Farmers will have an easier time securing their legal rights with energy corporations building high voltage transmission lines across their property, thanks to Northfield legislators David Bly and Kevin Dahle.

The Belle Plaine Herald reports in Legislature OKs Amendment to 'Buy the Farm' Law:

In the waning hours of the 2013 legislative session Monday night, state lawmakers approved an amendment to Minnesota’s “Buy the Farm” law.

The amendment was passed “with great bipartisan support,” 114-18, said Sen. Kevin Dahle, DFL-Northfield. It requires companies like CapX 2020, which is running a transmission line from Sioux Falls, S.D. across Minnesota to reimburse landowners and farmers for fees incurred in the process of acquiring land via eminent domain for losses incurred during the process.

Additionally, the new law says utilities acquiring land via eminent domain must file challenges to a landowners request the utility buys the farm within 60 days.

If an objection is raised by the utility, the district court must uphold or reject the claim within 90 days.

Dahle and Rep. David Bly, DFL-Northfield, Reps. Kelby Woodard, R-Belle Plaine, and Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, supported the amendment. Woodard and Dahle represent Belle Plaine.

. . . CapX is less than thrilled with the passage. Randy Fordice, a spokesman for the group of utilities working together on high-voltage power line projects across the state, including the line that runs south of Belle Plaine across Blakeley and Belle Plaine townships, said the vaguely-worded amendment muddies the issues associated with the so-called reasonableness clause included in “Buy the Farm” requests.

Read the entire article at the Herald.  Farm membership groups praised the passage of the bill. Minnesota Farmers Union government affairs director Thom Peterson wrote in an email to members:

MFU was pleased to see strong bipartisan votes in favor of the legislation known as “Buy the Farm” which was attached to H.F. 854. The Senate passed the legislation 49-16 and the House 114-18. The legislation provides landowners facing the threat of high voltage power lines more rights regarding attorney’s fees, appraisals, relocation and a reasonable time frame. MFU thanks the many legislators that worked to support the issue especially the chief authors Sen. Kevin Dahle and Rep. David Bly.

The Land Stewardship Project supplied more details in a news release:

An important clarification to Minnesota's groundbreaking "Buy the Farm" law was passed by the state Legislature on Monday, the last day of the 2013 session.

“Keeping the Buy the Farm law strong says that Minnesotans value family farmers above profits for energy conglomerates," said Dave Minar of Cedar Summit Farm near New Prague, Minn. “Our future as a fourth-generation family dairy farm was in jeopardy because Xcel Energy and others were trying to twist the law. This clarification means farmers will be treated fairly.”

Under the unique “Buy the Farm” law, which was originally passed in 1977, farmers have the right to require that utility companies purchase their entire farm if high voltage power lines are going to pass through their property. This law was intended to require that utilities reimburse farmers for their land, relocation expenses and lost business. The law was a result of the hard fought negotiations between farmers and utility companies over high power transmission lines cutting across farmland in the 1970s.

With the construction of more than 650 miles of new high voltage power lines across Minnesota underway, the law has renewed importance to family farmers and landowners throughout the state. Backers of the CapX2020 power line project, which includes Xcel Energy and 10 others, are trying to avoid paying their fair share to family farmers impacted by the project, said Land Stewardship Project organizer Mike McMahon.

"In an attempt to blur the intent of the law, they are claiming that farmers are voluntarily relocating their farms and that any reimbursements for moving expenses and lost business would be extra compensation," said McMahon.

The “Buy the Farm” provisions passed Monday clarify this issue, making it clear that farmers will receive compensation for moving and lost business, according to McMahon.

After stalling in conference committee, the "Buy the Farm" clarification was amended onto a bill on the Senate floor Sunday night and passed on the House floor Monday. It passed off the Senate floor on a 49-16 vote and off the House floor by a 114-18 vote.

Representative David Bly (DFL-Northfield) and Senator Kevin Dahle championed the "Buy the Farm Law" provisions from the beginning, and were key players in keeping them alive during the waning days of the session.

“When I heard that CapX was claiming that protections passed in 2010 concerning land takings under eminent domain did not apply to the Buy the Farm provision, and when I listened to the stories of dairy farmers like Julie Schwartz and Dave Minar, it was clear that refining this law could make the difference in whether or not they would continue to farm," said Bly. "That’s why getting Buy the Farm done this session was a priority for me.”

Dahle said that this bill strengthens legislation related to this issue that he passed in 2009.

