Furst Draft

Pay attention after 4 p.m. today

Update from emergency management:

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHEAST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN.
 
.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
 
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP IN A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT.
A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY BETWEEN 4 PM AND 10 PM. IF SEVERE STORMS DEVELOP...
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS...ARE THE MAIN THREATS. AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS.
 
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
 
NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED FOR THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS ARE THE MAIN THREATS. THE THREAT FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS COULD CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY.
 
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE SATURDAY AFTERNOON. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS.
 
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TOTALS BY THE END OF THE WEEK WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES. THIS COULD RESULT IN RISES AND POSSIBLE FLOODING ON AREA RIVERS.
 
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES RETURN TUESDAY.

'Thank you Michelle Bachmann'

Dave Senjem weighed in on Facebook regarding Michele Bachmann's announcement today. Unedited copy:

"Thank you Michelle Bachmann for your friendship and service to our state and nation. Best wishes in all your future holds."

Tough advice for IBM, J.C. Penney

Here's Malcolm Berko's column for Wednesday...tough insights on Big Blue and JCP:

TAKING STOCK
BY MALCOLM BERKO
RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013

IBM and J.C. Penney

    Dear Mr. Berko: Last April, IBM reported lower revenues and profits, and the stock dropped 25 points, to $195. I've been looking for an opportunity to buy the stock because the new CEO seems like a very sharp lady. So do you think this is a good time to buy 100 shares? Also, what do you think of J.C. Penney Co. now that legendary investor George Soros has bought 18 million shares? My broker doesn't think I should buy IBM but recommends that I buy 1,000 shares of J.C. Penney. I would like your thoughts. -- HF, Erie, Pa.
    Dear HF: I don't think your broker is even half-right! I'd be a buyer of neither IBM nor J.C. Penney. Though both may have some modest short-term appreciation potential, neither appears to be an attractive issue for a two- to three-year time frame.
    More than a few investors who follow IBM (IBM-$210) were disappointed in its report on the first quarter of this year. They believe that IBM's 5 percent drop in revenues and 1 percent decline in profits will portend the future. No single company provides the breadth of products and services that makes IBM a nonpareil single-stop vendor for information technology departments. However, these knowledgeable folks suggest that Big Blue has lost its mojo. They suggest that the mainframe market is beginning to shrink because virtualization technologies allow IT personnel to manage workloads across collections of x86 servers in a cost-effective way and that the emergence of cloud computing is creating huge amounts of excess capacity; therefore, clients have less reason to purchase IBM's hugely expensive high-end systems. The consensus is that the rise of cloud computing is creating some fundamental problems for others, too, such as Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, EMC and Cisco. IBM made bundles of money selling costly software packages to big corporations and taking over entire lines of business. Today these companies want to eliminate their expensive software and hardware systems. It's a heck of a lot cheaper and more people-efficient to rent them. As a result, companies that exploit the Internet -- such as Salesforce.com, which rents software over the Web, and Amazon.com, which rents computing power -- are growing significantly faster than IBM and cohorts.
    Now it appears that IBM's software business, in the absence of continued acquisitions, has hit a wall. IBM's top line has stopped growing, and the company's ability to deliver 10 percent annual earnings growth is in doubt. Virginia Rometty, the new CEO, blames lower revenues and profits on poor execution of the sales force. The Street is blaming Virginia. There seems to be an overarching concern that IBM doesn't have all the technologies its customers want, so what does Virginia do? She cuts costs and spends $1 billion on layoffs in the second quarter. According to a Goldman Sachs analyst, a more effective response would be to edge IBM out of its low-margin hardware business. Software generates 25 percent of IBM's revenues but nearly 60 percent of gross profits. Then have IBM update its technology by acquiring more modern software, and finally, move aggressively into the cloud and other growth areas, such as mobile computing. If IBM fails to take these clear steps, the stock
 will flounder; then the bloom will be off the rose for a few years to come.
    J.C. Penney (JCP-$19.75) is a fading American memory, like Sinclair and Phillips 66 service stations, McCrory's, Smith Brothers cough drops, Burdines, Kodak film, Polaroid and Wildroot cream oil. Frankly, I can't imagine a single compelling reason to shop at JCP. JCP has little to offer that customers can't find at Wal-Mart, Target, Macy's or T.J. Maxx. And like Sears, its 1,100 cavernous department stores lack warmth, color and personality. Those stores are badly merchandised and poorly staffed, and the ambiance feels desperate. JCP was successful as your father's store, but try as it may, management is unable to attract younger customers or communicate a more fashionable image. JCP is out of sync in today's milieu. And I think the legendary Georgie Soros may have fallen off the ledge with this investment.
    Please address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, P.O. Box 8303, Largo, FL 33775, or email him at mjberko@yahoo.com. To find out more about Malcolm Berko and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM

