News Day: Liar, liar / Stupid on science / Jobless numbers still climbing / more

Liar, liar First Bob Bushman, from the Statewide Gang and Drug Task Force, called proponents of legal medical marijuana liars. Then, reports MnIndy Rep. Tom Rukavina, sponsor of the bill got up and challenged him:

“No member of your coalition has ever talked to me about this bill. Has anyone in this room ever talked to me about this bill?” he asked the crowd.

No one, including members of law enforcement, responded that they had talked to him about the bill.

“No one has ever asked me to since I became the chief author of this bill. No one,” Rukavina said. “So, Mr. Bushman, what you said was not true.”

The bill passed the House Public Safety Policy and Oversight Committee 9-6, after testimony which included endorsements by other law enforcement officials.

Stupid on science That’s us, according to MinnPost:

One in four Americans surveyed in a recent test of scientific literacy did not correctly answer the question, “Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?” Nearly half were wrong on the question of whether antibiotics can kill viruses as well as bacteria. Sixty percent could not say whether the North Pole marks an ice sheet on the Arctic Ocean.

Want to know how you rate? There’s a quiz at the end of the MinnPost article, which also reports that newspapers are eliminating science reporting and that it is being “ghettoized” to the blogs.

Miller suspends Mpls mayoral campaign Citing family health problems, Bob Miller has suspended his campaign for mayor in Minneapolis. Unless Miller jumps back in before the May endorsing convention, that leaves a clear field for Mayor R.T. Rybak’s re-election.

Depends on where you stand According to a Bemidji Pioneer report, 73 percent of Indians living in the Bemidji area and 88 percent of Indians on Leech Lake, REd Lake and White Earth reservations thin the area is distinctly unwelcoming. White people, however, say the community is welcoming to everyone — by a margin of 71 percent. Some 35 percent of Indians living in Bemidji say they experience discrimination “on a very regular basis.”

The flood is coming In the best tradition of weather-saturated MN news coverage, everybody has breathless flood stories, and the river is not expected to crest until Saturday. MPR’s Red River Floods of 2009 may or may not have the most comprehensive coverage, but it’s hard to imagine why anyone would need more.

Soak the rich? Politico’s take on Obama’s press conference responses:

ON HIGHER TAXES FOR THE AFFLUENT
What he said: “It’s not going to cripple them. They’ll still be well-to-do. And, you know, ultimately, if we’re going to tackle the serious problems that we’ve got, then, in some cases, those who are more fortunate are going to have to pay a little bit more.”
What he meant: Suck it up, rich folk, and welcome to your post-Bush tax code.

Want more? Check out the the President’s Online Town Hall — look for links at whitehouse.gov.

Jobless numbers still climbing The Department of Labor released new jobless figures today. Among the highlights:

• “In the week ending March 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 652,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 644,000.”

• For the week ending March 14, Minnesota showed 9474 new claims for unemployment, down 622 from the previous week, but up 4997 over the same week in 2008.