“Corporations that skirt the law not only inconvenience us, but they can possibly put us in danger," he said. "The changes we’ve authored will further protect the rights of local farmers by closing loopholes and holding big companies accountable to the law.”

The bill had stalled in the Senate when key committee chairs refused to act on the proposal. Sen. Ron Latz (DFL–St. Louis Park), Chair of the Judiciary Committee, refused to hear the bill, making it unable to progress as a stand-alone piece of legislation. In the House, the provisions completed the committee process and were included as part of the House Environment and Agriculture Omnibus Finance Bill.

However, in conference committee Sen. David Tomassoni (DFL–Chisholm), the Senate Chair of the Conference Committee, refused to accept the language. By amending the language onto a bill on the Senate floor, Dahle was able to overcome these procedural roadblocks. Among the handful of Senators voting "no" were Dan Sparks (DFL-Austin), Chair of the Senate Agriculture Policy Committee, and Tomassoni, Chair of the Environment and Agriculture Finance Committee.

Bluestem applauds the work to get this law fixed.

Photo: A black helicopter helps out with installation of the CapX line. Photo via KVSC.

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McLeod County Chronicle editor Rich Glennie might have opposed the rapid enactment of marriage equality, but he's turned his attention to new developments that seem far more threatening to him.

Drones. Secret wiretapping of reporters. I.R.S. investigations. Corporations using facial recognition software to track consumer behavior.

In You know, it’s sounding more like ‘1984’, Glennie notes that he's no fan of the freedom to marry:

Well, just like the Y2K millennium end-of-the-world scenario and the Mayan calendar doomsday predictions, the world did not end with the same-sex marriage bill passed recently by the Minnesota Legislature.

Despite this admission, Glennie's rhetoric does take on some violent sexual connotations:

This was the liberals’ one opportunity to foist their gay agenda onto the rest of us, who simply were not ready for such fast action from a traditionally slow-moving Legislature. . . .

There was no one to slow down the DFL juggernaut this session, and not only was gay marriage rammed down our throats, so has a whole truckload of new and expanded state taxes.

That truckload sound hard to take. But then he softens his tone, noting that many Christians were torn between strictures against same sex love and Jesus's great commandment to love one's neighbor as one's self--and that Minnesotans tend to recognize shades of gray on social issues:

To most Minnesotans, social issues are more gray than black-and-white. We tend to favor equal rights for all; we tend to defend the underdog; we tend to fight for fairness and openness.

So when the same-sex marriage push was made, it was with mixed feelings.

That being said, Glennie moves on to what he thinks is a real problem:

What Minnesotans, and Americans in general, should be more worried about, however, is the insidious intrusion of the federal government into our lives with increased use of domestic drones, the secret wiretapping of Associated Press journalists’ phone lines and the Internal Revenue Services’ revelations about zeroing in on specific political groups for more scrutiny.

To top it off was the “60 Minutes” report on Sunday that showed how facial recognition is being used to not only find criminals, but to identify your spending habits, where you used your credit cards and for what purchases. Corporations can then use that data to pinpoint their advertising campaigns.

Big government and big corporations diminishing civil liberties? He might be on to something.

Photo: Reuters used this image in a report on the Toovio marketing system, which uses phone GPS systems rather than facial recognition software. Oh, that's a relief.

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Supreme Court Chief Justice Lori Gildea (appointed during the Pawlenty administration) has rejected recall petitions submitted by Crow Wing County Republican with something of a history of objecting to human diversity.

Politics in Minnesota's Mike Mullen reports in Supreme Court rejects recall efforts against Radinovich, Ward

Both recall initiatives originated with Doug Kern, a Crow Wing County Republican activist who argued that Radinovich and Ward should face recalls for having voted against the will of their neighboring districts, where a majority of voters supported the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. In Ward’s House District 10A, 57.6 percent of voters favored the amendment, while Radinovich’s HD 10B voted “yes” with a 62.6 percent majority.

Kern quickly collected the required 25 signatures for a recall petition, which the Secretary of State’s Office then passed on to the Minnesota Supreme Court. In a pair of nearly identical dismissals filed yesterday, Gildea ruled that the gay marriage votes fell well short of the state standard for a recall, which requires that a legislator be guilty of “serious malfeasance or nonfeasance” of his or her office.

“Constituent disagreement with votes taken by their elected representative does not equate to malfeasance by the representative,” Gildea wrote, in language which appears in both of her dismissals. “As the supreme court has recognized, the remedy for constituents who disagree with an elected representative’s positions or voting record is not in the recall procedures.”