'Take back America, vote November 6'

What politically engaged organization would you guess paid for a billboard along U.S. 52 north of Rochester with this message last fall?

    Take back America, vote November 6

Correct -- the Rochester Tea Party Patriots. It wouldn't be the League of Women Voters, the Citizens League or the AAUW -- and it wasn't the Republican Party, though it could have been.

The sign is still up, though honestly I hadn't noticed it again until tonight, on my way home from mediocre fishing in Wisconsin. It's on the east side of U.S. 52, south of Oronoco. Maybe it was revealed again when another sign peeled off?

Also, if I'm not mistaken, that's the same billboard that in 2010 had a sign depicting a black man's hands feeding the Constitution into a paper shredder. As I recall, the Post-Bulletin wasn't able to determine who actually paid for that fine message, though the sign appeared elsewhere and was linked to tea party activists.

Regarding "Take back America, vote November 6," does that strike you as a politically motivated exhortation? If it had said, "Vote November 6," you might call it a civic-minded reminder, though you'd still like to know who paid for it. A person might even say it had something to do with "social welfare," which is what an IRS-approved 503(c)4 organization is supposed to be concerned with.

But it doesn't say that. It uses the politically charged phrase "Take back America," as if our country were in the grip of a Muslim socialist who wasn't born in Hawaii and who's shredding the Constitution. And the sign was placed by an organization that everyone knows has been politically involved.

Is it this type of activity -- a billboard seen by thousands of people every day -- that caused the IRS to make sure that would-be tax-exempt organizations -- Tea Party groups, as well as some liberal groups -- were nonpolitical?

Could be.

'I have vowed to write a letter to the editor...once a month'

An interesting letter to local legislators. Since she copied me and other media, I'll post it without further ado...her unedited opinions:

-------- Begin forwarded message --------
Subject: FW: Concerns about Voter Fraud with DMC bill - URGENT
Date: 5/23/13 9:58:49 PM
From: dianafriemann21@charter.net
To: rep.mike.benson@house.mn, rep.duane.quam@house.mn, rep.steve.drazkowski@house.mn, rep.kim.norton@house.mn, rep.tina.liebling@house.mn, sen.david.senjem@senate.mn, dianafriemann21@charter.net, sen.carla.nelson@senate.mn, rep.tina.liebling@house.mn, rep.kim.norton@house.mn

 


Sen. Senjem, Rep. Quam, Rep. Benson, Sen. Nelson, Rep. Drazkowski, Rep. Norton, Rep. Liebling:

Some of you were present this evening at the Rochester Tea Party Meeting at RCTC (the Republicans) and some of you were not (the Democrats).  Thank you to the ones who showed up (the Republicans).  To the ones who did not no thank you (the Democrats).  It's awfully difficult to ask questions of you when you don't even bother to show up even though you represent us here in SE Minnesota.  Let me remind you that we the citizens and the people of the State of Minnesota do pay your salaries, and if you properly represent us we expect that you are there to answer our questions about what you did and did not accomplish in the past legislative session.  Obviously all you did mostly was spend money we don't have on things we don't need, but the majority is Democrats, and that's what Democrats do.  Either way, please review once again my letter below regarding voter fraud. I am still waiting to hear back from our attorney general.  When I asked a direct question this evening after reading this letter to the entire group present of you who were present at the meeting I asked a direct question and did not get any direct answer.  I will repeat my question and ask a second and third one this time hoping to get a more clear and concise response instead of beating around the bush.  In terms I can easily understand please answer the following questions for me:

1) You represent us as taxpayers.  How can you in your right conscience allow this voter fraud to happen?    Regarding the DMC and .5 percent sales tax this clearly is voter fraud.  There was no transparency to us voters at all.  When we voted months and months ago for the .5 percent sales tax in Rochester we as voters were NEVER told what exactly the money would be used for.  After it was voted in (the .5% sales tax) months later this past January, 2013, then we were told that you would use it for DMC and "infrastructure".

