The News Blog of Marco LaNave

The lead of Ed Grothus' obituary that appeared in the Guardian on March 24 was slightly different than a standard obituary. The first sentence included an identification of his notoriety, but included his age as well. The following three sentences described his "claim to fame," but remained in the same paragraph.

The second paragraph began a chronology of his life, although his full name and date of birth was not included until the "endcap" of the story. Several paragraphs told the story of his life work as a bomb builder-turned-anti-nuclear activist.

The story listed many of his career positions and awards, but it was not resume, as many events or achievements were intertwined with colorful description of that time or place in his life.

Quotes by Grothus were included. Other sources were not named, but the information about his history and work must have been gleaned from a variety of sources outside of Grothus.

The final sentence listed the surviving members of his family, but their names were not included.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

President Barack Obama said on Saturday that his administration is lending a hand to the flood-affected areas of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and he is keeping an eye on the situation, the New York Times reported.

Obama has declared a major disaster in the area. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, and many other agencies and organizations are contributing to the efforts in the Red River Valley, and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security said the government is prepared to house and feed up to 30,000 people for a week, Inquirer.net reported via Agence France-Presse.

The National Weather Service said the River may have crested on Saturday in the Fargo, N.D.,-Moorhead, Minn., area, as the water level dropped under 40.7 feet after being over 40.8 feet earlier in the morning, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported. The level is still above the 112-year-old record of 40.1 feet, but below an earlier prediction of 43 feet.

While there is optimism that the level is declining, a National Weather Service meteorologist cautioned that it could fluctuate by up to a foot over the next week. Continuous water pressure against the levees will be a concern over the next week, the Star Tribune reported.

President Obama credited the volunteers, including many college and high school students, for their continuing efforts to aid their community, the Times reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Concerns about China's military development highlighted the annual Defense Department report on China's military power, which was issued on Wednesday, the International Herald Tribune reported.

The report expressed concern about the lack of transparency regarding China's intentions for its growing military power, the Boston Globe reported.

Pentagon press secretary said the report was a call for stronger high-level relations with the Chinese, which were suspended last October, the International Herald Tribune reported. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the report distorted the facts about China's People's Liberation Army.

The report also indicated an increase in the number of Chinese missiles opposite Taiwan, USA Today reported.

Earlier this month, there was a small incident between naval ships of China and the United States in the South China Sea, the Boston Globe reported.

While pointing out that China had the capacity to engage in short, intense conflicts along its borders, the report estimated that the PLA would be unable to sustain conflicts far from their border for several years, the International Herald Tribune reported.

The report did acknowledge that the PLA had contributed to international efforts of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A state senator from St. Cloud, Minn., introduced a bill on Tuesday that would merge three counties around the city, the Star Tribune reported.

Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, introduced legislation to merge Stearns and Benton counties and part of Sherburne County, which would put St. Cloud, currently divided by three counties, into a single county, the Star Tribune reported.

Rep. Larry Haws, DFL-St. Cloud, and Rep. Larry Hosch, DFL-St. Joseph, are in support of the bill, which carries the provisional name "Lake Wobegon County," but have not introduced any legislation in the state House, the Pioneer Press reported.

The idea is not new, but several officials in the affected counties have concerns about a merger, as they said that the process of integrating laws, services, and government of three counties would be costly, the St. Cloud Times reported.

St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said that benefits to a merger include proposal would make law enforcement more efficient in the long run, the St. Cloud Times reported.

The legislators view the legislation as leading to dialogue about the merger, the Pioneer Press reported.

Governor Tim Pawlenty has proposed the creation of 15 regional centers for human services, rather than the current 87 county centers, the St. Cloud Times reported.

Although several Minnesota cities are split between two counties, St. Cloud is the only one divided by three, the Pioneer Press reported. A public meeting to discuss the issue will take place on April 4 in St. Cloud.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 6:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Parliament of the Czech Republic on Tuesday passed a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and his cabinet, the International Herald Tribune reported.

The lower house of the Parliament voted 101-96 against the government, the first time that the government has collapsed since the 1993 split from Czechoslovakia, Newsday.com reported.

