An Amazing Fall in Minnesota

Minnesota's endless September ends in about a week

Excerpt:

Already five weeks past its average due date, the first freeze of 2016 likely won't hit until next weekend.

Meteorologist Paul Douglas said next Saturday morning will be cool, but he's expecting the first freeze on Sunday, Nov. 20. "We've had three Septembers in a row. Most people are OK with that," Douglas said. "But it's going to feel like November in a week."

According to current forecasts, Twin Citians could wake up to 27-degree temperatures next Sunday, Douglas said. The first 32-degree temperature occurs, on average, on Oct. 8.

The previous record for the latest freeze was Nov. 7, 1900. That would have been Monday, the day before the presidential election.

The later freeze means a longer growing season, something Douglas hears from farmers all the time.

For Twin Citians, they can expect 60 degrees again Sunday, low 60s early next week then a slow decline until the bottom falls out Sunday.

The warmer weather has meant an 8-month boating season, Douglas noted. "When did that happen? I don't remember that," he said.

Comment: Today is the annual Mayflower luncheon at the Town & Country. Last year it was snowing as we drove home after the luncheon. Today? Like September! Image source.

Continued warm and dry to start the week. Strong fall storm expected Fri-Sat but uncertainty w/ track & impacts pic.twitter.com/Eic8cw0jxR

— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) November 14, 2016

My Down Ballot results

.@RepErikPaulsen Congratulations pic.twitter.com/4zgUJUqMrr

— James Peet (@jrpeet) November 9, 2016

.@Rep_SAnderson Congrats! Proud of and Happy for you! pic.twitter.com/QefpBUPpwH

— James Peet (@jrpeet) November 9, 2016

@PTAnderson_MN Congrats! You'll be a great Senator pic.twitter.com/9o1XfL7SQp

— James Peet (@jrpeet) November 9, 2016

Comment: Both K & I voted for them

Minnesota Supreme Court rules on "Snowbirds": 26 Factors!

Hey Snowbirds, You’ll Want To Know About This New Residency Ruling

Excerpt:

Minnesota residents who live part-time in another state could still get slapped with a hefty income tax bill.

That’s after a 4-3 court ruling that further defines what’s meant by the residency law.

One Minnesota couple will have to cough up $390,000 in income taxes because their claim of non-residency was rejected.

Indeed, parts of the ruling are a chilling reminder to those shedding taxes for sunshine.

Tax attorney Barry Gersick advises anyone splitting time between states to seek counsel before deciding on residency status.

It’s more complicated than just spending over half a year, or 183 days, in your resident state.

“They really try to determine if somebody really did in fact change domiciles, change the center of their life away from Minnesota to somewhere else, or did they just do it in name only,” Gersick said.

Minnesota Department of Revenue uses 26 different factors for determining residency status. And they’re not all that obvious.

Revenue is looking for your focal point, where your most active bank accounts are located and where your kids go to school. They’ll check where you buy resident sporting licenses and title your vehicles.

They’ll also look at where you own the most property and get most mail.

“It helps to have an attorney or accountant in one of the two states advise you,” Gersick said.

The state can even factor in where you attend church and maintain the most business contacts when deciding on residency.

Comment: Link to the ruling in the article. My brother-in-law has domiciled to Florida while maintaining a home in the Twin Cities

Tax collectors chase rich New Yorkers moving to low-tax states. Auditors inspect cell records, even your dog's vet bills https://t.co/xi4QVGnW3m

— James Peet (@jrpeet) March 8, 2019

Broadband in Minnesota

Minnesota Broadband Map

Mister Jimmy and "You Can't Always Get What You Want"

Stones lore: Jagger and Mr. Jimmy in Excelsior

Excerpt:

According to local legend, Jagger had gone to an Excelsior drugstore the day after the concert. While he was waiting to fill a prescription, Jimmy was ahead of him in line, ordering a cherry Coke, but the drug store had run out, so he had to settle for a regular Coke. At that point, Jimmy turned to Jagger and uttered the famous line: “You can’t always get what you want.” Years later, Jagger used that line as the title of a song, and it became one of the Stones’ greatest hits. Jagger put the drugstore in Chelsea and cherry Coke became "cherry red" soda, but Mr. Jimmy got a mention in the lyrics.

