Minnesota Independent

City officials say 100 homes and countless trees were damaged by the tornado. Photo: Amanda Hankerson

Politicians, community respond to Twin Cities tornado damage

By Andy Birkey | 05.24.11 | 1:18 pm

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Keith Ellison toured parts of North Minneapolis and Fridley on Monday following a tornado that ripped through the area leaving two dead and two dozen injured. Minnesota’s elected officials have offered their support in the wake of the disaster, and community organizations have outlined ways that Minnesotans can help those affected.

Religious Right Watch: Did God send the Minneapolis tornado?

By Andy Birkey | 08.25.09 | 4:44 pm

Minneapolis pastor John Piper seems to have sprouted the idea that God sent a tornado to the Minneapolis Convention Center last Wednesday to express his displeasure that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was considering relaxing its teachings on LGBT issues. But his statement has blossomed among theologians and members of the religious right chiming in with their own answers to the question: Did God send the Minneapolis tornado because Lutherans were voting on gay issues?

Tornado blew off roofs but Pawlenty didn’t blow off Fox

By Chris Steller | 08.21.09 | 4:45 pm

Minnesotans saw a strange spectacle Wednesday — and not only the freak funnel cloud that visited Minneapolis. At about the same time, just blocks from where the twister struck downtown, their governor was spouting off on national TV about health care as if nothing had just happened.

Minneapolis pastor: Tornado was a warning to Lutherans on gay inclusion

By Andy Birkey | 08.20.09 | 11:39 am

It was only a matter of time before the religious right would chime in to announce that a tornado that hit parts of Minneapolis on Wednesday was a warning from God that the Lutherans should not relax doctrine related to…

A day of close calls: ELCA braves a tornado and a tough vote on LGBT issues

By Andy Birkey | 08.20.09 | 7:51 am

Two close calls marked the third day of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on Wednesday. The nearly 2,000 people assembled at the Minneapolis Convention Center took cover as a tornado nipped the building and damaged the steeple of a Lutheran church across the street. A short time later, the 1,014 voting members passed a social statement relaxing church doctrine on homosexuality with a dramatic vote that was exactly a two-thirds majority.