Ever wondered who owns all the TV, newspapers, radio and major news Web sites you enjoy each day?

In December 2007, the FCC “gutted the rules that protect local communities from media monopolies,” and I just got this e-mail from the Free Press Action Fund urging Minnesotans to take action:

As early as tonight, the Senate will have its last chance to roll back media consolidation, and Sen. Norm Coleman and Sen. Amy Klobuchar could cast the deciding vote. All of our work to stop runaway media conglomerates could come down to your senators!

Their vote would overturn a disastrous FCC giveaway of local news outlets to Big Media. If the giveaway stands, it would open the floodgates to the type of consolidation that has allowed tycoons like Rupert Murdoch to stifle diverse voices and skew America’s political agenda…Call Sen. Coleman and Sen. Klobuchar Now.

Tell them to vote for the bipartisan “resolution of disapproval” (S.J. Res. 28), which rejects the FCC ruling. If the resolution passes, our fight will move on to the House. If it doesn’t, then Big Media gets to move into your neighborhood, gobbling up more local outlets.

I found some talking points here:

These new rules are bad for local news. Research by Free Press — a non-partisan, non-profit organization — has shown that allowing one company to own a major newspaper and TV broadcast station in a community leads to less local news overall. Additionally, we know that more consolidation leads to cuts in newsroom staff and erodes quality journalism. Read more.

These new rules are bad for people of color. Right now people of color own only 3% of broadcast media in America. The way these new rules are written, it will put these minority media owners in the cross-hairs of consolidation. They will become targets for buyouts, further diminishing the diversity of voices on the airwaves. Read more.

These new rules are bad for business. As one company amasses more media properties in a given community, it effectively gets monopoly status. By setting up advertising deals across media outlets, it becomes impossible for other small media firms to compete.

The FCC’s process has been corrupt. The FCC Chairman has consistently bucked standard procedure, ignored members of Congress and the public, and snuck through new media ownership waivers that undermine his new rule. The House is currently investigating the FCC on the grounds of bad process.

And if these kinds of topics interest you like they do me, be sure to check out the National Conference on Media Reform coming to Minneapolis this June. More info about the campaign here.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: Senate passed the bill around 8 tonight. Bush has said he will veto if House passes, as well. I guess we’ll see.

The Citizens League and 89.3 The Current are hosting an informational mini-bash at The Varsity tomorrow night, starting at 6pm. Policy and a Pint will focus on the mortgage market, or the concept formerly known as the mortgage market:

Everyone knows the mortgage market is in crisis - and that it’s dragging down the rest of the economy. But what caused it? How can we get out of it? And how can homeowners - and potential buyers - in Minnesota protect themselves?

Richard Todd from the Federal Reserve will help explain how we got here, and personal finance writer Kara McGuire from the Star Tribune will be on hand for practical advice for owners, buyers, sellers and renters alike.

I’m a little jealous of all of you that have the night off and are able to go. Not because I’m in the market to buy or sell a house any time soon, but it’s a major part of our economy right now…which is projected to only get worse. And not that the Varsity’s sparkley, voluptuous acoustics will be showcased by an informational session, but at least you get to enjoy the comfy venue.

It is $10 ($5 for students/alumni still utilizing student IDs), but you do get appetizers from the Loring Pasta Bar, which is also where the after-party will take place.

While the combination of beer, canapes, and mortgages sounds like a bad office barbeque, I’m guessing this one is going to be a decent Thursday night out.

MinneBar -– one of the largest BarCamps in the world – is being held this Saturday at the University of Minnesota’s Coffman Union.

For those unfamiliar, BarCamp is an ad-hoc “unconference” — a user-generated conference that’s rich with participatory workshops, discussions, demos and more. Lots of discussion about start-ups, programming, open source and social media in talks mostly run by average people who are passionate about learning, sharing and collaborating.

This year’s schedule of events runs 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

Here are just a few panel highlights: Blogging for Benjamins; This Thing called Twitter; Social Search in the Corporate Enviroment; The Mathematical Foundations of Music; Why Should I Care About Grails? Full list here.

More than 400 people have registered already. Everyone is welcome, and the event is free. More info here.

(Geek note: If you’re planning to be there and are on Twitter, be sure to use #minnebar as your hashtag and follow @minnebar for updates.)

Last night, a staff member at Coffee House Press told me that the proprietors of Nate’s Clothing downtown (27 N 4th St) closed the sale of their building yesterday. The Star Tribune ran a story in March on the impending ownership change, saying it would be sold to Uppal Enterprises, which plans to install a nightlife establishment or restaurant.

Coffee House, which currently roosts on the fourth floor, will mostly likely be moving to Northeast, possibly in the vicinity of the old Grain Belt Brewery. CHP is a non-profit press that has put out some award-winning books. If you’re not familiar with them they have various events going on around the Cities in the coming weeks.

Local artist Scott Seekins also has a studio on the fourth floor of the building, so he is being displaced as well. He will have a longer trek to complete his “performance art” rounds through the downtown skyway everyday if he has to move to a different neighborhood. (If you’re familiar with Seekins, you know that he always wears either a white suit or a black suit, depending on the season. I saw him at the Mayday parade last weekend in snowy garb, and as my friend said, “That means spring.”)

