Minneapolis

Job-hunt tip for R.T.: Don’t play with finger puppet of boss-to-be on YouTube

Maybe Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak doesn’t really want a job with the Obama administration after all. In a YouTube video released this week, hizzoner momentarily toys with a small felt replica of the person who has the power (among other powers) to hire him. “These are finger puppets?” Rybak exclaims. “Barack Obama finger puppets? I love this!”
If [...]

Rybak likes idea of White House urban policy czar — enough to be it?

Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis did an excellent job today on Minnesota Public Radio of extolling the virtues of the proposed urban policy officein President-elect Barack Obama’s White House. He did a fairly miserable job of professing a lack of interest in whether Obama might offer him the job running it.
It’s a red-tape-cutting position that [...]

Slideshow: Prop 8 protests in Minneapolis

On Saturday, thousands of people across the country — in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington and New York — marched in protest of California’s Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that overrode a state Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex couples to marry. Here in Minnesota, rallies were held in Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul. Around 1,000 people gathered near the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis (curiously, the Star Tribune’s story estimates the crowd size at 700, while its subhead put the count at 500). Speakers included OutFront Minnesota’s Kelly Lewis; Jeremy Hanson, an aide to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, and Minneapolis City Council Member Gary Schiff, among others. Photographer Tony Webster was there and gave us permission to publish a slideshow of the rally.

Identical twins? PiPress and Strib strikingly similar today

City Pages’ Ben Palosaari notices the striking similarity between today’s editions of the Minneapolis and St. Paul papers, from identical headlines and photograph on each paper’s lead story to much of the rest of the pages’ offerings: dueling pieces on Denny Hecker’s woes, the new James Bond flick and the latest on the Coleman/Franken recount.

2010 governor’s race: Pawlenty, Rybak gain rivals — not counting each other

Already by Tuesday, two men had tiptoed onto Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s turf this week. The city’s revitalization chief, Bob Miller, says he’ll run for the mayor’s job next year, the Southwest Journal reports. And on Monday Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a move on the green-jobs territory that Rybak — joined by another guv-wanna-be, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman — has spent years staking out. Meanwhile, as Pawlenty gears up for a potential presidential bid in 2012, a different Minneapolis official threw his hat in the ring for governor: State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL).

Gay and lesbian equality advocates see gains in Minnesota

Tuesday’s election brought advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality a few steps closer to making gains in the Minnesota Legislature while Minnesota sent a less supportive delegation to Congress. While there is much for them to celebrate, advocates say the path to equality is still an uphill battle. “Change” is on the lips of everyone post election, but what kind of change can LGBT Minnesotans expect at the local and national level?

Obama Job Watch: Top press post gets away; seekers cry, ‘Emanuel!’

As President-elect Obama moves to form his staff, Minnesotans with ties to his candidacy and a desire to move to Washington, D.C. may reasonably hold out hope to get tapped. One post that already got away from the Minnesota crowd is White House press secretary. Another is chief of staff — and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s ascension to that perch will set Minnesotans who know him a-twitter. Meanwhile, T-Paw finds his own higher perch — on the shortlist of GOP prospects for filling the job of U.S. President.

MnIndy video: Election fever is everywhere around university

Voting was heavy across the University of Minnesota’s campus-area precincts in Minneapolis today — and so were the arms of young people at almost every corner, waving signs that were mostly of one description: Obama for President. At Marcy Open School in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood where students mix with plain folks, the line to vote stretched out the door. There and at Coffman Memorial Union on the U of M campus, many university students took advantage of Minnesota’s same-day voting law to cast their first ballots for president. Here’s the video, after the jump — and don’t drink every time you see a sign.

Lines everywhere: Minneapolis turning out huge numbers

The polls in downtown and south Minneapolis are overflowing with voters — even after the early morning rush.

Inside, photos and notes from a morning spent touring Minneapolis polling places.

Election Day morning, University of Minnesota campus: mobbed but orderly

Polling places were mobbed around the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis early this morning. In a residential neighborhood near campus, a line of 300 people at Marcy Open School stretched out the door and around the corner. Poll workers had planned for the crowd: For the first time in memory (if not ever), four porta-potties lined [...]