Minneapolis

Starting in 1947, thousands of young families have lived on four Southeast Minneapolis city blocks, in housing provided by the University of Minnesota. But it wasn’t until last year that anyone raised the alarm that the land many of those families have called home appears to be a toxic waste dump.

During their joint General Assembly in Minneapolis this week, the National Council of Churches and Church World Service have a busy agenda: install a new president (a Minnesotan), vote on whether to make the body’s stance on nuclear disarmament an official resolution, and discuss issues like immigration reform and gun violence. The three-day gathering will [...]

Surveying voters outside of the city last May meant Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak should have registered a gubernatorial campaign committee, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board said in a ruling (pdf) announced today. The upshot: One R.T. Rybak campaign committee must pay another $26,500 to cover the cost of the survey. The board [...]

“As one of my good friends and supporters, I want you to know that today we filed the paperwork to create the R.T. Rybak for Governor Committee.” And so Minneapolis’ newly re-elected mayor at long last made his intentions clear — though murky syntax made it sound like he is one of his own good friends [...]

They went there to ensure that nobody was wrongfully turned away from a Minneapolis polling place infamous for electoral mishaps. They ended up across the street, with police threatening arrest if they set foot inside again.

The introduction of instant-runoff voting (IRV) added uncertainty to city council races in Minneapolis. But when all the votes are (finally) counted, it appears likely that every incumbent who ran for re-election will prevail.

Minneapolis’ first try at instant-runoff voting went well, judging by a low number of spoiled ballots. But the number of ballots cast was also low, spoiling the system’s otherwise successful debut.

As expected Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak won re-election by a landslide last night. So what does the mainstream media want to know most about his victory? If he’s running for governor.

Another “awesome” Minneapolis ballot getting a bit of Lizard People–style attention is that of mayoral hopeful John Charles Wilson, who’s running as the “Edgertonite National Party” candidate. Boingboing, the country’s number-five blog, picks up on it today, noting that the story of Wilson’s party affiliation makes the ballot even more interesting. As MnIndy’s Andy Birkey [...]

MPR’s Bob Collins catches a Lizard People–like ballot entry in today’s Minneapolis election: Running for mayor is one Joey Lombard. His party affiliation makes a nifty sentence on the ballot:

See the full ballot, via MPR, after the jump.