Folks, this is millions of dollars wasted.  Mayo can afford to cover this on their own!  If you were intimidated by Mayo threatening to leave Rochester and the "49 other states want us as Dr. Noseworthy stated", remember this -- those buildings downtown don't have wheels!  Mayo and the rest of whoever wants money for things which seems to be many groups and organizations are continuing to threaten you, and you just seem to give in to all of them, our tax dollars given away for things we don't need with money we don't have.  (Some of you do I should say - Sen. Senjem and the Democrats, those of you who want to spend our money without any thought of the fact that we don't have that much money to be spending).

Many of us do not want this city to grow that large.  You are creating twice as much crime and a lot more problems.  We, many of us, have lived here all our lives and would rather not live in a huge metro city.  Who asked us?  Answer:  Nobody!!!  This was all done behind closed doors, it was a cover up!  It reminds me of Obama and Nixon.  Cover up, lies, cover up, scam, cover up, fraud, voter fraud!  

So please tell me in a short sentence or two without other garbage in there why did you commit voter fraud?  There was no transparency with this.  I want a straight answer.  For those who voted against this (Quam, Nelson, Benson and Drazkowski) you need not answer.  I want a straight answer from Liebling, Norton and Senjem.  Why can't the citizens of Rochester VOTE on this themselves?  You represent us, you are not to be dictators and tell us how the money is spent.  We should be able to have a revote because this was voter fraud!  Tell me, Kim Norton, why do you continue to tell the public that there was transparency?  You sound like Obama!  There was no transparency!  We were not told before we voted on the sales tax what it was to be used for specifically, therefore voter fraud.  And another thing I keep reading from Norton, you say that "the majority of Rochester is behind this".  If that is true let's have a vote to prove it!  I am more than certain that the majority of Rochester does not want higher taxes to pay for Mayo's wants, and you know it.

2) I was born and raised to understand that infrastructure is "roads, curb and gutter".  That's it.  No more, no less.  Why in God's name are we having to pay for an atrium, a waterfall, flowers down the middle of the streets, islands, and what ever else is in that bill with our .5 percent sales tax?  What is  "infrastructure" by definition?  Infrastructure is only roads, curb and gutter.  The rest is fluff.  We don't need fluff. Mayo patients do not need skyways, underground tunnels, atriums, waterfalls, flowers and islands to survive.  They need good medical care, that's all.  Why are we spending our money foolishly like this?

3) I am adding one more question to this.  Who cares if Duluth, Minneapolis or St. Paul gets more money than us?  What is this about "fair share for Rochester" answer.  That was not my question!  The point is this:  Duluth, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Rochester and all the rest of this state don't need most of the stuff that you put into law to pay for with higher taxes.  The problem is the spending!  It all has to stop!  You are lucky that the tea party is not running the government locally, statewide and federally.  If we were running this government (the Tea Party), and we should be, this would all stop (the spending money on things we don't need with money we don't have)!!!  Those of you who keep spending millions and billions of our hard earned tax dollars without our vote or permission on stupid things need to know something -- millions and billions of us hard working citizens of this state, this city and this country are fed up with you doing that!  It needs to stop!  The buck stops here!  Knock it off!  NOW!!  And furthermore when you are invited to speak at a meeting with us such as the one this evening by the Rochester Tea Party, the citizens, come to it and we expect you there so stop hiding!!!  And one more thing - and this is for Tina Liebling -- I don't care if you "represent me or not"  You still represent SE Minnesota and Rochester and you need to listen to me and my fellow citizens regardless of if I am in your district or not.  I earn money and pay taxes, therefore you listen to me as I pay your salary and you work for all of us.  You are a public servant.  I am a citizen of Minnesota, SE Minnesota, and you work for all of us.

