Minnesota |
 |
|
|
Budget, property tax talks shut down
By Rachel E. Stassen-Berger and Bill Salisbury, St. Paul Pioneer Press (registration)
Talks broke down Tuesday evening between DFL legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty on how to erase a nearly $1 billion budget deficit and provide homeowners some property tax relief.
Read More
|
Ideas to fix state budget still flying
By Bill Salisbury and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, St. Paul Pioneer Press (registration)
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and legislative leaders spent Wednesday poking through more closed-door budget negotiations as the clock wound down on the 2008 session.
Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What's up at the supermarket? Prices for almost everything
By Tom Webb, St. Paul Pioneer Press (registration)
Food inflation hit an 18-year high in April, with grocery prices rising 1.5 percent for the month, the government said Wednesday. Prices rose in every aisle - dairy, breads, meats, beverages, fruits and vegetables. It means $53 more a month to feed a family of four with a typical food budget.
Read More
|
|
|
|
|
Mall of America owner raps public subsidy plan
By Tim Nelson, Minnesota Public Radio (St. Paul)
An expansion plan for the Mall of America is faltering again at the state Capitol. The mall's developers and lawmakers are at odds over how taxpayers should chip in to help pay for the project
Read More
|
|
RNC foes get their marching orders
By Jason Hoppin, St. Paul Pioneer Press (registration)
The St. Paul Police Department on Wednesday unveiled a much-anticipated route for protesters of the 2008 Republican National Convention.
Read More
|
|
|
|
|
Great Lakes compact passes
By Stacy Forster and Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Both houses of the Legislature overwhelmingly approved the Great Lakes compact Wednesday, sending it to Gov. Jim Doyle and putting pressure on the states that have not yet ratified it.
Read More
|
|
Will states fix 2012 primary process?
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer
While voters in Indiana and North Carolina go to the polls today (May 6) to help Democrats pick Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama as their nominee and Republicans rally behind John McCain, party insiders and state election officials are in informal talks to improve the presidential nominating contests for 2012 and beyond.
Read More
|
|
Fairness of death-penalty panels questioned
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Death-penalty supporters are raising questions about the fairness of state commissions charged with studying how capital punishment is carried out in Maryland and Tennessee, claiming the panels will issue reports that ignore their views.
Read More
|
|
WORTH NOTING: Voters' guide promotes phone sex
By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer
An Oregon voters’ guide lists a very wrong number. California’s governor insults rural legislators. And Pennsylvania considers selling wine in vending machines. In case you missed those stories this week, “Worth Noting” fills you in.
Read More
|
|
WORTH NOTING: South Carolina's shampoo specialists
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
The Palmetto State cleans up a law requiring hairstylists to get more training than cops. Frog legs are frowned upon by Florida health officials. And an aide to Utah's lieutenant governor gets way ahead of his boss. In case you missed those stories this week, "Worth Noting" fills you in.
Read More
|
|
WORTH NOTING: Illinois treasurer shows his knowledge of charges
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) endures a bruising charge from Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D). A new Utah law stirs Salt Lake City bartenders to create a new drink. And Louisiana prison guards get outside help to prevent escapes. In case you missed those stories this week, Worth Noting fills you in.
Read More
|
|
Great Lakes compact earns final approval
By Andrew Beckett, Wisconsin Radio Network
After months of debate, the measure designed to prevent water diversions from the Great Lakes passed the Assembly late Wednesday afternoon. The vote came just hours after the Senate approved the bill.
Read More
|
|
Michigan Legislature approves Great Lakes pact
By David Eggert, The Associated Press, Booth Newspapers (Lansing)
After months of waiting, the Michigan Legislature on Wednesday unanimously approved a regional compact to prevent Great Lakes water from being sent to thirsty regions.
Read More
|
|
Great Lakes rising after record lows
By Tina Lam, Detroit Free Press
The Great Lakes that touch on Michigan will be at or above their levels of last year through the summer, bringing at last some cheer to boaters and cottage owners who faced wide, weedy beaches and boat-scraping shallows last year, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
Read More
|
|
Michigan votes to join Great Lakes pact
By Gary Heinlein, The Detroit News
Without a single dissenting vote, the state Senate and House voted Wednesday to include Michigan in a historic international compact designed to reserve all of the water in the Great Lakes for the eight states and two Canadian provinces surrounding them.
Read More
|
|
States to enforce molester law on tribal land
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
A little-noticed provision in a 2006 federal sex-offender law is rankling American Indian tribes in six states — Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon and Wisconsin — because it would give state law enforcers unprecedented authority to monitor child molesters living on tribal land.
Read More
|
|
States, locals swamp immigration program
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Sudden demand by state and local police to join the federal 287(g) initiative, which lets local police start deportation proceedings for suspects and criminals who are illegal immigrants, is overwhelming the federal government. That means long waits and alternative programs offered to police departments that want to join.
Read More
|
|
In school sports, who makes the call?
By Pauline Vu, Stateline.org Staff Writer
A shot at the buzzer of a high school championship game — was it in time or not? — led the South Carolina Legislature to consider a bill to require referees to watch video replays. It was hardly the first example of armchair quarterbacking by lawmakers.
Read More
|
|
Neutral govs to remain on sidelines
By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer
 In the homestretch of an unprecedented presidential primary season, spinning with competing sound-bites and endless rhetoric, voters still heading to the polls in four states can’t look to their governors for any pre-election advice. These governors plan to wait until after their states vote to make their own endorsements.
Read More
|
|
Silver Alert helps rescue lost seniors
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer
(Updated 9:30 a.m EST, May 8, 2008)
When an elderly person with dementia is lost, eight states can trigger an alert to let the community know. Proposals in Congress would expand the successful missing persons program to all 50 states.
Read More
|
|
At-risk gubernatorial seats increase
By Louis Jacobson, Stateline.org Columnist
After a pair of hard-fought primaries, North Carolina joins Missouri, Washington and Indiana on Out There's list of states where partisan control of the governorship could flip this fall.
Read More
|
|
Oh say, is that banner made in the U.S.A.?
By Kim Mendelsohn, Special to Stateline.org
Lawmakers in 10 states have taken steps to require that American flags bought with state funds be manufactured in this country. While not all the legislation has passed, one state’s new law even bans the sale of foreign-made American flags in that state.
Read More
|
ISSUES
SECTIONS
RESOURCES
Powered by