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A Twin Cities comedian gets his own show on the Discovery Channel which will premeire Jan. 6th, the Pioneer Press reported.

Dave Mordal is the host of the new show "Wreckreation Nation," in which the comedian travels around the country in search of unconventional pastimes and contests, the Star Tribune reported. Mordal came up with the plot of the show himself.

Mordal has alreadystrted filiming for his show, finding places thus far that teach people how to wrestle with alligators, and play tug of war across large bodies of water.

Mordal was previously a contestant on NBC's "Last Comic Standing."

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KSTP-AM fired radio show host Tommy Mischke Friday, shortly after his weekly radio show aired.

Mischke was a radio personality with KSTP for the last 16 years.

Mischke and KSTP would not comment about why the radio host was fired, the Star Tribune reported.

Mischke confirmed his departure from KSTP on a blog on their website.

"I've been let go by the station," he wrote. "I want to thank all you listeners for your kindness to me over the years. It's been an honor to be able to hang out with you every day. Perhaps we'll meet again one day, somewhere down the line."

KSTP laid off 18 other workers Thursday, the Pioneer Press .
reported

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A St. Paul man was jailed Saturday after having an hour and a half long standoff with St. Paul police and a SWAT team.

Police arrived to the 38-year-old man's home after receiving a call from his ex-girlfriend stating that the man was threatening to kill her with a gun, the Pioneer Press reported.

According to a statement from the St. Paul Police Department, the police arrived on the scene of the 1100 block of Arundel Street at 3:45 p.m. and the man would not answer the door.

The officers called in a SWAT team and the man still refused to answer the door. The standoff lasted for an hour and a half until eventually the man was arrested.

While the victim was not injured, the man was brought to jail on the charge of aggravated assault, the Star Tribune reported.

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Denny Hecker said Friday he would be closing six of his car dealerships and selling three due to the bad state of the economy.

With the closing of the dealerships, 400 employees are out of a job, the Pioneer Press reported.

Earlier in the month, Hecker filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis against Chrysler Financial Services saying that they had unexpectedly stopped financing forcing Hecker to renege on contracts with his customers and business partners.

The Big Three automakers are also seeing negative results from the dwindling economy and have asked for a $25 billion federal bailout package, the Star Tribune reported.

Hecker sold his Inver Grove Heights Hyundai, Inver Grove Heights Volkswagen and Peninsula Dodge in California to private investors and closed his Blaine Bargain Lot, Forest Lake Chrysler Jeep Dodge Mitsubishi, Monticello Dodge Ford and Mercury Suzuki Kia, Rosedale Hyundai, Shakopee Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Stillwater Ford Lincoln Mercury.

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Saturday 700 Minnesotans gathered in Minneapolis in front of the Hennepin County Government Center to protest the new bans on gay marriage in other states.

"Love is something we all experience in our own way and it's very unfortunate that certain people think there should be a right way and a wrong way to love,� University of Minnesota student Kendra Atkins, 21, said.

Minnesota took part in a nationwide protest of the recently passed propositions, which modifies the constitution to ban gay marriage in California, Florida and Arizona, the Star Tribune reported.

Join the Impact, the group responsible for planning the nationwide protests Saturday, said they wanted peaceful protests, not violent ones, the Pioneer Press reported.

Overall 300 cities in the country took part in the protests Saturday, with over 1 million participants.

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With a recount set to occur In what is Minnesota's closest Senate race in history, the number of votes Sen. Norm Coleman won by keep changing, before the recount has even begun.

The morning after Tuesday's election, Coleman appeared to have beat his opponent Al Franken by 725 votes, less than the half percent needed for a recount to happen, the Star Tribune reported.

As of Saturday however, Coleman's lead has skrinked to 221 votes, the Pioneer Press reported.

It is Minnesota Law that is a candidate wins by half of one percent or less of the vote, a recount will be enforced. The loser of the election had the right to call off the recount, something Franken said he would not be doing. Coleman's campaign had criticized Franken for going through with the recount, calling the recount itself "dubious" and a waste of tax dollars.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie responded to the Coleman camapaign's comments Friday after meeting with both parties to discuss the recount.

"'Dubious' would imply that county election officials are breaking the law and are dishonest people," Ritchie said. "That's not a statement that I believe this person could support with any facts, and it's the opposite of my experience."

The plan for the recount was laid out by Ritchie saying that on Nov. 18 the State Canvassing Board will approve a recount plan and by Dec. 5, the recount must be done. The board will meet Dec. 16 to discuss the results and will be done by Dec. 19.

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A St. Olaf professor admitted Thursday to stealing McCain campaign signs from numerous homes in Southern Minnesota.

Philip Busse, a visiting professor in the theater department at St. Olaf College, wrote his confession in a blog on the Huffington Post website, the Star Tribune reported. The Huffington Post is a national website that presents liberal news and blogs.

Busse's entry, titled "Confessions of a Lawn Sign Stealer," said he had stolen a total of seven lawn signs along a highway near St. Olaf, the Pioneer Press reported.

Busse later told a local newspaper he did regret stealing the signs.

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The Minnesota Independent Party said Saturday that it would not be endorsing a candidate for President this term.

The decision came during the IP's presidential endorsing convention Saturday at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, the Pioneer Press reported.

