In its pilot period, Minneapolis Advantage gave out approximately 50 grants to low-income, first-time home buyers in foreclosure-impacted neighborhoods in the North, Northeast and South Minneapolis neighborhoods. Buyers receive up to $10,000 to help with down payment and closing costs so long as they buy a home on the same block as a foreclosed or vacant home.

In its pilot period, 62 percent of the properties purchased were foreclosures and 9 percent were boarded up and vacant. The program encouraged more owner-occupied homes, as 62 percent that were rental units became homestead properties. The majority of the new home owners bought in North Minneapolis, had incomes under the median and bought homes priced under $150,000.

Seventy-eight percent where first-time home buyers.

The FHLB of Des Moines grant will triple the amount of grant awards for the program.

“The key to rebuilding neighborhoods overwhelmed by foreclosures is to get solid, responsible homeowners into these neighborhoods,” Mayor R.T. Rybak said in a statement Wednesday. “The success of the Minneapolis Advantage program has shown us that there are great homes to be had and that people are ready to move into these neighborhoods. Our job is to help make that happen and this funding just made our job a whole lot easier.”

But today’s double-dipping at the wire-service trough is also an ominous and ironic way to begin January — a month in which editors will try merging sections of the newspaper to cut costs and when Strib death-watchers say the paper’s owners could finally file for bankruptcy. The headline over the AP story on page A11 reads like a Strib warning to itself: “New year is shaping up as ‘very, very ugly’ for some well-known brands.”

JEHT announced two weeks ago that because of the Madoff scandal they will cease all grant-making and shut their doors at the end of January.

“The JEHT Foundation Board deeply regrets that the important work that the Foundation has undertaken over the years is ending so abruptly,” JEHT Foundation president Robert Crane says in a message on the JEHT website. “The issues the Foundation addressed received very limited philanthropic support and the loss of the foundation’s funding and leadership will cause significant pain and disruption of the work for many dedicated people and organizations.”

Among those programs that benefited from JEHT, the Palliative Care Leadership Center at the Fairview Foundation has a current grant that will likely be terminated. PCLC received $300,000 in 2006 in a three-year grant. PCLC at Fairview provides training to hospital staff nationwide in assisting patients experiencing terminal illnesses.

A topic covered by the Minnesota Independent’s Anna Pratt and Paul Schmelzer got help from JEHT: The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights received $300,000 in 2006 to conduct the commission that helped Liberian refugees tell their stories of a bloody civil war where civilians were frequently terrorized.

In 2007, the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center received $175,000 to provide legal assistance for the defense of detainees being prosecuted in military commissions.

Also in 2007, the Council on Crime and Justice received $265,310 for an 18 month grant how people who were arrested but no convicted were impacted by those arrests, specifically in terms of employment.

In 2008, JEHT helped Minnesota with voter registration. Minnesota’s Secretary of State’s office received $67,900 in funds to research ways to more accurately update voter registration rolls when people move.

Wellstone Action Fund got $74,000 in 2006 for voter engagement schools that train nonprofits in running voter engagement programs.

Bluestem Prairie reports that each year Walz has to send a letter to the U.S. Treasury to turn down the automatic raise in pay, including last year’s which he already declined. Spokester Meredith Salsbery told Bluestem Prairie, “[He] has to keep declining [the last raise]. We’ll send Treasury a letter that will deduct an amount equal to this year’s [cost-of-living adjustment] and last year’s COLA from each paycheck.”

Last year, Walz said he would not accept a pay increase until the federal budget is balanced. “I am committed to fiscal responsibility and to changing the way Washington works,” he said in January. “The reinstatement of pay-as-you-go budgeting has finally put this country back on the right track towards a balanced budget, but until we reach that milestone I will refuse any pay increase.”

