious liberties? Check out Richard Painter's post at the Legal Ethics Forum, Key Amendment Introduced by Minnesota State Representative David Fitzsimmons Protects Churches and other Religious Organizations from Frivolous Lawsuits.

Screenshot: Glenn Gruenhagen, Republican from Glencoe.

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Local watchers silenced by legal action, RWW makes catch on Dean gay marriage meltdown

Sally Jo Sorensen — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:29:46 PDT

It used to be that Bluestem could depend on local sources for news of toxic metal preacher Bradlee Dean's latest rantings and not have to listen to his radio show ourselves. But since his lawyer initiated yet another lawsuit (we'll let Wonkette explain), those heroes of fee speech have been silenced while the legal eagles work things out.

Funny how a guy like Dean who describes himself as a son of liberty works that way.

Fortunately, People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch is listening to Dean's show so we don't have to. In Bradlee Dean Has Epic Meltdown over Minnesota's Gay Marriage Law, RWW's Brian Tashman reports:

Minnesota-based Religious Right activist/rock star Bradlee Dean went ballistic on his radio show yesterday in response to his state’s new marriage equality law. Dean warned that Gov. Mark Dayton, who signed the same-sex marriage bill into law, is at “war with God” and is “about to find out what it’s like as to what the fallout is when you throw rocks towards God, he’s going to learn how gravity works.” He added that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who backed his state’s marriage equality law, and other pro-gay rights “criminals” will face divine justice as well.

Listen to the audio at RRW. Tashman points to some classic Dean schtick:

Dean even seems to believe that every gay person in the country showed up for yesterday’s celebration of the marriage equality law in order to “push their propaganda and their agendas on the American people,” just as Saul Alinsky commanded.

“They come from all over the country to do this so what you’ve seen was probably the whole lump of the population of the homosexual community in the United States of America,” Dean said. . . .

Dean really needs to get out more.

Bluestem also found Dean's claim at the 42 second mark at this clip that Dayton was in cohoots with George Soros fascinating (if we can trust Dean's claim, it may explain why Dayton caved on protecting trout streams, given Soros' broad investments in the gas and oil industry).

Conservatives should be able to shake their heads over Dean's claim that God rejects the prayers of the Minnesota Family Council and his assertion that they were "spineless capitulators, burned hippies (beginning at 1:41 in the audio at this link):"

Dude, I've already bore my cross. It's called the prayer that rocked the capitol. I''ve already done my part. I was asked to step up by the Minnesota Family Council. Nothing but a bunch of spineless capitulators, burned hippies that think they're all that and a bag of chips, and yesterday we found that the bag of chips was open and they were stepped on.

But I was really happy to hear that they were in a room in the capitol praying to Je-s-us that he would come and do something for them that he himself commanded them to do, but they're unwilling to do what God called them to do and then they wonder why they continuously get . . . the backwards results that they continuously get.

Why are we losing the day? Because you're not man enough to stand up and play the man, you're not willing to bear your cross and therein lies the problem.

We can't thank RRW for bearing the cross of monitoring Dean now that the locals can do so no longer.

In the meantime we'll wait to see just what the devil Dean means when he says,"play the man." That may explain a great deal already.

Screenshot: Dean praying at the Minnesota House. The prayer, which questioned the President's faith, was stricken from the record.

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MN legislature to trout & citizens: drop dead; new report challenges WI happy mining job numbers

Sally Jo Sorensen — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:06:56 PDT

An frac sand industry-friendly compromise has been reached in the Minnesota legislature over mining near trout streams. Meanwhile, a new report commissioned and published by the Wisconsin Farmers Union, the Wisconsin Towns Association and the Minneapolis-based IATP suggests that industrial sand mining falls short as an engine of job creation.

