Fireside Chatroom

This May, voters in Farmington will consider whether to build a $24 million sports complex next to the as-yet-uncompleted $100 million new high school. The sports complex would include an Olympic size pool, tennis courts, a four court auxiliary gymnasium and two ice rinks capable of seating 1,000 guests. Overall I'd say the Pioneer Press had the better story, because they did a better job of seeking out comment from people opposed to the plan. The Star Tribune's story seems a little to conversational, and while they covered the lawsuit that is only briefly mentioned in the Press story, they don't include any real disagreement about the plan at all.

Posted by Michael Marchio at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 32-year-old man is being held on suspicion of killing a woman at the Chatham Square Apartments in Mankato, according to the Star Tribune. The Mankato Free-Press has a more extensive story here. The 53-year-old woman's name was Judith Kay Ellgen, and her body was discovered shortly after midnight on Saturday. Police suspect the man, Jody Kay Miller, being held knew Ellgen, but would not elaborate on their relationship. Both had telephone numbers listed as the Chatham Square Apartments but did not live together. The story says that police had a theory about what happened but refused to disclose it. More details are expected to be released in the coming days.

Posted by Michael Marchio at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The city of Minneapolis settled a suit last week for $2.3 million with a produce company that claims City Council actions hurt their business. Metro Produce Distributors Inc., was the target of a city council resolution to outlaw the practice of leaving the company's delivery trucks idling through the night. The noise caused by the trucks disturbed nearby residents in the Longfellow neighborhood, prompting the city council resolution. But a federal judge ruled in January that the council's actions unduly infringed on the company's business. The idling trucks depart from the Metro Produce distribution center between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. every day. The city decided to settle the matter rather than let the case go to trial where the amount could have been higher than the $2.3 million.

Star Trib

Posted by Michael Marchio at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ford Motor Company's 82-year-old plant on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul is getting set to sell its property for the highest possible price, which will mean mixed use for the land, according to analysts. In 2006, after months of speculation, Ford made it official that the St. Paul assembly plant for Ranger pickup trucks would be among the factories closing in an effort to pull the company out of its financial hole. The company hopes to have the land rezoned and cleaned of pollution so it can sell the land, situated near St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood, for the highest amount possible. A city task force has been set up to examine development options for the site.

Star Trib

Pioneer Press

Posted by Michael Marchio at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced on Tuesday that he would oppose and veto a new bill that could expand the state's funding of stem cell research to include embryonic stem cells. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Dick Cohen, (DFL-St. Paul) does not specifically endorse using embryonic cells, but leave open the possibility of doing so, prompting Gov. Pawlenty to announce he would not support such a measure. While Pawlenty says he supports limited stem cell funding, including cells from discarded umbilicial cords and adults, he opposes the use of cells where human life being produced from the embryo is still theoretically possible.

Embryonic stem cells are the most controversial area of stem cell research, because they require that human embryos be destroyed in the research process. This has drawn the ire of anti-abortion activists, including the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, one of the state's most powerful anti-abortion lobbies. Proponents of the research note that only embryos that are to be destroyed regardless are used in research, and diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and others could be cured through the research.

Read the Star Trib story here or the Pioneer Press story here.

Posted by Michael Marchio at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reuters reported on Monday that human beings are the reason for global warming. A panel of scientists from over 130 nations concluded the burning of fossil fuels over the last half century has been the main catalyst for what they believe is will lead to more droughts, heat waves and rising sea levels caused by the melting of the polar ice caps. Even if greenhouse gas emissions are capped, they say, these sea levels could continue for the next 1,000 years. Check out the NYT story here .

Posted by Michael Marchio at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)