Local

In Minneapolis’ tenth ward, four candidates — including a well-funded DFL endorsee, a natural foods chef and an unaffiliated independent — are vying to win the seat that’ll be vacated by Ralph Remington, who’s stepping down. The ward, which encompasses much of Uptown, is among the city’s most densely populated.

Minneapolis’ First Avenue appears to have canceled an Oct. 4 concert by controversial Jamaican reggae artist Buju Banton after the Minnesota Independent inquired about the appearance. Banton, whose lyrics have advocated killing gay men — both with submachine guns and by pouring acid on them — has had a handful of shows canceled by venues after pressure from the public.

Under pressure from the religious-right legal outfit Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), the city of Elk River removed an ordinance that banned religious groups from holding worship services in the city’s library. The council voted on Aug. 17 to remove the restriction.

As if the 19th-century founders of once-flush, now-foundering newspapers didn’t have reasons enough to turn in their graves, last week two local landmarks associated with St. Paul Pioneer Press founder Frederick Driscoll found distressing ways into news columns again.

MinnPost’s David Brauer takes the Star Tribune to task today for failing to credit Minnesota Public Radio on an MPR story that the Strib got via the Associated Press. Irony alert: Frustrated by just such uncredited swiping, the Strib banned local media from picking up its stories via AP earlier this year. Double-irony alert: Yesterday, [...]

Concerned residents say they will demonstrate at the board meeting of the Anoka-Hennepin School District on Monday evening following news reports that two teachers in the district conspired to harass a student they thought was gay. The district agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a human rights complaint filed by the student’s parent.

The Internal Revenue Service’s investigations into alleged tax violations by two Minnesota-based churches have been thwarted by procedural problems. Those cases highlight the special tax-exempt status churches receive under federal law, but also problems at the IRS. While reforms are underway, the religious right is planning to take advantage of a neutered IRS by encouraging a mass law-breaking day when churches endorse candidates from the pulpit.

An Afton, Minn., home was vandalized last weekend when someone painted the words “HIV,” “AIDS,” “gay” and “Help,” in large green letters. Ross Sveback says he was leaving for work last Sunday and noticed the graffiti.
“I was disgusted that this person felt the need to go out of their way to do this,” he said.
Police [...]

It was only a matter of time before the religious right would chime in to announce that a tornado that hit parts of Minneapolis on Wednesday was a warning from God that the Lutherans should not relax doctrine related to homosexuality. “Jesus Christ,” wrote John Piper, pastor at Minneapolis’ Bethlehem Baptist Church, “controls the wind, [...]

Two close calls marked the third day of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on Wednesday. The nearly 2,000 people assembled at the Minneapolis Convention Center took cover as a tornado nipped the building and damaged the steeple of a Lutheran church across the street. A short time later, the 1,014 voting members passed a social statement relaxing church doctrine on homosexuality with a dramatic vote that was exactly a two-thirds majority.