Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

STATEWIDE: Ask Al more. Five dollars and cab fare to New York City will get you a lunch audience with Sen. Franken. [Washington Post's In the Loop]

TWIN CITIES: Random acts of criminality on YouTube. Police are on the trail of local thugs who posted a clip showing them attacking people on bikes and on foot. [Fox 9]

PRIOR LAKE: Native Americans get ready for Copenhagen. They want a say in climate-change talks. [Associated Press]

DASSEL: Steve Dille out. The Republican state senator won’t run again; he was one of the eight GOPers who helped override Gov. Pawlenty’s veto of transportation funding in 2008. [Litchfield Independent Review; Polinaut]

PRAIRIE ISLAND: Lege has last say on nuke storage. The people’s reps at the state Capitol could reverse a regulatory OK for Xcel Energy to store more nuclear waste. [Rochester Post-Bulletin]

STATEWIDE: Or possibly universe-wide? Minnesota Public Radio’s designs on dominance in news. [Braublog]

The dispute stems from mailings produced by the St. Paul Better Ballot Campaign claiming support for instant-runoff voting by President Obama, the DFL party and the League of Women Voters of Minnesota, among others. St. Paul voters passed a ballot measure on Tuesday adopting the voting system for municipal elections by a 52-47 percent margin.

But opponents of instant-runoff voting, most notably the No Bad Ballots Committee, filed a pair of complaints with the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings crying foul. Specifically they believe that IRV supporters flouted a state statute requiring that written consent be obtained from an individual or organization prior to claiming their support for a candidate or cause. The No Bad Ballots Committee wants the election results tossed out.

David Schultz, a political science and law professor at Hamline University, believes the odds of that happening are remote — even if IRV supporters ran afoul of election laws. “Judges never want to overturn elections,” he notes. “I think they’re barking at the moon on this one.”

Sheehy previously held a telephone hearing on the matter. The complaints will now be heard by a three-judge panel on November 18. If the judges find merit to the allegations, they can levy a fine of up to $5,000 or refer the matter to a county attorney for consideration of criminal charges.

An appeal would mean another return trip to the city, an expensive proposition that already has cramped her campaigning style in the final weeks before the Nov. 3 election. Hill was set to fly in and out of Pittsburgh today so she could be back in Minneapolis for a Ward Three candidate debate Thursday at the University of Minnesota.

Pittsburgh was the site of a September meeting of leaders from the G-20 group of nations that drew sizable street protests — protests that Hill says she was only trying to cover as a journalist for Indymedia when police arrested her, damaged her camera and confiscated a video cassette.

Hill is on the Minneapolis ballot as a “Civil Disobedience” candidate. She was also arrested outside the Rage Against the Machine concert in downtown Minneapolis during the 2008 Republican National Convention (charges were dropped), and has coordinated several “End the Fed” demonstrations at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank.

The New York Times reported Tunheim’s remarks in a front-page story Saturday on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by Minneapolis-born journalist Jefferson Morley, formerly an editor at the Washington Post and past national editorial director for the Center for Independent Media, the Minnesota Independent’s nonprofit parent.

After years of pressing the CIA to release its records, Morley got an appeals court earlier this year to force the agency to ‘fess up to George Joannides’ role as case officer in Miami at the time of Kennedy assassination. But the CIA still has nearly 300 documents about Joannides it won’t reveal, citing “grave” national security concerns.

Tunheim told the Times he may ask the CIA for redacted versions of the documents even if Morley is ultimately stymied by the Washington, D.C., federal court.

“Seems like a bit of a slam dunk,” noted Jon Stewart, in a segment on The Daily Show last night. “How is anyone against this?”

But the provision merely passed the Senate by a 68-30 margin, along party lines. Stewart goes on to gleefully savage Sen. Jeff Sessions and other Republicans for opposing the measure. Here’s the clip:

Photo: MnIndy

Minnesota businessman Nasser Kazeminy is asking a Texas court for $400,000 from a man who said Kazeminy funneled money to former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. A judge in Houston hears Kazeminy’s defamation complaint today.

Kazeminy, a friend and benefactor to Coleman, was targeted by a separate suit filed shortly before Election Day last year. That suit alleged that Kazeminy tried to strong-arm executives at a Texas business he controls into sending $100,000 to the St. Paul insurance firm where Coleman’s wife, Laurie, works.

Former CEO Paul McKim and another former official of Deep Marine Technology, Inc., made the allegation in sworn testimony as part of the lawsuit, which a judge dismissed in August — leaving the option for both sides to file new lawsuits.

Coleman, who was not named in the suit, has accused his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, and Star Tribune newspaper reporters of helping to orchestrate the charges days before the election.

Coleman contends the lawsuit hurt him in the election that he lost to Franken by 312 votes, a result affirmed by the Minnesota Supreme Court in June after a prolonged legal battle that kept Minnesota’s second Senate seat empty for six months.

Coleman’s own legal and other expenses related to the case could be covered by his campaign committee, the Federal Election Commission ruled.

People in Minnesota and Texas have been reported to have been interviewed by FBI agents investigating the money-funneling allegations.

Al Flowers

Al Flowers believes the cops are out to get him. The mayoral candidate filed a lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court Wednesday alleging that Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies violated his Constitutional rights while executing a search warrant at an Edina home last month.

Flowers was present during the raid and was ticketed for possessing a small amount of marijuana. But the Minneapolis resident insists that the pot wasn’t his and that officers set him up because he was advising people at the residence of their rights. Flowers also claims that the cops improperly seized his laptop computer and $240 in cash.

