April 25, 2010
Duluth, MN - Marty Owings

It took just six ballots to narrow the field of DFL Governor Candidates, at least those abiding by the process, to one. At a little before midnight, after many months of campaigning, much speculation and even some Convention style political drama, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher became the first woman in Minnesota history to receive her party's endorsement for Governor.

Throughout the evening, one by one the other Candidates fell away starting with Senator John Marty who gave an emotional concession speech, saying that his campaign, "raised the issues that were important to most Minnesotan's". Marty talks about his campaign ending.

Click Here For The Audio.

April 10, 2010
State Capitol - By Marty Owings

This week David Brauer at http://minnpost.com wrote a lengthy piece on the battle for media access at the Capitol. Specifically the access in question is for the UpTake, which is a new media outlet best known for their coverage of the Senate recount trial between Norm Coleman and Al Franken. The Uptake applied for space in the Capitol Press Corps area which is located in the basement of the Capitol.

The problem started when the Rochester Post Bulletin complained in a letter to Capitol Administration, the people responsible for leasing space, that the UpTake was a partisan media organization. All the detail is included in Brauer's piece, you can check it out at the link below. I've included my response to the issue for our readers as well.

Rep. Carolyn Laine - DFL and Supporters of "Gary's Bill"
April 7, 2010
State Capitol - By Marty Owings

As readers may or may not know, in Minnesota it’s always been the funeral industry that controls what happens to people after their death. They control everything from transportation, display and embalming and they have an obvious vested interest in keeping that control. However, they weren't able to defeat a bill allows individuals to control what happens to their loved one's body after death.

A bill passed yesterday in the House of Representatives gives those rights back to next-of-kin. The bill allows people to obtain permission to remove the body of a loved one from the place of death. It also modifies the rules for how the departed are transported and prepared for public viewing. It no longer requires immediate embalming; dry ice can now be used for preservation.

April 2, 2010
Minnesota State Capitol
Marty Owings
EDITORIAL

This week at the Capitol, as Law Makers hurried to get their work done before the Easter break, the media hardly took notice when a $30 million dollar program for the poor was cut and the money was used for Corporate tax breaks. It was a page right out of the old Robin Hood story book, the difference here is that Robin Hood, in the form of the Legislature, robbed from the poor and gave to the rich.