Kennedy to Attend Wilcox Hog Roast

On Tuesday the 4th of July Vern Wilcox will host a Hog Roast for all his supporters in his bid to represent State House district 63B. It was also just a announced the Congressman and Senate candidate Mark Kennedy will be in attendance.

Vern's Pig Roast

Tuesday, 3pm (after the Richfield 4th of July Parade) Vern Wilcox's Home 8900 11th Ave. So. Bloomington, MN 55420 http://www.vernwilcox.com/

Sandahl Seeking 3rd Term

Sue Sandahl has announced that she will run again for the the at-large city council seat for Richfield. This would be her third term, she first ran and won in 1998.

Sandahl Running Again

Sue Sandahl recently announced her decision to seek re-election to the Richfield City Council. She was first elected to the at-large seat in 1998 and currently represents the entire city. Sandahl is a lifelong Richfield resident who also practices law in Richfield. "I am committed to work hard for the residents of Richfield and to keep Richfield a vibrant and livable community," she said in a media release. "This is where I live and work and I care deeply about my home town."

If re-elected, Sandahl said she wants to focus city efforts on livability issues and services that will keep the city's neighborhoods clean, friendly and attractive. She has supported a city cleanup and recycling day this fall, additional funds for expanded tree planting and adding bicycle paths. Sandahl also said in the release that she believes the city parks must be preserved. "Richfield residents love their parks and their trees," she said. As the chairperson of the Richfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Sandahl said she is proud of the upgraded commercial developments and more than 860 new housing units that have been built in Richfield in recent years. This number includes over 115 single-family homes that have replaced substandard homes in neighborhoods. "Transportation issues are also critical to Richfield's future," said Sandahl, who serves on the city's transportation commission, the I-494 Corridor Commission and the I-35W Solutions Alliance. "We need to maintain freeway access while minimizing the impact of transportation improvements." The most important thing a council member can do is listen to all the residents, Sandahl said. She may be reached by calling 612-861-4789. Sandahl is one of two council members whose current terms end this year. Richfield voters will also vote on their choice for mayor this fall. The filing period for city offices will run July 4 to 5 p.m. July 18. Since city offices are closed July 4, candidates cannot actually file on that day but may begin to collect signatures, City Clerk Nancy Gibbs said. Candidates must each provide 10 signatures of registered voters in the city who sign a nominating petition within the filing period. Packets including the nominating petitions and other information are already available at Richfield City Hall, 6700 Portland Ave. The city charges a $25 filing fee.

Laugh Out Loud Funny

I have been off my game the last week, but summer in Minnesota will do that to you. Well tonight I was reviewing the latest news on the local media and I came across a gem in the Southwest Journal that made me laugh out loud. The SW Journal had a piece about Mark Ritchie receiving the DFL nomination to run for the secretary of state position. This paragraph is the one that made me laugh out loud, but rather than just highlighting it I want to make this more interactive. I want you go guess which part made me laugh.

Ritchie, a 54-year-old ECCO resident, has lived in Minneapolis for 25 years and has spent the past 15 years working on nonpartisan voter registration, election protection and get-out-the-vote campaigns. He organized a grassroots voter registration drive in 2004 called November 2. His work during that election cycle and the frustration he felt with the secretary of state's office compelled him to run.

Left your guess in the comments area, I'll monitor the guesses and update the post in a day or two.

Blogging for Minneapolis City Council

The Minneapolis city council passed a resolution allowing the council to use city resource to maintain blogs as long has they follow some set guidelines.  See the Southwest Journal article for all the details.

Guidlines

Under the new resolution, councilmembers who choose to maintain city-sponsored blogs do have to follow a list of regulations. Any blog that uses city staff or resources must include a disclaimer that lets readers know that the blog is a limited public forum sponsored by the city and that things such as defamatory comments, profane language, sexually explicit remarks, comments that promote discrimination, and any remarks related to political campaigning or soliciting for charities are not allowed. Councilmembers must allow all comments that are within the guidelines set by the city and must retain records of any rejected comments, along with the reason why they were rejected.

Concerns

But the list of regulations wasn't enough to convince Councilmember Don Samuels (5th Ward) that the blogs are a good idea. He said he worried that people would use the blogs to attack councilmembers and that monitoring the comments posted would be difficult.

“Freedom of speech that is unbridled Š can do more harm than good,” Samuels told his colleagues during the City Council meeting. “There's no doubt about that.”

