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.

The Twin Cities played a starring role in the selection of both major-party vice-presidential candidates this year — on stage in the case of Republican Sarah Palin and behind the scenes in the case of Democrat Joe Biden. But just as the grand total of Palin’s purchases on GOP credit cards (which started in Minnesota) was a moving target, the details of Biden’s back-door tete-a-tete with Barack Obama in Minneapolis last August have shifted over time. At issue: Exactly how long did they meet in person at Obama’s hotel, and exactly how many others (and of what gender) was Obama still considering for the veep slot then?

The Wall Street Journal told it this way on Aug 25:

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate reached a pivotal point in a secret meeting on the night of Aug. 6. Sen. Biden was whisked into a Minneapolis hotel room through a back entrance before Sen. Obama left for his Hawaii vacation. They talked one-on-one for 90 minutes. “It was spirited and pragmatic,” says one adviser who was briefed. … None of Sen. Biden’s vulnerabilities was likely a surprise to the Obama team, which conducted a thorough vetting of the candidates. The team, led by Caroline Kennedy and ex-Justice Department official Eric Holder, initially cast a wide net, but in the end focused more on Sens. Biden and [Evan] Bayh and [Virginia] Gov. [Tim] Kaine. Sen. Obama sought private meetings with the three. Sen. Biden’s turn came in Minneapolis in early August, when Sen. Obama was there for a $1,000 a person fund-raiser. He had Sen. Biden sneak into a downtown hotel through the back door. (WSJ)

On Larry King LIve last week (hat tip: Political Animal), Biden said the in-person meeting lasted more than twice as long, and that only one other person was under consideration at that point:

KING: How did you learn — the moment you learned that Senator Obama wanted Senator Biden to be his running mate?

BIDEN: Well, he had called me about a month before he chose me … And I said, “I’ll be vetted, but I — but even if you choose me, I still want to talk to you before that — before I would agree to accept.” And then several — then I got squirreled out to — he was campaigning in Minneapolis-St. Paul. And I got a phone call, would [I] go masquerade myself out there? They provided a plane for me and snuck me into this hotel. And we spent three-and-a-half hours talking about the role of vice president. And he said, “Well, it’s down to you and somebody else.” And he said, “I’ll give you a call later.”

KING: Did you ever know who the other person was?

BIDEN: Well, I think I do, but I don’t want to, you know, speculate on that.

Biden’s Larry King version squares better with what he told the New Yorker (Oct. 20 edition) although Biden lets on that his lone rival is neither man the Wall Street Journal mentioned but a woman — Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sibelius, apparently:

Biden agreed to let Obama’s campaign team consider him, but with a caveat: “I wanted to make sure we understood each other—that, even if I vetted and he wanted me to take the job, I wasn’t committing to do that. When the time was appropriate for him, if I was the guy, I needed to spend at least two or three hours with him to understand what the role would be.” Biden wanted what amounted to an oral contract between him and Obama, spelling out his specific responsibilities in an Obama White House. On August 6th, Biden said, the Obama campaign “smuggled” him into Minneapolis, where Obama was campaigning, and the two senators stayed up late in a suite at the Graves 601 Hotel working out the details of a potential deal. … [Obama] tested Biden’s understanding of how broad his role would be, as opposed to that of another contender — apparently, Kathleen Sebelius, the governor of Kansas and the only woman known to be on Obama’s short list. “He said, ‘Well, you know, if I offered this to somebody’ — he named her, a person — he said, ‘That person would be very happy if I assigned them to reorganize the government.’ And he said, ‘They’d be very happy doing that. How about you?’ ” That didn’t sound like much of a job to Biden. “No,” he told Obama. “That’s not what I want to do.”

Image: ABC News

Burhaan Hassan was a fairly typical kid, the kind who asked his mother for $20 when he wanted to go see a movie on weekends. But on Election Day, while much of the world — including his single mother — was consumed by the historic election, he and a handful of Somali-American teenagers quietly boarded a plane to Kenya, en route to the front lines of a Jihad in Somalia.

Hassan, 17, wasn’t working and couldn’t afford the expensive airfare, said his uncle, Hussein Samatar, an immigrant from Somalia who now runs the African Development Group of Minnesota. “We believe someone — some group — has paid for his ticket,” he said.

Law enforcement agencies and community leaders fear that up to a dozen local boys have been conscripted by a radical group to fight a Jihad in Somalia, a lawless country in the Horn of Africa.