Comment: Image source. Wiki on Jimmy Hutmaker. Wiki on You Can't Always Get What You Want See also: Excelsior loses tie to rock and roll history. Lyrics:

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore To get your prescription filled

I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy And man, did he look pretty ill

We decided that we would have a soda

My favorite flavor, cherry red I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy

Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"

I said to him You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes you just might find You get what you need

The Annual Mayfly Gross-Out in Radar

Wisconsin Is Getting Smothered by Millions of Gross, Horny Flies

Comment: Image from the article. Many gross photos in the article. The upper midwest version of Florida's lovebug. More on: The mayfly’s lifecycle: a fascinating, fleeting story

The mayfly’s lifecycle is one of the most fascinating and fleeting stories in the natural world. One of the many charactersistics that makes mayflies the unique insects they are is the potential for two different winged adult forms in their life cycle. The nymph emerges from the water as a dull-coloured sub-imago (or dun) that seeks shelter in bankside vegetation and trees. After a period of a couple of hours or more, the sub-imago once again sheds its skin to transform into the brightly coloured imago (or spinner). It is not clear why mayflies have retained this unique step in their lifecycle, however it is thought that they may not be able to achieve the change from nymph to sexually mature adult in one step. A mayfly’s life cycle starts with the males forming a swarm above the water and the females flying into the swarm to mate. The male grabs a passing female with its elongated front legs and the pair mate in flight. After copulation, the male releases the female, which then descends to the surface of the water where she lays her eggs. Once mated she will fall, spent, onto the water surface to lie motionless, with her wings flat on the surface, where fish pick them off at their leisure. The male fly rarely returns to the water but instead he goes off to die on the nearby land. The eggs fall to the bottom of the water where they stick to plants and stones. Flies of the Mayfly family Baetidae pull themselves under the water to attach their eggs directly to the bed before being drowned by the current. The nymphs take anything between a few days to a number of weeks to hatch depending on water conditions and the species, and the resultant nymphs will spend various lengths of time, up to two years, foraging on the bottom before emerging as an adult fly. When it is time to emerge, the nymphs make their way to the surface where they pull themselves free of their nymphal shuck and emerge as a sub-imago. While they rest here to dry their newly exposed wings, they are at their most vulnerable to attack from fish. Some species exhibit great synchronicity in their hatching. The North American species Hexagenia limbata hatches in huge numbers from the Mississippi every year. The total number of mayflies in this hatch are estimated to be around 18 trillion – more than 3,000 times the number of people on earth. The newly emerged insects are attracted to lights in riverside towns and villages and the local authorities deploy snow clearing vehicle to remove their rotting corpses. Ironically, what is seen as a nuisance in America is seen as a gift in Africa. Locals around Lake Victoria gather adults of the mayfly Povilla adusta together with Chironomid midges to make a type of patty called ‘Kungu’. This protein rich food stuff is an important part of their diet.

Minnesota's “Fertile Crescent” and Bonding Fairness

Suburbs, including wealthy west, want more state bonding money

 Excerpt:

Lawmakers like to joke that there’s a “Fertile Crescent” in Minnesota, starting in Bloomington and working up through wealthy western Twin Cities suburbs such as Edina, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Plymouth and Maple Grove. Those cities are home to some of the state’s largest companies and wealthiest individuals that pump most of the income and sales taxes that fill the state’s coffers. However, legislators all around the suburban ring say they don’t get much back from the state when the bonding bill is debated. “The general feeling is that the suburbs are rich, especially the western suburbs, so we aren’t going to give them any more than we have to,” Rep. Ron Erhardt, DFL-Edina, said. For all lawmakers, bonding projects are a way to bring jobs and development directly to their districts. In election years, ribbon-cutting ceremonies for major construction projects can be even more important, especially in the politically volatile ‘burbs, which often swing back and forth with national political winds.

