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More than 1,000 people took to the streets of downtown Minneapolis Sunday as part of a nationwide movement protesting the passage of amendments in states across the country banning gay marriage.
The crowd gathered at Hennepin County Government Center and marched to Loring Park, the Star Tribune reported.
Anne Phibbs, director for GLBTA programs at the University of Minnesota, told the Minnesota Daily that the protests provided a way for the gay communities to come together.
The Star Tribune reports that the idea for protests came from Seattle blogger Amy Balliett and spread quickly online, soon involving tens of thousands of people in hundreds of communities.
State Sen. Joe Marty and and state Rep. Karen Clark were both on hand for the rally and vowed to push for more gay rights legislation.
The Minnesota Daily reports that the passage of Prop 8 in California caused a bit of an uproar after blacks who voted to support Barack Obama also overwhelmingly supported banning gay marriage.
According to the Star Tribune, all 30 states that have voted on gay marriage have voted to ban it.

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A professor at St. Olaf has confessed on a national blog to stealing McCain campaign yard signs, describing the experience as thrilling and satisfying, if immature.
Phillip Busse a visiting professor teaching media studies at the Northfield college said he hoped to point out the bizarre things people do during the intense political season, the Star Tribune reports.
Busse wrote an essay for the online blog Huffington Post, stating "yanking out the signs and running like a scared rabbit back to my idling car was one of the single-most exhilarating and empowering political acts that I have ever done.''
The Pioneer Press reports that Busse expressed remorse in an e-mail to the Northfield News, calling his actions “immature and impetuous.�
According to the Star Tribune, Busse has already spoken with sheriffs about offering restitution from the signs, but he won’t find out if he will be charged until next week.
A St. Olaf representative said that they do not condone Busse’s actions, noting that he is a visiting professor at the school teaching one class for one semester.
Sign stealing has affected both parties, with a McCain campaign aide saying that an estimated 1,000 yard signs had been stolen in Minnesota alone. An Obama campaign spokesman estimated that 3,000 Obama signs had been stolen or destroyed.

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The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis likely resulted from a design flaw that had existed since the bridge was built, the Star Tribune reports.
According to sources, key steel gusset plates were only one-half inch thick instead of an inch and this difference made the bridge unable to bear the load that was placed on it by two additional renovations, the Star Tribune reports.
According to the Associated Press, investigators had long focused on the gusset plates as the possible start to the collapse that killed 13 people on August 1, 2007.
Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat, had been critical of the National Transportation Safety Board for focusing so much on the gusset plates, and still expressed doubt even after the leaked findings.
“It stretches both credibility and past experience with bridge structural failure to find causation through a single factor,� Oberstar was quoted as saying in the Associated Press.
The NTSB will publicly review the report in a hearing scheduled for Nov. 13, after which they will issue a final report on the cause of the collapse and provide recommendations for preventing future collapses, the Star Tribune reports.

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A federal judge ruled Wednesday that exit pollsters may conduct their surveys within 100 feet of Minnesota polling stations.
The Star Tribune reports that Minnesota law restricts anyone who is not voting or registering to vote on election day from being within 100 feet of the polling place.
Numerous media organizations filed suit against the state and Judge Michael J. Davis found the law to be in violation of the news organizations' First Amendment rights.
The state argued that allowing pollsters too close to the polling places would have interfered with voters' rights to privacy, the Pioneer Press reports.
However, Davis's ruling only allows pollsters from news organizations inside the 100 feet mark.
In the Pioneer Press, Susan Buckley, an attorney for the various news organizations, called the ruling a “terrific victory for the First Amendment and for the right of voters in Minnesota to express their views about this extraordinary election.�

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An 18-year-old Minneapolis man is dead following a shooting Saturday night.
The victim, Jesse Mickelson, was found by police just before 7 p.m. at the 4100 block of 29th avenue S. and was pronounced dead at the scene, the Star Tribune reports.
KARE11 reports that Mickelson was at a party celebrating his cousin's birthday.
A number of kids were outside playing football in an alley when a car pulled into the alley and opened fire.
Police say it is too early to determine if the shooting is gang related. KARE11 reports that the family denies Mickelson was in a gang.
“He's never gotten into trouble with the law,� Tina Rosebear, Mickelson's sister, said. “He's never done anything that he wasn't supposed to do.�
The police were questioning witnesses about a white Dodge Intrepid that was seen in the alley around the time of the shooting, the Star Tribune reports.
This was the 30th homicide in Minneapolis so far this year.

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Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak gave a progress report Friday on the cities initiative to reduce and prevent youth violence.
Citing statistics that show people ages 10 to 24 years old have committed only 25 percent of violent crimes in Minneapolis, down from 50 percent two years ago, Rybak heralded the city's “great progress,� Minneapolis Public Radio Reports.
The initiative to cut down youth violence was launched in January and seeks to combine the resources of police, schools and other social service agencies to attack the root of the problem.
The Star Tribune reports that the efforts ranged from enlisting volunteers to mentor area youth and extending park hours and programs in crime-troubled areas to having nurses visit pregnant teens and young parents to help them stay in school.
Specifics from the report show that misdemeanor assaults by those in the 10 to 24 year old range are down by 30 percent and firearm possessions arrests are down by 9 percent.
The success of the initiative is drawing national attention as the U.S. Conference of Mayors and National League of Cities plans to incorporate parts of the strategy into a national crime agenda and the U.S. Department of Justice gave the city a grant to hire a gang prevention coordinator.
Rybak did state that the city still did not meet one benchmark as youth murders rose from eight a year ago to nine this year.
"That is eight too many, that is nine too many. So we have not reached our goal,� Rybak told MPR.

