RE: [Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our theatres to Clear Channel

[David Shove]

I agree with Roxana.

Now, which of our 13 council members are against the deal, which
undecided, and which for?

Being for this city sell-out to Clear Channel should be more than
sufficient grounds to KICK THEM OUT in the November 2005 election.

--David Shove
Roseville


On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Sorry, there's no misunderstanding.  Accuracy counts, and thanks for the
> technical correction, but there's one thing that's clear -
>
> Clear Channel would be running our theaters.  Running vs. owning is not
> a distinction that matters here.  Clear Channel is among the worst
> neo-con corporate media, and it should not welcome to exist in this town
> much less manage the artistic treasures of our city.  It doesn't matter
> who they're parterning with.  Those organizations should be deeply
> ashamed of having made the proposal.
>
> 1) Clear Channel is practically a media monopoly in certain areas - a
> problem in itself.
>
> 2) Clear Channel are kings of censorship.  Its radio program directors
> issue lists of "objectionable songs" to avoid playing, which not only
> are biased toward the neo- con agenda but which include such classics as
> John Lennon's "Imagine" and Peter, Paul, & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet
> Plane."  Clear Channel also issued a directive to pull the Dixie Chicks'
> music off the air when the band dared to  criticize the grinning
> chimp in the white house.
>
> 3) Clear Channel organized PRO-WAR rallies under the name "Rally for
> America," to support the administration at the beginning of the Iraq
> war.  Do we really need spin doctors for the current administration
> controlling who and what is played at our theaters?
>
> 4)  Clear Channel has a long record of violating the law, including
> deceptive advertising and on broadcasting conversations without
> obtaining permission of the second party to the conversation.
>
> 5)  Clear Channel's chair and vice chair have a long history of shady
> dealings with George Bush, the republican party machine, and friends.
> Tom Mays (chair) used his position at UMITCO to heavily invest in
> companies with Bush family and republican party ties.  Tom Hicks (vice
> chair) Hicks steered a scheme to use the University of Texas' $13
> billion endowment for private investment. Beneficiaries included the
> Carlyle Group (arms investment firm tied to Daddy Bush & the bin Ladins)
> and Baby Bush's failed Harkin Oil project.
>
>
> Could Enron do a "pretty good job" of running some of Minneapolis'
> projects?  Probably, but you wouldn't want them sleazing their way
> across the city limits.  Could Faux News do a "pretty good job" of
> running the Star Trib?  Probably, but nothing in the paper would ever
> actually pass for news again. Same for Clear Channel.
>
> Hasn't our local corporate media sold-out sufficiently, or do we really
> need to import more neo-con toadies to censor our arts?
>
> Just say no to Clear Channel.
>
> Roxana Orrell
> Central
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[Mpls] Bicycle transportation

[Phyllis Kahn]

As the author of the state bicycle law, particularly the part that allows 
bicyclists to use the road even when there is an adjacent parkway, I thought I 
would add a literate angle from Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity. (As a side , I 
agree with all the posts calling for better enforcement of all traffic laws.)

Nothing I can do about the sexist style of writing.

"Man on a bicycle can go three or four times faster than the pedestrian, but 
uses five times less energy in the process.  He carries one gram of his weight 
over a kilometre of flat road at an expense of only 0-15 calories.  The bicycle 
is the perfect transducer to match man's metabolic energy to the impedance of 
locomotion.  Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only 
all machines, but all other animals as well*..

The monopoly of a ritual application over a potentially useful device is 
nothing new.  Thousands of years ago, the wheel took the load off the carrier 
slave, but it did so only on the Eurasian landmass.  In Mexico, the wheel was 
well-known, but never applied to transport.  It served exclusively for the 
construction of carriages for toy gods.  The taboo on wheelbarrows in America 
before Cortes is no more puzzling than the taboo on bicycles in modern traffic*.

The bicycle also uses little space.  Eighteen bikes can be parked in the place 
of one car, thirty of them can move along in the space devoured by a single 
automobile.  It takes two lanes of a given size to move 40,000 people across a 
bridge in one hour by using modern trains, four to move them on buses, 12 to 
move them in their cars, and only one lane for them to pedal across on 
bicycles.  Of all these vehicles, only the bicycle really allows people to go 
from door to door without walking.  The cyclist can reach new destinations of 
his choice without his tool creating new locations from which he is barred

Bicycles let people move with greater speed without taking up significant 
amounts of scarce space, energy or time.  They can spend fewer hours on each 
mile and still travel more miles in a year.  They can get the benefit of 
technological breakthroughs without putting undue claims on the schedules 
energy or space of others.  They become masters of their own movements without 
blocking those of their fellows."

Ivan Illich - Energy and Equity

Phyllis Kahn  State Rep 59B

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Re: [Mpls] Here we go again

[Steve Nelson]

Tony Scallon
Ed.S. University of Minnesota
wrote
As to resumes, I think all the finalists resumes should be posted so we can 
compare.  Chris has had a distaste for Mr. Gurban and five of the 
Commissioners since he began posting.  (Chris disrespectfully calls five of 
the commissioners the "Gang of five")

What I am asking is for a fair review of the candidates, not a slanted 
partisan diatribe.
**
Finally, something I can agree with Mr Scallon on -- a fair review of the 
candidates.

I have listened to the tapes of the last interviews at the December 3, 2003 
meeting and was apalled as I listened to the December 17th meeting where Mr 
Gurban was literally shoved down our throats.

I have attended most of this year's meetings of the board and have video 
tape of almost all of them.  Mr Gurban has not given a single 
Superintendent's Report until the last month or so.  He has also failed to 
work with the public and has been hostile to anything regarding preserving 
the legacy of Theodore Wirth.  He did all that he could to discourage this 
year's Wirth While Weekend reunion of the Wirth family and did not show up 
at any of the events.

We are repeatedly hearing of measures he has taken as Superintendent that 
smack of setting policy in place of the board instead of implementing 
policies set forth by the board.

While there was some distrust of Mr Gurban at the beginning of the year 
because of the way he was selected, I was willing to give him the benefit of 
the doubt.  But after a year of watching him in action and his hostility to 
working with the public I have to agree with the Gang of Five description 
given by Chris.

I wish it were different but it is up to members of the Gang of Five to 
demonstrate they are really serious about finding the RIGHT candidate.  At 
one point last spring, when it came out that while he was with MRPA, Gurban 
lost them their charitable gambling license for two years but Gurban himself 
was banned for life from charitable gambling, Walter Dziedzic said that had 
he known that before he might have voted differently.  Well, here is his 
chance.

Steven M Nelson
Willard Hay
http://citizenshipchronicles.blogspot.com/
Get UP! Get OUT! & GET INVOLVED!!!



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[Mpls] Park Board Superintendent Candidates

[Chris Johnson]

The resumes for the 3 finalists for the Park Board superintendent position are 
posted over on the Minneapolis Park Watch web site.

They are:
1. Dirk Richwine ( http://www.mplsparkwatch.org/node/view/164 )
2. Christofer Gears ( http://www.mplsparkwatch.org/node/view/165 )
3. Jon Gurban ( http://www.mplsparkwatch.org/node/view/166 )
I will try to post my minute by minute coverage of tonight's meeting tomorrow. 
 There was a lot of emotion tonight, with President Jon Olson and Chair Marie 
Hauser cutting people off while they were speaking.

The really bad news was that Dirk Richwine, easily the best qualified 
candidate for the superintendent's job has dropped out of the running -- 
presumably of his own free will.

So read the resumes and weep.  I'll bet real money Gurban will be voted in by 
a 5 to 4 vote on December 8.

Frankly, the Oldani Group fell flat on their faces, doing both a poor job and 
compromising their ethics and impartiality.  They are persona non grata as far 
as I'm concerned with ever doing an executive search for any private or 
government organization again.

The Park Board and the Oldani Group just wasted a year and tens of thousands 
of dollars in a shoddy attempt to put lipstick on a pig.  The Majority 
Backroom Five have always meant to give the job to Gurban, and Oldani was a 
willing accomplice.  Shame on them, and may their company fail and go out of 
business, as those who poorly serve their customers so richly deserve.

There is only one chance that I'll lose my bet.  That's if you all rise up and 
twist your commissioners arms as hard as possible so that voting for Gurban is 
political suicide.  Otherwise, it's a fait accompli, and Minneapolis will 
suffer for years to come.

