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Obama disses the Gophers

By Paul Demko | 03.18.09 | 12:43 pm

gophersLooking for a sure-fire way to piss off scores of people all over the country? Put your NCAA hoops bracket online for the whole world to see. That’s the politically…

Recession taking toll on Minnesota’s poor, may end in ’09

By Paul Demko | 02.05.09 | 8:39 am

Five eminent economists at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute were surprisingly upbeat about the future, though some noted poverty and homelessness in Minnesota have spiked.

Rybak touts Obamanomics: Will city get federal funds in return?

By Chris Steller | 01.12.09 | 1:21 pm

R.T. Rybak boasts of his access to the Obama administration, but can Minneapolis’ mayor really expect to bring more federal spending on transportation infrastructure to the Twin Cities?

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.

Sell alcohol at TCF Bank Stadium? Drunken public sex at Metrodome during Gopher game sheds new light on debate

By Chris Steller | 11.27.08 | 1:52 pm

When the University of Minnesota Board of Regents meets Dec. 12 to decide whether to allow wine and beer sales at TCF Bank Stadium, they’ll have a piece of news to consider: the alcohol-enabled public sex act in a…

Screw U: University students turned away from polls on Election Day

By Chris Steller | 11.25.08 | 5:11 pm

As of Tuesday night, Hennepin County officials had yet to recount ballots from Minneapolis’ Precinct 1, Ward 3. But when they do, there likely won’t be as many ballots to count as there were voters who tried to cast them. Residents of a student cooperative on the University of Minnesota campus weren’t able to register at their polling place this year like they did in past elections. The problem: Election officials would not accept the same kind of proof of residency they had in the past. It remains unclear how many students were turned away — and whether their votes could have an impact in the stil up-in-the-air U.S. Senate race. Video and more after the jump.

University of Minnesota imposes hiring freeze

By Chris Steller | 11.11.08 | 6:02 pm

The U of M puts the brakes on hiring.
The U of M puts the brakes on hiring.

On an afternoon already ruined by the worst kind of freezing sleet, University of Minnesota President…

MnIndy video: Election fever is everywhere around university

By Chris Steller | 11.04.08 | 4:55 pm

Voting was heavy across the University of Minnesota’s campus-area precincts in Minneapolis today — and so were the arms of young people at almost every corner, waving signs that were mostly of one description: Obama for President. At Marcy Open School in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood where students mix with plain folks, the line to vote stretched out the door. There and at Coffman Memorial Union on the U of M campus, many university students took advantage of Minnesota’s same-day voting law to cast their first ballots for president. Here’s the video, after the jump — and don’t drink every time you see a sign.

Election Day morning, University of Minnesota campus: mobbed but orderly

By Chris Steller | 11.04.08 | 9:48 am

Polling places were mobbed around the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis early this morning. In a residential neighborhood near campus, a line of 300 people at Marcy Open School stretched out the door and around the corner. Poll workers had…

MnIndy liveblog: Madia at the Humphrey Institute

By Chris Steller | 10.13.08 | 12:09 pm

DFL candidate Ashwin Madia spoke Monday over the noon hour at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute, in a Charlie Rose-style dialogue with Prof. Larry Jacobs. Tomorrow, Madia’s Republican opponent in the 3rd district congressional race, state Rep. Erik Paulsen,…