Evidence: Fong Lee unarmed when shot by Mpls police “Contrary to what Minneapolis police have claimed, Fong Lee didn’t have a gun in his right hand when a patrolman chased him and then shot him eight times,” according to a nationally recognized video forensics expert who reviewed surveillance camera photos, reports David Haners in the PiPress. Testimony unfolding in the civil suit against the city and police officer over the teen’s death paints a picture quite different from that drawn by Mpls police after the incident. Continue reading
Category Archives: news
News Day: Gunned down by Mpls cop / Eight workers for every opening / Coleman concedes, sort of / more
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News Day: Doing the recount math / Autism in Somali kids / Secret U.S. assassination squads / High school sports money / more
If you’re reading this … then the mega-worm has not killed the internet yet.
Doing the math Let’s see — if Al Franken leads by about 225 votes, and the court has ordered another 400 ballots opened and counted, where does that leave Norm Coleman? Probably beating the bushes for money to finance endless appeals. To outpoll Franken, The Norm would have to win more than 300 of the 400 ballots, which seems highly unlikely. Counting day — April 7.
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News Day: Norm or Nobody / Scare stories: Nuts and worms / G-What? / Hungry in MN / Listen to Grandma / more
Norm or Nobody Republican Senator John ornyn is now threatening “World War III” and years of federal appeals if The Norm isn’t given the senatorial seat that he pretty clearly has not won. The GOP is forging ahead with a dog-in-the-manger strategy that indefinitely denies Minnesota a second Senator. Continue reading
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News Day: NPR fear-mongering / Walgreens stiffing seniors / Michelle Minute / MN Job Watch / Around the world / more
Somali teens and NPR fear-mongering In more of the irresponsible fear-mongering that has characterized National Public Radio’s reporting on missing Somali youth, this morning’s Morning Edition story by Dina Temple Raston repeated unsubstantiated and discredited allegations that the youth will return to the U.S. to commit acts of terrorism here — and said that at least four have returned to Minneapolis and that “Now it looks like they’ve gone underground.” The damage done by such sensationalist characterizations is not balanced by the report’s admissions that “The FBI doesn’t think they are dangerous,” and that “going underground” may mean that parents are keeping the young men home and safe. Just to add the emphasis that NPR lacks, let me repeat: “The FBI doesn’t think they are dangerous.”
The report goes on to discuss secret grand jury investigations, and doesn’t let the secrecy of grand jury proceedings deter speculation about what they might be focusing on. NOTE: In contrast to National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio has covered the on-going story without sensationalism.
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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:
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News Day: Michelle Bachmann’s call to arms / Lake Wobegon county / Somali college student and FBI / more
Is it just because I’m on vacation, or are today’s news stories odder than usual? More vacation tomorrow – and no News Day post.
Today’s Michelle Minute She’s at it again. This time, MN Representative Michelle Bachmann called herself “a foreign correspondent on enemy lines” and called on Minnesotans to get “armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax,” citing Thomas Jeffersons’ calls for revolution. Taxing carbon emissions, says Michelle, “has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.” The Smart Politics blog has links to more Michelle moments. And MinnPost reports that Bachman and John Kline are teaming up to push legislation that would bar the Obama administration from sending Guantanamo Bay detainees to MN. Nice move that — maybe they would accept a friendly amendment to bar the gummint from sending us any Martian space invaders or rabid alligators.
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News Day: Lawyer-speak for loser / Ho-hum DFL / Backing off on spy bill / Around the world in 90 seconds / more
Coleman looks to appeal Joe Friedberg, Norm Coleman’s lead trial attorney, told KFAN radio that “we’ve been trying this case with the appeal record in mind, and that’s where we’re going,” reports MinnPost’s Jay Weiner. In lawyer-speak, that’s about as clear a statement as you will ever hear that the Coleman camp expects to lose in the three-judge recount court.
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News Day: MN unemployment up to 8.1% / Liberian countdown / Best AIG advice / Civil rights in Minneapolis / more
UPDATED: Minnesota’s unemployment hit 8.1 percent in February, matching the national rate, as the state shed 13,300 jobs during the month, according to the Department of Employment and Economic Development. January’s MN unemployment rate was 7.6 percent (NOT including “discouraged” workers, who have given up looking for full-time jobs, or those who are involuntarily working part-time because they can’t find full-time work.)
Nationwide, new unemployment insurance benefit claims last week were down to “only” 594,121, a decrease of 58,515 from the previous week. For a little perspective — there were 335,917 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008, and the total number of people claiming state unemployment insurance benefits was 6,332,272, up from 3,297,238 in 2008. Full federal report here.
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News Day: Bachmann again / Dirty coal, clean wind / From CCC to Americorps / Budget battles / MN Job Watch / Sara Jane, AIG, more
Bachmann earmarks: Yes, you did! “I have not taken earmarks in the last three years that I’ve been in Congress, because the system is so corrupt.”
But, reports MnIndy, “government watchdog groups say she has requested them—seven, to be precise, totaling $3,767,600, since she was elected to the U.S. House.
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News Day: RNC court puzzles / One in ten MPS kids homeless? / Battle of the budgets / AIG awful / FMLN wins in El Salvador / more
RNC court puzzles In Minneapolis, the scheduled appearance of government informant Andrew Clark Darst (“Panda”) on criminal charges including burglary and assault from a January episode, didn’t happen. The Minnesota Independent reports: “Apparently owing to scheduling conflicts for attorneys involved in the case, the legal matter was dealt with in an impromptu hearing earlier in the day.” The upshot: no jury trial, meaning no public testimony. Instead, in a highly unusual arrangement, Darst agreed that a judge will decide whether or not he is guilty based on written court records. The ruling is scheduled for next Monday.
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Mary Turck