Chris Johnson
Fulton
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[Mpls] Walker Library Task Force Meeting 11/18/2004 1pm

[md]

The next Walker Library Task Force Meeting is Thursday November 18th
at  1:00 pm at Walker Library..

Some of the players in the last meeting...

Members in attendance: Co Chairs Gregory Gray, R.T. Rybak, Members: Anita
Duckor, Lisa Goodman, Diane Hofstede, Christina Melloh, Dan Niziolek, Ed
Pluimer, Helen Spry. Excused: Keith Sjoquist

Staff/consultants: Chuck Lutz, Cherre Palenius, Mark Winkelhake, Beth
Elliott (City); Amy Ryan, Kit Hadley, Dave Kirk, Ed Koval (Library); Sally
Westby (Task Force Coordinator)

Community Members/Others: Library Trustee Rod Krueger, Susan Andre, Scott
Bader, Jill Bode, Josephine Clark, Doug Copeland, Annella Duerr, Gary
Farland, Dorie Gallagher, Caroline Griepentrog, Nancy Hite, Michael Lander,
Taylor Laux, Paul Mellblom, Ben Paulus, Richard Rebers, Linda Schutz, Pat
Scott, Carsten Slostad, Karen Sterk, Gary Thaden, John Veda

Some highlights of the last meeting...

LIBRARY:  Possible funding

Library referendum* $440,000
Trust fund proceeds from the Old Walker Library** $180,000
GO Tax abatement bond proceeds (city/county) $500,000 - $850,000
Private capital fundraising*** $500,000+
Hennepin County Transit Oriented Development (TOD) $400,000
MPL Land sale (air rights) to developer $350,000 - $500,000


*Subject to Library Board and City Council approval of MPL's capital
plan
**   Subject to Library Board approval
*** As noted in other cities' mixed-use library projects


OTHER POSSIBLE SOURCES: Possible funding

Met Council Livable Communities Development Account (LCDA) $  500,000 -$1M
Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) $  500,000 - $1M

TOTAL $3.37M - $4.87M


Parking, parking and more parking

Amy Ryan said that the current Walker parking lot has 33 parking spaces of
which 8 are designated as staff parking. The Library owns the parking lot
and the City maintains and enforces the meters. The meters have a one-hour
limit. Use of the parking lot varies by time of day. It is not usually busy
in the morning and picks up by the end of the day. By 6 p.m. it is often
full.


5.0 Feasibility of Mixed Use Development - Cherre Palenius reviewed the
report prepared for the Task Force by Bonestroo & Associates (attachment
4.3). In
preparing the report, Bonestroo reviewed a great deal of factual information
regarding the site. They were assisted by Beth Elliot of the City's
Community Planning and Economic Development division. Zoning allows a
maximum of 34 residential units on the site. To meet code, 47 parking spaces
are needed. Because of the size of the site, this will mean two levels of
parking.  If housing is developed along with a library on the site, the
actual number of housing units possible will be 21 because of parking
restrictions.


Duckor said she was not as comfortable as others were with the potential
financing sources. She felt there was a significant difference between the
cost of repairing the current roof vs. the cost of a new facility. There is
no point in issuing a RFP if there is no way that a developer can make the
project work

The Mayor reminded the group that there was a difference between a new
building that would last for many years and the current challenge of roof
repair

In response to a question from Hofstede, Lutz said that construction would
take 12 - 18 months and could begin in April-May, 2005. Ryan said it would
take the library 6 months to move back into the building so that the total
amount of time that the library would be closed (or an interim site needed)
would be 2 years


6.0 Community Comments - the following comments were made

Nancy Hite of the YWCA said that the Y is bursting at the seams and looking
to redevelop. A membership survey indicates interest in expanded fitness
offerings and in meeting space for community gatherings. Both the Y and the
Library are places that serve whole families. The Y has 200 parking spaces
in its ramp - they are not all used all the time. The Y would like to
explore ways to connect to the Greenway. Hite felt it made sense to see if
coordination with the Library were possible.

Gary Thaden - Lowry Hill East - suggested that an opportunity was lost when
the Park Board was not invited to be part of the Walker Library development
process.

Mary Gallagher - felt the cost of redoing the Walker Library was out of
control. Branch libraries in other parts of the city (e.g. Nokomis) are
suffering.

Cheryl Lugar - Nokomis neighborhood. Was disturbed about the gap in
financing for the Walker redevelopment. Felt that the current Walker well
used. It is not a flop. It is not an ugly building.

Pat Scott - Kenwood Isles Area Association - Suggested that the Walker is a
crucial institution for the Uptown community. She said she is committed to
working with the Board to keep the Walker open. The financing gap for a new
facility seems to be huge especially in light of the small library budget
but she is willing to listen to the numbers and possibilities. There are
developers who would like to 

RE: [Mpls] Snow Emergencies

[Bill Towne]

Minneapolis has been sending out email notices for the last couple of years
at the very least.

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow/esubscribe.asp  

Bill Towne
CARAG

=
Bill Towne
Minneapolis, Minnesota
www.billtowne.com

-

"The whole problem with the world is that 
 fools and fanatics are always so certain 
 of themselves, but wiser people so full 
 of doubts."

 Bertrand Russell
= 


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[Mpls] Snow Emergencies

[Dan]

Earlier, in a thread about use of the boot, Minneapolis Snow Emergency policies 
were discussed. St. Paul has implemented a new system by which one can 
subscribe for email or telephone notification of Snow Emergencies. This 
notification also provides instructions on where to park during the Snow 
Emergency. There was some debate as to whether or not Minneapolis has a 
financial interest in maintaining the status-quo with regards to Snow 
Emergencies. If the impound lot is truly losing money (which I doubt), or if 
money isn't the only motivation for action by the City Council, and they truly 
wish to make Minneapolis a better city for it's residents (I have my doubts), 
perhaps the city can investigate the viability of making such a system work 
here. I realize manning phone banks would cost a bunch. Email notices would be 
virtually free, though, and perhaps an automated system could be set up to make 
calls with pre-recorded messages, like political candidates use. 

Dan McGrath
Longfellow
http://www.smokeoutgary.org
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[Mpls] Here we go again

[TONY SCALLON]

Chris Johnson makes several comments that are inaccurate.  

First I only know the credentials of the three finalists since they are public. 
 I never knew the other candidates had masters.  Where is Chris getting his 
confidential information?  Does he have access through a Commissioner?

The lack of Masters was guess on my part.  Commissioner Vivian Mason criticized 
Gurban for lack of academic credentials.  
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5080120.html
  I knew he had a Bachelors (public information).  I assumed Commissioner Mason 
was referring to not having a Masters degree since the other finalists had 
their Masters degree (public information)

Mr. Gurban's degree is from the University of Manitoba.  It is a state 
university similar to University of Minnesota.  I urge Chris to check the 
University on any search.  Just because it is in Canada does not make it bad!  

As to resumes, I think all the finalists resumes should be posted so we can 
compare.  Chris has had a distaste for Mr. Gurban and five of the Commissioners 
since he began posting.  (Chris disrespectfully calls five of the commissioners 
the "Gang of five")  

What I am asking is for a fair review of the candidates, not a slanted partisan 
diatribe.  






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Re: [Mpls] Kmart & Sears Merger

[Dorie Rae Gallagher]

> I wonder how the merger of Kmart and Sears will affect the Lake Street
store
> and other Kmart and Sears locations in Minneapolis?
>
> Bill Dooley

Even tho I live very close to the *biggest* Mall, I drive over to the Midway
in St. Paul to go to the Sears Store. The Lake Street store, for convenience
before and after work,  will be great. They were saying there is an investor
who has major holdings in both stores. Both stores have rich
histories...hate to see them fail.
dorie gallagher
nokomis
> 
>
> Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn
E-Democracy
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[Mpls] It ain't no giveaway (Minneapolis theatres)

[Terrell Brown]

--- Roxana Orrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Sorry, there's no misunderstanding.  Accuracy counts, and thanks for
> the
> technical 
> correction, but there's one thing that's clear -
> 
> Clear Channel would be running our theaters.  