The Problem:

... roughly a quarter of the total House bonding bill — $213 million of $850 million — is spending for the suburbs. In comparison, 64 percent of state's tax base and 66 percent of its income tax revenue comes from the seven-county metro area (including Minneapolis and St. Paul), according to the state Revenue Department.

Comments: The City of Plymouth itself gets no funds from the state (I forgot what those funds are called). I don't care about the SouthWest light rail line (let 'em take a bus!). But I would like to see I-494 expanded with an additional lane through Plymouth.

The Duluth to Brainerd drug run .... by cab! $ 500 per pop!

State pays up to $500 cab fare to take methadone patients from Duluth to Brainerd

Excerpt:

For four months, the FOX 9 Investigators watched and noticed cab after cab kept coming from the Duluth area roughly 115 miles way despite the fact that Duluth has its own methadone clinic. One methadone patient described the process as "outrageous," and said the state pays as much as $500 a day for those fares.

Comment: 114 miles ... I'm sure they dead-head back!

The Star Tribune 100

The Star Tribune 100

Excerpt:

The Star Tribune 100 is a measure of the largest publicly held companies with headquarters in Minnesota ranked by revenue. Data presented also include each company's total profits from continuing operations, assets and market capitalization (taken on April 13).

Comment: Sortable. 2013 Grads ... a good place to start looking. Stocks I like (and own): GIS, MMM, USB, MDT, UNH, TGT, XEL

19 Minnesota companies in Fortune 500

19 Minnesota companies in Fortune 500; 10 move up in rank

Comment: Click image for larger. Of the above I like: TGT, MMM, USB, GIS, XEL, HRL, and UNH. I generally only target stocks with a dividend yield above 3%

Spend most of the year in St. Pete, pay the government in St. Paul.

Minnesota's Snowbird Tax
Excerpt:

You may have heard it can get cold in Minnesota in January, or for that matter in April. Last week the temperature dropped to seven below zero in the Twin Cities, which is one reason many Midwesterners head to Florida or Arizona for the winter. But now Governor Mark Dayton wants to tax the snowbirds even if they are no longer legally state residents. "There is a snowbird tax—absolutely," the Democratic Governor told reporters the other day. "It's one of the unfairnesses that somebody can spend six months and one day out of the state and pay no state personal income taxes and come back here and take advantage of all the state has to offer for five months and 29 days. So, yes, there's a snowbird tax." Details are sketchy, but the idea is to tax these nonresidents on their income from stocks, bonds, capital gains and dividends if they spend at least 60 days in Minnesota a year. Income earned in the state is already taxed regardless of residence status, but many retirees or vacationers own a home in the state and live there only for the summer. The new tax would hit income not earned in Minnesota by those who don't currently spend the requisite six months and a day in the state to qualify as a taxable resident. So, for example, if you returned to the land of 10,000 taxes only for July and August, you'd suddenly have to pay the taxman in St. Paul on dividend checks sent to your main residence in St. Pete.

Comment: We're not leaving because 2 of our 3 kids are here (one is soon to move to either Boston or Oakland).

Loretta Lacy: In a hurry on I-90

Speeder caught 4 times -- once at 112 mph -- in a few hours in S. Minn.
Excerpt:

A 49-year-old motorist was stopped for speeding four times in about 2 1/2 hours on a southern Minnesota interstate as she raced in from South Dakota and toward southeastern Wisconsin at speeds topping 110 miles per hour, authorities said Wednesday.

Loretta Lacy, of Sioux Falls, was first stopped on I-90 in Martin County shortly before 2:30 p.m. Friday after witnesses reported her speeding and zipping in and out of traffic, according to the State Patrol.

Lacy was clocked at 112 mph in her 1999 Chrsyler LHS sedan as she passed a state trooper, then was pulled over and ticketed for speeding, no insurance and possession of marijuana, said Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske. A "very, very small amount" of marijuana was confiscated, Roeske said.

Just 20 miles later she was stopped again, this time going 99 mph. She was ticketed again for speeding and no insurance, the patrol said. After Minnesota and Wisconsin patrols were put on the lookout, she was stopped a little more than an hour later in Freeborn County, this time for driving 88 mph and still no insurance -- not that she had time to buy any. Her last ticket before entering Wisconsin came shortly before 5 p.m. for driving 88 in a 70 mph zone.

