This morning’s big Minnesota news is all about weather, not climate, with forecasts of the first blizzard of the season. But, as we all should know by now, weather is not the same as climate, and yesterday offered plenty of climate change news. Continue reading
Minneapolis budget – some cuts, some surprises
Some police officers will go under the budget adopted yesterday by the Minneapolis City Council. After Chief Tim Dolan surprised the council with a deficit announcement last week, MinnPost described the council as “steaming over the police department’s last-minute confession that it has overshot its budget by $8 million.” Dolan proposed cuts detailed by MPR as including elimination of 21 community crime prevention specialists, the mounted patrol and the police athletic league. Continue reading
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Health care debate, Minnesota-style
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The issue: will a future governor and legislature be able to opt out of a federal health care plan? According to the Star Tribune:
The stakes are high. According to federal estimates, 875,000 Minnesotans could be directly affected: the 519,000 uninsured, plus another 356,000 with nongroup coverage who could be eligible for health insurance through a federal exchange that includes the public option. Continue reading
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World/National news – Black women and breast cancer, Iraq elections, Pakistan bomb, Iran protests
Black women and breast cancer Black women would be disproportionately affected by changes in mammogram practices, report the TC Daily Planet and NPR. The TC Daily Planet reports:
According to the National Cancer Institute’s Snapshot of Breast Cancer, the incidence of breast cancer is highest in whites, but African Americans have higher mortality rates. In fact, African Americans have higher mortality rates from breast cancer than any other racial or ethnic group, and the gap is widening.
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Climate change, Copenhagen, and U.S. public opinion
As delegates from about 192 nations gather in Copenhagen to take action to mitigate or reverse global warming, only about half of the U.S. believes that climate change is happening. The Copenhagen conference, nicknamed COP15, runs December 7-18. The official website offers numerous articles, and links to live webcasts of proceedings, both in the original language and in English.
An NPR story explains two reasons for decreasing U.S. citiizen concern. First:
Anthony Leiserowitz of the Yale University School of Forestry puts one reason above all the rest: “First of all, it’s the economy, stupid.”People can only worry about so many issues at one time, he says. So it’s no surprise they worry about issues that hit closest to home.
Then there’s the psychological reason:
Even as scientists become more confident that climate change is a serious hazard, public opinion is shifting the other way, says Kari Marie Norgaard at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. …
[As] as people start to feel overwhelmed by the scope of the problem, they simply turn away from the topic. It’s a form of denial, she says.”We just don’t want to know about it, so we are actively distancing ourselves from it or trying to protect ourselves from it.”
Finally, “There’s a large and well-funded effort to block legislation that could hurt the industries most responsible for carbon emissions.”
MN Job Watch: Appleton prison
The private prison in Appleton is closing, which means 125 jobs gone from the west central town of 2,700 people, report the Star Tribune and MPR. The job loss is only part of what looks like a disaster to Appleton. Continue reading
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Rybak in the race
Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak jumped into the gubernatorial race on Sunday, becoming the 11th DFL candidate. Rybak says he will abide by the party endorsement and not go to a primary fight, according to the Pioneer Press. The Star Tribune reports that Rybak and former Senator Mark Dayton have the most DFL support, with each of them polling at 30 percent. Other DFLers include House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, former House minority leader Matt Entenza, State Senator John Marty, State Representatives Tom Rukavina and Paul Thissen, State Senator Tom Bakk and former State Senator Steve Kelley, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, and perpetual candidate Ole Savior. Continue reading
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Getting hungry, getting help
More Minnesotans are using food shelves and food stamps, according to a series of reports this weekend. The Twin Cities Daily Planet reports that food shelf use is up across Minnesota, and particularly in the Twin Cities: Continue reading
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November unemployment down slightly
November’s unemployment rate, announced this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stands at 10.0 percent, down slightly from October’s 10.2 percent, surprising economists who had predicted either holding steady or a slight increase. The total number of officially unemployed, plus discouraged workers, people working part time because they cannot find full time jobs, and those “marginally attached” to the work force – 17.2 percent in November, down from 17.5 percent in October. Continue reading
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Waconia watchdog was right on target
You may remember when the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) issued (and then rescinded) a “gag order” against Carver County Commissioner Tom Workman. The order came after he showed — on camera — that their inspector’s report about a sewage system was wrong, wrong, wrong. The sewage system in question belongs to the Waconia ballroom, which had just been purchased by Carver County. Continue reading
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Mary Turck