The vote came in the middle of the Czech Repulic's six-month term in the rotating presidency of the European Union, and shortly before U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Prague, Newsday.com reported.

Topolanek said he will resign, although he will not be required to do so by the Czech Constitution until the E.U. presidency has been fulfilled, the Tribune reported.

The E.U. executive said it is confident in the Czech Republic fulfilling its presidential term, Newsday.com reported.

It is now up to President Vaclav Klaus to appoint a new prime minister and cabinet that meet the approval of Parliament, Newsday.com reported. General elections are not required unless three attempts fail to form a government.

Former Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said the government failed to handle the economic crisis, and suggested that nonpartisan experts take over in June and carry out early elections within the next several months, Newsday.com reported. The next elections are scheduled for 2010.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 8:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intense preparation has taken place and is ongoing in the Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., areas and throughout the Red River Valley, in anticipation of potentially record-breaking flooding this week, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported.

The river could rise above 40 feet in the Fargo-Moorhead area as the flooding sets in later in the week, threatening the 1997 record level of 39.57 feet, and the Fargo record of 40.1 feet from 1897, the Forum reported.

The entire community, from college football players to high school students to inmates, have been called upon to help in the protection efforts, particularly sandbagging, the Forum reported.

All three colleges in the area - Concordia College, Minnesota State University-Moorhead, and North Dakota State University - canceled classes on Monday, Minnesota Public Radio reported. Students, faculty, and staff were asked to volunteer with the flood preparation.

Efforts began on Sunday to make and distribute up to 2 million sandbags for the city, the Forum reported. Officials said they need at least 350 people working continuously.

The National Weather Service said on Sunday that the river was 3 feet above flood level, the Pioneer Press reported via The Associated Press.

In Breckenridge, Minn., volunteers worked on Monday to protect the city, reaching a level 1 foot above the expected flood level, the Star Tribune reported.

Harsh weather could complicate the city's efforts as the week progresses. Snow and freezing temperatures are expected as early as Tuesday, the Forum reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced on Friday that $40 million would go to 11 road and bridge projects throughout the state, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

The funds are part of the $180 million for 60 projects announced last month, MPR reported.

Funding of the 11 projects will be allotted within 30 days, the Pioneer Press reported. Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel said that up to 1,000 people will work on the projects.

The Department announced on Thursday that an additional $75 million in federal stimulus money will be directed to 53 projects throughout the state, the Star Tribune reported.

Department spokesman Kevin Gutknecht said the projects can now be completed a year or two before they were scheduled to be, MPR reported.

With 102 more projects awaiting funding, a list of those to be funded in the Twin Cities area will be announced later this month, the Pioneer Press reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Switzerland will alter its tradition of bank secrecy, after an announcement on Friday that it will cooperate with investigations of tax evasion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Along with Austria and Luxembourg, Switzerland announced its cooperation with international investigations of tax evasion, after increased pressure to do so from other countries, including the United States, USA Today reported.

Swiss President and Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said the country would only disclose information in cases where investigators present substantial evidence, the Journal reported.

Swiss authorities have provided the United States with information on 300 suspected tax evaders, but has withheld requested information about 50,000 other account holders, USA Today reported.

Switzerland plans to negotiate treaties with other countries, to adopt guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Journal reported.

Last week, the OECD prepared a list of uncooperative tax havens that included Switzerland, and planned to present it to the Group of 20 summit next month, the Journal reported.

Switzerland adopted bank secrecy laws in 1934, and now holds an estimated $2 trillion of foreign money, USA Today reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two local Somalis testified to the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday as part of its investigation into possible terrorist recruitment in the United States, the Pioneer Press reported.

Osman Ahmed, president of the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association in Minneapolis, and Abdirahman Mukhtar, a community center youth program manager, gave testimony regarding the recent disappearance of several Somali youth, who have returned to Somalia, the Star Tribune reported.

Shirwa Ahmed, 27, of Minneapolis became the first known suicide bomber from the United States when he blew himself up in Somalia last October. Up to 20 Somalis have disappeared from the Twin Cities area, many of whom are believed to have joined Al-Shabaab, an organization that is alleged to have ties with al-Qaida, the Star Tribune reported.