[TB]  That's not what I've understood from reading a couple of
articles.  It's been my understanding that the local company owned/run
by Tom Hoch, Fred Krone and Lee Lynch would run the theatres (as they
do now), with a non profit taking ownership of the buildings.  The
articles were very clear that the contract provides that Clear Channel
will NOT own the buildings.

Clear Channel would be involved in booking SOME of the shows that
appear in the theatre (as it does now), the local group would continue
to book SOME shows into the theatres (as they do now).

It seems that the current arrangement is working rather well.  I see no
advantage in letting the Ordway monopolize the Twin Cities theatre
market.  Competition is generally a good thing.  Why let the lower
quality product take over?


Terrell Brown
Loring Park
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[Mpls] bikes on roads

[Fuentes, Rick]

I see this thread has been going on for a while, so I hope I'm not too
late to join the party.
However, this statement requires comment.
"if you live in Minneapolis and don't drive a car (yes, there is a
Minneapolis connection here) - you can rest assured that you are not
contributing one red cent to highways"
Actually, if you paid for a Driver's License and still bike to work
as I do, your money goes to the general fund which pay for 60% of state
roadwork.Tab fees pay most of the rest.Unless there's federal
funding involved, but that still GR.
And out of respect to you rollerbladers, walkers, and
stroller-pushing parents, I stay on the roads and off the multi-use trails.
I've had one too many toddler go left, when I say, "on your left." 
A bicycle is a vehicle.Same rights, same rules.

Rick Fuentes
Longfellow

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[Mpls] Competition in the theater market is

[Scott McGerik]

here's a story we did on ... Theater Sale issue:
http://www.skywaynews.net/articles/2004/11/16/news/news01.txt
After reading the Skyway News article on the Theater Sale, I am deeply 
concerned and troubled by the Ordway/Twin Cities Theater Alliance proposal 
because of statements made by Ordway board member David Lilly regarding 
competition in the local theater market.

From Skyway News:
   He said the current market, which pits the Ordway against the
   Hennepin Avenue Theatres for Broadway shows, "perpetuates a
   divided and fiercely competitive market" and "limits future
   growth and drains money for Minneapolis."
   "If we continue with a business-as-usual model, nobody wins on
   this deal," Lilly said, adding that the competition has led to
   a glut of Broadway shows in the Twin Cities. "A lot of schlock
   has gone through both organizations simply because we had to do
   it."
Because of the competition between theaters, theater patrons have been 
offered a bonanza of shows to choose from. How lucky we are! I would be 
disappointed if David Lilly and his like were to get their way, namely, 
the restriction of our choices. While he may consider some shows 
"schlock", others may consider them valid entertainment. I am always 
suspicious of arguments put forth to restrict choice because I am left 
wondering, "Who gets to decide?"

I hope the Minneapolis City Council will consider the benefits of 
competition in the local theater market when it makes it's decision 
regarding the theater sale.

Scott McGerik
South St Paul (formerly Hawthorne)
http://scott.mcgerik.com/






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RE: [Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our theatres to Clear Channel

[aquila]

Sorry, there's no misunderstanding.  Accuracy counts, and thanks for the
technical 
correction, but there's one thing that's clear -

Clear Channel would be running our theaters.  Running vs. owning is not a 
distinction that matters here.  Clear Channel is among the worst neo-con 
corporate media, and it should not welcome to exist in this town much less 
manage the artistic treasures of our city.  It doesn't matter who they're
parterning 
with.  Those organizations should be deeply ashamed of having made the 
proposal.

1) Clear Channel is practically a media monopoly in certain areas - a
problem in 
itself.

2) Clear Channel are kings of censorship.  Its radio program directors
issue lists of 
"objectionable songs" to avoid playing, which not only are biased toward
the neo-
con agenda but which include such classics as John Lennon's "Imagine" and
Peter, 
Paul, & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane."  Clear Channel also issued a
directive to 
pull the Dixie Chicks' music off the air when the band dared to 
criticize 
the grinning chimp in the white house.  

3) Clear Channel organized PRO-WAR rallies under the name "Rally for
America," to 
support the administration at the beginning of the Iraq war.  Do we really
need 
spin doctors for the current administration controlling who and what is
played at 
our theaters?

4)  Clear Channel has a long record of violating the law, including
deceptive 
advertising and on broadcasting conversations without obtaining permission
of the 
second party to the conversation.

5)  Clear Channel's chair and vice chair have a long history of shady
dealings with 
George Bush, the republican party machine, and friends.  Tom Mays (chair)
used 
his position at UMITCO to heavily invest in companies with Bush family and 
republican party ties.  Tom Hicks (vice chair) Hicks steered a scheme to
use the 
University of Texas' $13 billion endowment for private investment.
Beneficiaries 
included the Carlyle Group (arms investment firm tied to Daddy Bush & the
bin 
Ladins) and Baby Bush's failed Harkin Oil project.


Could Enron do a "pretty good job" of running some of Minneapolis'
projects?  
Probably, but you wouldn't want them sleazing their way across the city
limits.  
Could Faux News do a "pretty good job" of running the Star Trib?  Probably,
but 
nothing in the paper would ever actually pass for news again. Same for
Clear 
Channel.  

Hasn't our local corporate media sold-out sufficiently, or do we really
need to 
import more neo-con toadies to censor our arts?

Just say no to Clear Channel.

Roxana Orrell
Central

>Message: 12
>Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 15:29:11 -0600
>From: "Jon Lewis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: RE: [Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our
>   theatresto Clear Channel
>
>Greetings, gang.
>
>This rather histrionic e-mail that Heather forwarded to the list has
>been making the rounds.  It is my understanding that the Clear Channel
>proposal is a joint proposal being submitted by Hennepin Theatre Trust
>(a nonprofit), Historic Theatre Group and Clear Channel.  This proposal
>clearly states that at no time will either HTG or Clear Channel own the
>theatres.  It is, like the others, a proposal to run the theatres.  In
>Clear Channel's case, it is a proposal to continue to run the theatres
>that they've been running for quite some time.
> 
>All three proposals - Theatre Alliance (Ordway), Theatre Dreams, and
>HTT/HTG/Clear Channel are available on the city's website at: 
>
>http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cped/theatres_rfp_home.asp
>
>I suggest that people take a look at the website and view the proposals
>themselves.  There's a lot of misinformation flying around out there.  A
>good starting place is the facts.
>
>One can take issue with Clear Channel for some things, but they've been
>operating these theatres for some time now and they appear to be doing a
>pretty good job.
>
>Jon Lewis
>Lyndale
>
>Jon Lewis
>3109 Hennepin Ave. So.
>Minneapolis, MN 55408
>Phone: (612) 825-8837
>Fax: (612) 827-3564
>E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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RE: [Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our theatresto Clear Channel

[Gregory Luce]

Wow, this is a huge deal but very difficult to understand, and it doesn't
help that I'm just now looking at it and probably unknowingly deleted list
threads in the past on the issue.

>From what I understand, the privately held for profit Historic Theater Group
is being backed by "booking consultant" Clear Channel to take over the
current debt structure of the three historic downtown Minneapolis theaters.
HTG/Clear Channel must then convert the $22 million bond debt into taxable
debt, which will cost--in addition to taking on the debt-- upwards of $10
million.  HTG/Clear Channel then also makes "lease payments" to the city
that are, according to Skyway News, equal to the bond payments.  I don't get
that part.  After 30 years, an HTG (and, presumably, Clear Channel who seems
likely to take an ownership interest in HTG) affiliated nonprofit will own
the theaters.

The city council committee favored this proposal over that of the Ordway and
a Chicago-based group.

The Ordway proposes to rename itself the Twin Cities Theater Alliance,
relocate to Minneapolis, and pay $6.7 million to purchase or $4.5 million to
lease the theaters.  For how long will the lease last?  It's unclear from
the story.

What caught my eye most, however, was the regional approach of the Ordway,
which makes imminent sense, especially for many of us who view these
buildings as public assets.  From the Skyway story:

"The [Twin Cities Theater Alliance] would book performances for the Hennepin
Avenue theaters and St. Paul venues.

Ordway board member Lilly said the Twin Cities arts community would be
better served by a regional approach to theater management.

He said the current market, which pits the Ordway against the Hennepin
Avenue Theatres for Broadway shows, "perpetuates a divided and fiercely
competitive market" and "limits future growth and drains money for
Minneapolis."