A phalanx of riot police ready themselves at the RNC. Photo: Tim Roman

Newswise, it was an eventful 2008, thanks to the Republican National Convention, the historic election of Barack Obama, Sarah “In what respect, Charlie?” Palin, John McCain, Michele “anti-American” Bachmann, P.Z. Myers (and the communion “cracker” incident) and, now, the ongoing recount of ballots in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken. MnIndy had a record year: We more than doubled 2007’s readership, welcoming nearly two million unique visitors, and saw nearly 6,000 comments. Here are two gauges of the stories you liked best — top 10s of the most-read and most-discussed stories.

The year’s most-read stories:

10. “Boot print on his back: Photographs, video of 17-year-old RNC protester after run-in with police,” Paul Schmelzer, September 2

12,433 views

9. “Crackdown begins: Food Not Bombs house among Saturday raids,” Jeff Severns Guntzel and Paul Schmelzer, August 30

12,483 views

8. “Youth in iconic RNC protest photo was later beaten by police, according to his mother,” Paul Schmelzer, September 2

14,670 views

7. “Bachmann controversy upends views of her re-election prospects,” Paul Demko, October 21

14,649 views

6. “Police seize ‘propaganda literature,’ staples, curtain rods, and caltrops from raided home on 17th Avenue,” Molly Priesmeyer, August 30

15,571 views

5. “Alcohol, Tobacco and Firecracker?: ‘Explosion’ in St. Paul leads to rounding up anyone with a backpack,” Molly Priesmeyer, September 3

15,739 views

4. “Franken campaign decries frivolous challenges,” Paul Demko, November 21

16,080 views

3. “RNC DIY: Plant this in your yard,” Paul Schmelzer, June 30

16,093 views

2. “Crowd control at the RNC: Fifty million unanswered questions,” Jeff Severns Guntzel, September 7

17,712 views

1. “Norm Coleman: ‘I’m a winner’ and ‘most challenges will be dismissed’,” Chris Steller, November 21

52,110 views

Most-commented stories:

10. “Letter from Alaska: Palin a maverick? Please,” David Noon, September 16: 60 comments

9. “October Surprise: Bachmann raises more than $120,000 for Tinklenberg,” Paul Schmelzer, October 18: 61 comments

8. “DCCC Poll: Bachmann’s lead in the Sixth is down to four points over Tinklenberg,” Andy Birkey: 63 comments

7. “Bachmann controversy upends views of her re-election prospects,” Paul Demko, October 21: 81 comments

6. “Bachmann calls critics of her ‘anti-America’ statements ‘liars,’” Andy Birkey: 81 comments

5. “Boot print on his back: Photographs, video of 17-year-old RNC protester after run-in with police,” Paul Schmelzer, September 2: 88 comments

4. “New McCarthyism: Bachmann calls for investigation of ‘anti-American’ Congress members,” Andy Birkey, October 17: 94 comments

3. “MnIndy interview: Unrepentant science-heathen PZ Myers still intends to prove ‘this cracker is nothing,’” Paul Schmelzer, July 14: 100 comments

2. “Crackdown begins: Food Not Bombs house among Saturday raids,” Jeff Severns Guntzel and Paul Schmelzer, August 30: 100 comments

1. “Youth in iconic RNC protest photo was later beaten by police, according to his mother,” Paul Schmelzer, September 2: 151 comments

Special thanks to our many current and past staffers and freelancers who made 2008 such a success, including: Abdi Aynte, Ken Avidor, Andy Birkey, Joe Bodell, Karl Bremer, Paul Demko, Mike Dvorak, Jeff Fecke, Tom Elko, Dan Haugen, Robin Marty, Jefferson Morley, Tony Nelson, David Noon, Nancy Olsen, Steve Perry, Anna Pratt, Molly Priesmeyer, Britt Robson, Tim Roman, James Sanna, Jeff Severns Guntzel, Peter S. Scholtes and Chris Steller.