One young man who returned to Somalia was Burhan Hassan, a nephew of Osman Ahmed, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Osman Ahmed told the committee, led by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., that his nephew attended the Abubakar As-Saddique mosque in Minneapolis, and said that a minority group introduced his nephew to extremist ideologies, the Star Tribune reported.

Mukhtar testified that the actions of Shirwa Ahmed and other violent extremists are contrary to Somali culture and Islam, the Star Tribune reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Hamline-Midway Library in St. Paul might not be closed until the end of the year, Mayor Chris Coleman and library director Melanie Huggins said Tuesday at a meeting with neighborhood residents, the Pioneer Press reported.

With 100 residents gathered in the library's basement auditorium, Coleman and Huggins explained the budget challenges for the city and the possibility of closing the library, the Star Tribune reported.

Coleman has suggested addressing a $44 million budget shortfall for 2008-10 by cutting 14 percent of funds across all departments, the Star Tribune reported. This included a $2.1 million reduction for libraries, cutting jobs, hours, funding for books and materials at libraries, and closing the Hamline-Midway Library by the summer, the Pioneer Press reported.

Coleman and Huggins said they have not made a final decision, but Coleman said he was not planning for anything to happen to the library building until the end of the year, the Pioneer Press reported.

As residents expressed concerns about the changes or closing of the library, Coleman and Huggins proposed that the library find ways to collaborate with other institutions or organizations to use the library space, the Star Tribune reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Monday that removed 8-year-old restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research, the Miami Herald reported via The Associated Press.

Obama also signed a memorandum calling for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to restore scientific integrity in government decisions, the New York Times reported.

In 2001, the Bush administration had restricted embryonic stem-cell research funding to stem-cell lines that had already been developed, supporting only research on lines already-developed lines, the Herald reported.

The executive order is directed at the National Institute of Health, requiring a draft of guidelines within the next 120 days that address embryonic stem-cell research, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Stem cells derived from embryos are able to develop into any type of tissue, but the embryo must be destroyed to harvest the stem cells, the Journal reported.

Advocates of embryonic stem-cell research point to the possibilities of discoveries of treatments for many diseases, including diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, the Times reported.

Opponents of the research argue that the destruction of embryos is destruction of human life, the Journal reported. They also point out the progress and possibilities of research on non-embryonic adult stem-cells, derived from umbilical cord blood, bone marrow or skin, the Times reported.

Obama said he hoped Congress would pass bipartisan legislation removing further restrictions, the Times reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Star Tribune advanced a Feb. 25 event at a Minneapolis mosque, focusing on the controversy surrounding the mosque, and suggesting that the event was intended to address concerns among the public.

The event was a prayer and dinner at a local mosque, but its context was important, and that was included in the story. A major point was that the FBI director had been invited.

The second paragraph of the advance gave the details of time and place of the event.

The rest of the story explains the context of controversy leading up to the event.

The sources included a spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations-MN, which seemed to be a sponsor of the event, and a special agent for the FBI in Minnesota. In this case, the sources were from two different perspectives in the story.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A University of Minnesota research team found that a common food additive was successful in preventing transmission of a virus that causes AIDS in monkeys, the Star Tribune reported. The findings were published in Nature on Wednesday.

Dr. Ashley Haase and Patrick Schlievert treated female rhesus monkeys with a gel containing glycerol monolaurate (GML) before exposing them to HIV. Two weeks later, none of the five monkeys had contracted HIV. In a control group that was not treated with the gel, four out of five had contracted the virus after the same time period, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

But researchers found that one monkey that was treated with the gel did develop the virus months later. The researchers suspected that this was due to later exposure, or a bit of undetected virus slipping by, the Star Tribune reported.

HIV utilizes the immune system's response to an infection to spread the virus throughout the body. GML freezes the cells that trigger a response by the immune system, therefore cutting off the usual way for the virus to spread, MPR reported.

The treatment would not help those who have already contracted the HIV virus, but would help to prevent the spread of HIV among uninfected people who may become exposed, the Star Tribune reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in a 5-0 decision that Al Franken cannot be certified as the winner of the U.S. Senate election until all legal challenges in state courts have been resolved, the Star Tribune reported.