Council President Barb Johnson (4th Ward) and Councilmember Sandy Colvin Roy (12th Ward) also said they have concerns about the city's liability when it comes to blogs, noting that people could sue the city because of material placed on the blogs or if they felt their voice had been blocked and their First Amendment rights had been violated.

For the record, I think it is a good idea, but I think they should turn off the comment feature so that city staff do not have to waste time monitoring the comment section.

Friday Fun - Volcano from Space

How can you not find this picture amazing. Enjoy!

We Have Moved!!!

Please udpate your bookmarks, etc. This blog has moved to this new site, www.sd63.info.

I Support Burning Your American Flags...

today and when part of the proper ceremony. (I should have know the Boy Scouts do this.) Yes, today many flags will burn and it is actually a good thing. You see today is Flag Day and I decided to do a little research on "Old Glory". One of the many interesting facts I found was this one.

When a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of the United States, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning. (Note: Most American Legion Posts regularly conduct a dignified flag burning ceremony, often on Flag Day, June 14.)

So if you have a minute, go do a little reading about our great flag because I think most of you may learn something new.

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Pride Month

Tonight at the Richfield city council will hear a presentation to designation June GLBT Pride Month in Richfield.  It is the first item under the "Presentation" section on tonight's agenda.  The effort for this proclamation is no doubt being lead by Susan Rosenberg, my council person.  She lead the effort for the same proclamation last year at this time.

If you have an opinion on this issue, let me share Susan's contact information with you.

Susan Rosenberg 6633 Thomas Avenue Richfield, MN 55423 Ward One 612-866-2683 (h) Term Expires: December 31, 2008

Trouble in Gelsenkirchen

Tragedy is unfolding in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. It seems the United States is on the verge of losing its first match in the World Cup. It is lunch now, but I am afraid I may not be able to go on working today. Sigh. I just don't understand why Americans do not like soccer or football? I mean, look at the stats for today's match so far. After 70 minutes of play there have been a total of 12 shots and 5 of those shots have been on target. Whoa! See a live play-by-play report HERE. A side note for you, here is the message that President Bush gave to the men before they took the field... er "pitch".

"You've been doing a great job in preparation. The whole country is behind you. Give them hell."

UPDATE: It is done, the U.S. loses three to "nil" as they say.

What Have You Done For Us Lately?

Dear Amy,

I just read this article on the StarTribune website that claims the violent crimes went up 35% last year.  Isn't Minneapolis a major part of Hennepin County and aren't you responsible for keeping violent offenders off the streets in prison?

Violent crime up 35.5 percent in Minneapolis in 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Violent crime rose 35.5 percent in Minneapolis last year, far higher than a 2.5 percent national increase that reversed a five-year decline, preliminary data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report showed today.

Minneapolis' surge came despite an 11.3 percent drop in murders from 53 to 47 (the Minneapolis police department says there actually were 48 murders). The increase resulted largely from a 40.8 percent jump in robberies, to 3,165 and a 37.4% increase in the number of aggravated assaults, to 2,798, the data showed.

Property crimes in Minneapolis also surged by 11.9 percent to over 2004, despite a national decrease of 1.6 percent, the FBI reported.

In 2004, Minneapolis up 11.9%, national decrease 1.6% and in 2005 the nation goes up slightly, but Minneapolis goes up an incredible 35.5 %.  These numbers do not include the more recent murders and attacks in the downtown and Uptown areas either.

You were just endorsed to represent the DFL in the November election, why should we believe you can handle the responsibilities of a U.S. Senator when you cannot perform up to standard as a county attorney?

Sincerely,
Jerry Plagge
Richfield, MN

Faint Glimmers

It appears some in the DFL believe they have a chance at unseating Jim Ramstad in CD-3 with non other than Wendy Wilde.  They are so hopeful they are asking activists to go vote at a contest being done by the "Forward Together" PAC of which the Virginia Governor Mark Warner is a Honorary Chair.

In 2004 "the Rammer" took 64.61% to Deborah Watts' 35.29%, a 105,206 vote victory.  At best all the DFL can hope for is maybe a 5% gain, but by all means go vote and get your $5000 from PACs based outside the state of Minnesota.

Here is the email that was passed to me:

From: dfl-cd3@yahoogroups.com [mailto:dfl-cd3@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ------ --------
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 9:22 AM
To: dfl-cd3@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [dfl-cd3] Vote for Wendy Wilde today!

Vote For Wendy Wilde Today (No Kidding)
By now you know we may have a chance at unseating Jim Ramstad, ersatz moderate, in the 3rd CD with a feisty and fearless candidate -Wendy Wilde.