Lost on me in either proposal is whether anyone has considered how to make
the theaters more affordable and accessible to, hell, even moderate-income
folks.  I'd like to know if privately owned HTG/Clear Channel has any
commitment to this issue.  Same goes for the Ordway--which, however, is a
known entity with a commitment to serving the local theater community,
particularly in supporting the arts for kids.

So, a HUGE deal for Minneapolis and its future, but still some questions
that I cannot figure out.

Gregory Luce
St. Paul


-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
Of David Brauer
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 3:28 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our
theatresto Clear Channel


On Nov 17, 2004, at 3:07 PM, Heather Martens wrote:

> Hi all,
> I just received this. I understand the council votes on it Friday.
> Discuss.
> Heather Martens
> Kingfield
>
> STOP the Minneapolis City Council from giving away control of our
> theatres to Clear Channel!

Two things:

Without commenting on the strength of the case, who is this group? I'm 
not a big backer of faceless corporations, but I like to know who the 
activists are, too.

Also, here's a story we did on this issue for further background on the 
Theater Sale issue:

http://www.skywaynews.net/articles/2004/11/16/news/news01.txt

If the link breaks, go to www.skywaynews.net. The story's on the front 
page.

David Brauer
Editor, Skyway News
Kingfielder otherwise

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RE: [Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our theatres to Clear Channel

[David Shove]

Clear Channel already owns over 1200 radio stations, is right-wing,
censors out pro-peace music. It owns most of the billboards in this area.
It has control of most of the local performance places. Don't we already
have too much media in the hands of too few owners? I already feel
colonized by the corporations; this will just make it that much worse.

--David Shove
Roseville

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004, Jon Lewis wrote:

> Greetings, gang.
>
> This rather histrionic e-mail that Heather forwarded to the list has
> been making the rounds.  It is my understanding that the Clear Channel
> proposal is a joint proposal being submitted by Hennepin Theatre Trust
> (a nonprofit), Historic Theatre Group and Clear Channel.  This proposal
> clearly states that at no time will either HTG or Clear Channel own the
> theatres.  It is, like the others, a proposal to run the theatres.  In
> Clear Channel's case, it is a proposal to continue to run the theatres
> that they've been running for quite some time.
>
> All three proposals - Theatre Alliance (Ordway), Theatre Dreams, and
> HTT/HTG/Clear Channel are available on the city's website at:
>
> http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cped/theatres_rfp_home.asp
>
> I suggest that people take a look at the website and view the proposals
> themselves.  There's a lot of misinformation flying around out there.  A
> good starting place is the facts.
>
> One can take issue with Clear Channel for some things, but they've been
> operating these theatres for some time now and they appear to be doing a
> pretty good job.
>
> Jon Lewis
> Lyndale
>
> Jon Lewis
> 3109 Hennepin Ave. So.
> Minneapolis, MN 55408
> Phone: (612) 825-8837
> Fax: (612) 827-3564
> E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
> REMINDERS:
> 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL 
> PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list.
> 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.
>
> For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html
> For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
> 
>
> Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
> Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
>
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[Mpls] Re: Aldi's is OPEN!

[Tim Bonham]

BUT, their standards are very high.  They work every trick they know to
keep their costs and prices as low as possible.
. . .
Emilie Quast
SE Como
Their "tricks" include NOT paying union wages to their employees, unlike 
local chains CUB & Rainbow.

So enjoy saving a few cents* on your groceries.  You're doing it at the 
expense of the workers there!

Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson
* Wizard cited this:
tuna packed in water, 6 oz. can, 49 cents.
Yesterday I was in CUB at Lake St.  They had tuna at 2 for 99¢ = 49½¢ per 
can.  And that was regular, name brand tuna.

For a half-cent more, I'd prefer to get the name brand tuna, and support 
unionized workers!

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RE: [Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our theatres to Clear Channel

[Jon Lewis]

Greetings, gang.

This rather histrionic e-mail that Heather forwarded to the list has
been making the rounds.  It is my understanding that the Clear Channel
proposal is a joint proposal being submitted by Hennepin Theatre Trust
(a nonprofit), Historic Theatre Group and Clear Channel.  This proposal
clearly states that at no time will either HTG or Clear Channel own the
theatres.  It is, like the others, a proposal to run the theatres.  In
Clear Channel's case, it is a proposal to continue to run the theatres
that they've been running for quite some time.
 
All three proposals - Theatre Alliance (Ordway), Theatre Dreams, and
HTT/HTG/Clear Channel are available on the city's website at: 

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cped/theatres_rfp_home.asp

I suggest that people take a look at the website and view the proposals
themselves.  There's a lot of misinformation flying around out there.  A
good starting place is the facts.

One can take issue with Clear Channel for some things, but they've been
operating these theatres for some time now and they appear to be doing a
pretty good job.

Jon Lewis
Lyndale

Jon Lewis
3109 Hennepin Ave. So.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
Phone: (612) 825-8837
Fax: (612) 827-3564
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 


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Re: [Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our theatres to Clear Channel

[David Brauer]

On Nov 17, 2004, at 3:07 PM, Heather Martens wrote:
Hi all,
I just received this. I understand the council votes on it Friday. 
Discuss.
Heather Martens
Kingfield

STOP the Minneapolis City Council from giving away control of our 
theatres to Clear Channel!
Two things:
Without commenting on the strength of the case, who is this group? I'm 
not a big backer of faceless corporations, but I like to know who the 
activists are, too.

Also, here's a story we did on this issue for further background on the 
Theater Sale issue:

http://www.skywaynews.net/articles/2004/11/16/news/news01.txt
If the link breaks, go to www.skywaynews.net. The story's on the front 
page.

David Brauer
Editor, Skyway News
Kingfielder otherwise
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[Mpls] Stop City Council from giving away control of our theatres to Clear Channel

[Heather Martens]

Hi all,
I just received this. I understand the council votes on it Friday. Discuss.
Heather Martens
Kingfield
STOP the Minneapolis City Council from giving away control of our theatres 
to Clear Channel!

The Minneapolis City Council is about to change the future control of the 
city's Historic Orpheum, State, and Pantages Theatres located downtown. 
Rather than support a local existing and experienced theatre group called 
the Twin Cities Theatre Alliance (which is actually offering MILLIONS OF 
DOLLARS MORE MONEY), some Council Members are working to give control of our 
community arts treasures to the corporate conglomerate Clear Channel for at 
least 30 years, an entire generation!  Could it be that our city's leaders 
would actually give control of critical cultural jewels to Clear Channel for 
a song?  Not if we have anything to say about it!

To stop them, we are asking Minneapolis residents to call their city council 
members to oppose giving control of our theatres to Clear Channel.

Email your council members and tell them that you support smart city 
decisions that back local, experienced, community-based theatre and you 
oppose an out-of-state corporate Clear Channel takeover of our theatres.

Tell them that we don't want to hand the cultural and economic value of our 
theatres to Clear Channel just so their execs can give MORE political 
contributions to ultra-conservative campaigns and causes.

Tell them that we believe that community assets belong to local STAKEHOLDERS 
NOT CORPORATE STOCKHOLDERS!  Hennepin Avenue is in MINNEAPOLIS not San 
Antonio or New York.  Clear Channel control is not local control.

Help us keep Hennepin Avenue Broadway theatre alive and not beholden to 
out-of-town Clear Channel execs!

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sandy Colvin Roy email form: 
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-roy.asp
Barret Lane email form: 
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-lane.asp
Lisa Goodman email form: 
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-goodman.asp
Gary Schiff's email form: 
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-schiff.asp

If you have any questions, you can send an email to: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
Let's send the Clear Channel lobbyists a CLEAR message of our own: "No 
More!" 

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[Mpls] Bicycle Protocol

[phaedrus]

For me, bicycles are primarily for transporation. 
Except for when I'm leisure riding (8 - 14 mph with
friends), I generally travel between 15 and 25 mph.  I
generally opt for roads over bike paths or sidewalks.
Why?

###

Why not sidewalks?

* There are obstacles that often approach up to and
even into the sidewalks.  A kid or pet coming out from
behind one of these obstacles would give me zero
reaction time, and at the speeds I prefer to travel, I
could seriously injure or kill something small.

* Sidewalks are often shifted in ways that are
trechorous on two wheeled travel.