Although Franken's legal team had argued that a 225-vote margin over Norm Coleman should be enough for him to receive an election certificate, but Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie had said it could not be issued until the end of legal proceedings, the Pioneer Press reported.

In a 5-0 opinion, the Supreme Court cited state law prohibiting issue of an election certificate until the legal cases have been concluded in state courts. The Court also cited federal law that does not require certification by the time the term begins in January. The Court said that the Senate could not seat Franken without certification, either, the Star Tribune reported.

On Friday, Franken's attorneys argued in the case over absentee ballots that Coleman's team had not presented enough evidence to warrant consideration of enough ballots to make up the 225-vote margin, the Pioneer Press reported.

The three-judge panel is expected decide soon about a motion to dismiss part or all of Coleman's case to consider more absentee ballots, the Pioneer Press reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

President Barack Obama said in an interview with the New York Times on Friday that it could be worthwhile to reach out to some moderate elements of the Taliban as part of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, the Times reported.

Obama said that there could be "comparable opportunities" to the efforts in Iraq to reach out to some militant groups alienated by Al-Qaida, the Times reported.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday that he the idea is "good news," and that identifying and reconciling with moderate parts of the Taliban has been the position of the Afghan government, the Star Tribune reported via The Associated Press.

Karzai said that some of the Taliban are beyond reconciliation. But he said that those who are fearful of returning to their country, or feel they are forced to stay with the Taliban, are welcome to reconciliation, the Star Tribune reported.

While Obama said that "troops are doing an extraordinary job in a difficult situation," he said the United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan, acknowledging that the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is complex, the Times reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pope Benedict XVI announced Sunday that he will travel to the Holy Land in May for the first papal visit to the region since 2000, the News & Observer reported via The Associated Press.

As part of his trip, he said he will be praying for "the precious gift of unity and peace for the Middle East and all of humanity," the News & Observer reported.

The Australian reported that Benedict has also been invited to Iraq by President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, according to a papal envoy to Jordan.

Benedict will visit Jordan, Israel, and Palestine during a pilgrimage May 8-15. He is planning to travel to Africa March 17-23, the News & Observer reported.

Benedict's pilgrimage, which will be the second official papal visit to Israel and his first, will include a visit of the largest mosque in Jordan, Masses in Jordan and Nazareth, and a visit to a Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, the News & Observer reported.

In Jordan, he is also expected to meet with leaders of Iraq's Chaldean Catholic Church, the country's largest Christian denomination, the Australian reported.

Benedict's trip to Africa will include visits to Cameroon and Angola, and meetings with Catholic bishops and Muslim representatives, the News & Observer reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NASA launched a telescope on Friday in search of other Earth-like planets, the New York Times reported.

The spacecraft Kepler was launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday night, the Times reported.

Over its three and a half years in orbit of the Sun, it will observe about 100,000 stars, ranging from 600 to 3,000 light years away, the Houston Chronicle reported via The Associated Press.

By looking continuously at the constellations Cygnus and Lyra, Kepler will look for any blips in the brightness of stars, which could indicate a planet, the Times reported.

A project manager of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said it is similar to a nighttime observation of an insect moving across a car headlight, the Chronicle reported.

Scientists are specifically looking for planets that are comparable to the Earth's size and composition, and are within a distance from a star that could support life, the Chronicle reported. Multiple scientists said that the project could answer the question of how common Earth-like planets are in the universe.

Astronomers on the project estimate that there could be dozens of such planets, the Times reported.

The entire project cost about $600 million, the Chronicle reported.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A brief Pioneer Press story highlighted one decision made at the St. Paul City Council meeting on Feb. 25.

The city council approved a plan to put a sidewalk and bicycle lane on Marshall Avenue on the border of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Pioneer Press reported.

The city council agenda only listed the matter in one line under a subject for discussion. It was described as improving bicycle and pedestrian facilities. On the agenda Web site, the line was linked to a video of the council's discussion of the matter.

While it was one of a few dozen lines in the agenda, it was the only one mentioned in the Pioneer Press story. But the story did include some points that were clearly part of the deeper discussion, and were missing from the council's posted agenda.

Posted by Marco LaNave at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)