More of MnIndy’s Best:

Top 10 photos of 2008
Top videos of 2008

Best RNC tweets

At a Friday afternoon press conference, Pawlenty unveiled his unallotment decisions, announcing that cuts will come from local government, human services and higher education. Here’s the rundown of cutbacks: $66 million in local aid to cities, $44 million local aid to counties, a $73 million reduction in human services spending, $40 million reduction in appropriations to the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, a $40 million reduction in state agency spending (10 percent of operating budgets), $4 million in unspent funds from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Fund, a $2.2 million voluntary reduction of the Legislature’s unspent funds, $1.5 million reduction in the 21st Century Minerals Account and a $700,000 reduction in the Minnesota Investment Fund.

An additional $155 million will come from the state’s reserve.

“Unlike the federal government, we can’t deficit-spend,” he said. “We can’t print Monopoly money in the basement to fix the deficit… Families across Minnesota are tightening their belts, and businesses are tightening their belts, and they expect government to do the same. We intend to make sure that happens.”

Cities and counties will bear the burden of the budget cuts.

Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller released a statement on the cuts, “We thought that across-the-board cuts would be a fair solution. The governor’s cuts fall harder on cities and counties across the state and could hurt police and fire protection. We look forward to working with the governor to find the best possible solution to fixing this historic deficit.”

Mayor Chris Coleman talked about St. Paul’s reaction to the cuts. “It is clear in today’s announcement that the Governor has come to at least a partial realization that the success of cities and our ability to provide basic services is the backbone of our economy and our quality of life in Minnesota,” he said. “I appreciate that the Governor took the time to meet with us on this issue. These cuts are painful, and force Saint Paul to make more tough choices among the services we provide. We will do what we’ve always done. We will rise to this challenge and overcome it. We are also eager to return to the table with the Governor and the Legislature to be a part of the solution for the State’s budget crisis.”

In human services, Pawlenty outlined cuts of $28 million to the Medical Education Research Costs, and a $10 million reduction in payments to hospitals for patients on Medical Assistance, specifically add-on services.

A number of unspent grants in human services will be eliminated:

• $17 million - Consolidated Chemical Dependency Treatment Fund Balance
• $2 million - New Mental Health Grants
• $6 million - Mental Health Grants (to be shifted to the next fiscal year)
• $98,000 - Community Service/Service Development (CSSD) Grants
• $2.717 million - Growth in Medical Assistance (MA) waiver programs
• $250,000 - Housing Grants
• $6 million - Adoption Assistance/Relative Custody Assistance
• $491,000 - Patient incentive grants
• $200,000 - Outreach bonus payments

Tom Vilsack Photo: Wikipedia

Our colleagues at the Iowa Independent hail Gov. Tom Vilsack, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for agriculture secretary, as a “consummate pragmatist” who has “endeared himself to both the left and the right.” But one group that’s not so fond of Obama’s selection is the Finland, Minn.–based Organic Consumers’ Association. It reacted to today’s announcement with a petition calling for organic producers and consumers to urge Obama to block the nomination, highlighting Vilsack’s support for factory farming and biotechnology.

Last month the OCA outlined six reasons they oppose Vilsack for the job, including his support for genetically modified plants and animals, Vilsack’s apparently cozy relationship with Monsanto (the OCA says he’s been known to use the company’s jet), and his advocacy of plant-derived biofuels, “which use as much or more fossil energy to produce them as they generate, while driving up world food prices and literally starving the poor.” (The Iowa Independent’s Chase Martyn reports that Vilsack has “subtly tempered his enthusiasm for corn-based ethanol over the course of his candidacy, shifting to a more tenable position in favor of all forms of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels, using corn ethanol merely as a ‘transitional fuel.’”)

Obama’s words at this morning’s press conference might suggest that the OCA’s petition drive won’t sway his opinion about Vilsack. He hailed the Iowan for, among other things, “promoting biotech to strengthen our farmers and fostering an agricultural economy of the future that not only grows the food we eat but the energy that we use.”

Meanwhile, Minneapolis’ Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy expressed its reservations about Vilsack as well, echoing several of the points made in Martyn’s piece — namely, that Vilsack’s conservative track record doesn’t suggest he’ll bring real change to the office.