* Trees are often trimmed too low for comfort.  Shrubs
often extend into the sidwalk.  Ow.

* During the winter, one is lucky to find a block with
every walk shoveled.  During the fall, wet leaves are
ubiquitous.

* One pretty much has to come to a stop to take a
corner on a sidewalk.

* I don't like keeping track of which sidewalks are
legal to ride on.

* If someone's coming the other way, there really
isn't room on most sidewalks to pass safely.

* Cars don't expect something hitting a crosswalk at
speeds over a walk.  The only multi-vehicle accident
I've been in in 16 years was due to this situation.  I
was riding along the sidewalk heading east.  A car
heading west turned north as I was crossing the road. 
I didn't think to slow or yield as I thought I had
right of way, and I hadn't developed sufficient
paranoia. My bike stopped in time, but my body
insisted on obeying the laws of momentum and bounced
off the front quarter-panel/driver side door of the
car. I'm assuming they turned in front of me because
they didn't expect to have something coming from that
location at that speed, but as they did not stop, I
can't be sure.

I have noticed similar problems even when running -
drivers just don't expect things to be coming off
sidewalks at speed.

###

Why not bike paths? (Except perhaps for bike freeways
like the ones going into and out of the lakes areas,
but I don't go to that area very often.)

* Speed limit 10mph.

* If it is a mixed use path, the difference of speed
between myself and walkers is enough to cause a great
deal of damage should they suddenly shift into my
path.  Polite bells and shouts are of limited use when
people wear headphones.  My air horn is pretty "rude".
 Walkers are generally not "traffic flow" minded, and
frankly, I don't think someone who is out for a walk
in the park should have to be that concerned about
collisions.

* Some paths are designed for pleasure riding.  They
twist and undulate and have trees and such to block
sight lines.  That's fine if I'm toodling along, but
if I'm trying to get somewhere, it is pretty
inefficient.

* They aren't plowed as well or as regularly.

###

Why Roads?

* I seldom have to worry about speeding unless I'm
going down hill.

* They are smoother, faster, and better maintained.

* I can take most corners without needing to slow
much.

* Following traffic patterns puts me where cars expect
something to be moving.

* I run a much lower risk of nailing a ped.

* Other than Interstates, I have a right to be there.

###

In general, the difference of speed between me and a
car is much less than the difference of speed between
me and a pedestrian.  If I screw up and get hit by a
car, I get hurt bad.  If I screw up and get hit by a
pedestrian, they get hurt bad.  I belong on the road.

I'm pretty good about following traffic rules, and
when I break them, I realize that it is my
responsibility not to be in anyone's way.

Assuming reasonable visibility and surface conditions,
I do tend to consider stop signs to be yield signs and
stop lights to be stop signs.  In general, I think
that the law should permait that for bicycles -
similar to how a motorcycle is permitted to run a
weight triggered stop light after stopping for a bit. 
It makes sense for the vehicle type AS LONG AS they
don't violate someone's right of way.

The only other riding habit I can think of that might
not be totally legal is lane splitting when traffic is
completely/nearly stopped.  Again, it is my
responsibility to not get hit when I'm doing this - a
car can't expect someone coming up between the lanes. 
I tend to move at relatively slow speeds (within 5 - 8
mph of general traffic).  Does anyone know if this is
legal or not?

Incidently, I hate the bike lanes on Hennepin.  What
exactly am I supposed to do when I'm heading north on
Hennepin and reach Washington?  Suddenly there is no
more bike lane and I'm left on the center line with
three lanes of traffic to my right.

- Jason Goray
Sheridan, NE



__ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! 
http://my.yahoo.com 
 

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For external

RE: [Mpls] Local police/Justice Department Actions

[Jeremy Wieland]

Point of information, if the directions are a distraction to what you and
the Chief believe are important, then why are you listening?  The
Minneapolis Police Department is not a Federal Agency and I don't believe
that there are any Constitutional requirements that you do what the Attorney
General of the United States tells you to do.  If terrorism is not the
pre-eminent concern of the MPD, and I don't think it should be for this
particular department, then stick to your core missions and tell the AG to
stick it in his pipe and smoke it.

Jeremy Wieland
Northeast

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
Of Rybak, R.T.
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 1:22 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Mpls] Local police/Justice Department Actions 

Moderator Brauer may shut me down on this but I wanted to pass along a
national article that has some very direct local implications.  It's a
report from John Aschcroft's speech to the Chief of Police Convention in
which local police officials from around the country are critical of the
federal cuts to local police and the direction the Justice Department is
asking police to take. 

 

This has a very direct implication on the streets of Minneapolis.
These federal cuts have meant 80 fewer cops in Minneapolis and the
directions are both a distraction and a direction we don't agree with.
Chief McManus and I share those concerns.  Thought it would be
interesting reading to see there are significant national issues
swirling around our ability to do what we would like on the streets of
Minneapolis.  

 

R.T. Rybak 

 

 

 

Police scoff at Ashcroft speech 

Chiefs say feds have pushed agencies to 'breaking point' 

By Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY 

A day after Attorney General John Ashcroft told the nation's largest
association of law enforcement executives that the Bush administration
had made the nation more secure from terrorist attacks and violent
criminals, the group lashed back at the White House on Tuesday.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said that cuts
by the administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left
the nation more vulnerable than ever to public safety threats. The
20,000-member group also said in a statement that new anti-terrorism
duties for local cops - which have come as state and local budgets have
declined and historically low crime rates have crept upward - have
pushed police agencies to "the breaking point."

The Justice Department responded that it is doing all it can to help.

The police chief statement reflected the tension between the
administration and many local police chiefs, who believe the White House
has saddled them with anti-terrorism tasks without much regard to the
cost.

Among other things, members of the chiefs' group have long complained
about localities having to pay millions of dollars in overtime costs
when the U.S. government issued terrorism alerts. The group also is
annoyed that President Bush is phasing out a $10 billion program begun
by the Clinton administration in 1996 to help local departments hire
tens of thousands more cops.

IACP President Joseph Polisar, the police chief in Garden Grove, Calif.,
said hundreds of police officer jobs have been lost across the nation
during the past four years. And proposed cuts in federal aid in the 2005
budget could reach almost $1 billion, threatening hundreds more, the
chief said.

Ashcroft, who spoke to the group Monday in Los Angeles, listed a range
of accomplishments during his tenure at Justice.

The chiefs' group is particularly concerned about how anti-terrorism
efforts have changed how police departments get federal aid. Tens of
millions of dollars that in the past was sent to local departments each
year by the Justice Department now are directed to the Department of
Homeland Security. DHS uses the money to help train and equip agencies
that would respond to terrorist attacks.

Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said the department has always
supported local law enforcement but acknowledged that much of the
funding has been transferred to Homeland. 

 

 

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[Mpls] Re: (was re: GayDrain)- Homeless teens and "survival" sex/prostitution

[David Strand]

I think the really sad thing here is that with the
decline in beds for homeless teens in the twin cities
we are widening the gateway to sexwork rather
narrowing it.  This is one of the critical issues to
be addressed in the twin cities that we had been doing
a great job on.  We must not allow an erosion of those
efforts in our community to combat youth homelessness
that prevent so many problems further on down the
line.  "Survival sex" is when homeless young people or
economically marginal people resort to exchanging sex
for food, a place to sleep, take a shower or bathe,
etc. and it's a key transition to prostition.

GLBT youth are at a much higher risk for homelessness
than their counterparts due to family of origin
prejudice.  Homelessness is a gateway to prostitution
for many many young people.  Transgender young people
are no different than their counterparts in their
reaction to these circumstance and may feel more
constrained by discrimination despite laws being on
the books to ban such discrimination in
employment(making it illegal doesn't make it go away).

There is also a long cultural tradition of sexual
exploitation of the gender different in our society
just as there is a long history of sexual exploitation
of youth.  Just take a look at the film "Stage Beauty"
about restoration England or the new testament
prohibitions of the wearing of hair in certain (gender
different) ways as to not appear as a prostitute.

The nondiscrimination laws in Minnesota have opened
doors for many that otherwise would have felt
economically more constrained but they haven't
completely eliminated or ended these social forces
overnight.  There is still work that remains to be
done to inform young people of the laws that protect
them from discrimination and see that those laws are
enforced, provide housing for homeless youth and youth
transitioning out of homelessness.

