cuchulainn
Member
Who wants to bet that if the state outlawed CCW, they wouldn't be weeping about the "loss of local control."
from the Minneapolis Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/3875255.html
from the Minneapolis Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/3875255.html
Cities ask legislators to give them gun controls
Published May 10, 2003 LBRF10
City officials from across Minnesota called on legislators Friday to give them control over who can legally carry a handgun at city halls, parks and other municipal premises.
A liberalized handgun permit law enacted last month allows private businesses and schools, but not local governments, to regulate handguns on their property. "It's another example of the loss of local control," Jim Miller, executive director of the League of Minnesota Cities, said at a State Capitol news conference.
The officials asked that the new law, which takes effect May 28, be amended immediately to meet their concerns. But Sen. Pat Pariseau, R-Farmington, sponsor of the handgun legislation, said she would strongly resist such a move because it would create a patchwork of rules where "nobody would be able to know where they would be safe carrying a gun."
Gun-rights advocates also said it would open a door to cities banning handguns on public streets.
But other states allow cities to regulate handguns, proponents of an amendment said. As the law stands now, said Duluth Mayor Gary Doty, municipal bars and liquor stores and city council chambers can't bar armed citizens.
"Even in Texas you cannot possess a gun at a public meeting," said St. Cloud Mayor John Ellenbecker. "But the Legislature thinks they know better than the people of St. Cloud."
Conrad deFiebre
Child support changes get House approval
Sweeping changes in divorce and family law, including a new system for determining child support amounts, were overwhelmingly approved by the House on Friday.
The bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Smith, R-Mound, would factor both parents' incomes into child support awards, replacing Minnesota's current system based only on the noncustodial parent's earnings.
About three dozen other states have similar rules, proponents said. Along with new allowances for the noncustodial parent's costs of supporting a separate household and other dependent children, the change is expected to produce smaller awards in most cases than under existing law.
The legislation also sets minimum support standards of $50 a month for one or two children and $75 for three or more, and allows adjustment of support levels when the time children spend with each parent is nearly equal.
Republicans and DFLers alike praised the bill during a brief debate that preceded passage on a vote of 116 to 11. But some DFLers criticized provisions that would allow judges to probe how child support money is spent and how custody and support agreements are observed.
A Senate companion bill without those provisions is expected to be voted on Monday.
Conrad deFiebre
Stage is set to revisit death-penalty debate
The possibility that federal prosecutors will seek capital punishment in the killing of an armored truck guard has revived the death penalty debate in Minnesota.
Three legislators introduced a death penalty bill this week. And although the measure likely won't be heard this session, it sets the stage for debate next year on an issue that could split Minnesotans by their moral and political beliefs.
The developments worry Minnesota's large contingent of lawyers, professors, clergy and others who vehemently oppose it. They see it as a punishment that is expensive, ineffective for deterring crime and used disproportionately against poor and minority defendants.
"I would never impose it even if it were the law -- the system is too faulty," said Hennepin County District Judge Jack Nordby. "Both the mechanisms and people involved in the criminal justice system are too fallible, too corruptible."
Minnesota, one of 12 states without the death penalty, abolished capital punishment after the botched hanging of a man in 1906.
Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, introduces a death-penalty bill nearly every year. Still, he acknowledges the bill lacks the support of DFL legislators and many of his fellow Republicans.
"There's just not a movement out there, there's nobody to push it," Hackbarth said. "Even though, if you put it on a ballot, I think it would come back overwhelmingly supported by the people."
Associated Press
Senate panel OKs bulk of candidate legal fees
The Senate Rules Committee on Friday knocked about $36,000 off legal reimbursement claims submitted by lawyers who represented candidates involved in recounts and other disputes in last year's campaign and elections.
A record amount in fees -- about $204,000 from nine candidates -- had been submitted. The Senate races featured three hotly contested recounts and a residency challenge by Republicans to two DFL candidates, including Majority Leader John Hottinger.
Some senators questioned whether reimbursement policies are too generous and whether too many kinds of legal disputes, including challenges to residency, are eligible for reimbursement.
However, the committee agreed to pay virtually all of the claims, while refusing to pay more than $150 per hour for any lawyer. That shaved the bill to $168,000.
The claims now go to the full Senate.
Dane Smith
All lured up and ready to cast
Minnesota's chief angler planned to venture out into the dark and chilly -- and probably wet -- predawn today in pursuit of walleye. Gov. Tim Pawlenty was scheduled to leave the docks on Big Detroit Lake at 4:45 a.m. for the governor's fishing opener, an annual event and his first.
"I think it's an exciting and perfect weekend for fishing. It's a great time to celebrate Minnesota's outdoors," Pawlenty said Friday on his weekly radio show, from Detroit Lakes.
During the show, Pawlenty was optimistic about a successful opener as he gathered advice from everyone from the mayor of Detroit Lakes to Twins great Kent Hrbek.
The governor said one key to a bountiful catch might be the green and red lures he bought at Joe's Sporting Goods in St. Paul on Thursday in honor of the Minnesota Wild. Those colors have brought the hockey team luck, so it could work the same for anglers, he said.
Melinda Rogers
House votes to lift farm ownership curb
The House voted Friday to overturn a 30-year-old law that prohibits foreigners with certain types of visas from owning farms.
Part of an agriculture spending bill, the measure by Rep. Greg Blaine, R-Little Falls and a dairy farmer, would loosen a part of state farm law that bars most foreigners from owning more than 20 percent of a farm enterprise or agricultural land.
Blaine moved for the change because current state law allows only U.S. citizens or "permanent resident aliens" to own farmland. It can take years for immigrants to gain citizenship.
Under the unusual law, those who come to the United States on an investor's visa, called the "E-2" visa, have not been allowed to own farmland, though they have been able to own other kinds of businesses. Among those who want to invest in Midwestern dairy farms are dozens of Dutch farmers.
Supporters say the state's struggling dairy industry needs all the money it can attract, but some opponents said foreign buyers will represent unwanted competition. Blaine said he wants to support the infrastructure -- from dairy plants to equipment dealers.
The measure includes a two-year "sunset," meaning that if it becomes law, the Legislature would have to renew it or it would expire.
A similar farm-ownership measure is in the Senate.
Associated Press
© Copyright 2003 Star Tribune.