St Paul Issues Forum: What are your favorite local blogs/websites/etc? Answers have a decidedly civc and east metro slant. Awesome list of resources.

Huffington Post: Hey, Senator McCain – Take our governor. Please. “No governor in the history of Minnesota has been so polarizing, so myopic, or so hard-hearted.” Moreso than Jesse? Really?

Transit for Livable Communities: You did it! The victory for transit is in securing consistent funding as much as it is in quantity of dollars.

MinnPost: Flat Earth’s leap of faith is paying off. They just hired their first employee! Flat Earth’s Cygnus X-1 was last week’s Brew52 beer. Flat Earth also generously hosted last year’s PodCampMinnesota. (via east-lake)

Minnesota Monitor: Obama picks up two more superdelegates in Minnesota. DFL Chairman Brian Melendez and Associate Chair Donna Cassutt carefully state that the casting of their superdelegate votes “reflects our desire to let the more than two hundred thousand DFLers who braved a cold winter night, long lines, and bustling crowds on Caucus Night know that their voices were heard and that their Party’s heads are honoring their choice.” UPDATE: The Uptake has video with Brian Melendez.

Photo courtesy of ARENAdigest. Artistic license courtesy of Erica M.(click to embiggen)

Not only will the Target Center will be getting a green roof after all, it’ll be the second-largest green roof evar. The firm currently in charge of the Target Center facility assessed the needed roof replacement and estimated that a green roof was not feasible. CM Lisa Goodman said, “Wrong! Try again.” Lo and behold, a green roof is now pretty much a given.

The benefit to the green roof is three-fold.

1. It reduces temperatures in our lovely downtown urban heat island.
2. It manages storm water runoff.
3. It lasts twice as long as a traditional tar roof.

You can wonder about a the power-wielding of our city council, or you can wonder about mandating forward-looking consideration of our environmental impact and the health of our city.

I’m curious to see how obvious the green roof will be from the ground.

The Minneapolis Civic Garden Portal Project is the part of the Wireless Minneapolis Project that determines what you see when you log onto the network. The idea is to deliver content specific to your exact geographic location in the city. I was under the impression that this would be broken out by neighborhood/community boundaries, but it looks like that’s not exactly the case. The newly-debuted wirelessminneapolis.org site states that it’s broken out by sectors that align with USIW‘s wifi build-out areas.

The current state of the Civic Garden Portal Project is a result of 2 years worth of input from community meetings and an online survey (which you can still take). They’re now seeking input on what I presume is the beta phase. There’s a key that tells you what you’ll see on every portal page, and you can click through the mockups for each of the six sectors. There are also examples of what some of the pages will look like in Hmong, Somali, and Spanish.

This is the part of the whole project that excites me the most. This is the part I’m going to use the most, and probably the part that I’m likely to have the most input in.

Once I’ve had a chance to dig around I’ll post again. First blush observations?

The Turf Club in conjunction with the Minnesota Historical Society is hosting a series called the History of Hip.

This series will explore the mysterious factors that confer hipness on an artist or a fad, and trace the origins of the music and art genres that still register with artists, audiences, and tastemakers today.

The first event, The Beats, is Tuesday, March 4, at 7:30pm. That will be followed by Design on April 22 and Jazz on May 6.

You will need a ticket. Register online or call 651-259-3015. Tickets for all three events are available now. You gotta be 21 (it is the Turf Club).

Is there a hipper place in town than the Turf Club? They have a Clown Lounge, fer chrissake.

NWA and Delta have apparently decided to amicably split — perhaps heading off a nasty custody battle involving the MSP airport.

WCCO says, “A source close to the talks told CBS News the carriers have walked away from the negotiations. An airline analyst told WCCO Radio a source at Delta told him the same thing Wednesday. The breaking point is believed to be the pilots unions’ inability to reach an agreement on integrating their seniority lists.”

According to the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, “Pilots at both airlines haven’t been able to agree on a way of merging seniority lists, and the airlines are reluctant to merge without a pilots’ deal and risk labor strife.”

Or maybe this is just political posturing, tricking the media into fear-mongering coverage that puts pressure on both sides to give in. I guess I fell for it, and we’ll see.

Sunny Day Earth Solutions is hosting a workshop on solar power.

