2 weeks Ago
Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here . ••• Cheers to the International Falls City Council for settling on a course of action after weeks of nasty meetings that included vulgarities directed at residents who opposed a multimillion-dollar renovation for a new police headquarters.
Instead, the council unanimously decided to reconsider moving police back into their former station shared with the Koochiching County Sheriff’s Office. An extra cheer to former Mayor Shawn Mason, whose letter indicating she feared speaking out because of the hostility proved persuasive. Changing course can sometimes be the wiser choice.
Jeers to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who failed to explain her decision to send an accused vandal into diversion rather than prosecute him for keying six Teslas in Minneapolis and causing more than $20,000 in damage. Tesla founder Elon Musk’s prominence in the administration of President Donald Trump has made his vehicles a national target for political protest. In Minnesota intentional property damage of more than $1,000 can be prosecuted as a felony.
But Moriarty gave the prolific Tesla vandal a break, explaining that she made the decision “in the best interest of public safety.” What does that mean? Part of Moriarty’s job is explaining her choices and logic, otherwise her behavior risks looking like selective non-prosecution. The voluminous chorus of local and national criticism she now hears is warranted.
Cheers to the state Senate for rejecting a sloppy attempt at reviving a bill to legalize mobile sports betting. Bill sponsor, Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, made a motion on the Senate floor Wednesday to pull the bill out of a Senate committee where it stalled in February and route it to the friendlier Commerce Committee.
Frentz’s attempt at resurrection failed with a bipartisan group of 50 senators rejecting the move. Regardless of where one stands on access to mobile sports betting, this sort of procedural end-run isn’t the way to pass major legislation. Chalk it up as another victory for the anti-gambling forces, including the Minnesota Family Council, who have created a formidable coalition with a fraction of the money available to the pro-betting lobby.
Jeers to officials in charge of reining in administrative bloat at the University of Minnesota as epitomized by the $961,700 paid to former Senior Vice President Myron Frans since May. Frans retired from his official position at the U on March 1, 2024. He’s continued to advise the flagship institution on the proposed and problematic Essentia Health merger.
As students take out loans, work multiple jobs and dig in couch cushions to pay for college, retirement’s been extremely profitable for Frans. His salary at the U before his retirement was $436,349. To compare, until 2020, Frans was the commissioner of the Minnesota Management and Budget Office, overseeing the entire state workforce and budget for which he was paid almost $155,000 annually.
Cheers to state Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul and the first trans legislator in the state, who recently used her platform to stand true to her values.
At a news conference where Attorney General Keith Ellison announced a federal Title IX lawsuit in response to threats by the Trump administration to sue Minnesota, Finke opined that trans humans have always existed and that “no law, no policy, no hate-fueled campaign will ever change that. ..
. We will continue to build a state that honors and affirms the lives of all who call it home.” Additional cheers to the behind-the-scenes lawyers advising Ellison, including state Solicitor General Liz Kramer and Jess Braverman, legal director at Gender Justice.
Jeers to acting Senate Ethics Subcommittee Chairwoman Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, who blithely informed a packed room that she intentionally ignored any public watchdog reporting in preparation for a hearing on Senate President Bobby Joe Champion’s request for an advisory opinion regarding the ethics of his lobbying — without disclosure — on behalf of a former legal client. “I think what brought this to our attention is it became an issue in the media, and I haven’t read any of the media coverage and it’s hearsay on my part,” Pappas said.
Her lack of preparation signals the DFL’s abject lack of seriousness about an extremely serious matter. Here’s a link to a Minnesota Star Tribune report , the original story from the Minnesota Reformer and my column on the topic of DFL ethics . Cheers to the University of Minnesota’s dance team that’s racked up 23 national championships and represented the country at the International Cheer Union championships in Orlando, Fla.
, this week. Teamwork makes the dream work, but check out the smooth, elegant spins and star power of Matthew Greco (in the link above), who is the only male student on the team of two dozen. Cheers as well to gymnast Mya Hooten, who wrapped up her Gophers’ career at nationals a week ago.
More applause for Hooten’s family and friends who helped her reach her potential in the gym and the classroom. We can’t wait to see where she shines next. Jeers to the state House Republicans seeking to ban and declare modified messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines and products “weapons of mass destruction.
” They want to make it a crime to possess or use mRNA, the lifesaver behind the COVID-19 vaccine. The seven GOP representatives sponsoring the shameful late-session bill: Shane Mekeland of Clear Lake; Krista Knudsen of Lake Shore; Walter Hudson of Albertville; Jeff Dotseth of Silver Township; Tom Murphy of Underwood; Pam Altendorf of Red Wing and Isaac Schultz of Elmdale Township. Willful ignorance is also a weapon of mass destruction.
If you can’t get enough Cheers & Jeers, I invite you to tune into WCCO Radio every Friday around 2 p.m., where I join Chad Hartman to talk C & J and other news important to Minnesotans.
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