Special agent E. K. Wilson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office in Minneapolis wouldn’t confirm or deny the fate of the “missing boys,” as they are known in the community. He would only say that his agency is aware that an unspecified number of Somali youths have traveled from throughout the United States, including Minneapolis, to “potentially fight in Somalia.”

Mysterious case

The lack of specificity in the case has jolted the Somali community in Minnesota, estimated at more than 70,000 — the largest in North America. The FBI would neither identify the missing teenagers nor give details of their trips, even though its agents have repeatedly interviewed family members, associates and travel consultants who may have unwittingly sold tickets to unscrupulous recruiters.

The FBI wouldn’t even confirm if a teenager whose remains the agency returned to his family last month was one of five suicide bombers who attacked government and foreign installations in Somalia, killing 24. Yet almost everyone in the community believes that 19-year-old Shirwa Ahmed, a University of Minnesota student, was indeed a culprit in those attacks.

Still, an eerie question — how could this happen to us? — has rattled the Twin Cities Somali community for the past few weeks. While virtually no one denies that the community has been infiltrated by jihadist recruiters, exactly who is to blame for the missing boys is a matter of considerable controversy.

Some activists blame Abubkar As-Saddique Islamic Center (AAIC), located just of Lake Street in south Minneapolis, for preaching intolerance to vulnerable young men. In addition to being the largest mosque in the Twin Cities, some of the missing teenagers, including Hassan, frequented its after-school and youth programs.

Earlier this month, law enforcement officials blocked AAIC’s imam and a youth coordinator from boarding a flight to Mecca for pilgrimage. This intensified the cloud of suspicion hovering over the center.

AAIC officials declined to be interviewed for this story, but released this statement:

“The AAIC does not engage in any political activity. It has not, and will not, recruit for any political cause. There has never been, nor will there ever be, any support of terrorists, their radical philosophy, or their acts by the AAIC. The Center unequivocally condemns suicide bombing and all acts of indiscriminate violence.”

“We needed leadership from them,” said Samatar referring to the AAIC. He says his nephew Hassan memorized the entire Quran at AAIC. A pious young man who reportedly felt a sense of belonging at AAIC, he was a senior at Roosevelt High School, where his academic excellence earned him advance admission to the University of Minnesota.

“He had all the qualities to succeed,” said Samatar wistfully. “Everybody assumed he would grow to become an amazing man.”

‘Disjointed youth’

Other community leaders call for a nuanced look at the situation. Abdisalam Adam, director of Daral-Hijra Center, a mosque in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, said the whole ordeal should prompt introspection in the community.

A member of a community panel established in the wake of the boys’ disappearances, Adam said young Somali men are in a “disjointed state from the rest of the community,” and in desperate need of emotional anchors.

“Some join gangs,” he said, while “others fall prey to cyber recruiters.”

Al-Shabaab's logo

A United Nations investigation recently uncovered evidence that extremist groups in Somalia have ratcheted up their online recruiting and fundraising capabilities. Among other things, the U.N. Monitoring Group, which is tasked with monitoring weapons flowing to Somalia, found that members of Al-Shabaab (”The Youth”), a Somali group designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, have “intensified their cyber activities.”

The U.N. report notes that, unlike more moderate Islamist groups in Somalia, Al-Shabaab has relatively young leaders, some from Western countries, in its ranks. Obscure young jihadists with foreign passports have greater mobility — a key advantage over more well-known leaders, experts believe.

Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College in North Carolina, said recruiting Somalis with foreign passports would have “some advantages if [Al-Shabaab] intends to attack sites outside Somalia.”

So far, the group hasn’t carried out attacks beyond Somalia, though it has issued threats. Still, young people with foreign passports also pose a risk to Al-Shabaab, said Menkhaus.

“They have an exit option if they get scared or have doubts … and could turn to law enforcement in the West and expose Al-Shabaab,” he said.

Greater oversight

Before these teenagers went missing, youth programs at mosques went minimally scrutinized, complained some community leaders. To address this, Adam, the Daral-Hijra Center director, urges mosque leaders to introduce greater oversight on youth activities.

“Our image as a community is tainted,” he said. “Instead of pointing fingers at our mosques and religious leaders, we need to repair our image. We need to minimize the influence of external factors by increasing oversight.”