Many PACs are contributing to candidates after a poll is taken; poll winners get needed campaign cash. Barbara Boxer's Pac and MoveOn have done this. Now Governor Mark Warner's Pac includes Wendy in the voting. From the campaign:

Wendy Wilde has been nominated to receive $5000 from Governor Mark Warner's Forward Together PAC, but to receive the funding we need your help. Please go to: http://www.forwardtogetherpac.com/mapchangers and nominate Wendy Wilde (listed in the West column).

Candidates receiving the most support in Round 1 will advance to the second round where campaigns will compete for 10 $5000 contributions. Please forward this to your friends and family anywhere in America and ask them to also nominate Wendy Wilde!

Friday Fun - What Breed of Puppy/Dog are You?

You Are a German Shepherd Puppy

Intelligent, quick witted, and a bit aggressive. You've got the jaw power to take a bite out of anyone you choose.

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

DFL to Rescue Ellison?

Katherine Kersten submitted a piece about the controversial DFL endorsed candidate for CD-5. I am not a huge Kersten fan, but I highly recommened reading this one. Here is what Gary from KvM had to say:

A little birdie informed me that the DFL intends to come to the rescue of DFL congressional candidate Keith Ellison — he of the history of defending anti-semitic and racial separatist statements.

It seems someone took my “condolences can be sent to Ellison HQ” in regards to the death of al-Zarqawi — clearly meant to draw parallels to the recently dispatched Al Qaeda leader and the 5th District candidate’s shared history of anti-semitism — so literally that the DFL is considering going to bat for the embattled Ellison from assaults by “Kennedy surrogates”.

While they’re at it, the DFL may want to take a stab at explaining away Ms. Klobuchar’s lack of protection for U.S. troops.

And, let me also include some excerpts from the Kersten column. (OK... it is the whole thing.)

Imagine that a Republican seeks his party's endorsement for the U.S. House of Representatives, despite having been allied with a white supremacist organization just a decade earlier. Imagine that this candidate had once sarcastically proposed setting aside certain states for white citizens and had shared a stage with a speaker known for excoriating Jews as "bloodsuckers."

You're right. That man wouldn't get his party's endorsement. He would probably want to go into hiding after the howl of negative media coverage.

So how did we get Keith Ellison?

State Rep. Keith Ellison of Minneapolis is the DFL-endorsed candidate for the Fifth District congressional seat. In this DFL bastion, that means that -- barring a primary loss -- Ellison will succeed Martin Sabo when Congress reconvenes next year.

Ellison's background is, shall we say, unorthodox. He is a former outspoken supporter of Louis Farrakhan's notorious Nation of Islam, a virulently anti-white, anti-Semitic organization once led by Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad.

Ellison came to public attention in 1990, when, using the name Keith E. Hakim, he defended Farrakhan in a Minnesota Daily article while a law student at the University of Minnesota. In another 1990 Daily column, Ellison claimed that splitting America into two nations, with five Southern states set aside for blacks, would be preferable to "liberal social programs."

"Black-white interaction would be voluntary instead of compelled," he wrote.

In 1995, Ellison helped organize Minnesota participation in the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., which the Nation of Islam convened. At a fundraiser for the event, he shared the stage with Khalid Abdul Muhammad, who described himself as Farrakhan's "flamethrower." In 1994, according to the Washington Post, Khalid had called Jews "the bloodsuckers of the black nation."

Here in Minneapolis, at the event where Ellison shared the stage with him, Khalid delivered "racist ranting," according to a Star Tribune article. "If words were swords," said the article, "the chests of Jews, gays and whites would be pierced."

During the 1990s, Ellison articulated extreme views on other occasions. In 1992, he spoke at a Minneapolis protest rally after a Los Angeles jury acquitted police of beating Rodney King. "Black people do not live under a democracy," he told the crowd. "You don't have an obligation to obey a government that considers you to be less than human." In 1997, Ellison publicly supported Joanne Jackson, executive director of the Minneapolis Initiative Against Racism, after she allegedly stated that Jews were "among the most racist white people."

In 1998, the Star Tribune described Ellison as "well-known in the black community as ... a supporter of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam." Ellison says he can't recall seeing the article or seeking a correction. No correction was published.

Last week, Ellison moved to do damage control, as his background came under increasing scrutiny. He only had ties to the Nation of Islam for about 18 months in the mid-1990s, he told the Star Tribune. In a letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council, Ellison repudiated Farrakhan's and Khalid Muhammad's views, and rejected racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination. "This has always been my position," he wrote.

