Provocative Campaign Gun Ad Draws Fire Of DFL Chair

New DFL Chair Ken Martin spoke to The UpTake and other media this afternoon about the provocative mailer the state Republican Party mailed to Iron Range residents this week that attacks DFL nominee Carly Melin, who is running in next Tuesday’s House 5B special election. The mailer reads “Take your best shot” and features an image of a hunter siting his target. The DFL Party today compared that propaganda to the sort of veiled references to violence seen prior to the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords last month. The images in the mailer are below — courtesy of the Duluth News Tribune:

Replay – MN GOP Seeks Changes to “Green Acres”

State Rep. Mike LeMieur and other Republicans held a news conference today at the State Capitol about their plans to change Minnesota’s Green Acres program. Rural Republicans want to roll back farmland tax changes enacted in 2008, following their pledges last year on the campaign trail.

The Green Acres program, formally called the Minnesota Agricultural Property Tax Law, has been in place since 1967 with the purpose of serving as a farmland preservation program. It is meant to keep farmers on their land by protecting them from rising property taxes due to nearby development. According to Rep. LeMieur’s office, the changes made in 2008 created two separate land categories, “productive” and “non-productive,” that are taxed at different rates despite being the same parcel of land with the same owner.

Dayton Appoints Parnell to Office of Enterprise Technology

Governor Mark Dayton announced in a press release today his appointment of Carolyn Parnell, currently Chief Operating Officer for Information Technology Services for the Minnesota System of Colleges and Universities (MnSCU), to head the Office of Enterprise Technology (OET). Parnell will serve as Minnesota’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), leading OET’s delivery of services that improve government through the effective use of information technology.

Parnell has been leading technology organizations for 25 years, including MnSCU, the fifth-largest system of two-and-four year colleges and universities in the country. Her record of increasing system efficiency includes saving MnSCU millions of dollars in consulting costs while improving worker output. Additionally, Parnell brings a wealth of experience in information technology management from her time as the Director of Information Technology at MN Public Radio/American Public Media, as well as serving as the Director of Networks and Data Centers at Fidelity National Information Systems and as the Director of Networking and Telecommunications Services at the University of Minnesota. … Continue Reading

“Blue Jeans To Black Tie” For Dayton Inaugural

Noon, Tuesday January 3, 2011, Governor-Elect Mark Dayton will take the oath of office at St. Paul’s Landmark Center.  He will be joined by the state’s other constitutional officers, Lt. Governor-Elect Yvonne Prettner Solon, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, State Auditor Rebecca Otto and State Attorney General Lori Swanson.  For the first time in decades, all of Minnesota’s Constitutional officers are from the DFL party. The UpTake plans to provide live coverage of the swearing in.

Dayton will celebrate the occasion the following Saturday with a “People’s Inaugural Ball” at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  Dress code for the event is “blue jeans to black tie” and Dayton himself will be in blue jeans.

Tickets can be purchased at the door or at www.daytoninauguration.org.  The $30 ticket price ($15 for students and low-income; further price reduction can be requested) includes entertainment and hors d’oeuvres.

Dayton will spend the morning of inauguration day distributing breakfast to students at Wellstone Elementary School in St. Paul.

After the inauguration Dayton will host a reception at the Capitol and the Governor’s Reception Room, activities for children and exhibits by the Minnesota Historical Society from 2pm – 4:20 pm.

Minnesota Will Retain Eight Congressional Seats: Dayton Responds

Governor-elect Mark Dayton today offered the following comments on the United States Census Bureau’s announcement that Minnesota would retain eight seats in Congress as part of its reapportionment process:

“Thank you to the Minnesotans who responded to the 2010 Census and helped us achieve the second highest response rate in the nation. I am very pleased that Minnesota will continue to have eight Representatives in the United States Congress. As our state faces dire budget circumstances and Minnesota families continue to struggle in a tough economy, we simply could not afford to lose an important voice in our national policy discussion, nor the billions of federal dollars that are allocated to our state based on population.

While we will maintain eight congressional seats in Washington, we will still face a redistricting process that will change the geographical boundaries for Minnesota’s representation in Washington and in our state’s Capitol. We must adopt a process that encourages transparency, fairness, and absolute integrity. In the end, we must arrive at districts that best serve, not one political party or the other, but Minnesotans as a whole.”

Metrodome Collapsed Roof Footage

On Thursday Dec. 16, the morning after a fourth panel collapsed from the Metrodome roof, The UpTake captured this footage inside the hard-luck Minneapolis sports complex.

Jobs, Economy Priority Before Vikings Stadium

Beware of Republicans bearing gifts?

Minnesota Governor-Elect Mark Dayton meets with Republican Senate Leaders Senators Amy Koch and Geoff Michel, and right away they mentioned they’d given him a giant jar of Peanut M&M’s. “Somebody had done some culinary research” said Dayton.

But serious issues were discussed too : Jobs and the economy. The press asked : “Do we need a new Metrodome replacement?”, Senator Geoff Michel batted back the question with maybe the strongest quote of the love-fest presser. “The picture, the photo, the youtube is dramatic, but I don’t think it’s anymore dramatic or anymore urgent than the state of our economy. Our economy has deflated, our state jobs picture has flatlined, so we might have spent a minute and half today with Governor Dayton talking about the Metrodome.”

“The Budget will dominate the session” said Senator Michel, “”I’m optimistic, I’m will make one bold prediction here, and hopefully not bring any disrespect to people I have served with before, My guess is the new governor is going to get along a lot better with this Majority Leader than the last two individuals who held these positions.”

Governor-Elect Mark Dayton Gets An Election Certificate

More than a month after the election, Governor-Elect Mark Dayton is officially certified as the winner of the Minnesota Governor’s race.

Governor-Elect Mark Dayton's Election Certificate Signed By Secretary of State Mark Ritchie

Dome Roof Still Not Safe-More Panels Could Fail

Members of the Metropolitan Sports Facility Commission and staff answer questions about the damage to the Metrodome. They say it is possible that more panels in the dome’s roof could give way. It may also cost more than $1.5 Million to fix.

After the news conference we hear from NFL Executive VP of Finance Eric Grubman

and then get a view of the latest damage at the dome.

Rep. Oberstar, Came To Serve, Now Says Farewell

“Why I came is to serve the people…and to leave this nation a better place than I found it. I hope I’ve achieved that goal” Representative Jim Oberstar (D) Minnesota. Oberstar has served the people of Minnesota for decades. On Tuesday night members of the Minnesota Congressional caucus and other House members gathered to pay tribute to him. Oberstar lost his seat in November’s election to Republican Chip Cravaack.