At the convention, the IP heard four hours of speeches from representatives from the Republican, Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties, in addition to independent Ralph Nader, who is not affiliated with the IP, the
Star Tribune reported. Barack Obama's campaign opted out of consideration weeks prior to the convention, stating that the only endorsement they wanted was from the Democratic Party.

The IP said none of the candidates fit their platform for President and they would not compromise their views.

"We're true to our name, true independents," state IP Chairman Craig Swaggert said.

Posted by dadov003 at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In an interview with MSNBC Friday, Rep. Michele Bachman questioned whether some of Barack Obama's views were "anti-American," causing many contributions to come to her opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg.

MSNC news anchor Chris Matthews asked Bachmann if she thought Obama's views were anti-American. She agreed, the Star Tribune reported.

"Absolutely. I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views," said Bachmann.

Bachmann also went on to question the patriotic values of other members of Congress. She specifically called out Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, referring to their views as "far-left," and calling on the media for a public exposure.

"The news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look,� Bachmann said. "I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they pro-America or anti-America."

Minutes after Bachmann's interview aired, people from around the country began contributing to Tinklenberg's campaign, the Pioneer Press reported.

According to Tinklenberg's campaign, almost $500,000 was contributed from about 9,000 people across the country. That's more than Tinklenberg's campaign had made in a full quarter.

Posted by dadov003 at 8:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Democrat Ashwin Madia, who is running for Congress in the Third District, said Thursday that his team had raised almost $1 million dollars for his campaign in the year's third quarter.

Madia is running in the Third District, who's seat is currently taken by Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad. This district is one that is highly contested, the Star Tribune reported.

Madia is running against Republican Erik Paulsen and Independence Party candidate David Dillon.

Madia's team said it made $997,632 in the quarter, but will not disclose their total amount until next week, the Associated Press reported, although the Star Tribune reported the number is around $2.1 million.

All of the candidates campaigns are expected to release their numbers next week.

Posted by dadov003 at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three people were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in North Minneapolis Thursday, after utilities were shut off and they were forced to use a gas-powered generator.

Harold Barnett, 44, his friend Raymond Carr, 52, and his son Terrell Barnett were found unconscious inside a home on the 1600 block of Girard Avenue North. A gas powered generator emmitted poisonous fumes that ultimately killed the two men at the scene and later killed Barnett's 14-year-old son, the Star Tribune reported.

The utilities in the house were shut down earlier in the week. According to James Morgan, a friend of Barnett's, the generator had been running in the home's garage for a few weeks. Barnett worried that the noise was a distraction to he neighbors so he decided to bring it inside the house, he said. The generator had only been running in the house for a few hours.

Police said that Barnett had been living in the house illegally, the Pioneer Press reported.

As of Aug. 1 it is Minnesota Law that all single-family houses have carbon monoxide detectors installed. Authorities also note that generators should never be used inside homes.

Posted by dadov003 at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A protester's attorneys started filing a federal suit Friday claiming he had received unjust injuries from police stemming from a Sept. 4 Republican National Convention protest.

Mick Kelly, a 51-year-old Minneapolis resident, plans on suing the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington and Ramsey County as a result of injuries sustained at an RNC protest, the Pioneer Press reported.

According to the notice on intent to file a lawsuit sent to the defendants, Kelly claims he was peacefully protesting on the blocks of Cedar and 12th streets when police started ripping signs from hands. Kelly alleges no warning was given.

The notice claims that when Kelly refused to let go of his sign, an officer hit him with a projectile from a close range.

One of Kelly's lawyers, Tom Dooley, said Kelly sustained a large bruise on one of his sides with no permanent damage, the Star Tribune reported. Kelly also alleges he was wrongfully arrested at the scene.

Kelly is suing all of the cities who had officers represented at the protest for $250,000 in damages.

St. Paul City Attorney John Choi will be reviewing the notice. "We have full faith in the civil justice system and we are confident that all of the facts will support our belief that the police acted appropriately in this case," Choi said.

This lawsuit is expected to be the first of many RNC related suits.

Posted by dadov003 at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It has only been a year and nearly two months since the collapse of the 35W bridge, but as the Star Tribune reported, state transportation officials say the new bridge could open as early as Tuesday.

There was an imminent push to start the rebuilding of the bridge. The Minnesota Daily reported that before the bridge's collapse, an estimated 141,000 motorists used the bridge on a daily basis. Flatiron Construction, the company rebuilding the bridge, has worked diligently to ensure that the bridge will be done as quickly as possible for those motorists.

“We have been working on various aspects of the bridge project simultaneously, things that would typically be done sequentially,� said Amy Barrett, spokeswoman for Flatiron Construction, “Investment up front and additional equipment and labor allowed us to do more, using the same process on a shorter time span.�

MnDOT has also offered Flatiron Construction a hefty incentive to get the job done quickly. If Flatiron Construction finishes the bridge before Monday, they could receive up to $27 million dollars in bonuses.

Should future 35W motorists be questioning whether the desire for the speedy rebuilding of the bridge was priority over the quality of the bridge? MnDot and Flatiron Constructions say no. Jon Chiglo, the design build project manager for the bridge, said that the bridge's safety and quality came well before its speed.

According to MnDot, the new bridge "will be high-quality, safe and last for at least 100 years."

Posted by dadov003 at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)