The Brainerd Dispatch reports that Kern felt the legislators were depriving him of his freedom of speech and religion, while admitting that state party officers had tried to talk him out of filing the petition:

Kern, a deputy chair of the Crow Wing County Republican Party, said his recall attempts had merit. He said the enactment of the gay marriage law, which was supported by both lawmakers, meant that Minnesotans lost the word marriage and also lost their freedoms of speech and religion.

Bauer said he was not surprised at the ruling.

Radinovich said he has been busy with legislative business and hadn’t been paying too much attention to the recall effort. He said he respects everyone’s right to the democratic process and he and Kern had a difference of opinion on this issue.

Ward said the facts prevailed in the case and the democratic process worked.

“I’m very thankful they found the way they did,” he said. “I respect the opinions of the people who presented the petitions, as well.”

.  . .Kern said he initiated the recalls as a private citizen and not as a party official. He said state Republican Party officials had tried to talk him out of the recall efforts.

Kern is actively fear-mongering in local newspapers. In a May 16, 2013 Open Forum letter at the Brainerd Dispatch, Freedom of religion, Kern writes:

And what about me as a Sunday school teacher? Who will protect me? No one. Can you spell “diversity training in your church”?

Read the comments on the post. Kern repeats his fears in a letter about the recall posted today at the Mille Lac Messenger:

Not to mention every business in Minnesota will have to bend the knee or have a lawsuit, especially now that marriage is redefined by state mandate. . . .

. . . If they can redefine marriage and infringe on our freedom of religion, which is tied into our freedom of speech, everything else is on the table from your children, guns, land, pursuit of happiness and so on. So really is it all about the feel? . . .

A review of earlier news reports reveals that Kern has a history of activism against LGBT rights and religious diversity.

The Doug Kern Record: Fear of a gay planet, colleges teaching about Muslims in the Mideast

The Crow Wing County Republican has long opposed human rights for gay men and lesbians.

Recently, it's been at a fever pitch. In a letter published in March at the Dispatch, Kern attacked Ward, and warned that same-sex marriage would "infect" children: 

Be informed on what your representative stands for or votes for, as it will affect or infect your children’s grandchildren

In Oberstar's 'California values', Kern urged support for the 2004 Republican CD8 candidate:

Could someone explain these signs that read, "For Minnesota Values Vote James Oberstar?" Last I checked, marriage being one man, one woman, is a Minnesota value, the sign should read "California Values," yes, I will vote for real Minnesota values -- Mark Groetum -- He knows the difference between marriage and "playing house."

Kern was among the conservative Republicans who worked to endorse other candidates after former state senator Paul Koering came out as a gay man in 2005. Koering secured the 2006 Republican endorsement after 7 ballots, but Kern supported his primary challenger.

The primary challenge functioned largely as an coded attack on Koering's sexuality.  MPR reported:

Koering thinks his sexuality shouldn't be an issue in an election, and it shouldn't matter to constituents.

"The fact that I'm gay, never, never comes up. I don't think that's a huge concern with people," Koering said.

But Koering still thinks that's the sole reason he's being challenged in a primary.

His opponent is Kevin Goedker, 34, a former Marine who sits on the Brainerd City Council. Goedker says Koering is not conservative enough for this Senate district.

"I don't see somebody out there representing me and my family. So with no other choice, I felt it necessary to step forward and represent the values of my family," Goedker said.

Goedker failed to win his party's endorsement this summer, losing to Koering. But Goedker says the fact that it took the incumbent seven ballots to win endorsement proves a primary challenge is viable. And Goedker maintains his challenge is not about Paul Koering's sexuality.

"If that was the only reason I was running, I would've announced a year ago that I was going to run against him then," Goedker said.

One political watcher says despite that assertion, many people feel this primary challenge has everything to do with Koering's personal life.

"Just about any public pronouncement will make reference to values, morals and gay marriage," says Michael Ceriello, a political science professor at Brainerd's Central Lakes College. "And you don't have to read very far between the lines to know exactly what he's talking about," Ceriello said.

MPR reported after the primary:

. . .In the Brainerd area, Republican state Sen. Paul Koering also faced criticism from an opponent for his stand on gay marriage. Koering voted to prevent a vote on same-sex marriage on the Senate floor in 2005. Koering is gay, but says he voted against the measure because it didn't move through the proper legislative channels.

Conservative groups also campaigned against Koering leading up the primary election. Koering says in the end, that tactic didn't work.

"Our campaign has had just about everything thrown at it that could possible happen, and I still prevailed, so it shows that people in Minnesota don't like negative campaigning," he said.