So, that’s a three-for-one hit to the rootsy side of downtown: the mom ‘n’ pop clothes business, a non-profit book publishing press, and a local artist all leaving the Warehouse District. God knows we could use another Aqua.

If you were traipsing by Northrop Auditorium on the U of M campus on your way to class yesterday, perhaps you saw the camel brought in to celebrate Israel’s 60th. From The Daily website:

Gopher Israel and Hillel, the University’s Jewish student center, observed the 60th anniversary of Israel’s establishment with Israeli music, a kosher buffet, a piñata and a camel on the Northrop Auditorium patio.

According to the article, Gopher Israel received $6,000 in grants for the celebration, which was considered by some to be an “educational opportunity” for students not familiar with Israel and/or Judaism. I’m wondering what percentage of that grant money was animal care and transportation costs. A clever PR move to attract attention, but I don’t really see how a live mascot helps educate students about the Israeli nation.

Minneapolis will soon see the opening of, Agri, another “sustainable” restaurant at 4300 Bryant Ave. My boyfriend alerted me to the restaurant’s opening after trolling through craigslist and finding this job ad. Apparently, Fabrizio Ciccone is the man behind the grub, and also runs Restaurant Aura in Uptown. Aura’s menu seems pretty straight shot, but everything sounds dependable if you’re looking for good food, even if it’s not adventurous.

I haven’t been able to turn up much info via the internet, but I’m guessing the restaurant will be opening sometime after May 10th, as that’s when they’ll be interviewing for servers.

Anyone able to dish on Ciccone?

It’s still raining.

And I just heard snow flurries tomorrow morning.

Happy May, people.

I’m sorry, that title was just too obvious to not use it here. If you haven’t checked out the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ spring celebration, Art in Bloom, the event goes through Sunday. The annual celebration places flower art next to the works that inspired them throughout the museum, and there are nightly events with refreshments available (provided you’re willing to exchange money for them).

Tonight you can get free docent-led tours, starting at 6pm and proceeding, I assume, throughout the evening. You can view the flowers and the MIA galleries for free.

But word on the streets is that the ones around MIA are being cleaned today, so if you’re planning to drive be aware that the free ramp will probably be full, and you may have to walk a couple of blocks if you plan to park.

The latest numbers on the Twins stadium:

Cost: $544.4 million (including site acquisition and infrastructure)
Public financing: $392 million from a 0.15 percent sales tax in Hennepin County
Private financing: $152.4 million from the Twins

Those are ballpark figures (*ba DUM bum*). I also read $522/$387/130 + about $5/year for naming rights. Looks like the more recent the estimates, the higher all figures are.

The latest numbers on the MOA expansion:

Cost: $1.9-2.1 billion
Public financing: $371 million from a TBD sales/food/lodging tax in Bloomington
Private financing: $1.5-1.8 billion

Again, costing varies depending on the date of the article. Here’s what you get in Phase II of the MOA. Phase I puports to bring $1.8 billion/yr to the city of Bloomington. Slightly off topic, I wonder how this will affect the Waterpark of America.

Part of the hang up here is the financing of the parking ramp to the tune of $186-$204 million. The parking ramp funding will certainly have implications for whatever large projects follow it (like a Vikings Stadium).

But… just look at the disparity in public vs private financing. The only direct comparison of benefit I turned up in my cursory research is that the state expects to collect $10 million/year from ballpark-related sales and player income taxes. The MOA pays $55 million/year in state and local taxes.

Tell me how the relative cost of taxpayer burden is worth what the venture brings to the region (yes, I know it costs me personally about $30/year for the Twins stadium). I’ll add in my argument for the social and cultural benefit of having a common cause that unites us.

Maybe I should wait to see how they go about approving the tax in Bloomington before I come to a conclusion. Maybe the residents will get a choice in the matter.

[Hennepin County/Twins Ballpark Fact Sheet (pdf)]

I drove through some nasty hail on 494W on my way home from The Mars Volta concert in St. Paul last night. Lightning was striking all around the airport and MOA, the hail was pelting my car’s recently refurbished paint job (thanks a lot, God) and the thunder was shaking my car.

Turns out just around that same time three construction workers were struck by lightning at MSP Airport. More info here here and here.

From KARE 11:

According to police reports, the man was setting out orange cones around 10:20 Monday night, for a construction project at the airport. Two other workers were with him. Lightning from a passing storm hit the man in the head, then passed on to his co-workers, who both got jolted in the hands and arms.
“Like an electric fence,” one of them told police.

According to the Strib:

The three construction workers, whose names were not immediately available, were hurt at 10:20 p.m. when lightning struck the vehicle they were in on a taxiway near the E concourse north of the Lindbergh terminal…

Well, whether they were standing outside or in a truck, it’s good everyone’s okay. That lightning was nasty.

Oh, and in case you think you’re safe in your car, the Strib says:

Contrary to belief, rubber tires and rubber shoe soles do not provide protection from lightning, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency website.

NONE OF US ARE SAFE!

Photo adapted (poorly) from Flickr via Creative Commons Attribution remix license.