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Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton's plan to tax the wealthy will help middle-class Minnesotans send their kids to college, says Minneapolis R.T. Rybak. "Mark's saying something pretty simple," Rybak said in an interview Tuesday night. "It's tough, but it's simple. We're going to ask the people who make the very most money in the state to give a little more, so middle-class Minnesotans can afford to go to college. That's fair. "I think as we talk to people, they get that," he added.
Republican challenger John Carlson, as state president of a national insurance lobby, is in a conflict of interest with his pledge of not being beholden to special interests, says Democrat Sen. Mary Olson. Carlson was named state president this summer of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
Beltrami County sheriff candidates differed on communications needs during a forum Monday night at Bemidji City Hall. While most counties are adopting an 800 megahertz state-recommended communications system, Beltrami County and 14 northwest Minnesota counties are going their own way with a narrow band VHF digital system. Sheriff Phil Hodapp said the 800 MHz system won't work in northwest Minnesota, while challenger Bill Cross, chief deputy for Wadena County, said he is now working to install the 800 MHz system there as it will be the radio system of the future statewide. "We have thoroughl
Don't throw the mail ballot out with the campaign literature trash, warns Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer Kay Mack. Mail ballots for the Nov.
The Minnesota Supreme Court, in an opinion filed Thursday, said Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer Kay Mack properly denied Senate 4 candidate Greg Paquin's nominating petition for the Nov. 2 ballot. "We ... hold that in denying Paquin?s nominating petition for lack of sufficient signatures, the County Auditor did not violate Minnesota law and did not violate Paquin's constitutional rights," the court ruled in an unsigned opinion. The Supreme Court denied Paquin's appeal to be on the Nov. 2 ballot in an Aug.
The Red Lake Band of Chippewa will receive more than $1 million in federal stimulus funds to construct a community center at Ponemah. The announcement came Tuesday from U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, DFL-7th District, as he met with the Red Lake Tribal Council. The award includes an $809,000 loan and $250,000 as a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the federal economic stimulus package. The Red Lake funding was awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development's Community Facility Projects, according to a tribal statement.
Beltrami County commissioners begin scrutinizing 2011 department budgets, including their own, when they meet Tuesday. They will also discuss how to replace Natural Resource Management Director Greg Snyder, who has resigned. Tuesday's 3 p.m. work session, at the County Administration Building, 701 Minnesota Ave., has been reserved for budget reviews.
Minnesota Senate 2 candidates followed the party playbook on state budget solutions during a Lakeland Public Television debate Friday night. Sen.
Republican House 2B challenger Dave Hancock accused DFL Rep. Sailer of not turning away any tax increases during a Lakeland Public Television debate aired Friday night. The two sparred over taxes and also the bonding bill, which Hancock said included pork projects that Sailer supported. Hancock said the Taxpayers League of Minnesota had given her a 0 percent rating for 2010 tax votes.
Minnesota House Democrats want to include "new revenues" in state budget solutions, while Republicans seek job growth and government reorganization. House 4A candidates Rep. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji, and Republican challenger Bemidji Mayor Richard Lehmann, and House 4B Rep. Larry Howes, -R-Walker, and DFL challenger Meg Bye of Pequot Lakes squared off Thursday night in telecast debates on Lakeland Public Television. Persell said the DFL position of last session, vetoed by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, would probably be tried again next year.