Meanwhile, concerned Somali parents are keeping their teenage boys on shorter leashes to prevent them from leaving. Ahmed, a 16-year-old high school student who didn’t want his last name to be used, said his parents no longer allow him to ride the school bus. They personally deliver him to and from school.

“I’m under 24-hour surveillance,” he quipped, noting that his parents also confiscated his passport. “It’s fine with me, though — whatever makes them feel good.”

Abdi Aynte, a former fellow at The Minnesota Independent, is Washington correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World Service.

Coleman shrugs: "Certainly there's uncertainty."

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman was interviewed briefly by Fox 9 News Sunday night, in what seem to be his first on-camera public comments about the statewide recount in the race for his Senate seat in more than a month. On Nov. 21, Norm announced at a press conference in Monticello, Minn.: “I believe I’m a winner.” He claimed then not to be sweating bullets: “I’m not walking around, wringing my hands, worrying about the recount.” On Sunday, Coleman continued to put forward an unruffled persona, but he sounded less confident than he did a month ago (and much less confident than Al Franken’s attorney did on Saturday).

I feel fairly confident. In the end, the good Lord’s going to decide. The numbers look good to us. Certainly there’s uncertainty. I’m not worried about it. I’ve done everything I can do. I’m not really agonizing about the outcome.

See the rest of Coleman’s comments and a video link after the jump.

Life goes on, regardless of what your job is. I certainly love what I do. If I can keep doing it, I’ll be thrilled, and if not, I’m sure we’ll do something else.

Here’s the link to the Fox 9 video (hat tip: Daily Glean).

In a curious but not unrelated footnote, a private memo surfaced today in which RNC chair Mike Duncan told Republican National Committee members that “Republicans have grown accustomed to having our party recognized as the ‘Party of Ideas,’ but we must acknowledge that many Americans today believe the party is stale and does not deserve that label.” He continued, “All Republicans have an obligation to develop principled solutions rather than falling back on ideology alone; we must show how our ideology can be applied to solve problems.”

Details after the jump, including the names of those whose trials start this week.

CRASS tells the Minnesota Independent that trials start this week for Vernon Rodrigues (felony); Shannon Alsup, Ashley Majer, Lisa Mirkovich, Loren Yglecias (gross misdemeanors); and Jared Collins, Leif Johnson, Thomas Kamen and Andrew Wilson (misdemeanors).

The protest against Coleman is set for 4:30 p.m. today at Mancini’s Steak House, 531 W. Seventh St., St. Paul.

The call-in to Gaertner’s office is set for  9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m.–1 p.m. Wednesday. That effort leads up to the next court date for the eight people arrested before the convention began who are known as the RNC8: Luce Guillen Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik and Garrett Fitzgerald.

CRASS describes itself as “non-hierarchical coalition of RNC arrestees and community allies” that includes Coldsnap Legal Collective, Friends of the RNC 8, the National Lawyers Guild - Minnesota, Communities United Against Police Brutality, Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Indymedia, and Veterans for Peace.

On Friday, Joe Robinson received the first RNC protester felony sentence – a $100 fine and 100 hours of community service — from Ramsey County District Court Judge Salvador Rosas, who is assigned to hear the RNC8 case on Wednesday.

Rybak will likely announce his decision about his future plans in time for Christmas, but there’s one factor that could change all that. There’s been light speculation that Obama may tap Rybak for a spot in his new administration, as Rybak was an early friend and supporter.

So who’s interested in replacing him if Rybak moves on? Minneapolis City Council member Ralph Remington, for one. “R.T. has created a healthy and strong foundation for the city to move forward beyond his tenure, whenever that may be,” Remington told the Southwest Journal on Wednesday. “And I’m sure if he stays on he’ll continue further in that vein and if he decides to leave I would welcome the opportunity to pick up the mantle and move that forward.”

But at least one candidate isn’t waiting to see whether Rybak moves out. DFLer Bob Miller, director of Minneapolis’ Neighborhood Revitalization Program, announced his mayoral candidacay in early November. Miller has been critical of the city’s direction with NRP by centralizing the program and taking some power away from neighborhoods.

Another perennial candidate is throwing his hat in the ring too. Dick Franson, who has made 23 unsuccessful bids for office (and one successful city council bid in 1963) will run for mayor in 2009, the Star Tribune reports.

Rumored entrants into the 2009 race: Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, and City Council members Barb Johnson and Gary Schiff.

City Hall image via La Suprema.