Saturday March 1st, 3pm-Is solar for me? If you’ve ever contemplated solar power, or yearned to”get off the grid,” this class is for you. Come get realistic answers on solar (both electric and hot water) from Ramy Selim, owner and operator of Sunny Day Earth Solutions, and cetified solar assessor / trained installer. You will learn the feasibility and reality of solar with your budget and location. 2-4 hours – $20.00

The twin_cities posting explains a little further:

[T]he class is mostly a seminar on the reality of solar usage. For example, the cost of all the materials, what your house will look like, the feasibility of the entire project. After, it will be more a Q&A where Ramy Selim, the owner/certified assessor will be able to answer most, if not all of your questions.

They’re located at 26th Ave SE and Como Ave SE.

• 3rd Fire in a Week: Apparently sprinklers were set off at Figlio last night. Nothing in the news yet. Anybody know anything?
• Word is that Carol Molnau is getting the boot today as MnDOT commissioner. Rich has a suggested replacement in his new Rakemag.com column.
• The Met Council approved the Central Corridor LRT plan. Proposed cost is $909 million and the line “could be” in operation by 2014. Regarding the U’s opposition to an at-grade train on Washington Ave, TC sidewalks says: “I think the U is more likely concerned about how to get people to and from the new stadium complexes they’re building along the North end of campus. What good is a new stadium, and all its parking lots, if the roads don’t connect.” The president of the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association made a statement expressing displeasure with a car-less Washington Ave’s impact on surrounding streets, particularly University Ave SE, 4th St, and E Hennepin. Obviously, someone will be unhappy no matter what happens.
• MinnPost is presenting MinnRoast on April Fools Day. There’s a scheduled silent auction, raffle, and “a Gridiron-style show poking fun at the media and the people we cover.” *eyeroll*
• “Is Minneapolis still on track for ranked voting in 2009?” Short answer: kind of. My favorite part of that story: “The State Legislature needs to make some changes to state law in order for Minneapolis’ system to be legal to be better guarded against the possibility of lawsuits.” — I dare someone to print a strikethrough like that in a newspaper. Point made, bloggy style.
• Delta-NWA merger is a No Go. Pilots’ unions held out.

In light of Monday’s Ethics in Online Journalism forum, two different headlines on the same topic caught my eye today. Not a local topic, but treatment by two local Publishers of Stuff Online.

MinneaPolitics: “Racist, Authoritarian Buckley Dead”
Minnesota Monitor: “Conservative stalwart Buckley dead at 82”

For further reference, we have About pages.

MinneaPolitics:

Let the illusion of objectivity fall by the wayside. As truth seekers we cannot rely on them to give us “both sides of the story” when in reality, there are endless facets to any one series of events.

Minnesota Monitor:

As a coalition of long-time bloggers, freelance writers, and professional journalists our aim is to enhance and expand the political dialogue in Minnesota. By combining the immediacy of blogging with time-honored journalistic inquiry, Minnesota Monitor intends to provide a platform for overlooked stories, policy and campaign analysis, and unique local perspectives on the important issues of the day.

Both with information. Both with merit.

Which one interests you more? Why?

T.O.R.T. = Theater of the Relatively Talentless

Law students are apparently multi-tasking, if not multi-talented.

Robin Hood, Esq. tells the story of the hero’s triumphant return from studying abroad. With the help of his new LL.M. friend and other characters he meets in the Sherwood Rare Books Room, he attempts to save the law school and the fair Marian from the evil clutches of Interim Dean John.

The Law School Musical is an original, full-length parody written, directed, and performed by University of Minnesota Law Students. Each year more than 70 Law School students shed their normally deadly serious demeanor to showcase hidden talents of wit, song, and dance.

Tradition dictates that each production features cameo appearances by faculty and prominent members of the legal community. Past participants include Former Vice President Walter Mondale, Former Attorney General Mike Hatch, Federal District Chief Judge James Rosenbaum and Senator Amy Klobuchar.

They say it’s appropriate for lawyers and non-lawyers, alike. I suspect a lawyer will find it funnier than I would. Still, worth a look-see. Costs the same as any number of theater and concert events around town, without the “homey” venue.

March 7 & 8 at 7:00 p.m., Pantages Theatre
Rated PG!
Tickets: $10/students, $15/general public

(via twin_cities)

Living in 55404 stops by Medicine Lake. (Art Shanties are done for the year, by the way. Live vicariously and plan for next winter.)

Originally uploaded by pwenzel.

[Art Shanty Projects] [flickr: Art Shanty]