Koering finished with 55 percent of the vote. His opponent was Brainerd City Council Member Kevin Goedker. Goedker campaigned heavily on "family value" issues, and said his campaign had nothing to do with Koering's sexuality.

Koering assumes that's not the case, and that his primary challenge was directly related to his personal life. . . .

Kern ripped Koering's Twin Stadium vote in carefully coded language in a 2006, stating that Koering was "untrustworthy."  The "trust" meme was promoted by Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage.

In 2006 open forum in the Brainerd Dispatch, Kern defended Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage flyers in Criticism of Koering was fair game:

I am amazed at how Koering's voting record and statements in a leaflet will be considered character assassination, despicable and an attack, I am thankful organizations such as the Minnesota Family Institute and Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage are willing to bring out real issues that concern my family's future - a previous article stated "they attacked one of their own," by putting out this literature. Hate to break it to you, but he is not one of their own, they stand for marriage - one man one woman. Just goes to show you common sense just ain't as common as it used to be. Just ask your grandma I bet she's not confused on the issue. Stand for something or fall for anything my grandma used to say.

Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage endorsed Koering's opponent. Read more at the Dispatch.

The anti-Koering forces came back with a vengence in 2010, with an unintended assist from the incumbent when news broke that he went out to dinner with a gay porn star whose mother lived in the senate district. 

Koering's opponent in the 2010 primary, Paul Gazelka,  disavowed a mean spirited National Organization for Marriage mailing in a statement on his website:

I want to express to the voters of Senate District 12 my frustration and deep disappointment at the mailings sent by the National Organization for Marriage comparing me and Paul Koering.  This group, which supports marriage, a cause near and dear to my heart, has regrettably chosen to use mean-spirited ads instead of what most of us demand, civilized debate on the issues. 

 

Campaign laws forbid me to be aware of what others want to do to “help” me, and early on, I was clear that if issue related advocacy groups were going to independently support me that they should not do negative campaigning.  My personal, Christian view, is that it reflects poorly on Christ’s command to do unto others as you would have done unto you and it is not speaking the truth in love. . . .

In 2010, Koering skipped the endorsing convention and went straight to a primary; the primary bid lost steam after Andy Birkey reported that the lawmaker had a dinner date with a gay porn star whose mother lived in the senate district. Koering launched a write-in vote,  but Gazelka won the seat in November.

Kern ran for Crow Wing County Commissioner in 2012, but was defeated in the primary by Koering  and others. Koering won the seat in November.

Apparently, voters will only hold those gay porn star dates against a guy for so long. 

Kern made same-sex marriage an issue in  his county commissioner race, reposting an "editorial" ( his letter in the Brainerd Dispatch) on his campaign website:

Orientation for high school students took on a whole new meaning for my wife and I this last Monday. Being the parents of a eighth-grader going into ninth we were excited to see our son’s enthusiasm for high school. As we entered the school recruiting began … there was the ski team, weight-lifting team, FFA, video club, etc…. and the Gay/Straight Alliance — all recruiting our children.

We walked two times through the booths looking.There was not one Christian-based organization represented. After talking to the principal (who was extremely helpful) we found out there are none. My wife and I have decided to influence our children and the school by organizing a Christ and Christ alone group at the high school.

I have currently contacted youth pastors to link with me to make this work. I also am looking for adults to contact me and donate so we can make this work and be fun. This will be student-led, but adult supervised — just like the Gay/Straight Alliance. If you are as alarmed as I by the recruiting of our impressionable youth (eighth-12th-graders) contact me at djkern@charter.net. As a Sunday School teacher for 27 years I refuse to stand by and see my investments go down the tubes because I am too busy to protect them. Jesus loves you as you are, but he doesn’t leave you the same way he finds you. Put action to your Christianity, be active, be changed and contact me. And to those who say this wasn’t recruiting — that was the purpose of every table represented.

One wonders why he waited until running for office against an openly gay candidate to help students organize a Christian club (they're perfectly constitutional in schools that allow other clubs).

In Chair of Crow Wing County GOP makes false claim about anti-gay marriage amendment, Birkey looked at one of Kern's 2012 letters: that defeat of the amendment would mean same-sex marriage  would be legal in two years and churches that failed to perform all marriages  would lost their tax status.  Birkey's analysis about marriage equality itself was predicated on the GOP retaining control of the legislature (or losing by slight a margin). His review illustrates, however, that no church has ever had its tax status  revoked in those states where same-sex marriage is legal.