“It is unfortunate that this is a temptation for law enforcement, to steal cash from people at scenes like this one, assuming that they lack the know-how, clout or finances to be able to get it back,” the lawsuit states. “Or worse yet, believing that the courts will not believe a black person against the word of law enforcement — who will undoubtedly claim it was not taken.”

Flowers alleges that the citation is part of a pattern of harassment from public employees. In July his house was condemned by city inspectors, purportedly because the waters was shut off, an assertion that Flowers disputed at the time.

“From day one of this campaign, we told Minneapolis voters that ‘opponents of change’ would use every tactic under the sun to discredit our campaign and silence the many citizens who are demanding more from status quo politicians,” Flowers said in a press release regarding the pot bust. “This latest accusation was not only expected, but comes at a time when incumbents with no vision for the future typically launch ‘October Surprises.’”

Flowers is seeking the return of his property and more than $50,000 in damages. Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies Joe Poidinger, Matt Lunde and Erik Fleck are named as defendants in the case.

“There’s no allegation that he had marijuana on his person,” says Jill Clark, the attorney handling the case. “There’s no allegation it was in his pocket. It was found in a house that he had been in.”

Flowers has sued the city numerous times over the years, including a lawsuit against Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels filed earlier this year. In 2007 he won a $3 judgment against the city for violating his free speech rights.

Flowers is among 10 challengers looking to unseat Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. He is running as a Democrat, but does not have the party’s endorsement.

Photo: Paul Demko, Minnesota Independent

Shortly after 10 a.m. on Monday two yellow school buses pulled up in front of the corporate headquarters of UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka. Roughly 100 people, carrying signs that read “Health insurance reform now,” filed off the buses. A half dozen protesters then locked arms, sat down on the sidewalk and blocked the entrance to the office tower.

“We’re here today at UnitedHealth group to stop business as usual,” Tee McClenty, an emergency room technician at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood, told the crowd. “Why? Big insurance has a lot to lose if bold reform happens this fall. And it needs to. We’ve waited too long and we need a public option now.”

UnitedHealth Group is the nation’s largest private health insurance company. It has drawn the ire of reform advocates by spending more than $600,000 per day on lobbying efforts in Washington, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The insurance firm has also been criticized for providing its top executive with lavish pay, including $744 million in stock options. The protest was organized by the nationwide coalition Health Care for America Now and was the third such event directed at UnitedHealth Group in recent weeks.

The Rev. Grant Stevenson, president of the social justice organization ISAIAH and pastor at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in St. Paul, also addressed the gathering.

“We know that if the insurance companies win, we lose,” Stevenson told the crowd. “There’s a choice to be made and Congress needs to be on our side. Congress needs to stand with you and with me and with the people that we care about. The insurance companies cannot continue to direct the way that health care is delivered and paid for in this country. It’s wrong.”

The assembled protesters then took turns explaining how the current health care system had failed their friends and family. “Business as usual is not working for people with preexisting conditions like my son,” said one gentleman. “Business as usual is not working for the millions of people who lost their jobs in the economic downturn,” added another woman.

After about 20 minutes, a half dozen squad cars from the Minnetonka Police Department arrived on the scene. When the six protesters blocking the entrance refused to voluntarily vacate the premises, the police handcuffed them and transported them to the Hennepin County Jail. They were cited for trespassing. Among those arrested were Julie Schnell, president of Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota, and Anna Brelje, political director for the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation.

Photo: Paul Demko, MnIndy

WASHINGTON — Just in case he wasn’t familiar with it, Sen. Al Franken decided to read the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution to David Kris, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, who was testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee today to urge reauthorization of expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act.

Franken opened by acknowledging that unlike most of his colleagues in the Senate, he’s not a lawyer, but according to his research “most Americans aren’t lawyers” either. He’d also done research on the Patriot Act, he said, and in particular, the “roving wiretap” provision that allows the FBI to get a warrant to wiretap a an unnamed target and his or her various and changing cell phones, computers and other communication devices.

Noting that he received a copy of the Constitution when he was sworn in as a senator, he proceeded to read it to Kris, emphasizing this part:  “no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

“That’s pretty explicit language,” noted Franken, asking Kris how the “roving wiretap” provision of the Patriot Act can meet that requirement if it doesn’t require the government to name its target.

Kris looked flustered and mumbled that “this is surreal,” apparently referring to having to respond to Franken’s question. “I would defer to the other branch of government,” he said, referring to the courts, prompting Franken to interject: “I know what that is.”

Kris explained that the courts have held that the law’s requirements that the person be described, though not named, is sufficient to meet the demands of the Constitution. That did not appear to completely satisfy Franken’s concerns.

Today’s Judiciary Committee hearing has so far proceeded much the way yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee subcommittee hearing did, with Democrats (except the Justice Department witness) expressing skepticism that the current law adequately protects Americans’ civil liberties and Republicans emphasizing the need to have all possible tools for law enforcement available because another major terrorist attack could occur at any time.

Daphne Eviatar is a law reporter for the Washington Independent.

The case under appeal comes from SaveWCAL, a group that contends St. Olaf owned former radio station WCAL-FM as a charitable trust, and as such should have gotten a court’s okay before selling it to Minnesota Public Radio to create The Current, 89.3 FM. Oral arguments in the appeal are set for Oct. 27, with a ruling due by early next year.