Comment: Says a lot about her 1999 Chrsyler LHS (file photo from Wiki)

Comments:

• Interstate 90 in Minnesota: 276 miles (mostly boring I suppose!). At 70 mph one could traverse Minnesota in 4 hours. At 90 in a little more than 3.
• I've never driven above 80 for sustained periods of time. 75 yes.
• I've probably done 90 ever now or then in bursts. Mostly unnecessarily
• I know we have driven on I-90 from I-35 west into South Dakota and from Wisconsin to I-35 but I don't recall ever doing the whole 276 in one trip

Minnesota high risk state for deer accidents

Likely to hit a deer? Crash risks by state

Comment: Fingers crossed .... never had one and we have lived in Minnesota for 17 years. Also have lived in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Grandparents' love of grandchild behind "abduction"

After 19 years, Indiana mother finds her son in Long Prairie
Excerpt:

Harter and her son's father were in the midst of a divorce at the time, said Indiana attorney Richard Muntz, who has worked with the mother in her 19-year search.

The couple had a troubled relationship and Harter ended up in a homeless shelter, Muntz said. Child welfare services stepped in because Harter has some developmental disabilities. "The father wasn't in the picture, and the grandparents got temporary custody," Muntz said.

In her own home, remarried and working a job, Harter sought to regain custody. "We had a number of hearings, and during the last one the judge said, 'I don't know if the mother can handle the situation, but we have to give it a try,'" Muntz said.

"The judge ordered the child returned to the mother for a trial period. The grandparents went to the bank, drew $5,000 out of a home equity line and stopped for breakfast at a local restaurant."

That was the last time they were seen in rural Wolcottville, which is about 35 miles northwest of Fort Wayne. A warrant was issued for the grandparents' arrest on a misdemeanor charge of interfering with custody.

Five years later, with authorities convinced that the boy had been taken across state lines, the crime became a felony, Muntz said. In 2008, the LaGrange County prosecutor dropped the charges after neither the boy nor the grandparents had been found.

Comment: Mirror article with still pic of the boy. Local news stated that the mother was living in her car 19 years ago. I predict that no charges will be brought against the grandparents.

Get a Flu shot!

Second Minnesota teen dies of flu in 10 days; officials urge shots
Excerpt:

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Health on Tuesday again urged all Minnesotans to get flu shots to protect them from the virus, which has killed five people and hospitalized at least 600 in the state since October.

The girl, identified by her family's church and on Facebook memorial sites as Carly Christenson, a ninth-grader at St. Louis Park High School, was admitted to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis on Christmas Eve and died at 12:40 p.m. Tuesday.

Kris Ehresmann, head of the infectious diseases and vaccine program at the state Health Department, said she could not confirm reports that the girl, who died of influenza Type A, had received a flu shot.

Ehresmann stressed that the relatively rare deaths of people who were vaccinated should not lead to the conclusion that the shots are pointless. The vaccine is considered 60 percent effective against the flu in healthy adults, she said.

It "is not 100 percent effective, so, sadly, it is possible to have a situation in which someone vaccinated develops influenza," Ehresmann said. "We still are recommending vaccination" for everyone, especially vulnerable groups such as the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions.

Carly's parents, Sean and Sandy Christenson, were in mourning Tuesday night and declined to speak to the media. Their church, Westwood Lutheran in St. Louis Park, said on its Facebook page that Carly's parents and her 12-year-old brother, Wyatt, were with her when she died. Candles will be lit and prayers said in her memory at the church's regular Wednesday evening service at 6:30 p.m. Her funeral was being planned for Saturday

Comment: Praying for the family! Sad story that tugs at my heart. Image snip from Star Tribune

Do they have any evidence that this man is involved?

Suspect in death of Cold Spring police officer is released
Excerpt:

Stearns County prosecutors have released Ryan Michael Larson without charges in the shooting of Cold Spring police officer Tom Decker. Authorities determined there was not sufficient evidence to charge Larson, 34, who had been held in the Stearns County jail since midnight Thursday on suspicion of murder. Larson was released from custody Tuesday pending further investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Stearns County Sheriff's Office.