“As Iowa’s Governor, Vilsack has shown a fairly conventional perspective on agriculture — particularly related to biotechnology and the siting of factory farms — that seems to indicate a status quo approach,” said IATP President Jim Harkness in a statement. “But these are unconventional times, and with his charge to implement the national vision for agriculture of President-elect Obama, he has an opportunity to address the concerns of farmers — big and small, organic and conventional — and consumers, as well as environmental challenges facing the country.”

The organization, founded by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, sees volatility in commodity pricing as a big problem the ag secretary must face, but listed other areas it hopes Vilsack pays attention to:

· The bioeconomy is trying to rapidly transition from corn-based ethanol toward more sustainable feedstocks. But what was once a primarily farmer-owned industry is increasingly being dominated by absentee corporate owners, providing fewer community benefits.

· Consumers want more organic, locally produced and healthier food, but government programs still offer relatively little support and multiple obstacles to meet this market demand.

· As the number of farmers declines and the average farmers’ age rises, significant barriers prevent much-needed new farmers from entering the sector.

· Along with adapting to climate change, agriculture is being identified as both a contributor and possible mitigator of climate change. The USDA will have to lead a shift toward a climate-friendly agriculture.

· A rising number of major food recalls and internal government audits have exposed serious weaknesses in the USDA’s food safety oversight.

Text of the Organic Consumers Association petition:

Despite a massive public outcry, including over 20,000 emails from the Organic Consumers Association, President-Elect Obama has chosen former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to be the next Secretary of Agriculture.

While Vilsack has promoted respectable policies with respect to restraining livestock monopolies, his overall record is one of aiding and abetting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or factory farms and promoting genetically engineered crops and animal cloning. Equally troubling is Vilsack’s support for unsustainable industrial ethanol production, which has already caused global corn and grain prices to skyrocket, literally taking food off the table for a billion people in the developing world.

The Organic Consumers Association is calling on organic consumers and all concerned citizens to join our call to action and block Vilsack’s confirmation as the next Secretary of Agriculture. Please help us reach our goal of 100,000 petition signatures against Vilsack’ nomination. Sign today!

More: The environmental site Grist on why Vilsack’s a “big-ag man,” and Bluestem Prairie looks at other responses in Minnesota.

Photo: Lisa Yarost, Flickr

Will state funding for education take a hit in efforts to close Minnesota’s gaping $5.3 billion state budget deficit?

State Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, thinks so. “Do the math” was his pessimistic analysis at a panel in Bloomington last Tuesday, pointing to education’s 40 percent share of the state budget. Without new taxes, significant cuts throughout Minnesota’s budget will have to be made, and education’s huge share of the budget makes it a tempting target, said State Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville) in an interview on Friday.

Ask public school officials, though, and they’ll probably tell you what Lois Rockney, the chief financial officer of St. Paul Public Schools, says: After years of underfunding, “[t]here’s no fat left to cut” in school districts’ budgets.

In St. Paul, the Capitol may be dividing against itself over the issue of funding. Pogemiller has floated the idea of a 1.6 percent cut in every major budget area, and while the idea is not even a firm proposal yet, it’s already eliciting strong reactions from other members of the Legislature.

“I don’t think that’s a sensible approach,” said Greiling, who chairs the House K-12 Education Finance Committee. “The House does not agree with [Pogemiller’s suggestion],” she said flatly.

And Greiling feels she has Gov. Tim Pawlenty in her corner. According to Minnesota’s Constitution, Pawlenty has the authority to unilaterally cut unspent funds in the current fiscal biennium (ending in June), and he will propose the budget for the 2010-11 biennium. In an interview last week, Greiling said, “The governor has named education funding as one of his priorities to protect, and I look forward to holding him to his promise.”

