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Applying for public assistance should be a smoother process under a reorganization plan approved Tuesday by Beltrami County commissioners. The plan moves case management services into a new business model focusing on process, according to John Pugleasa, county income maintenance director. The board put the plan in motion by approving, on its consent agenda, the hiring of additional staff -- two full-time eligibility specialists and six full-time case aids. The estimated cost to implement the plan is $408,000 to $456,000, said Pugleasa, adding that since County Health and Human Services lost
Two Bemidji lawmakers heard Saturday what they didn't want to hear -- ways to spend money the state doesn't have. But if they do, the state will save money in the long run in more expensive medical care and in law enforcement, mental health officials told Sen. John Carlson and Rep. Dave Hancock, both Bemidji Republicans. They received a Mental Health 101 primer from the 25 professionals, meeting in North Country Regional Hospital's Education Room.
A bill which would abolish pay equity for local governments has been pulled by its author, Sen. John Carlson, R-Bemidji. "That bill's been pulled and it won't see the light of day," Carlson said Saturday morning to an Education Minnesota eggs and issues breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express.
A Beltrami County Jail upgrade project will be discussed by county commissioners during their 3 p.m. work session Tuesday. The jail controls system is well past its life expectancy and must be replaced, argues Steve Shadrick, county facilities manager, who seeks to replace the system, The project, estimated at $280,000, has been discussed since 2008 but not done due to lack of funding. The jail controls operate lighting, intercom, door, water and video security.
Replacing the U.S. tax system is no easy matter, but supporters of the FairTax plan continue to plug away. The FairTax, or a tax on consumption, would replace the income tax, which taxes production. Rob Benson, communications director for FairTax Minnesota, is hosting a discussion of the tax plan 5:30-9 p.m.
Once Minnesota finds its way out of a $6.2 billion budget gap, it should lay away $4 billion in a rainy day fund, says Sen. John Carlson, R-Bemidji. Once the business cycle hits an upturn, and Minnesota's current 37 different taxes begin collecting more revenues, Minnesota should sock away at least three month's operating expenses in a rainy day fund, waiting for the next business cycle downturn, he said. "Whose money is it?" Carlson asked Beltrami County Republican Convention goers Saturday morning. "It's yours. It's not the state's money. ...
Two former governors - Arkansas' Mike Huckabee and Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty -- tied Saturday in a Beltrami County Republicans presidential straw poll. "Clearly, people are excited about the opportunity to reverse the unsustainable and distressing course of our country by electing a conservative to replace President Obama in 2012," said county party Chairman Ken Cobb. With 46 delegates voting in the straw poll, both Hucabee and Pawlenty scored nine votes, good for 19.6 percent each. Delegates at their annual convention were told that Hucakbee won the straw poll, followed by Pawlenty, but Cob
ST. PAUL -- A month after being sworn in as House 2B's representative, Dave Hancock is finding his way around the State Capitol. "There are a lot of adjectives," Hancock, R-Bemidji, says of the first month on the job. "First of all, it's a very humbling experience, just walking into the Capitol two or three times a week and realize the history and heritage that goes through there." Last fall, Hancock defeated three-term Rep.
Newly elected U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-8th District, will be the keynote speaker at the Beltrami Republican Convention next Saturday in Bemidji. "Cravaack won an historic upset victory against Transportation Chairman James Oberstar in the recent midterm elections," says Beltrami GOP Chairman Ken Cobb.
The third and final reading of a Beltrami County provision prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages past 1 a.m. will be heard Tuesday. Part of the County Board's 5 p.m. regular agenda, the matter should reach a head as commissioners will either adopt the 1 a.m. bar closing or drop the issue. In December, the board voted to amend the county's liquor ordinance to prohibit establishments in the county and outside of municipalities from selling alcohol after 1 a.m., using a three-reading process. Public testimony was taken Feb.