Local

It has been a while since I have written here, time has been slipping away from me this summer just hanging out and enjoying my children.   I have noticed this summer I have been a lot more relaxed, a lot less stressed and just sort of 'going with the flow'.  By looking at me and talking to me, you would really think that life is just easy going right now, nothing major happening and all is good and really, all is great to me right now in my family, my life, and well yeah, I just can't seem to get phased by anything right now.  Which absolutely makes no sense with all the chaos of my husband's work, our financial uneasiness and whatever else there is in life that can go wrong.  We are under an extreme amount of stress right now with money, income, work, you name it, however my husband and I are really feeling like we are protected from it all, so long story short, I have nothing to write about this summer because to spite what the world … [Read more...] about Healthy Living the Raw and Local Way

The first year is winding down for the freshman class of the Minneapolis City Council.  The Council, with its fortuitous blend of first-term progressives and pragmatic veterans, has a chance to become a leading Council of recent decades. But to achieve its potential the Council—like other local jurisdictions—needs to do more than execute the policies percolating up through the municipal government chain-of-command. True excellence of the Council will emanate not from the belly of the bureaucracy, but from the hearts of the elected officials who oversee it.  In an era of emerging plenty, with tax collections accelerating and private investment in full-throttle expansion, elected local leaders have a chance to put their stamp on lasting public policy.  But that will happen only if individuals in public office step up and initiate broad policy advancements. Hennepin County is the poster child of elected-Board activism. LRT, the Midtown Greenway, the … [Read more...] about Local officials need to act in order to lead

Saturday night ended up in disappointment for both Minnesota fighters at UFC 106 in Las Vegas.  In the third fight of the show, Brainerd's Brock Larson fell in defeat to Oklahoma's Brian Foster in the second round when he was forced to tap out to a series of hard strikes.  From the start of the fight, the usually explosive Larson allowed Foster to set the pace of the fight, and was more tentative than usual.  By the end of the first round, Larson's chances to win the fight were in serious trouble, after he had two points deducted for what were unintentional fouls. The first foul occurred when Larson was on his back and he kicked up at Foster, who was on his knees at Larson's feet. The kick ended up hitting Foster in the head, which made it an illegal blow for kicking an opponent who was on the mat in the head. The second foul happened about a minute later when Larson had Foster in a front facelock. Foster was aware enough to put his hand on the mat, which, by the rules, … [Read more...] about UFC 106 a disappointing night for local fighters

Will schools be closed a second day in a row due to the cold? Ultimately that call will be made by local superintendents not Gov. Mark Dayton, says Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius. "We believe school superintendents are monitoring the temperatures closely and are prepared to communicate with families so they can plan accordingly," she said in a statement released Monday morning. Not long after Cassellius's statement was released, school closing announcements began trickling out. Minneapolis Public Schools was the first metro school to announce it would remain closed Tuesday. Some of the other districts also closing on Tuesday included: Anoka-Hennepin, Roseville, St. Paul, Mounds View, Centennial, Edina, Wayzata, Totino Grace, Shakopee, North Branch, Osseo, Fridley, Rochester and Bloomington. Last week, Cassellius said she and Dayton felt comfortable making the call last week to close schools on Monday because they wanted to give parents plenty of time to make plans, possibly … [Read more...] about Tuesday school cancellations up to local districts; Mpls. will stay closed

Local leaders heralded the announcement Tuesday that Minneapolis had been chosen to host the 2018 Super Bowl. “I really think it puts Minneapolis and the Twin Cities in the national and international spotlight for that period of time,” said Downtown Council president Steve Cramer. “And we’ll have a lot to showcase by then.” Steve Cramer, president of the Downtown Council, said the Super Bowl is a much larger event than when it last came to Minneapolis in 1992. In the same vein, he said, the city has also transformed since that period. Minneapolis will be boasting a new Nicollet Mall, downtown high rises and transit improvements in 2018. “Just as we won’t recognize the Super Bowl, people won’t recognize Minneapolis who perhaps haven’t been here, haven’t paid attention since back in those days,” Cramer said. Former Mayor R.T. Rybak, who was instrumental in securing the stadium deal, said the city should showcase its winter … [Read more...] about Local officials say Super Bowl will put spotlight on Twin Cities