If the governor decides to protect education funding, this would mean other huge budgets, like health care and welfare dollars, would see deep cuts — hardly a popular decision and one that could severely impact those sectors of government.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do for the long term” if education funding is cut, said Peggy Ingison, the chief financial officer of Minneapolis Public Schools. Most districts rely heavily on aid from St. Paul to fund all aspects of their operations. On average, 20 percent or less of a district’s funding comes from local property taxes.

Minnesota’s school districts vary widely –- some urban, some rural; some small, some large; some financially healthy, some barely holding their heads above water –- so any cuts in state education aid would impact them all differently. Some school districts may weather this crisis relatively well, because their voters have recently approved multiyear property tax levies that will give some cushion to their budgets through the most tumultuous times of this recession. Dennis Peterson, superintendent of Minnetonka Public Schools, said he was confident his district won’t even start feeling pressure until 2010-11 because a property tax levy passed in 2007 makes up 27 percent of the budget. In 2005 the district restructured itself, anticipating declining amounts of state aid, and now draws students from area private and charter schools.

But to most of the school officials this reporter spoke to, the future is unclear, verging on gloomy, and many were anxious about their districts’ future health.

In Minneapolis, Ingison says district leaders are afraid parents will pull their children from the district if too many specialized programs — such as culturally focused schools or language immersion programs — are cut. After struggling with declining enrollment for many years, MPS established many of these programs in recent years in an effort to woo parents back to the district and away from the charter schools that have attracted parents with these kinds of alternative education options.

“The 2010-11 school year doesn’t look good,” Burnsville-Eagan-Savage schools Superintendent Randy Clegg said in an interview Friday. While that’s 16 months away, if state aid gets slashed, the most serious cuts will hit then. Clegg said his district “needs to know what we can live without.”

In New Ulm, in southern Minnesota, Superintendent Harold Remme said his schools would be freezing all non-essential new hiring, and were also experimenting with ways to share some administrative personnel with neighboring districts. For Remme, this is a bitter decision. “We just came off of six years of declining enrollment… [where] we cut $700 million from the budget each year.”

“We’ve made as many reductions as we possibly can,” said Superintendent Chuck Futterer of the Cook County Schools, on Minnesota’s North Shore. “We’ve been looking at reductions for many years” as enrollment has declined and state aid has not kept up with inflation. “We’ve cut bus drivers, custodians, support staff, maintenance workers, and we’re looking at cutting one principal [out of two],” whose duties Futterer will take on. “The only thing left to cut is teachers.”

Superintendents are waiting on tenterhooks for January, when the governor is to issue his proposed budget for the next two-year fiscal cycle, so they can start planning ways to accommodate any state budget cuts. Most schools, they said, will manage to scrape by through cutting what are usually considered essential staff and programming. However, it’s an open question how healthy and effective public school systems will be after serious cuts like these.

Photo: Lisa Yarost

No date has been set for the work stoppage. Employees are required by law to give the medical facility 10 days notice before walking off the job. Last month the workers, who are represented by Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota, held a two-day strike.

The primary dispute is over pension benefits. Regina Medical Center insists that it needs to cut back on retirement costs to remain competitive. The workers believe the proposed changes would amount to gutting their retirement savings.

Democratic Reps. Betty McCollum and James Oberstar joined with Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad in supporting the bill, while Democratic Reps. Tim Walz and Collin Peterson joined Republican Reps. John Kline and Michele Bachmann in opposing the measure. Rep. Keith Ellison did not vote.

Walz (pictured) explained his vote in a statement Wednesday. “Nothing in this bill will prevent the auto manufacturers and their suppliers from continuing to move jobs overseas,” he said. “And we have no guarantee that spending $15 billion in taxpayers’ money will actually solve the Big Three’s problems. We must preserve and create jobs in America but this isn’t the way to do it.”

Bluestem Prairie, a blog that follows news about Walz, notes that the Star Tribune reprinted a New York Times article that incorrectly states that Walz and Peterson voted for the bill. In another area of the paper, they reprint an Associated Press article that got the votes correct.