Government

Too often we deal in theory, not action. We expound at the coffeehouse about how the country should be governed, but we fail to run for office, attend caucuses, or even vote. We complain that our kid is not playing shortstop, but we don’t hit ground balls to him. We plan to organize the closet before a family visit, but…well, relatives have come and gone and the closet is still the pits. MORE »

From the nation’s capitol to the state capitol, pols are crossing their fingers in the hope that Ford Motor Company will keep producing Ranger pickup trucks at its St. Paul factory through 2011, as suggested in news reports last week. U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, Gov. Tim Pawlenty and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman all expressed cautious hope that Ford execs will put off the plant’s closing, now planned for 2009, by two years. But while Ford workers await official word on their fates from Detroit, they may be surprised by what they see cruising past the plant on Mississippi River Boulevard: Toyota pickup trucks emblazoned with a logo celebrating a partnership between the City of Saint Paul and Ford rival Toyota. MORE »

Minnesota 2020 announced its arrival last year by issuing its first research report, “Chasing Smokestacks, Stranding Small Business,” that identified shortcomings and chronic problems facing rural Minnesota and small businesses with economic development. MORE »

Workers in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office have alleged under oath that current AG Lori Swanson and her predecessor, Mike Hatch, may have illegally diverted federal monies meant to investigate Medicaid fraud, and that a legal settlement negotiated by Swanson and Hatch financially benefited a nonprofit organization that later endorsed Hatch’s campaign for governor. MORE »