On  April 16, 2009, Brainerd Dispatch associate editor Mike O'Rourke reported in Kiwanis Park is scene of tax protest:

Doug Kern of rural Brainerd, chair of the Crow Wing County Republican Party, said America was a Christian nation and told how his son was alarmed at a sign at Central Lakes College about a meeting on the Muslim faith in the Mideast and politics.

Oh scary. We certainly wouldn't want college students to learn about Muslims in the Mideast.

Photo: Doug Kern, via his real estate office listing. Uncropped and unretouched by Bluestem.

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Today's City Pages Blotter reports that Mary Franson wonders whether marriage equality extends to polygamy.

She's not the only conservative rural woman flogging this one after the Minnesota legislature extended the freedom to marry to same sex couples.

Former state senator Gretchen Hoffman, who has moved to North Dakota as well as become the Minnesota state director for Concerned Women of America, expounded on her belief that advocates for polygamy and pedophilia (she names NAMBLA) will be next in line for changes in the state's marriage law.

The statements were made on Tuesday, May 14, during an interview by Bradlee Dean and Jake McMillan on the Sons of Liberty radio show.

Hoffman: polgamists and NAMBLA will demand marriage rights

Last Tuesday, former Minnesota state senator Gretchen Hoffman was interview by toxic metal preacher Bradlee Dean and his sidekick, Jake  McMillan on the Sons of Liberty Radio show.

Hoffman: I mean, these are militant activists who are pushing an agenda. . .and they made it all about love and being with who you love.

Well, I'd like to know how the state can regulate love anyway. I mean, where does it end? We're looking--the polygamists now are going to come and ask for, I love, you know, four people and you know the NAMBLA group which is what-I don't even know what that acronym stands for--

Dean: The North American Man Boy Love Association,  it's a pedophile group, correct

Hoffman: . . .And they're working to lower the age of consent so they can have sex with children and so you know of course whenever I say stuff like that they tell me I'm an extremist or I'm overreacting or..I've been called every name in the book. . .

Hoffman: "Political correctness" kept Catholic Church "cowed" in 2012

While not mentioning that the diocese spent $650,000 to promote last year's amendment to restrict the freedom to marry to one man and one woman, as well as recruiting volunteers to work for the ballot measure, Hoffman also chided the Catholic Church for being too "politically correct" about "homosexual marriage", while praising a protestant community church in Warroad:

Dean: . . .Many won't like it, what I have to say, saying I was too indelicate, well, how's being delicate worked for everybody,  tell us about the right, the church, what has been their part to play in this defeat?

Hoffman: Well, I think that they've played a huge part, um,  in the defeat. They have been so cowed by political correctness that they are not speaking morals and moral values and following God's Word from the pulpit and our young people are walking away from the church in droves.

You know, is that a product of they're bored in church, is that a product of, you know, [chuckles] I went to church every Sunday when  I was growing up, that's just the way it was in our house, I didn' have a choice in the matter. Are we trying to be too friendly with  our kids and not be their parents, I mean there's just a whole host of things but I will tell you, I went to church and I'm a Catholic.

I went to church the Sunday before the election, I mean I always do, but especially I try not to miss the Sunday before elections, you know Catholics are supposed to go every Sunday and I listened to what the priest in my church said and there was no talk of gay marriage, homosexual marriage--I'm trying to take back the language as well--there was no talk in my Catholic Church against homosexual marriage. At the end of the service he made a small mention to vote pro-life and that was it.

And so when we have churches that are being cowed because of political correctness and the threat of losing their tax-free status--

Dean: Which has never happened...

Hoffman: And I'm sure you guys know about this, the church, the pastor up in Northern Minnesota, I think his name is Doug Booth [Gus Booth], and the IRS--

The interview starts around the 14 minute mark on the May 14 show archived here, and Bluestem's transcription is below the fold. Some nonessential remarks are marked by ellipses.

Hoffman may be best known for being required to apologize after an ethics complaint when her tweets misrepresented floor statements by Senator Barbara Goodwin (DFL-Columbia Heights). Hoffman retired after she was re-districted into a seat shared by another Republican, declaring her intention to seek her party's endorsement in CD7. She lost to Lee Byberg on the first ballot at the Republican district convention.

On twitter today, Hoffman promised a follower she'd be back to doorknock next year.

Read the transcript below the fold:

Dean:  . . .I feel like I'm very aggressive.

McMillan: Aggressive?

Dean: Yeah.

McMillan: Different meaning.

Dean: Yeah, militant.

McMillan: Well, when you're in a war,you've got to be that way.

