Politics
Melanie/Mark, Dennis/Frank, and others … ask the Hillsider to ask them
Do you have a question you would like to ask the candidates? The Hillsider will contact them with questions. Please help give us ideas. You could comment here or you could email me at hillsider @ sundogpress.com. I need your questions by Tuesday, Sept. 14. The Hillsider will run the candidate’s answers in its October issue.
Here are the candidates that we plan to include:
Minnesota Sixth District Judge for Court 11
Mike Cuzzo
Timothy A. Costley
Minnesota State Representative District 7B:
Tony Salls (Independence)
Travis Silvers (Republican) Facebook page
Kerry Gauthier (Democratic-Farmer-Labor)kerryforrep.com
Minnesota State Senator for District 7
Rilla Debot Opelt (Republican)
Roger J. Reinert (DFL)
District 1 County Commissioner
Dennis Fink
Frank Jewell
County Attorney
Melanie Ford
Mark Rubin
Minnesota Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Tom Horner & James A. Mulder (Independence)
Tom Emmer & Annette T. Meeks (Republican)
Mark Dayton & Yvonne Prettner Solon (DFL)
I am looking forward to some unique questions.
Fink does not seek endorsment
First District Commissioner Dennis Fink did not seek the endorsement of AFSCME or the Central Labor Body. The two have combined and have a new name this year but will still offer two endorsements. It seems odd to me that one group would hand out two endorsements under the false precedence of being two groups.
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Blue Laws are Stupid, Post #2
One of the questions on the 2010 House of Representatives State Fair Poll (conducted by Minnesota House Public Information Services) was:
Do you believe liquor stores and automobile dealers should be permitted to open on Sundays?
And the results …
Yes ………… 6,742 | 68%
No ………….. 2,480 | 25%
Undecided …… 668 | 7%
So, were the 25 percent who said no all from Lakeside?
(This really ought to be a series. Link to post #1 here.)
Hillsider to Fink and Jewell: Why are issues relating to mining and forestry important?
The September issue of The Hillsider features candidates running for District 1 County Commissioner, Dennis Fink and Frank Jewell, answering two questions:
- Why are you running?
- Why care about mining and forestry?
Click on the links below for the answers. The paper issue also contains an encore presentation of questions and answers from candidates for other offices.
By the way, St. Louis County is over 6,000 square miles — larger than three states: Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island. It has an abundance of natural resources contributing to mining and lumber industries. Why should people in the core neighborhoods of Duluth be concerned? Read up.
Gubernatorial candidates debate in Duluth
Courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio, here’s audio from today’s debate at the Duluth Playhouse between Tom Emmer, Mark Dayton and Tom Horner.
Fierce Alleycat Road Race for Reproductive Justice — Friday at Leif Erickson Park
Brought to you by your local HOTDISH militia*
Deets:
Friday, Sept. 3
4pm Registration
5-7PM Race
Meet at Leif Erickson Park
$5 minimum donation to ride
Prizes for all sorts of fun reasons
An alleycat is a bike race and a scavenger hunt combined – come find out more! Be sure to bring a bike, helmet, backpack and your best costume.
*HOTDISH stands for Hand Over The Decision It Should Be Hers. We are a small grassroots organization mostly made-up of badass feminists who spend our time advocating for reproductive justice in the Northland while educating ourselves and others. We have a small fund that we maintain through our fund-raising efforts to ensure that women of the Northland with lower incomes have access to abortion and other reproductive health care services.
Lorrie Janatopoulos for County Commission
Join in to support Lorrie’s run for St. Louis County Commission.
5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1
Carmody Irish Pub – 308 E Superior Street, Duluth, MN
Lorrie is running for Commission in District 5 (Virginia/Eveleth) but that official makes decisions for Duluth, too. We need new, sensible people on our County Commission, so come to the party, meet and talk with Lorrie, and give what you can.
Sixth District Candidate Forum
Sixth District House and Senate Candidate Forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters Duluth in cooperation with the Citizens Federation.
Wednesday, Sept. 15, at 6:30pm
Lakewood Town Hall, 3110 Strand Road, Duluth
Candidates scheduled to appear at the forum are: Senator Tom Bakk, Jennifer Havlick, Rep.Mary Murphy, and Keith MacDonald.
The candidates will respond to prepared questions. Each candidate will be given equal time. The forum will last about one hour. It will be open to the public at no charge.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influenced public policy through education and advocacy.
For more information contact LWV Voter Services co-chairs:
Gay Trachsel (218-728-5478) or Elizabeth Olson(218-343-4281).
There’s something about this book cover that makes me want to spend all day making alterations to it in Photoshop
I think I’d start with putting a Superman outfit on him. It’s a good thing I don’t have any Photoshop skills.
A superficial — and less superficial — look at the candidates for Minnesota governor
Setting aside the issues and personal party affiliations for a moment, which candidate for Minnesota Governor has the best website in terms of appearance and functionality?
Farheen Hakeem (Green)
Tom Horner (Independence)
Tom Emmer (Republican)
Mark Dayton (Democratic Farmer Labor)
Ken Pentel (Ecology Democracy)
Linda S. Eno (Resource)
Chris Wright (Grassroots)
As for substance, all the candidates seem to like to provide an “issues” section with a few paragraphs of philosophy about a handful of topics. So far, I’ve only seen two somewhat detailed position papers on the state budget:
Minnesota Works: Horner-Mulder Budget Outline
Mark Dayton’s Deficit Solution
Primary Election Sample Ballot for Douglas County, Wisconsin — Sept. 14, 2010
Wisconsin is keeping it old school, with a traditional September primary. Here’s what’s on the ballot:
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Negative Coverage?
