Crime and punishment
By Eric Ostermeier on November 21, 2011
On Tuesday afternoon, the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs will host an event discussing the evidence of the President Kennedy assassination on the 48th anniversary since the shooting.
By Eric Ostermeier on July 6, 2011
Anthony is mentioned in nearly 900 programs since May 24th opening statements across six major broadcast outlets; Romney (764) and Bachmann (609) lead the GOP field.
By Eric Ostermeier on January 10, 2011
Nearly 40 percent of female GOP U.S. House members issued early press releases on House websites after the shooting in Arizona, compared to 25 percent of female Democrats, male Republicans, and male Democrats
By Eric Ostermeier on December 15, 2010
Despite media cries of a murder rampage in January, the number of homicides in Minneapolis is on pace to tie its second lowest tally since 1986
By Eric Ostermeier on September 21, 2010
HD 35 has averaged a 28-point GOP tilt in top of the ticket races since redistricting in 2002
By Eric Ostermeier on June 23, 2010
Despite rash of homicides in January, number of murders in Minneapolis projected by end of 2010 right at 10-year average
By Eric Ostermeier on February 9, 2010
Previous polling suggests Minnesota residents back various tougher penalties on sex offenders by greater than 3:1 margins
By Eric Ostermeier on January 12, 2010
Episodic events at the beginning of the year should not be cast as signs that the City is in the midst of a violent crime frenzy
By Eric Ostermeier on December 20, 2009
Only West Virginia saw its state and federal prison population increase at a higher rate from 2000-2008
By Eric Ostermeier on December 4, 2009
Minneapolis October '09 Crime Rate Falls 10 Percent from a Year Ago Despite 27 Percent Rise in Unemployment
By Eric Ostermeier on September 16, 2009
Red states across the nation have both higher violent and property crime rates than blue states, across several measures of partisanship
By Eric Ostermeier on September 15, 2009
Uniform Crime Reports data released this week finds the Gopher State's overall crime rate falling to its lowest level since 1969
By Eric Ostermeier on June 12, 2009
The Minneapolis Police Department's official Uniform Crime Report data for April 2009 finds crime in Minnesota's largest city down 18 percent from one year ago. The 18 percent 12-month drop is the largest in the city dating back more than two years to February 2007, when crime was down 23.9...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 14, 2009
The passage of public safety legislation this week in the Senate (SF 802) and House (HF 1162) included a reduction of approximately $100 million of the base budgets across more than a dozen departments – the largest being a $34.2 million cut to the Department of Corrections. However, the bill...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 12, 2009
Former Governor Jesse Ventura appeared on Larry King Live Monday evening to promote the paperback release of his latest book, Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me, and offered his trademark rapid-fire quips on a range of subjects, from Barack Obama’s first 100 days, to the drug war, to torture, to...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 8, 2009
Minnesota Republican State Representative Tom Emmer (19B-Delano) introduced legislation in the House on Thursday that seeks to restrict the reach of federal firearms laws by exempting Minnesota-made firearms and ammunition that remain in the state from federal laws and regulations, including registration. In a statement released by the House GOP...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 28, 2009
The arrest of Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison and four other members of Congress Monday morning for crossing a police line at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. brought front-page attention to the humanitarian crisis and atrocities occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan, but is not likely to bring any...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 9, 2009
As unemployment rises month-by-month in Minneapolis, along with the rest of the Gopher State, serious violent and property crimes continue to fall in Minnesota's most populated city at an impressive rate. Minneapolis' non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 7.1 percent in February - its highest rate in decades. However, even though...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 19, 2009
In his recent column, “What happened to the concept of forgiveness in the Sara Jane Olson case?,” MinnPosts’ Doug Grow, in just a shade over 1,000 words, not only advocates for the return of convicted felon Sara Jane Olson (née Kathleen Soliah) back to Minnesota to serve out her parole,...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 15, 2009
A bipartisan group of Minnesota legislators made an impassioned plea last week, hoping to build political momentum for the legalization of medical marijuana in the Gopher State. While neither Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher nor GOP Minority Leader Marty Seifert have endorsed such a bill on the House side, neither have...