Reached Wednesday, Ellison said he broke his ties with the Nation of Islam when "it became clear to me that their message of empowerment intertwined with more negative messages."

Can people change? Of course they can. Ellison now says he is fit to serve all of the Fifth District's citizens.

But Minnesotans are right to question his candor and judgment. Apparently, Ellison has not been fully candid about the duration of his support for the Nation of Islam. In fact, today he insists that he never shared the organization's extremist views. The record raises questions about that.

There's a strange irony here. In April 2004, Minnesota's public safety commissioner at the time, Rich Stanek, resigned after acknowledging making racist comments in 1992. At a news conference, Keith Ellison and other black leaders condemned Stanek's remarks and vowed to fight his confirmation.

Stanek repudiated the comments and said he had changed. Nevertheless, Ellison didn't give him the benefit of the doubt. "He's definitely one to hold other people accountable, so I held him accountable," Ellison told the Star Tribune.

Now it's Ellison's turn.

Hatch is a Loner

Mike Hatch has announced that he will not name a running mate until after the DFL State Convention.  In the announcement (which I heard on radion, therefore no link) he says he will seek approval for his running mate via the state DFL Central Committee or other avenues if he is endorsed.

UPDATE:  The First Ringer has an excellent post about Sue Jeffers and Govenor Pawlenty over at KvM.

Send a Brick!

Do you think we are having trouble securing our border and you want to get the message across to our leaders Washington? How about sending a brick?

Richard and Rhonda Powder Springs, Georgia

Ellison Campaign Changes

Checks and Balances has another CD-5 update.

The Keith Ellison for Congress (D) campaign is shifting from endorsement mode into primary mode with recent staff changes.  Ellison is utilizing his connections from the Minnesota House as well as calling on another kid from Detroit to manage his campaign.  House DFL Executive Assistant to the Minority Leader Dave Colling is coming aboard to head the Ellison effort.

Colling oversaw the 2004 elections for the DFL House Caucus, which resulted in a pick-up of 13 new DFL seats. We are unclear whether Colling will be taking a leave from the House caucus until the September 12th primary or whether he will be quitting his job altogether.  He has been involved in the strategic decision-making throughout the length of the Ellison campaign.

This move changes the role of Michael Guest, who will be remaining with the campaign.  Guest’s future responsibilities are still being defined.

Colling is expected to join the campaign in his new role late next week.

Race to Replace Amy

The DFL have endorsed a replacement for Amy Klobuchar.  This news if via Shawn at C&B [reg. req'd].

Attorney Andy Luger (D) defeated former Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman (D) on the first ballot today for Hennepin County Attorney.  There were a totlal of 980 delegates to the convention and the results were:

Andy Luger        725 for 73.97%
Mike Freeman     269 for 27.44% 

Freeman will be running in the fall Primary.

State Convention - Thursday

7:30pm - We are currently stuck in the Rules Committee Report. 8:05pm - John Uldrich and Sue Jeffers were not included in the Nominations Committee. 8:08pm - John Uldrich gave his comments on the issue. 8:15pm - Kennedy was nominated and is now speaking. 8:26pm - Wow, his remarks were very brief. I liked the "a Senate seat is a terrible thing to waste" line. 8:40pm - Technical problems. 8:45pm - Shudlick is wrapping up his speech. He definitely went after Kennedy more than the two other times I heard him speak. This time he even mentioned him by name, this was not done other times. 9:42pm - Voting is taking place, this has been going on for about 30+ minutes now. I happen to be sitting in the media area and not with my fellow SD63 delegates. Bloggers joining me in the media section are Michael (MDE), Jon (KvM), Doug (Bogus Gold/KvM), Andy (Residual Forces/KvM) and then in front of me are various local MSM writers such as Patricia Lopez. In a bit of irony, Shawn Towles from C&B yelled my last name. I have never met him so it took me a minute (and reading his shirt which bares his site name) to realize who he was. Shawn together with MDE are responsible for my highest hit count days in this blogs history. See this post for the history review. 9:56pm - They are sitting on the stage looking through envelopes and votes. Very exciting! 10:04pm - Four minutes ago the announced the tellers were going to count. FirstRinger just asked for a prediction from me. I gave Shudlick 9% of the vote. 10:08pm - Shawn from C&B gives Shudlick 20%. 10:27pm - The tellers are done and and coming down... our predictions are our desperate attempt make this remotely interesting. Kennedy wins in a shocker!!! Kennedy - 767 Shudlick - not announced Credentials announced 926 so if all people voted that would give Shudlick a max of 159 or 17% and if say 20 people didn't vote that would give him about 15%. So had we put money down, I would regretfully have given it to Shawn at C&B. 10:36pm - Kennedy is speaking. 10:47pm - Kennedy still speaking and Shawn has the official numbers. Here they are:

Mark Kennedy 767 votes for 78.99% Harold Shudlick 154 votes for 15.85% Blank 45 votes for 4.63% Spoiled 4 votes for .04%

Straw Poll Results

The results are in for the straw poll. The numbers and percentages are not final

1. Newt Gingrich 220 - 40.7%
2. George Allen 79 - 14.6%
3. John McCain 55 - 10.2%
4. Jeb Bush 32 - 5.9%
5. Mitt Romney 29 - 5.3%
6. Condoleezza Rice 28 - 5.2%
7. Rudy Giuliani 19 - 3.5%
8. Tom Tancredo 13 - 2.4%
9. Sam Brownback 9 - 1.7%
10. Others 56 - 10.3%

How did I do with my guesses? I had the top two right... just the wrong order?

Staw Poll Predictions

Early in the day a handout was delivered supporting Newt Gingrich. This letter was from the Committee to Draft New Gingrich for President in 2008. This committee is chaired by Brian Sullivan and it includes the likes of David Strom, Tony Sutton, Jack Meeks, Mike Wigley and Chris Georgecas. I believe this letter will lead to a better than expected performance by the former Speaker.

SD63 only had six voters and Speaker Gingrich took three votes and and Secretary Rice two.

Below is my guess/prediction.

1. George Allen
2. New Gingrich
3. Condoleezza Rice
4. John McCain
5. Mitt Romney
6. Rick Santorum
7. Rudy Giuliani
8. Bill Frist

The rest... Tom Tancredo, Huckabee, Sam Brownback, Chuck Hagel, George Pataki

Liveblogging

7:02pm - Congressman Phiney is the keynote speaker and he is on stage now. 7:47pm - They are now going to hand out the straw poll ballots. 7:50pm - Rod Grams is speaking and he received a very warm welcome from delegates that still remain in the hall. He is ready to get dirty and end the deficit spending. He says he was born, lived and will retire in the 8th district. 8:20pm - The bloggers row is almost empty and there is only one MSM writer left from the AP. The others are at the hospitality suites or bars.

State Convention - Friday

10:59am - Alan Fine is speaking. He mentioned he was seven months old when the last Republicans last held CD-5. He recalled back to his Jewish faith and the Red Sea parting only when they stepped into the sea. You had

CD-5 candidate Alan Fine and myself.

11:25am - Ramstad is speaking with authority and is energizing the delegates right now. His points on Iraq and the Immigration issue really are hitting the mark within the delegation. He specifically called out Sen. Harry Reid's claim that making English the official language is racist. He presented the idea of "retiring" Entenza and Hatch at the same time. That went over very well.

Congressman Ramstad (CD-3) and myself.

2:09pm - Senator Coleman is now speaking. The largest standing ovation yet at the convention came after the Senator suggested it is time for Kofi Anan should resign. OK, now the second biggest came when he suggested we American tax payers should not give $3 billion to the U.N. if they cannot clean up their act. 3:28pm - Tim Pawlenty is speaking and he started with a good joke about a DFL barber. Address the property tax increases. He pointed out that many of the property tax increases are going up more the the LGA went down. He says we need to stop "sanctuary laws" such as the one that was proposeded in Richfield. He also acknowledged that his administration has done some things that "we" the delegates do not agree with, but he said we are working hard. 4:02pm - Governor Tim Pawlenty was just endorsed, balloons dropped and we are now back to resolutions.

KvM, Kennedy and Patriot

The boys (Jules not present) are inteviewing Mark Kennedy at 5:30 and on the Patriot2, am1570, at 6:00.

Which One is MDE?

Guess which one is MDE?

Online - Liveblogging State Convention

It was difficult leaving home on time so by the time I made my drive down Lyndale Avenue, parked and registered I entered after the gavel dropped.

The NEW SD63

The NEW SD63 is here today! I would much rather to have it built in perfect working order, but time does not permit so instead it will be a work in progress. The first edition will only be a duplicate of this blog, but with some new features. I will continue to add features and refine the looks of the site as I have time. New Features:

1. Survey
2. Registration - you must register and login to leave comments

Coming Soon:

1. Discussion Forums

Please go to the new site now and register. The new URL for the site is www.sd63.info.