Minnesota Independent

GOP House leaders fast-track bill to defund NPR

By John Tomasic | 03.17.11 | 11:46 am

Rep. John Kline is the only member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation to cosponsor Colorado Republican Doug Lamborn’s bill to ban federal funding for National Public Radio programming. Lamborn’s bill has gained traction among Republican House leaders just as a conservative media campaign waged against the public broadcaster has made news. Majority Leader Eric Cantor, looking to strike while the iron is hot, fast-tracked the bill, lining up a vote for today. The bill cuts no money from the federal budget.

Dayton leads by 11 in MPR/Humphrey poll

By Andy Birkey | 09.29.10 | 11:22 am

According to a Minnesota Public Radio/Humphrey Institute poll, 38 percent of likely voters support DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton and 27 percent support the GOP’s Tom Emmer, the largest lead posted for Dayton so far in the race. Independence Party candidate Tom Horner got 13 percent and 20 percent were undecided. A similar poll in August showed a dead heat between Dayton and Emmer at 34 percent.

KSTP, MPR: Emmer missed-votes ad ‘essentially accurate’

By Paul Schmelzer | 08.19.10 | 3:57 pm

Two fact-checks done by local news outlets find that the Alliance for a Better Minnesota’s newest ad, which claims “Tom Emmer missed one out of every five votes in the state legislature,” is accurate — with caveats.

Poll: More Minnesotans oppose tea party than support it

By Andy Birkey | 05.20.10 | 12:27 pm

While the majority of Minnesotans don’t have an opinion on the Tea Party movement, more are opposed than support it, according to a poll by Minnesota Public Radio and the Humphrey Institute. Twenty percent of Minnesotans say they…

E-Verify vendor vows to sue state, MPR

By Chris Steller | 12.14.09 | 1:50 pm

The Texas firm hired by the State of Minnesota to vet new hires for legal work status says the state and Minnesota Public Radio can expect a lawsuit, after MPR reported that Lookout Services made…

MPR maps travels of Tim Pawlenty, governor of United States of Minnesota

By Chris Steller | 09.18.09 | 4:01 pm

U.S. Sen. Al Franken may be able to draw them freehand in a couple minutes, but Gov. Pawlenty is on track to actually visit all 50 states by next July. That’s if he keeps up…

Pawlenty: Obama’s ‘scamming’ and ‘false advertising’ won’t save health reform

By Chris Steller | 07.24.09 | 12:19 pm

Gov. Pawlenty got off an international flight from Iraq and Afghanistan and immediately took to the domestic airwaves. The health care reform plan is a “joke” he told Fox News, and President Obama is ”scamming the American people” — with “

Media Monitor: Q is for ‘question’ in MPR’s new brand

By Paul Schmelzer | 06.25.09 | 10:14 am

Minnesota Public Radio rolls out its new integrated news page under the MPRnewsQ brand, prompting questions about the “Q.” Former KARE anchor Rick Kupchella launches a healthcare reform PR project, with a key Republican as his partner. And Fargo’s Roxana Saberi calls for the release of her former cellmate in Iran.

Wall Street Journal notes spat over deal that created The Current

By Chris Steller | 04.23.09 | 9:23 pm

Norm Coleman wasn’t the only one whose Minnesota court appeal this week got noticed in the national press. Thursday’s Wall Street Journal highlighted SaveWCAL’s legal effort to up-end the 2004 radio-station sale by St. Olaf College that created…

Coleman: ‘We will never know who won’

By Chris Steller | 04.16.09 | 9:02 am

“We will never know who won,” Norm Coleman said Wednesday. That’s after seven Minnesota judges — three on Monday and four in January — concluded that Al Franken won Minnesota’s 2008 election for U.S. Senate. His was a “close victory,” the Democrat conceded on Monday. But Coleman — now down by 312 votes — isn’t buying it. “Our system isn’t geared for this kind of closeness.” Still, some precision is possible in politics, as Gawker.com suggested Wednesday with its two-word description of Gov. Tim Pawlenty.