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Candidates for Senate 4 clashed over health care and how to fix the state budget in a debate aired Thursday night over public television. Sen. Mary Olson, DFL-Bemidji, and Republican challenger John Carlson of Bemidji tackled a number of questions posed by a media panel in a debate taped for later airing Tuesday by Lakeland Public Television. Gov.
In a congressional district that hasn't seen a Republican congressman in more than 60 years, Chip Cravaack works hard to change that picture. A retired U.S. Navy pilot and former Northwest Airlines pilot, Cravaack has traveled the Iron Range, including union halls, drumming up support. "Truth is an easy thing to sell," he said in an interview last week. "You stick with the truth, stick with the statistics, get rid of the rhetoric. I view myself as a conservative running on the Republican ticket." As he visits with union members across the Range, they are still seeking jobs, Cravaack said.
If money could vote, U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson must be feeling nervous. Lee Byberg of Willmar, the Republican challenger to DFLer Peterson's 7th District seat, told Beltrami County Republicans that through mid-September his campaign had raised $300,000. That's six times more than most GOP challengers have raised in previous races against Peterson, first elected in 1990. "We are setting records," he said Saturday night.
Saying they want to protect their lake for future generations, about a dozen Balm Lake residents Tuesday opposed the Beltrami County Board's no-net-gain of public land. Earlier this month, the state Department of Natural Resources noticed the county of its intent to purchase more than a mile of lakeshore along Balm Lake from a private landowner as an aquatic wildlife management area. The land, with a 2010 market value of $394,200 and taxes payable in 2010 of $4,036, will be bought with funds from the Lessard-Sams Heritage Fund set up by the constitutional amendment voters approved to increas
Three candidates for statewide judicial offices who carry the Republican endorsement want to see judges elected, not appointed. Although running diverse campaigns, that's the common thread between the Minnesota Supreme Court candidacies of Greg Wersal and Tim Tingelstad and Minnesota Court of Appeals candidate Dan Griffith. All three are fighting a system called judicial selection and retention in which the governor appoints a judge, who after a period of years stands for election whether or not to be retained.
Minnesota American Indian tribes were awarded $8.1 million in federal grants Thursday for criminal justice programs. It includes nearly $1.8 million for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and $300,000 for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, according to U.S. Sen. Al Franken, DFL-Minn., and U.S. Rep.
The recent recall of 500 million eggs after an outbreak of 1,500 cases salmonella indicates the process works, says a Minnesota farm official. "The system worked," Kevin Paap, president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, said last week.
Each generation needs to be reminded of the nation's agricultural roots through such programs as 4-H, says Ann Marie Ward, Beltrami County 4-H coordinator. Annual meetings, such as Thursday's Beltrami County Farm Bureau annual meeting, "were really an important part of my children," she said. "It's incredibly important that we remind each generation." The Beltrami County 4-H program has been in existence for 100 years, Ward said.
Not satisfied with a negative property tax increase, at least one Beltrami County commissioner said Tuesday he'd look for more cuts. The Beltrami County Board approved Tuesday night a preliminary property tax levy for 2011 of $16.9 million, which is $73,513 or 0.43 percent less than the 2010 levy. The measure passed unanimously, with Commissioner Jim Lucachick absent. "We are downsizing county government," said Commissioner Jim Heltzer. "We are down 45 positions.