I am not at all insulted … I try to be understanding of why people feel suspicious. …  I encourage everyone to just chill … I want all votes to be counted properly …

Stephanie wrote:

I am a head election judge in an Anoka County precinct and I am not at all insulted by the requirement for a statewide recount. It might feel different if only certain counties or precincts were picked out for a recount, but in an election with < .01% variance a manual recount of every ballot seems like a reasonable precaution.

It is my experience that virtually all election judges are doing their best to ensure that all election laws are followed to the best of our ability, but we don’t dispute the obvious — that neither human officials nor our voting technology are perfect. I suspect that the vote totals for both candidates will go up as a result of a manual recount, simply because there are a certain number of ballots in which the voter’s intent will be obvious to human counters but not to the optical scanner.

I know that some voters are suspicious of elections officials and after the disaster of the 2000 Florida election I try to be understanding of why people feel suspicious. I don’t, however, think that Ms. Janacek is expressing honest concern. This is her usual MO of disingenuously spreading BS when she actually knows better.

I am pleased by the way the Secretary of State has handled himself so far. I encourage everyone to just chill and let the process provided for by our laws be carried out. It will be carefully supervised both by those entrusted by law and by representatives of both parties so there is little opportunity for anything to happen other than a higher degree of certainty.

Marie wrote:

Isn’t it interesting that the Republicans sound like they are against due process (the recount) and against state rights (it is a MN law to recount under .5 percent). The votes will fall where they may.

I am an election judge as well. I want all votes to be counted properly and at this minimal difference, it’s imperative that it be done by hand. The process will start about Nov 19th and take as long as necessary. I think the Republican anger is partially because they were out spent this whole election cycle. Normally it’s the Democrats who are short on cash. . . this time it was the Republicans.

(Note that these comments came in Nov. 9, before the latest round of charges and counter-charges.)

Rybak made an event of installing a new battery for his hybrid car last summer.

By Tuesday, two men had tiptoed onto Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s turf. The city’s revitalization chief, Bob Miller, says he’ll run for the mayor’s job next year, the Southwest Journal reported. And on Monday Gov. Tim Pawlenty, citing a U.S. Conference of Mayors’ study for his new economic initiative, made a move on the green jobs territory that Rybak spent years staking out.

Miller brought into the open ambitions for Rybak’s office that others likewise harbor, but Rybak is still deciding whether to run for mayor or governor — if his early backing of President-elect Barack Obama doesn’t earn him an administration job offer he can’t refuse. Rybak’s partner in a green manufacturing study last spring was St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, whose interest in Pawlenty’s post is another ill-kept secret.

Meanwhile, as Pawlenty gears up for a potential presidential bid in 2012, a different Minneapolis official threw his hat in the ring for governor today. State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL) became the fourth official candidate in the 2010 race when he filed papers today.

But it was a possible Pawlenty-Rybak matchup for governor that seemed to be the subtext for what the Minneapolis mayor’s spokesman, Jeremy Hanson, said in response to the governor’s new environmental economic development initiative. Replying to a Minnesota Independent inquiry, Hanson e-mailed:

This is a good start, and it’s great to see Governor Pawlenty getting on board with a green jobs initiative. Mayor Rybak strongly believes that tremendous economic opportunity is offered by the growing green economy, which is why he launched a green manufacturing initiative with Mayor Chris Coleman more than two years ago. Mayor Rybak looks forward to working with Governor Pawlenty to grow green jobs, as he has been working with state legislators and mayors across the country. As details of the Governor’s plan come forward, we hope his efforts will be informed by the good work underway at the state’s Green Jobs Task Force and the Mayors’ Green Manufacturing Initiative.

Of course, there are concerns about attaching this plan to the JOBZ program, especially since the Legislative Auditor found that the JOBZ program was not meeting its intended goal of creating profitable, new jobs in Minnesota. The current JOBZ program should be fixed before spending millions of dollars to create another broken program.

Also, there doesn’t seem to be anything in the Governor’s plan that addresses the importance of the location of green business growth. This is important because where the business is located -– its proximity to transit, workforce, existing infrastructure, i.e., a “green site” -– is just as important as the green product made. This is exactly why Minneapolis, with its growing concentration of green jobs, existing infrastructure, strong workforce (with a stellar workforce training system), and access to transit (including bike commuter pathways), is well positioned to attract more green jobs to Minnesota than nearly anyplace else.