Dean: I mean, like the violent, take-it-by-force...press into the Kingdom of God. [crosstalk] The cool part about that is that it's his pleasure to give on to us the Kingdom. I love that kind of stuff.

McMillan: And you know what? That pleasure transcends lines of radio and transcend sometimes into that political realm. . . .I don't see it a whole lot but sometimes we see teeth we want to invite those teeth on to the show.

We have with us today Miss Gretchen Hoffman, who was actually a former Minnesota state senator, and boy, I'll tell you what, whenever there was something to be said on an issue, the press always went straight to her because they knew that she would say what was really going on and not try to candy-coat it and give a statement like everybody else that could be taken two different ways . . .

So Miss Gretchen, don't be diplomatic with us, tell what's going on in the state of Minnesota with this "gay marriage," excuse me, homosexual marriage issue, and thank you for being on the show.

Hoffman: Well, you are very welcome, I'm glad to be here and you are correct, I'm one who has never minced words in my entire life, and in fact I believe that's probably why people of the district elected me because I was truthful at the door. . . .

. . .What's happening in Minnesota? Well, as many of you know, the Minnesota State Senate yesterday passed the homosexual marriage, which basically is genderless marriage. They've rewritten the defense of marriage statute. The House passed it last week and it will go to Governor Dayton's desk and he'll have the signing ceremony on Tuesday. It will be law in Minnesota.

McMillan: Tuesday, as in today, 5 o'clock?

Hoffman: I lost track of time here. Yes, that's very rapid.

Dean: Let me ask you a question Gretchen. Let me know real quick. How do you enforce an unlawful law? I'm just kinda curious. I mean, did they not read the Preamble, did they not read the state statutes, did they not use a little common sense before going forward on a homosexual agenda?

Hoffman: Well, evidently they didn't. And you know-- I think that Senator Marty, who actually--I sat next to him on the tax committee last year--I believe he had a bill to reverse DOMA in the state of Minnesota every year for--I'm not going to say how many years because I don't know--but from what I understand, he's put one in almost every year that he's been there to repeal defense of marriage and so when last fall when the campaign was going on--and one of the biggest campaign issues they said to people, the uninformed voter, I  mean, and that's what we're dealing with right now. I don't mean to offend anybody but it's the truth--

Dean: You're good...

McMillan: Did you just say that? That you don't mean to offend anybody?

Hoffman: No, I never want to offend anybody, but I will tell the truth and if the truth offends, then get informed and you won't be offended.  [crosstalk] So I would tell people, so why do we need to put this in our constitution, that's what the campaign was, we don't need this in the constitution, we've got it protected  under law, and I said, laws can be changed and  laws will be changed and we  see the result of that.

So basically, the homosexual lobby and the campaign lied to the people in Minnesota.

Dean: Of course. Gretchen we also understand too from an insider, that John Marty--and BTW, John Marty is a pastor's kid for those that didn't know . ..

Dean understates the facts here: Martin Marty is considered by many to be one of the foremost contemporary Lutheran theologians in America. The senate bill to extend the freedom to marry was authored by Senator Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis), rather than John Marty.

Dean: But we'd actually approached him a couple of times and I tell you what, it was interesting to watch the man squirm when he was around people who actually knew what they were talking about...

Bluestem thinks that Dean probably misunderstands why he makes people squirm.

Dean: But we actually understand from an inside source that he was actually trying to get the vote passed through behind the backs of the voters. On three different occasions. These are the kinds of people we're dealing with in the state of Minnesota and of course across the country.

Hoffman: I mean, these are militant activists who are pushing an agenda. . .and they made it all about love and being with who you love.

Well, I'd like to know how the state can regulate love anyway. I mean, where does it end? We're looking--the polygamists now are going to come and ask for, I love, you know, four people and you know the NAMBLA group which is what-I don't even know what that acronym stands for--

Dean: The North American Man Boy Love Association,  it's a pediphile group, correct

Hoffman: . . .And they're working to lower the age of consent so they can have sex with children and so you know of course whenever I say stuff like that they tell me I'm an extremist or I'm overreacting or..I've been called every name in the book. . .

McMillan: When you're exposing the extremists, you become the extremist--

Dean: Well, that's exactly what they did in Canada when they implemented homosexual marriage--

McMillan: That's exactly what's happening now--[crosstalk]--you wrote a post Gretchen,  just so you know, I am done mincing words, we better start speaking plainly, the low-info voter doesn't get get subtlety. There  are times when Christians absolutely must speak out, grab attention, use brevity. Many won't like it, what I have to say, saying I was too indelicate, well, how's being delicate worked for everybody,  tell us about the right, the church, what has been their part to play in this defeat?