Does any photo published in the DNT even exist on celluloid? I would have thought not, but this suggests otherwise. Or read in your own perceptions of bias. From the home page this morning.
Duluth 2010 Primary Election Results
With 4,136 of 4,136 precincts reporting:
FEDERAL OFFICE
United States Representative, Minnesota District 8 Independence Party
Timothy Olson — 2,515 | 100%
United States Representative, Minnesota District 8
Republican Party
Chip Cravaack — 26,602 | 100%
United States Representative, Minnesota District 8
Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
James L. Oberstar — 56,369 | 80%
W.D. (Bill) Hamm — 13,836 | 20% (more…)
A special primary election day message from the guy in Cotton who reminds us we’re all a bunch of toys
Yeah, this sign is from the 2008 election — and has been posted on PDD before — but it’s still up, and the “I told you so” has been added since then.
Whether you’re a toy or not, you still have the right to vote and bitch. You even have the right to not vote and still bitch. So take that for what it’s worth.
Oil and Congress Don’t Mix: Campaign Launch
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
SEPARATE OIL AND CONGRESS NOW
CITIZENS FOR CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY
What: Campaign launch, presentation, discussion.
When: Wednesday, August 4th at 7:00 p.m.
Where: “Friends Meeting House,” aka “Quaker Church” 1802 East 1st Street, Duluth, MN
Please RSVP by following the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=107013446019531&ref=ts
It’s time to party and the candidates’ answers
See the Hillsider electronic newsletter here for links to where the National Night Out parties are located and candidate questionnaires for the upcoming election.
Many people are especially interested in the judicial candidates. At our last board meeting we decided to ask the judicial candidates:
What could you do in your position to prevent the disproportionately high number of children of color that are in the juvenile justice system? Are there alternatives to juvenile detention by focusing on solutions rather than punishment?
Target Corp Gives $150,000 for Republican Tom Emmer
Some Minnesotans seem upset about Minneapolis-based Target giving money for Republican Tom Emmer’s campaign for Minnesota Governor, as Target is usually not associated with conservative politics. Minnesota-based BestBuy also gave $100,000. National News has picked up the story. (more…)
Will Walleye-gate Matter?
The attempt by St. Louis County Commissioner Dennis Fink and State Senator Satveer Chaudhary to circumvent the standard Department of Natural Resources process for changing fishing regulations on the Fish Lake Resevoir has already cost Senator Chaudhary his DFL endorsement and may likely cost him his job. The question is what impact will the Fish Lake scandal have on Commissioner Fink’s bid for re-election? (more…)
St. Louis County Primary Election 2010 Sample Ballot
Some notes on the Aug. 10 Primary Election:
* This is an election in which you have to choose a party. You can’t, for example, vote for a Republican governor and a DFL congressman. On the partisan side of the ballot you have to vote for the same party in all races. That’s how it works, whether you like it or not.
* Your party choices are Republican, Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Independence. Yes, there are some candidates representing other parties — Constitution, Green, Ecology Democracy, Resource and Grassroots — but those candidates do not have any opposition within their parties and therefore move on to the General Election automatically.
* If you live in Duluth, you won’t see the County Commissioner races that are listed on the sample ballot — those are for districts outside of Duluth. Pretty much all of the Duluth-relevant nonpartisan county races have only two or one candidate, so you won’t get to vote on them until November. The exception is the Sixth District Court Judge 11 race, which has eight candidates.
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Duluth Waits for Shane, Sarah and Josh
Thursday, July 29 | 10pm | Pizza Lucé
Local musicians perform the music of Tom Waits to benefit the hikers detained in Iran.
The lineup will include Coyote, Bill and Kate Isles, Rachael Kilgour, Tony Bennett, the Tico Three, Dave Mehling, James Moors, Jim Hall, Charity Huot and the Mark Anderson Trio.
Cover charge: $10, which goes to Free the Hikers.
On July 31 it will be a full year that Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have been detained in Iran with no charges brought against them. Shane and Josh have been sharing a cell in Evin’s Prison, but Sarah has been held in solitary confinement.
Bauer is a Minnesotan. His sister and brother-in-law live in Duluth, and he also has family in Shakopee and Pine City.
A protest walk and benefit will be held on July 31. More info on that in a future post.
No Bad Apples
Members of RWDSU-UFCW Local 220 in Williamson, NY, have been trying to negotiate a contract with Mott’s, a subsidiary of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. The company is looking to slash wages by as much as $1.50 an hour for each and every employee, and is trying to take away the workers’ pension plan. There is no economic necessity for what the company is seeking to do. It is a profitable, growing company.
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The New Duluth
Duluth’s own Mayor Ness graces the July 2010 cover of Minnesota Business Magazine.
Article// The New Duluth
Do I have the right to drive to work without seeing dead fetuses?
Apparently not. Corner of First Street and First Avenue East. The fact is, I cannot get to the parking lot for work without driving by, and often getting stopped at a light, near signs of dead fetuses.
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty on the Daily Show talking about his undersized schtick
This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.
BP Gas Station Protest
Northlanders for Corporate Accountability is a new group for folks committed to applying pressure to reckless/unethical companies like BP Oil and Goldman Sachs. To quote Noam Chomsky, many corporations engage in “massive rip-offs of the public.” And “under one guise or another, the public pays the costs and takes the risks, while profit is privatized.” The NCA is committed to changing the status quo in the only way possible – on the local level.
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