Comment: Lawyer speaking on Kare11 news tonight .... asked this question - Do they have any evidence that this man is involved?

Minnesota: Open door for Democrats

One-Party Control Opens States to Partisan Rush
Excerpt:

In Minnesota, where a budget fight last year between a Republican-led Legislature and the Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, led to a shutdown of state government for two weeks, the governor seemed buoyed.

“We’ll trade gridlock for progress,” said Mr. Dayton, who added that his plans included increasing taxes on the richest Minnesotans and devoting more money to education. Still, Mr. Dayton, whose term is up in two years, sounded a note of caution even as he huddled with aides to strategize after the election results were in.

“I said to my staff, ‘The easier two years are over, and the harder two years are now beginning, because we have the added responsibility to lead,’ ” Mr. Dayton said. “And this is a responsibility I welcome, but given the challenges the state faces and our country faces these days, it’ll be a lot of hard work.”

Comment: Image source. Re: "Minnesota: Open door for Democrats" = for better or for worse?

In rare agreement with Governor Dayton

Dayton vetoes fireworks bill, citing hazards

Excerpt:

Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a bill to allow the sale and use of a wide array of consumer fireworks, including aerial rockets and firecrackers. He said in a veto letter, issued less than 90 minutes before the midnight deadline on Saturday, that it's "government's foremost responsibility to protect the safety and the well-being of its citizens." The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Kriesel, R-Cottage Grove, and Sen. Mike Jungbauer, R-East Bethel, allowed the sale and use of the full range of consumer fireworks in Minnesota, but only between June 1 and July 7. He noted that after Minnesota legalized ground-based fireworks such as sparklers and small cones in 2002, injuries have spiked, particularly among young people.

Comment: Because I have a neighbor who thinks it is appropriate to launch bottle rockets without any consideration as to what house they may hit or whose yard they land in. (I've visited and talked directly to the man and also called the police about the issue another time). The sound of a bottle rocket hitting my siding is an irritant.

Note to the Minnesota Republican Party

Minnesota Republican Party gets eviction notice over missed rent; official says talks ongoing Excerpt:

Minnesota's debt-plagued Republican Party has been served with an eviction notice for its party headquarters after failing to pay its rent payments since August. The party's landlord filed the notice last week in Ramsey County court and it is scheduled to be heard next Tuesday. Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Pat Shortridge told party members in a memo Thursday that officials are trying to renegotiate the lease to get one that better fits space and cost needs. The GOP has 21 months remaining on a lease with Hub Properties Trust for space a block from the state Capitol. Shortridge revealed that the rent hadn't been paid in eight months. The Minnesota GOP owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to various vendors

Comments: Please don't ask me to to support the Minnesota GOP until you get your fiscal act together. You are a disappointing joke. And I am a Republican!

Bad weekend for Minnesota deer stand hunters

3 hunters die in the field; others injured

Excerpt:

A 51-year-old hunter from Sartell who fell from his deer stand in north-central Minnesota was fatally shot by his own gun, authorities said Monday. His body was found about 10 a.m. Sunday near his stand in Beulah Township, near Outing, after authorities were alerted that a hunter was missing, according to the Cass County Sheriff's Office. His identity has not yet been released.

Saturday's death near Saum of Gene A. Berthiaume, 72, of St. Paul, was determined Monday to be a result of natural causes, not injuries from falling from his deer stand as had been suspected Sunday, according to Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp.

Arthur Joseph Knafla died about 9:45 a.m. Saturday in Lavell Township, southeast of Hibbing, when his clothing caught fire as he tried to light a propane heater in his stand. The 84-year-old Maple Grove man fell from the stand when his clothes began burning, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said.

Several hunters were injured in falls from tree stands, one seriously enough to require evacuation by helicopter,

Comment: The serious injury is a Baptist pastor from Brainerd who sustained a broken back. My brother (hunter, firearms expect, and instructor of hunter safety) was lecturing my middle son last week about the dangers of tree stands. His view (my brother's) .. real hunters don't need a tree stand. A helpful article on tree stand safety.