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The Metropolitan Council said Thursday that the proposed fares for the Northstar rail line are too low, the Pioneer Press reports.
The Met council canceled three public hearings on fairs and instead asked that more research be done.
The Star Tribune reports that the council wants fares to cover a higher portion of the operating fees for the line that will run approximately 40 miles from the northwest suburbs to downtown Minneapolis.
The proposed fees would have covered between 18 and 24 percent of the lines operating costs. Fares for other buses and railways in the Twin Cities cover about 35 percent of the operating cost, the Star Tribune reports.
Met Council Chairman Peter Bell told the Pioneer Press "We thought we should measure twice and cut once before we establish what the fares should be.� Once the hearings start, fares can not be raised.
University of Minnesota transit expert Frank Douma told the Pioneer Press that commuters would have to way the fare against a myriad of costs associated with driving, including gas, insurance and parking downtown.
He described the rail as “a pretty significant alternative that has never been there before.�

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A lawsuit alleging excessive force by police at the Republican National Convention was set in motion Friday the Pioneer Press reports.
Lawyers for Mick Kelly, 51 of Minneapolis, issued a notice of intent to file a lawsuit Friday, claiming that Kelly was falsely arrested and that his rights to free speech and freedom from excessive force were violated.
The Star Tribune reports that Kelly is claiming that he was struck at close range by a police fired projectile during a demonstration on Sept. 4. Kelly was then arrested and cited at a sit-in in St. Paul for presence at an unlawful assembly.
Kelly suffered a severe bruise and swelling on his stomach after being struck with the projectile, describing the experience to the Pioneer Press as “incredibly painful.�
The suit is asking for $250,000 in damages and could be filed in federal court as early as next week.
The Pioneer Press reports that this is the first lawsuit filed in relation to police action at the Republican National Convention.
The Star Tribune quotes St. Paul City Attorney John Choi as saying, “We are confident that all of the facts will support our police, that the police acted appropriately in this case.�

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What police first believed to be a motorcycle accident, they now think is a murder.
Natasha Waalen was found dead early Friday morning, from what appeared to be a motorcycle accident, the Star Tribune reported.
However, Waalen's investigators discovered that some of Waalen's injuries were not consistent with a motorcycle crash.
By Friday night, police had arrested Waalen's boyfriend, 33-year-old Ryan Boland, on suspicion of murder, the Pioneer Press reported.
As of Saturday night, Boland was still in custody awaiting charges and police had offered no motive.
Neighbors of the two were shocked by the allegations. Although some did note a little strife between the two, they all said they did not expect this tragedy.
One neighbor was quoted by the Star Tribune as saying “I hope they made a mistake, because I can't believe he did that.�

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University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks unveiled his budget request plan to university Board of Regents Friday.
The Pioneer Press reports that the plan is asking for $141.2 million in new money from the state legislature over the next two years.
Minnesota Public Radio reports that there are three major cruxes to Bruininks request.
Bruininks is requesting $95 million for faculty and staff raises for the next two years. He is also asking for $16 million to put towards student scholarships. Bruininks especially hopes to assist students coming from middle-income backgrounds. Bruininks final major request is $30 million to further increase research at the university.
University regent Dean Johnson told MPR that he told Bruininks that “he faces an uphill battle in asking for an increase in funding, because the state faces tough economic times.�
The Board of Regents will vote in October whether or not to submit the plan to the legislature, and the legislature won't vote on spending until their spring session.
If Bruininks doesn't get all the funding he requests, students could face even higher tuition and the school deeper budget cuts.
Bruininks proposed plan already includes a 4.5 percent increase in tuition and $26 million in budget cuts, according to the Pioneer Press, but Bruininks cited those two areas as spots where more money could be raised if necessary.

Posted by Conor Shine at 9:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak announced a plan Thursday that will review the impact the Republican National convention had on the cities various law enforcement agencies the Star Tribune reported.
Rybak described the convention as a success overall but is pushing for closer reviews of several matters.
Minnesota Public Radio reports that Rybak “wants the police department to conduct an 'After Action Review' which will focus on events in Minneapolis.�
The Star Tribune reports that police will also be reviewing the strategies used during the convention to determine which were most effective and then recommend any necessary policy changes.
The Minneapolis Police Department will also be working with the independent St. Paul investigation into similar matters.
Other city institutions involved in the review will be the City Attorney's office and the civil rights department.
The City Attorney's office will be analyzing the way arrests and citations were handled. It will also be analyzing the economic impact the convention had on the justice system.
Rybak told MPR, “We also want to keep our eyes on the cost within the criminal justice system, which, frankly, I don't feel we anticipated enough.�
The civil rights department will be compiling and reviewing any complaints related to the convention. However, Rybak told MPR that there have not been any complaints filed.

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