Hoffman: Well, I think that they've played a huge part, um,  in the defeat. They have been so cowed by political correctness that they are not speaking morals and moral values and following God's Word from the pulpit and our young people are walking away from the church in droves.

You know, is that a product of they're bored in church, is that a product of, you know, [chuckles] I went to church every Sunday when  I was growing up, that's just the way it was in our house, I didn' have a choice in the matter. Are we trying to be too friendly with  our kids and not be their parents, I mean there's just a whole host of things but I will tell you, I went to church and I'm a Catholic.

I went to church the Sunday before the election, I mean I always do, but especially I try not to miss the Sunday before elections, you know Catholics are supposed to go every Sunday and I listened to what the priest in my church said and there was no talk of gay marriage, homosexual marriage--I'm trying to take back the language as well--there was no talk in my Catholic Church against homosexual marriage. At the end of the service he made a small mention to vote pro-life and that was it.

And so when we have churches that are being cowed because of political correctness and the threat of losing their tax-free status--

Dean: Which has never happened...

Hoffman: And I'm sure you guys know about this, the church, the pastor up in Northern Minnesota, I think his name is Doug Booth [Gus Booth], and the IRS--

McMillan: In Warroad, yep.

Hoffman: He speaks truth at the pulpit. In fact, my kids heard him once and they said, Mom, if we had a pastor like that, I'd go to church every Sunday.

McMillan: Because he speaks truth, that's awesome.

Hoffman: He speaks truth, he speaks with passion, and he speaks with conviction and so he fought the IRS and so the case just sort of went away. And I was at a conference in Texas, I'm the state director for Concerned Women of America, and family issues are one of our big things, and I was at a conference [in Texas] and a state legislator talked to us there and he said that he visited at a church, it was a small church, and this was another pastor who spoke truth and, um, they lost their tax-free status. And the legislator asked him, well, how was it going for him and he said our tithing has doubled. . . it is better now that we're speaking truth than being cowed by a politically correct government that for the most part is radicalizing the founding of our country.

And, so my point is, is that so often Christians, especially Christian women, you know I love them to death--obviously, I'm one of them--but I have always spoken truth and they so often say  to  me, now Gretchen you can't offend anybody and I say, well we're losing, we better start offending somebody.

Dean: Isn't that the purpose of you being in government as a representative to enforce the Law, to legislate the Law, and it's interesting, just another point to what you were just saying, Gretchen, that when you look at the abortion industry, the greatest advocate is the silence of 300,000 pulpits across America to sit down and tolerate what God commands, when He said that I hate hands that shed innocent blood.

And then, when we go over to the issue of homosexual marriage, who's been the greatest advocate? The professed church of America and by the way, it's a lack of Christianity, Gretchen, it's not Christ at all. He's missing in the equation.

McMillan: What's your future, Gretchen, what are you moving into? What's on the horizon for you right now?

Hoffman: Well, I don't know if you know this, but my husband and I moved out of Minnesota the first of the year, I haven't made a secret of it and I --this is one of the reasons why, it's more than the fiscal issues for me, it's the immorality of our government right now in Minnesota--

Dean: Where do you live, Gretchen, so everybody can know that? Like when they get done listening to this radio show they can zero in on you? I'm totally playing [laughs].

Hoffman: That's right, they can zero--I'm not making any secret of it . . .we moved to North Dakota.

Dean: Oh gotcha. You know my wife was born there. Gretchen, thank you very much for your time. We totally appreciate it. Heather, will you pick up the phone, she works for Concerned Women of America. We do a lot of stuff with those guys.  . . .Thank you Gretchen Hoffman, former member of the Minnesota Senate.

Photo:  Former Kvetchin' Gretchen Hoffman, a native of North Dakota, moved back home. From North Dakota, she serves as the Minnesota state director of Concerned Women of America.

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There's something missing in recent news stories about the watered-down frac sand mining regulations heading to the governor's desk.

At Politics in Minnesota, Charley Shaw reports in Broadbased state regulations emerge for frac sand mining:

. . . Heading into conference committee, the Senate reached a deal to require frac sand operators to get a permit from the state Department of Natural Resources if the mine is within 1 mile of a trout stream. The permit approach was a compromise from an earlier proposal by Sen. Matt Schmit, DFL-Red Wing, to prohibit silica sand mining within 1 mile of a trout stream.

