Everybody loves Tom Sorel. That was the message at this afternoon’s gathering of the Senate Transportation Committee. Sorel has been serving as the state’s Commissioner of Transportation since April, but today he faced a confirmation hearing at the Capitol.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is calling for the resignation of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a man with whom he shared a ticket but apparently little else except antipathy. According to Quinn, the two men haven’t spoken since Aug. 2, 2007. That was the day after the I-35W bridge fell in Minneapolis, an event that did not trigger estrangement between Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, who was then also Transportation Commissioner. But the distant relationship between Blagojevich and his second-in-command does have at least one parallel in Minnesota, from the time of the last great statewide election recount in 1962.
Up until Wednesday, Republican National Convention delegates could expect to see video of Guantanamo detainees, scenes from the Iraq war, and movies like “Body of War” broadcast on huge Jumbotron trucks from the capitol front lawn. But thanks to Minnesota’s second-highest constitutional officer, Republican Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, the project’s permit was denied.
That’s not the end of it, though: The digital billboard’s sponsor, True Blue Minnesota, is heading to court this afternoon in hopes of winning back the right to present the videos.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty is clearly among the frontrunners for the No. 2 spot on the Republican ticket. Every beltway wonk has him on their short list and Marc Ambinder recently reported on a T-Paw…
Gov. Pawlenty has basked in wide praise over the last 24 hours because his pick to lead MnDOT, Tom Sorel, is an actual transportation expert — not a political hack like former commissioner Carol Molnau or a PR…
Divisiveness and controversy have been the result of more than a few of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s commissioner nominations over the last four years. As Rachel Stassen-Berger at the Pioneer Press’ politics blog, Political Animal, points out, not only has Pawlenty…
In a 44-22 vote by Minnesota’s state Senate today, Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau was removed from her post as Commissioner of Transportation.
The Senate declined to confirm Molnau, who has been under fire for her response to the Interstate 35W…
Will Thursday be the last day of Carol Molnau’s tenure as transportation commissioner? It appears so.
Senate Transportation Committee officials are declining comment until after Thursday morning’s Senate floor session, and TPT’s Mary Lahammer is reporting…
Lt. Governor and Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau was not confirmed to her post by the Minnesota Senate last January, a fact that has fueled speculation that the embattled Republican may be voted down by the Minnesota Senate and removed from…
Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, who serves as commissioner of transportation, and Met Council Chair Peter Bell have recommended that “no further study” be done on adding a possible light rail extension to the new 35W bridge, a decision that’s drawing…
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