Minnesota Independent

Members of punk ministry You Can Run claiming tax break for clergy housing

By Andy Birkey | 12.09.09 | 3:00 pm

For a Christian ministry to have ordained leaders is not surprising, but You Can Run But You Cannot Hide has six — and some of them are employed in a punk band that brings its Christian message to public schools. The members’ status raises questions about their activities in public schools as well as whether they are qualified to take advantage of tax breaks normally afforded to pastors and priests, including $54,532 in allowances for clergy housing.

Star Tribune scrubs Kiffmeyer’s name from stories on faith-based bank closure

By Paul Schmelzer | 10.26.09 | 12:35 pm

Updated: Shortly after the Star Tribune reported that the faith-based Riverview Community Bank had been shut down by the state, we — like others — noticed that the paper’s online report deleted a reference to Mary Kiffmeyer, the former Secretary of State and current state representative who has close ties to the bank.

The bank that God built shuttered by state

By Andy Birkey | 10.26.09 | 9:01 am

In 2000, evangelist Chuck Ripka says he had a vision from God: He was to start a faith-based bank in Otsego, and with the backing of the Lord his Riverview Community Bank could not fail. In fact, God told Ripka…

Kiffmeyer’s bank cited for ‘unsafe banking practices’

By Andy Birkey | 06.02.09 | 7:22 am

Riverview Community Bank in Otsego, Minn., has been cited by the FDIC in connection with “unsafe and unsound banking practices.” Former Secretary of State and current Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, is an owner and director of the bank — an institution that founders say was inspired by the hand of God.

Secretaries of state rock on: Growe lauds recount, Kiffmeyer chases Olson, Ritchie won’t quit

By Chris Steller | 03.25.09 | 10:22 am

Minnesota’s secretaries of state traditionally hold the post a long time, and even after they leave office they like to stay in the game. DFLer Joan Growe writes in the Pioneer Press today that former Republican U.S. Sen. Norm…

Photo voter ID bill defeated in committee

By Andy Birkey | 02.12.09 | 11:54 am

A proposed bill that would make Minnesota’s voter requirements among the strictest in the nation was voted down in the House State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Committee on Thursday.

GOP: ‘No reports of voter fraud’ in Minnesota

By Andy Birkey | 02.09.09 | 3:07 pm

To stamp out voter fraud, GOP legislators have offered a proposal that would make Minnesota’s voter-ID laws the most restrictive in the country. But according to their own party, no actual cases of voter fraud have been reported here.

Day and Kiffmeyer trash oval-impaired voters; Ritchie preaches oval love

By Chris Steller | 01.13.09 | 10:19 am

: Left to right: Kiffmeyer, Day, Ritchie

Voters who have trouble filling in an oval on a ballot get no sympathy from state Sen. Dick…

Kiffmeyer’s can of worms is Coleman’s recount battle plan

By Chris Steller | 01.11.09 | 1:20 pm

Sometimes when the news leaves you seeing floaters before your eyes, all you have to do is wait a day or two for things to come into focus. On Friday, former Secretary of State (and freshly elected state representative)…

Déjà vu meets snafu at recount Ground Zero

By Chris Steller | 12.05.08 | 4:56 pm

Minneapolis Precinct 1, Ward 3 is now the latest and greatest Ground Zero of messed-up election practices to be exposed during Minnesota’s statewide recount in the U.S. Senate contest between Democrat Al Franken and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. It’s there, in the Dinkytown neighborhood on the edge of the University of Minnesota campus, that poll workers recorded 133 more votes than they have ballots to show for it. It’s also there that students trying to vote via Minnesota’s same-day registration process last month were turned away — in a re-run of a major snafu at another campus polling place during the last general election two years ago.