Protests

Updated: Melissa Hill, a “Civil Disobedience” candidate for Minneapolis City Council, tells about her arrest in Pittsburgh Friday while trying to cover the G20 protests for Indymedia.

A protester at Saturday’s healtlh care rally with President Obama says she wants the administration out, calling them “thugs.” She elaborated: “They bring in communists. They lie. They bring in terrorists, Bill Ayers. … And the media covers for him. The media are down on their knees in front of Obama sucking as hard as they can.”

The Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior drew a record 12,000 people for the 23rd annual LGBT Pride event Labor Day weekend. Anti-gay protesters shouted at parade participants and festival-goers, while politicians angling for the DFL nomination for governor worked the crowds. The festival boasted a big name act with international drag sensation RuPaul.

Two teachers accusing of coordinated harassment of a student have been put on leave by the Anoka-Hennepin School District. The school district has come under heavy criticism for what community members see as lax disciplinary action against Diane Cleveland and Walter Filson, who are accused of repeatedly harassing one of their students because they thought he was gay.

A new study says the net economic impact of the 2008 Republican National Convention on Minnesota’s economy was $170 million, Minnesota Public Radio reports. (The research was done for the Minneapolis St. Paul 2008 Host Committee by the University of St. Thomas’ Center for Retail Excellence, so you know it’s good.) But when the St. [...]

Gov. Pawlenty isn’t the only one feeling a chill at the one-year anniversary of events around the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The RNC cast a few odd shadows at a forum for candidates seeking to replace Pawlenty in Minneapolis this morning.

Do not be alarmed, you residents near the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant. The state, federal and local officials you see acting as if there’s been a terrible nuclear accident are doing just that: acting. They do this every other year, at the insistence of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This year, Tuesday and Wednesday [...]

When health care reform protesters packed the St. Paul office of U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum Friday, at least two GOP office-seekers were in their midst: Republicans Pat Igo, a candidate for St. Paul school board, and Jamie Delton, who is again seeking the Minnesota House seat in District 65B.

As the heat gets turned up on the health care reform debate, anti-immigrant activists are using the issue to whip up fear and anger toward immigrants, portraying them as a costly and burdensome drain on any taxpayer-supported U.S. health care system.

Thanks to instant-runoff voting and no primary, everyone running for office in Minneapolis will stay in the race through the general election. For lesser-known candidates, that may be most significant impact of the city’s new election system.