Nondiscrimination laws also tend to be enforced in
disparate ways depending on the economic value of the
individuals work or their class.  For example, an
applicant for a cashier position might not be hired
due to their transgender status, race, sexual
orientation, gender, religion, etc. but would find it
difficult to find a lawyer that would find the case to
be financially worthwhile to take on whereas a lawyer,
pharmacist, or other professional facing similiar
discrimination would be more apt to find it worthwhile
to go to the expense of filing a nondiscrimination
suit.

Issues of race and racial discrimination also enter in
here.  Being a young black youth in Minneapolis
looking for a job is an obstacle as reflected in the
unemployment rate for black youth in Minneapolis. 
Would one not expect that it might be even more
difficult for young person facing those same
challenges who was also transgender?

I hope that the good work of the
Transgender/GenderQueer Coalition of Minnesota
continues around this issue.

If you would care to be involved the TGGQC meets 
Wednesday November 17, 2004
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm 
This event repeats on the third Wednesday of every
month.  Event Location: Family & Children's Service,
4123 E Lake Street 

I think a further action that could be taken is
working with local glbt employee groups at area
employers to give young transpeople an opportunity to
meet transpeople in the workplace as role models. 
Transpeople's experience of discrimination varies in
part on the basis of the degree of gender privacy the
have.  Some transpeople are visibly transgendered
while many are not visibly transgendered. 

Also, physical attacks and discrimination against
people due to sexual orientation or gender difference
tends to decrease with age.  The violent actors tend
be young themselves and may see such differences as
threats to their own solidifying sexual and gender
identities.  So it is young adults and teens who all
too often bear the brunt of discriminatory forces that
tend to impact us less directly with increases in age.

David Strand
Loring Park
--- Dyna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> On Tuesday, November 16, 2004, at 02:54 AM, David
> Strand wrote:
> 
> >  just a few weeks ago I joined a candlelit vigil
> march of 130
> > people, mostly glbt youth from District 202,
> through
> > downtown Minneapolis to protest the hate induced
> > shooting of Tameka McCloud in South Minneapolis.
> 
>   My best wishes for Tameka's speedy recovery.
> 
> > News story about the shooting and vigil made
> national
> > media(see link below) even if the event was
> ignored by
> > much of the local press(aside from an article
> > incredibly disrespectful towards Tameka's
> transgender
> > status in the Star Tribune which outraged the
> local
> > transgender community by not even meeting AP
> standards
> > for such stories.
> 
>   I went a little farther and did a quick web search
> on Tameka- suffice 
> to say her "friends" in the GLBT establishment,
> particularily at 
> District 202. have outed her to the point she may
> never be able to find 
> a

Re: [Mpls] Bicycle Protocol

[ken bradley]

Hello Steve and Issues Folks,
 
I often use the bike paths by Nokomis in the morning and evening. Here is a 
little information for those of you that are not familiar with the bike paths 
in this area. 
 
At the Nokomis Recreational  Center, the path crosses the parkway and heads in 
a north-east direction toward Hiawatha, and gradually moving moving east and 
close to 47th St. The path eventually ends up at Hiawatha and then you either 
need to turn north or south towards 50th St, which crosses Hiawatha. You can 
also choose a path close to the west side of Nokomis that will take you in a 
circle around the lake. 
 
The path is very useful if you are biking towards the 46th St, LRT station but 
for those bikers headed towards West Mississippi Parkway or St. Paul it is not 
the most direct route. I am assuming many of the bikers that are riding on the 
parkway instead of the path are trying to bike the most direct route. I 
understand how that might be frustrating to vehicle drivers, but vehicle 
drivers need to understand that the city is designed for car transit and bike 
transit takes a back seat to appeasing those that are confined to automobiles, 
so bikers more often then not use the roads out of nessessity. Bikers are very 
aware of the dangers of biking on the roads. I am sure that most bikers would 
prefer that roads have more dedicated bike paths to make for safer travel. I 
always try to avoid the roads because it is very dangerous. My co-worker has a 
family member that is currently in a coma because she was hit by a vehicle on 
her bike, and her chances for recover are very slim. While i
 t might
 be frustrating for vehicle drivers lack of dedicated paths have created life 
threatening conditions for bikers.
 
Ken Bradley

Steven Houdek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I think it's totally senseless for bikers to use a parkway when a bike path 
is next to them. Isn't that what it's for? Bicycles? The bikes paths 
around lakes such as Nokomis are just that: Bike paths. I don't drive my car 
on the bike paths, bikers should stay off the parkway until they need to 
turn. I know it's a few people that do this, but it is very annoying, 
especially at rush hour time. Cars then get backed up because everyone is 
trying to be careful around the biker.

Steven Houdek
Nokmois


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Re: [Mpls] Local police/Justice Department Actions

[List manager]

On Nov 17, 2004, at 1:22 PM, Rybak, R.T. wrote:
Moderator Brauer may shut me down on this but I wanted to pass along a
national article that has some very direct local implications.
Two notes, just to avoid confusion:
1. I don't moderate posts. That implies pre-review. If you're a member 
and your post is formatted properly (right address, no attachments, 
under 10K Unix size), it goes right through.

That's why I call myself a list manager - I clean up messes after, not 
before.

2. RT did a nice job making the specific, unique Mpls aspect clear. 
Generally, that doesn't draw a POST-review warning from me.

All is well. This is just FYI so folks are clear.
David Brauer
List manager
Moderate in some things
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[Mpls] Local police/Justice Department Actions

[Rybak, R.T.]

Moderator Brauer may shut me down on this but I wanted to pass along a
national article that has some very direct local implications.  It's a
report from John Aschcroft's speech to the Chief of Police Convention in
which local police officials from around the country are critical of the
federal cuts to local police and the direction the Justice Department is
asking police to take. 

 

This has a very direct implication on the streets of Minneapolis.
These federal cuts have meant 80 fewer cops in Minneapolis and the
directions are both a distraction and a direction we don't agree with.
Chief McManus and I share those concerns.  Thought it would be
interesting reading to see there are significant national issues
swirling around our ability to do what we would like on the streets of
Minneapolis.  

 

R.T. Rybak 

 

 

 

Police scoff at Ashcroft speech 

Chiefs say feds have pushed agencies to 'breaking point' 

By Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY 

A day after Attorney General John Ashcroft told the nation's largest
association of law enforcement executives that the Bush administration
had made the nation more secure from terrorist attacks and violent
criminals, the group lashed back at the White House on Tuesday.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said that cuts
by the administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left
the nation more vulnerable than ever to public safety threats. The
20,000-member group also said in a statement that new anti-terrorism
duties for local cops - which have come as state and local budgets have
declined and historically low crime rates have crept upward - have
pushed police agencies to "the breaking point."

The Justice Department responded that it is doing all it can to help.

The police chief statement reflected the tension between the
administration and many local police chiefs, who believe the White House
has saddled them with anti-terrorism tasks without much regard to the
cost.

Among other things, members of the chiefs' group have long complained
about localities having to pay millions of dollars in overtime costs
when the U.S. government issued terrorism alerts. The group also is
annoyed that President Bush is phasing out a $10 billion program begun
by the Clinton administration in 1996 to help local departments hire
tens of thousands more cops.

IACP President Joseph Polisar, the police chief in Garden Grove, Calif.,
said hundreds of police officer jobs have been lost across the nation
during the past four years. And proposed cuts in federal aid in the 2005
budget could reach almost $1 billion, threatening hundreds more, the
chief said.

Ashcroft, who spoke to the group Monday in Los Angeles, listed a range
of accomplishments during his tenure at Justice.

The chiefs' group is particularly concerned about how anti-terrorism
efforts have changed how police departments get federal aid. Tens of
millions of dollars that in the past was sent to local departments each
year by the Justice Department now are directed to the Department of
Homeland Security. DHS uses the money to help train and equip agencies
that would respond to terrorist attacks.

Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said the department has always
supported local law enforcement but acknowledged that much of the
funding has been transferred to Homeland. 

 

 

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[Mpls] Kmart & Sears Merger

[WLDJ36]

I wonder how the merger of Kmart and Sears will affect the Lake Street  store 
and other Kmart and Sears locations in Minneapolis?
 