“I don’t want to say I’m 100 percent satisfied, but I think this gives us a lot of tools to make a difference in southeastern Minnesota,” Schmit said. “The trout stream setback language we agreed to earlier this week is going to make a big difference in protecting the most sensitive regions in southeastern Minnesota.”

The bill makes lays the groundwork for establishing protections for more than just trout streams. Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, contended the trout stream issue was too narrow of a focus. He successfully pushed for the establishment of a model ordinance for local governments that looks at setbacks for things like wellhead protection areas in addition to trout streams. The standards also call for air and water quality protections for frac sand that’s in temporary storage.

The breadth of conference report, Hansen said, goes farther than any other state that has faced frac sand mining controversies.

“It’s the first of its kind, to our knowledge, in the country for silica sand. It’s comprehensive so we’ve got air, water—the whole picture,” Hansen said. . . .

Shaw reports that the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) will be leading the effort across agencies to set the standards and to provide technical assistance to local government.  It's something, since the industrial sand mining special interests and hostile legislators repeatedly tried to cut out the EBQ from the mix.

Meanwhile, the state Chamber of Commerce's lobbyist whined to Shaw that the industry is unfairly singled out for its water use. Orchards use water, he noted, and they're not being asked to apply for water permits.

Bluestem agrees: the next apple orchard that strips off hundreds of acres of soil, digs a ginormous hole in the earth that's open for years, and washes sand should so be required to apply for a permit with the DNR. Fair is fair.

So what's missing in Shaw's report? The name of Senator Jeremy Miller (R-Winona).  In Miller's misleading frac sand statement, a letter published in the Sunday Winona Daily News, local activist Jane Cowgill writes:

I couldn’t believe it when I read Sen. Miller’s statement trying to take credit for the frac sand legislation that passed on Monday. Getting out a press release taking credit for something he had nothing to do with is almost the only initiative he has taken on the frac sand issue.

. . . Miller was the key vote in committee killing the state standards proposed by Sen. Matt Schmit of Red Wing and Trout Unlimited, and endorsed by the DNR. These standards were the result of work with experts and would have put the most sensitive areas of southeast Minnesota -- those near trout streams -- off limits to frac sand mines.

The provisions that did pass are not everything we wanted, but some will be very helpful. Again we have Matt Schmit of Red Wing to thank for this. Schmit worked all session and moved bills forward even when some leaders of his own party disagreed with him. That’s because he was representing and fighting for his district. I can’t say that about Miller. He carried water for the frac sand special interests all session. Now he wants us to think that he actually cared about what his constituents wanted.

We aren’t fooled.

It will be interested to see whether the impressive grassroots organizing by citizens in Southeastern Minnesota will carry forward into electoral politics. Neither party will be able to leverage it, given the way the DFLers on the Range rushed in to prattle about the frac sand mining industry creating "empathy" for their region. Schmit's a clear winner in his first term.

Photo: Jane Cowgill at the state capitol, promoting protection for trout stream and other living things. Photo by John Kaul.

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Kevin Diaz reported Sunday in the Star Tribune article Bachmann campaign allegations attract attention of FBI:

St. Paul attorney John Gilmore, who represents former Bachmann chief of staff Andy Parrish, also confirmed that his client is among those being interviewed by the FBI as a witness. “Andy Parrish has been contacted by the FBI for purposes of an interview,” Gilmore said. “That has been set up for next week and Mr. Parrish will cooperate fully.” . . .

. . .One source familiar with the FBI inquiry said an agent from the bureau’s public integrity section expressed interest in campaign finance allegations contained in a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint brought by whistleblower Peter Waldron, a Florida pastor who worked on the Bachmann presidential campaign in Iowa.

.  . . In an affidavit to the Iowa Senate earlier this month, [Iowa State Senator Kent] Sorenson denied being paid directly or indirectly by any “Bachmann entities.” That contradicts an earlier affidavit from Parrish describing an “arrangement” to pay Sorenson through Short’s company. Parrish’s affidavit said Bachmann was aware of the arrangement, but thought it was legal. . . .

Read it and weep at the Star Tribune 

Bluestem is curious about the status of Bachmann's seat should the investigations mature. As readers may recall, Bachmann barely won in the 2012 election, beating DFL challenger Jim Graves by 4,296 votes in a district where Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney received nearly 6 percentage points of the vote than she.

We've heard and read rumors that many Republicans wish she would retire. That set Bluestem to wondering how the GOP could find a candidate who isn't a client of John Gilmore.  Perhaps Tom Emmer would be interested in the job.

Photo: John Gilmore, blogger and GOP kingmaker.

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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.

Here's the video:

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

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

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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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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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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