Elections have consequences, yes they do, and because of the laws that were passed this past session and the unnecessary spending I hope that you, the ones who voted in all the unnecessary spending are all unseated in the next election.  You, the Democrats, also need to meet with the Republicans on budget decisions and the rest of your decisions.  No more meetings behind closed doors with Governor Dayton and excluding the Republicans.  I hope you go to sleep at night feeling that you have done a poor job.  You should feel very guilty about what you have done and continue to do.  That is, spending too much of our hard earned money on things that we don't need with money we don't have.  I have vowed to write a letter to the editor in the PB once a month for the next several years until Obama is out of office and until you are all unseated from your jobs.  I will continue once a month to tell the public what you are spending money on foolishly.  Keep it up, and I will continue to broadcast it.  My message to you:  Shape up or ship out!!  Get with the program.  You work for us and don't forget it.  I expect more from you than what I am seeing.

Thank you to those who did a good job which includes those Republicans who voted "no" on all those spending bills including the DMC.  I appreciate you.  You are our true patriots.  I am proud of you who voted "no".  Stand your ground, stand strong for you truly represent us, the citizens of SE Minnesota.

Diana Friemann, Rochester

No. 1: Mayo's power is breathtaking

Print column for today -- anyone care to add takeaways to this list?

Now that Destination Medical Center is the law of the land, Gov. Mark Dayton has taken his victory lap in Rochester and everyone involved can relax and go fishing, this is a good moment to look back at what has been accomplished since Jan. 30, when we all got our first real peek at DMC.

My 10 takeaways, as I pack my tackle box:

1/ Mayo's power is breathtaking: We didn't need this reminder in Rochester -- we take it for granted that what the clinic wants, the clinic gets -- but to watch DMC grind through the Capitol in one session, with little real doubt that it was going to happen, proved to all Minnesotans and residents of the other 49 states that Mayo's power is immense.

2/ Dr. John Noseworthy will someday get a gargoyle on the Plummer Building: The clinic's CEO and president is now one of the most consequential Mayo leaders ever. If DMC pans out, Noseworthy's vision will have transformed the clinic and the city.

3/ Norton and Senjem deserve gargoyles, too: But Rep. Kim Norton's should be bigger -- while GOP Sen. Dave Senjem played an important role, in the end he was the only Republican vote for the tax bill that included DMC. No one was out front more than Norton, no one could explain or defend it more effectively, and in the end, Norton brought her DFL colleagues along to make it happen.

4/ About those "no" votes: At some point, local and area legislators who voted against DMC will have a reckoning with voters. They'll have to explain that they were "for" DMC, gave it some lip service, but voted against it. How will that wash? We'll see.

For now, there were some delicious political moments at Wednesday's event with the governor.

5/ We don't know how this will turn out: This is related to No. 4. There are a lot of important and expensive decisions to be made in the next year or two. More than $100 million in city and county tax money will have to be raised, for starters. For all we know, DMC won't be quite as popular with voters as it is with the powers-that-be.

6/ The changes that were made in DMC, primarily in who will run the show and how it will be financed, are revealing: Those were core issues that Mayo and business leaders could have addressed if they'd genuinely talked with the community and legislators long before Jan. 30.

The plan was improved by the tough questions that were asked by people such as Kevin Lund and John Kruesel, and by political leaders such as Rep. Ann Lenczewski and even Gov. Dayton, who publicly called attention to financing flaws.

7/ It wasn't pretty: It's hard to argue with success, but mistakes were made and a post-mortem is in order.

8/ The Rochester bashing can stop now: If I'm Brad Jones at the CVB, I'm ready to quit hearing local leaders, the Twin Cities media and travel writers bash Rochester as a dull, dreary place with inadequate hotels and lousy food.