Minnesota Public Radio first reported in DFL lawmaker: Compromise reached on frac sand regulations:

The lawmaker who has pushed this year for tougher state regulation of the frac sand mining industry said DFL legislative leaders have reached a compromise on the legislation.
Lawmakers agreed Tuesday to create a new Department of Natural Resources permit for companies hoping to mine silica sand in certain sensitive areas in southeastern Minnesota, said Sen. Matt Schmit, DFL-Red Wing. Schmit said the regulations will be part of the spending bill that covers natural resources, the environment and agriculture.

Schmit and DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr had been pushing to prohibit sand mining within one mile of a trout stream or spring in the "Paleozoic Plateau Ecological Section" of the state, which includes Dakota, Goodhue, Houston, Fillmore, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties. The compromise expected to gain conference committee approval would instead require a hydrological study and DNR permit for any mine within a mile of a trout stream but not springs, Schmit said.

"What this gives us is stricter scrutiny in the most sensitive regions of southeastern Minnesota," Schmit said. "If that study proves that mining will have no or limited impact on our waters, then we can move forward with the DNR permit, so I think this is a good compromise. I do think it gives notice that the areas around our trout streams are going to be watched very closely and creates an incentive for mining to take place elsewhere.". ..

Read the rest of the article at MPR. The Star Tribune's Tony Kennedy reported in Compromise frac sand deal nixes effort to put trout stream areas off limits to mining:

In a retreat from tough language that would have put much of southeastern Minnesota off limits to frac sand mining, state officials have reached a compromise that will allow mines near the region’s trout streams, but only if companies follow new permitting rules.

As part of a deal announced Tuesday, Sen. Matt Schmit, DFL-Red Wing, said he’ll drop his effort to ban frac sand mining within a mile of any trout stream in the southeast corner of the state. The ban was embraced by Gov. Mark Dayton until a compromise emerged at a recent meeting with Schmit, industry lobbyists, three state agency heads and organized labor.

If the deal goes as expected, the 2013 legislative session will end without sweeping statewide environmental protections sought by a throng of “fractivists” from areas around Red Wing, Wabasha, Winona and other parts of the bluff country known as Minnesota’s Paleozoic Plateau. . . .

Lovely. Read the whole sordid tale of corporate power over people at the Strib, where opponents try to put the best face on this deal. The Winona Daily News has more in Compromise reached to permit frac sand mines near trout streams.

New report challenges industry gospel on job creation

Those cheerleading the strip mining of Minnesota's Bluff Country carry on about jobs, usually citing figures promotedby the Heartland Institute, but those projections have their critics. Yesterday, the WFU and other organizations released a new report about the economics of Wisconsin's industrial sand mining.

MPR's Stephanie Hemphill reports in Officials should investigate costs, benefits of frac mining, report says:

The study, conducted by Thomas Power, a retired University of Montana economist and an expert on the economics of mining, concluded that the economic effects of silica sand production used in mining is likely to be quite small.

Drawing from data collected by the federal government and the state of Wisconsin, production could create about 2,300 jobs, but that's less than one percent of total employment statewide. The frac sand region creates about the same number of jobs in all categories every two months, Power said.

Power cites the following as reasons for mining's poor performance in creating healthy economies:

• Fluctuations in demand • Increasing mechanization • Mines depleted more quickly • Workers commute long distances, families live elsewhere • Small local economies can't supply mines • Impacts on the environment make the region a less attractive place to live and visit • Can discourage other businesses by paying high wages and degrading the environment

Read the rest at MPR. Here's the report:

Economics of Frac-Sand Mining Final

Photo: Citizens seeking legislative relief for themselves and trout were disappointed by a compromise with weak protections for trout and other living things.

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Organizing law: MN Senate Majority Leader Bakk plays the union card, in the best possible sense

Sally Jo Sorensen — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:56:08 PDT

Early Wednesday morning, Bluestem watched the Senate debate on the bill to allow home child care providered and personal care assistants the ability to organize.

The Pioneer Press reports in Minnesota Senate OKs unions for child, personal care workers:

. . . The bill would allow two groups of workers to vote on whether to form a union:

-- Licensed and unlicensed in-home child care providers who care for children receiving state subsidies.

-- Personal care attendants who care for the disabled and elderly in their homes.