Bill Dooley
Kenny
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RE: [Mpls] Re: Urban Archipellago, and all that

[Wendy Wulff]

Dyna said:

We have a lot of major highways, never mind streets, whose roadbeds 
were laid down before the construction of the interstate system began 
nearly a half century ago. Back then the axle weight limit was 8 tons. 
The federal law establishing the Interstate System forced us to accept 
a 9 ton axle limit, and STAA forced 10 ton axles on our aging streets 
and highways. In the two decades since STAA took effect we still 
haven't seen much of the thousands of miles of county roads and city 
streets rebuilt to accomodate 10 ton axle loads. It would thusly be 
more cost effective to require another axle under 40 ton trucks 
bringing axle loads back under 7 tons and diverting more heavy freight 
to the railroads which can better handle them. As a Lakevile Council 
Member you might thusly want to look into upgrading the "Dan Patch" 
line that connects our two cities.

Wendy replies:

Seems reasonable to me to require another axlewe face the same challenge
with regard to inadequate road beds.  Up to now, I have only heard the
argument about how to pay for 10 ton roads, not the background about why we
need them, or possible alternatives.  

As for Dan Patch, it is now down to about a 5 mph safety level, due to years
of non-use, and was deemed not to be cost effective for commuter rail.  The
owner does not appear to have any interest in rebuilding it for cargo
purposes.  We do try to promote the use of the rail spur in our industrial
park, though.  It helps keep quite a few big trucks off the road.

Dyna says:

And next time you come to Minneapolis looking for an argument, please 
come a little better prepared.

Wendy replies:

If I came off cranky, I apologize - I should know better than to send emails
while in a bad mood.  If I came off stupid, I apologize doubly.  I should
have thought more about what you meant by 40 tons before replying. I
appreciate your perspective on the axle thing.

Wendy Wulff
Lakeville


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Re: [Mpls] Re: Urban Archipellago, and all that

[Dan]

Wendy Wrote:
"So, if you live in Minneapolis and don't drive a car (yes, there is a
Minneapolis connection here) - you can rest assured that you are not
contributing one red cent to highways (even if your bus drives on them), but
you are a beneficiary of taxes that are paid by automobile drivers, so
perhaps it would be okay to use all of your fingers when you wave at them.
One would assume that you would like the ambulance and fire truck to be able
to get to where you live, so hopefully you feel some obligation to chip in
on local streets."

Additionally, no matter how much a person dislikes cars, trucks and roads,
there is no way around using them. Even if you never walk, ride a bike,
drive or ride on them, if you buy food, or household items, or anything, for
that matter, how do you suppose those items get to your store? Without
roads, there would be no commerce. Everytime one buys anything, roads are
used.

Dan McGrath
Longfellow
http://www.smokeoutgary.org

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Re: [Mpls] Aldi's is OPEN!!!!

[WizardMarks]

Emilie Quast wrote:
And the shop at 13xx Franklin is just like the shops they have in France
and Germany so I'm happy.  

tuna packed in water, 6 oz. can, 49 cents.
spaghetti sauce, 99 cents, large jar.
cottage cheese, big carton, $1.69
frozen o.j., 89cents
lg. eggs, 35cents/dz
1/2 gal. 2% milk, $1.35
buttermilk biscuits, 25cents/tube
I think I'm gonna like this.
No brand names that you will recognize, ergo, no temptations to buy oreos.
Killer cheese cake in the last isle. Be warned.
In the shopping center across from Franklin Library.
WizardMarks, Central

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Re: [Mpls] Re: Urban Archipellago, and all that

[Dyna]

On Wednesday, November 17, 2004, at 05:35 AM, Wendy Wulff wrote:
The Motor Vehicle Excise Tax is not quite the same as a sales tax, 
although
the rate is the same.
	Correct- that's how big corporations buy $100,000 tractor trailer rigs 
in states with no sales tax on trucks, then bring them to Minnesota to 
wear our highways out. Meanwhile their underpaid and overworked but 
honest truck driver pays a thousand dollars in sales tax on their new 
Saturn. And while our truck driver has to park at the back of the lot, 
right by the main entrance are the new SUVs of the company executives- 
we taxpayers paid for the huge tax credit they got for buying those 
SUVs. In fact, even at the lowest federal tax rate they got a bigger 
tax credit than they paid in state sales tax.

I am not familiar with the Act cited - a google search, and quick 
perusal of
the text looked as though it dealt with "buy American" issues with 
regard to
the purchase of buses and trains with federal money.  If I missed 
something,
please let me know.
	Once again a common citizen of Minneapolis has to educate a suburban 
Council Member who ought to know these things. You should be able to 
find the full text of STAA at thomas.gov- suffice to say STAA, amongst 
a lot of other dumb things, forced every state, county, city, etc.. to 
allow 40 ton trucks on any street or highway.

Most of MN is working on upgrading a network of major
roads (primarily county highways) to 10 ton standards.  If Minneapolis 
is
building their local streets to 40 ton standards, they would be the 
only
ones doing so.
	Wendy, trust me, there are 40 ton trucks legally running the streets 
of Lakeville. And most certainly there are even heavier trucks 
illegally operating in Lakeville. The 10 tons refers to the design 
standard to support a single axle of a truck, not the total weight of 
the entire truck. Wendy, you might wish to note that every truck I've 
seen actually moving has more than one axle, thusly it's total weight 
can be more than 10 tons.

	We have a lot of major highways, never mind streets, whose roadbeds 
were laid down before the construction of the interstate system began 
nearly a half century ago. Back then the axle weight limit was 8 tons. 
The federal law establishing the Interstate System forced us to accept 
a 9 ton axle limit, and STAA forced 10 ton axles on our aging streets 
and highways. In the two decades since STAA took effect we still 
haven't seen much of the thousands of miles of county roads and city 
streets rebuilt to accomodate 10 ton axle loads. It would thusly be 
more cost effective to require another axle under 40 ton trucks 
bringing axle loads back under 7 tons and diverting more heavy freight 
to the railroads which can better handle them. As a Lakevile Council 
Member you might thusly want to look into upgrading the "Dan Patch" 
line that connects our two cities.

Thanks for the discussion-
	And next time you come to Minneapolis looking for an argument, please 
come a little better prepared.

hanging on in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
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Re: [Mpls] Park Superintendent here we go again

[Chris Johnson]

TONY SCALLON wrote:
I am amazed by the comments of Chris Johnson and the vote by Commissioner
Vivian Mason. John Gurban cannot be Park Superintendent because he does not
have a Masters Degree? John Gurban was one of three finalists. He seems to
have a lot of experience with Minnesota park systems.
It's funny that Tony Scallon mentions Gurban's lack of a Masters Degree.  I 
never mentioned it.  I said that the other 7 semi-finalists were more 
qualified.  Only someone who had obtained the private information from one of 
the park commissioners would know that 7 of the 8 had masters degrees and that 
Jon Gurban was the only one who did not.

Gurban does not have a lot of experience with Minnesota park systems.  A lot 
would be 20 years to most people, or at least 10 or 15 years.

According to Gurban's own resume, he has 5 years and 10 months experience with 
park systems in Minnesota, 5 years as a department head in the Apple Valley 
parks in middle 1980s and the last 10 months as the interim superintendent of 
our parks.


But here we go again. Mr. Gurban's credentials are being attacked. 
His credentials are questionable and weak.  When one hires a person, one looks 
for good credentials and it is intelligent to be skeptical of fuzzy 
credentials.  As a hiring manager at a number of jobs, I would throw away any 
resumes that looked as full of holes and questions as Gurban's resume contains.

A look at Gurban's resume raises all kinds of questions:  Unexplained 7 year 
gaps?  University degrees in unnamed majors obtained from universities located 
thousands of miles away?  Jobs at unnamed companies in unspecified locations?


Having a Masters degree is not the only criteria for selection of an
administrator. In fact, the whole discussion sounds elitist to me. Many good
administrators have only a Bachelors degree. I have even known good leaders
who have less than a college degree.
Straw man argument.  Scallon brought up the Masters Degree, not anybody else.
I'm not at all surprised by Scallon's misleading arguments full of logical 
fallacies.  He's not defending Gurban because Gurban is an excellent 
candidate.  He's defending Gurban because his associates Marie Hauser (Scallon 
ran her park board campaign) and Bob Fine are going to vote for Gurban.