9/ That was the easy part: The real work begins now — or on Tuesday, anyway, after we all return from fishing, picnics and visiting the cemetery. A year from now, we'll look back and say that was a walk in the park compared with the city and county tax decisions, for example. It's up to the public and we in the media to pay close attention, ask tough questions and expect real answers.

10/ Enjoy it: The Rochester area is about to get the kind of infusion of money, jobs and people that other areas can only dream of. It won't come cheap — we'll all be paying some of the freight — and who knows if all the promises will be kept, but it ought to be quite a ride.

Mayo media event at 3 p.m.

Striking to see all the city and county officials heading through the skyways to the Mayo news conference at 3 p.m. in the Mayo Building. Wade, Knott, Neumann, Jones, Smith, Williams, and others just within the past two minutes...

 

'Cross-dressing day' at Kellogg Middle School

Could be an interesting day at Kellogg -- a parent says he received this email from school administrators Tuesday:

 

Dear Parents/ Guardians:

We have a reason to believe that a large number of our 8th graders will be "cross dressing" tomorrow at school  (Wed).  We would like you to talk to your daughters and sons, and tell them that the Kellogg dress code policy is in effect and that if they choose to "cross dress" or wear inappropriate clothing, they will be asked to change into their phy ed clothes, if they refuse they will be sent home.  Thank you for your assistance.

 

'Exciting day for the future of Rochester'

News release put out just now by the clinic, city and county, on common letterhead, regarding DMC -- interesting how the city and county are cited first in the headline:

Rochester, Olmsted County, Mayo Clinic Celebrate Passage of Destination Medical Center Bill

Legislation provides public finance tools to leverage significant private investment

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Leaders from the city of Rochester, Olmsted County and Mayo Clinic applaud the passage of the Destination Medical Center (DMC) legislation and thank the bill authors, legislative leaders and Gov. Mark Dayton for their support for this major economic development initiative. The legislation passed Monday as part of the tax bill. It will help fund the public infrastructure required to keep pace with an estimated $5 billion private investment by Mayo Clinic and other private entities over the next 20 years aimed at securing Rochester’s and Minnesota’s position as a global medical destination.

“DMC has enjoyed the support of a strong coalition of community organizations, local governments, labor organizations, businesses and others who were committed to the successful passage of this legislation, and we thank them for their hard work,” says Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede. “We now have the tools in place from the state and at the local level to move this initiative forward and begin to leverage the commitment of private capital by Mayo Clinic and others into our community. This is an exciting day for the future of Rochester and we look forward to the next steps of community engagement and implementation as the plan is developed further and begins to come to life.”

“Throughout this process, we have had the chance to meet with and talk to leaders from across the state and help them understand more fully the critical role southeast Minnesota plays in our state’s economy,” says Jim Bier, Olmsted County commissioner. “It is gratifying to see state leaders recognize southeast Minnesota for the economic engine that it is, and I thank them for their role in advancing this initiative that will provide significant job growth and tax revenue at both the local and state level. We are proud of our state’s position as a global leader in health, healing and biosciences and excited about the opportunities DMC offers to further elevate that position in years to come.”

“This is an historic moment for Mayo Clinic, the city, county and for the entire state of Minnesota,” says John Noseworthy, M.D., Mayo Clinic president and CEO. “We offer our sincere thanks and gratitude to the leaders at the local, regional and state level who came together to help make this bold, once-in-a-generation economic development opportunity a reality for our state. In particular, I would like to thank the legislative chief authors, Rep. Kim Norton and Sen. David Senjem, for their leadership role in this successful effort. We look forward to working with the community to secure Mayo Clinic’s global position here in Minnesota for decades to come.”

Flood summary from Rochester emergency management

From Rochester emergency management:

Our area remains under a flood watch, however the river gauges are well below action stage and flooding is not expected.  Precipitation readings around Rochester show around 1.5 - 2 inches total rainfall from Sunday's storms.  The week ahead will be wet, with more storms predicted for Tuesday – Wednesday.  The Rochester EOC was set-up on Sunday, however the most severe storms stayed below I-90 – there were several tornado warnings south and east of Rochester.
 
Ken Jones, City of Rochester Emergency Manager