Supporters say the bill secures greater access for recipients and better working conditions for providers. But the issue has sparked the ire of Republicans who have been fighting the bill all session, focusing most of the debate on including child care providers. They argued it's just the DFL's political payoff to organized labor that helped them grab the majority in last fall's election.

Majority Leader Bakk spoke out, concluding [partial transcript from video below]:

"It just gives this group of workers, that don't have the right to have a vote, an opportunity to decide if they can form a union and form a bargaining unit so that they can bargain for some of the things that my union card has provided for me. My whole working career with the carpenters union, I've had health insurance provided for by my employer through a Taft-Hartley labor management trust fund.

Members, in the first of every month I draw defined pension fund because I'm retired from there--a pension fund of over thirty years of contributions that my employer put into that. This union card put food on the table for my family my whole life. It bought that car that sits out on the south of the Capitol lawn. It put my kids through college.

Because without it, you're alone and you have no power to improve your standard of living because you stand by yourself. But in a union, you have the opportunity to get together and there is power in numbers and you can raise the standard of living of the whole. "

Here's a video clip. The remarks come near the end:

Photo: Tom Bakk speaking for the right to organize.

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Freedom to marry: Senator Jensen's leadership earns place in local and national news stories

Sally Jo Sorensen — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:09:06 PDT

Bluestem's been an unabashed fan of Vicki Jensen ever since we got to know her and husband Trevor via the Minnesota Farmers Union. While we didn't always see eye-to-eye on some farm policy, her strong positions on education and women's issues clinched the admiration.

Now she's getting the news coverage her political courage in yesterday's Senate vote deserves. The Mankato Free Press's Dan Linehan reports in Gay marriage hits home for minister:

Sen. Vicki Jensen, a Democrat who lives in Owatonna and also represents Waseca, was the only south-central Minnesota legislator to speak on the floor. Her district supported last fall’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage 57 percent to 43 percent.

She said the issue was clarified for her by the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court case Varnum v. Brien, in which that court decreed that Iowa’s law restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the state’s constitution.

“At the heart is the doctrine of equal protection, and that’s my opinion as well,” Jensen said.

In other words, the government has to treat same- and opposite-sex marriages the same because there’s no legal reason to treat them differently.

In her district, the Huckle media chain papers reported in Owatonna senator votes for gay marriage, while Blooming Prairie senator votes no:

Jensen said the Capitol was filled with supporters and opponents of the bill, similar to the scene last Thursday when the House voted.

“There was just so much excitement and people here. I’m so proud to have been a part of it. I think it’s democracy at its best. It was a great experience.”

Jensen said she studied the issue over and over again before deciding to vote for the bill. She looked at the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court case that struck down the law forbidding gay marriage in the Hawkeye state, saying it was unconstitutional to deny rights to same-sex couples. She said that case offered clarity on the issue.

“I’m somebody who puts a lot of heart and passion into every vote, whether it’s taxes or gay marriage. I study what I can to understand every implication.”

Several supporters of the gay marriage bill took to the People’s Press’ Facebook page to thank Jensen for her vote

“Thank you Senator Jensen for voting for equal rights for all!” wrote Julie Perkins Dunn. “Why I voted for you!”

Jimmy Harris wrote that marriage in the legal sense has nothing to do with God, or even love, for that matter.

“It is a system to determine property division, probate, child custody, insurance, and the like. Those questions of law should absolutely apply to every citizen equally,” Harris wrote.

Huffington Post (via the AP) and Ms Magazine picked up on her more sentimental reason for voting yes:

Senator Vicki Jensen (DFL-District 24) said, "I could never and I would never deny the kind of recognition and all the other positive things I get out of my marriage with my husband, to anyone else."

Campaigning last year, Jensen had told voters in her district that she opposed the amendment to restrict marriage and supported the freedom to marry for all loving couples. They supported the amendment but also elected her.

Photo: Senator Jensen presiding over the Minnesota Senate last week. Definitely not an Emo Senator, although she replaced one.

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