Let me share what a member of the Crown Hydro team said to Bob Fine after the 
Majority Five commissioners (Bob Fine, Marie Hauser, Walt Dziedzic, Carol 
Kummer and Jon Olson) had installed Gurban as superintendent in the 
controversial meeting last December:  "Now that you've got your man in place, 
 we can get something done."

I think it's pretty obvious who is doing the attacking here.
A piece of advice:  "Never wrestle a pig. You both get dirty and the pig 
enjoys it."

--
Chris Johnson
Fulton
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[Mpls] Aldi's is OPEN!!!!

[Emilie Quast]

And the shop at 13xx Franklin is just like the shops they have in France
and Germany so I'm happy.  

The produce is excellent; the meat looked wonderful!  They have my favorite
Belgian chocolates, staples at prices that compare with the Rainbow special
prices this week, canned goods/pasta/frozen selections/yadda that made the
place look like "good old Aldi's".  There will never be much selection.  I
think there were about 8 produce trays of mushrooms out, for example.  When
those get down to two, someone restocks.  That way they don't have to pay
for a larger store and the produce mostly stays in the cooler instead of
wilting on the floor.  I should point out that all eight trays carried
perfect mushrooms.

I am a little concerned that people won't understand how Aldi's works.  You
pay a quarter (I think--my daughter got our cart) to get a cart from a
locked rack.  You get the quarter back when you return the cart.  You
either pay for their bags, which are heavy duty plastic and reusable
several times, OR you bring your own bags.  You may also pick up the
grocery cartons they leave in the aisles.

No checks, and the debit cards they accept are not any that I carry.  They
prefer cash, anyway.

BUT, their standards are very high.  They work every trick they know to
keep their costs and prices as low as possible.

Since there was talk about some other grocery being picky about cashing
checks on the North Side, I thought I should mention that the Aldi's NO
CHECKS rule is the same rule they use in Europe, so I think that is a
company wide policy.  If anyone seems irritated about that policy, please
reassure them.  

Typical Aldi's: yesterday was the grand opening, and they were giving away
what looked like samples of bottled water and pieces of cookie.  Again:
that is the way they operate.

Emilie Quast
SE Como
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Re: [Mpls] Park Superintendent here we go again

[RYANA814]

I would think the park board would require a masters degree for one of their 
highest offices when that is a requirement for getting a job for the local 
park director.  I applied for that position and even though I had been a 
volunteer at a local park for 11 years doing much of that kind of work, 
couldn't even 
get an interview because I didn't have a masters degree. 

Anne Johnson
Cooper
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Re: [Mpls] Park Superintendent here we go again

[Jason C Stone]

There was a huge public outcry last December when Mr. Gurban was slipped in the 
back door.  Mr.
Gurban has had a year to ingratiate himself with the community despite the 
wildly inappropriate
way in which he was hired, but has chosen to keep silent.  He has holes in his 
resume and is being
given unexplainable preferential treatment from the day he was slipped in, to 
today.  The big
question is, what do certain commissioners have to gain from installing this 
candidate?   

Regards,
Jason Stone
Diamond Lake
 
--- TONY SCALLON <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I am amazed by the comments of Chris Johnson and the vote by Commissioner 
> Vivian Mason.  John
> Gurban cannot be Park Superintendent because he does not have a Masters 
> Degree?  John Gurban was
> one of three finalists.  He seems to have a lot of experience with Minnesota 
> park systems. 
> 
> But here we go again.  Mr. Gurban's credentials are being attacked.  Elected 
> officials are being
> warned that they will be "pay dearly for the rest of their public lives"  
> because of one vote.  
> 
> Does all this personal, professional attacks sound familiar?  The attacks 
> remind me of this
> year's political ads.  State anything you want.  Attack, Attack, Attack.  
> (Remember all the
> attacks on Kerry's war career).   We need a reasonable discussion of Park 
> Superintendent not
> personal and professional attacks.  
> 
> Having a Masters degree is not the only criteria for selection of an 
> administrator.  In fact,
> the whole discussion sounds elitist to me.  Many good administrators have 
> only a Bachelors
> degree.  I have even known good leaders who have less than a college degree.  
> 
> Tony Scallon 
> Ed.S. University of Minnesota
> 
> 
> REMINDERS:
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> PROTECTED] before
> continuing it on the list.
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> 
> For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html
> For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
> 
> 
> Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
> Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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> 

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[Mpls] KFAI Radio show to address Women, Children & Homlessness Sunday 11/21

[m1r3201]

 

Womanist Power Authority radio show on KFAI, Sunday, November 21 - to talk 
about women, children and homelessness in the Twin Cities.
 
The show is from 9:00 - 10:30 pm, 
 
Margaret Hastings
Kingfield

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[Mpls] Park Superintendent here we go again

[TONY SCALLON]

I am amazed by the comments of Chris Johnson and the vote by Commissioner 
Vivian Mason.  John Gurban cannot be Park Superintendent because he does not 
have a Masters Degree?  John Gurban was one of three finalists.  He seems to 
have a lot of experience with Minnesota park systems. 

But here we go again.  Mr. Gurban's credentials are being attacked.  Elected 
officials are being warned that they will be "pay dearly for the rest of their 
public lives"  because of one vote.  

Does all this personal, professional attacks sound familiar?  The attacks 
remind me of this year's political ads.  State anything you want.  Attack, 
Attack, Attack.  (Remember all the attacks on Kerry's war career).   We need a 
reasonable discussion of Park Superintendent not personal and professional 
attacks.  

Having a Masters degree is not the only criteria for selection of an 
administrator.  In fact, the whole discussion sounds elitist to me.  Many good 
administrators have only a Bachelors degree.  I have even known good leaders 
who have less than a college degree.  

Tony Scallon 
Ed.S. University of Minnesota


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RE: [Mpls] Re: Urban Archipellago, and all that

[Wendy Wulff]

Dyna said:
But when you buy a TV a portion of the sales tax on it does not go
to 
public television... so the highway lobby unlike other interests has 
managed to syphon off a good chuck of the sales taxes we pay on just 
about everything except food and clothing. When you buy a computer, 
none of the sales tax on is dedicated to providing computers for the 
underpriveledged, but the highway lobby has managed to steal a goodly 
chunk of our sales taxes to fund more highway construction contracts 
for themselves.

Wendy replies:

The Motor Vehicle Excise Tax is not quite the same as a sales tax, although
the rate is the same.  If you were to sell your TV or computer to a friend,
your friend would not have to pay sales tax again.  If you purchased a TV
while living in another state or country, and then moved here, you wouldn't
have to pay sales tax - but I had to pay excise tax when I moved back to MN
from Germany, in order to be able to register the vehicle I had purchased 2
years prior.  Furthermore, if you purchase a car in MN, and then register it
in another state (or country), you don't have to pay the excise tax - it is
essentially a title fee based on the cost of the car, not a true sales tax. 

Dyna says:

Minneapolis has about as many miles of streets as Minnesota has
miles 
of interstate highways. But while those freeways were built almost 
entirely with federal funds, our city streets were largely paid for by 
we Minneapolis residents whether we drive on them or not. And thanks to 
that unfunded manadate known as the Surface Traffic Assistance Act of 
1982 as amended we are required to allow the same 40 ton trucks that 
travel the Interstates access to our network of city streets. We thusly 
have to with largely our own citizens tax dollars build our streets to 
the same standards as an interstate highway. We also are forced to live 
with the 53 foot long trailers that never should have been allowed on 
even the Interstates snarling our traffic while blocking 3 lanes to 
make a simple right turn.

Wendy replies:

The message was in reply to the assertion that 2/3 of highway funds come
from the state general fund.  They do not.  Even if you disallowed MVET as
an auto generated revenue, you would be no where near 2/3.  I didn't say
that people paid nothing toward local streets.

I am not familiar with the Act cited - a google search, and quick perusal of
the text looked as though it dealt with "buy American" issues with regard to
the purchase of buses and trains with federal money.  If I missed something,
please let me know.  Most of MN is working on upgrading a network of major
roads (primarily county highways) to 10 ton standards.  If Minneapolis is
building their local streets to 40 ton standards, they would be the only
ones doing so. Still - it is not relevant to whether 2/3 of highway funds
come from the state general fund.

Thanks for the discussion-

Wendy Wulff
Lakeville




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