Clinton, at the U, calls for kinder and gentler foreign policy
Sunday, November 6, 2005 Dane Smith - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| In his new role as a young, energetic elder statesman and internationalist, former President Bill Clinton told a crowd at the University of Minnesota Saturday night that "you can't possibly kill, jail or occupy all your enemies" and that the nation needs to show a more benign and helpful side to the world.
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Senators tell Park Service to back off new management guidelines
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
AP's JOHN HEILPRIN - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Republican senators joined Democrats in telling the National Park Service on Tuesday to back off proposed new guidelines that could allow Segway scooters and more cell phones, noise and air pollution in the national parks.
Instead, members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources' national parks subcommittee urged Park Service officials to undertake more modest changes to their overall plan for managing a 388-park system.
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Minnesota is tops in federal renewable energy grants
Thursday, October 20, 2005 Conrad Defiebre - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Thomas Dorr, undersecretary of agriculture for rural development, said that a recent grant of $4 million to help a southwestern Minnesota business group erect 15 large 2-megawatt wind turbines brings to $13.9 million the amount the state has reaped from USDA Rural Development's 3-year-old renewable energy grant program.
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Loans to Franken's radio network examined
Friday, September 9, 2005 Eric Black - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Al Franken, the comedian, author, radio host and possible future Minnesota politician, signed a document in November that listed $875,000 in interest-free loans that a New York Boys & Girls Club made to his radio network, Air America.
Franken said Thursday that he was unaware of the loans at the time.
The loans and the Boys & Girls Club are under investigation by city and state agencies in New York. Neither Franken nor Air America are targets of the investigations.
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State senate hopefuls already on move
Sunday, August 21, 2005 Dane Smith - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| It's 443 days until Minnesota picks a new U.S. senator, but real estate developer and neophyte politician Kelly Doran already has put up 31 billboards and is working full time to build name recognition in his pursuit of the DFL nomination.
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The promise of science, the politics of stem cells
Monday, August 8, 2005 Melissa Lee - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| An emerging effort on Capitol Hill to loosen federal restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research buoys those who are ailing, some of whom say stem-cell research is the only way scientists might find cures to diseases such as Parkinson's, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer's. That promise has prompted Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., to sponsor a bill that would make more stem-cell lines available for federally funded research.
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Many ways to parse Rove story
Sunday, July 31, 2005 Eric Black - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| It began with 16 words that the White House now says should not have been in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address.
Six months later, an opinion piece written by a former diplomat named Joseph Wilson roiled the White House by challenging those 16 words, thereby challenging a basis on which Bush had taken the nation to war in Iraq.
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Officials fête Oberstar for funding feat
Sunday, July 31, 2005 Neal St. Anthony - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| You would think U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Democrat from Chisholm, was the congressman from St. Paul on Saturday as he stood among 150 well-wishers on the steps of the 82-year-old Union Depot near St. Paul's loop riverfront.
Business and political luminaries -- as well as Betty McCollum, as the real member of Congress from the St. Paul area -- had hastily arranged a reception for the senior member of the House Transportation Committee to celebrate his recent feat in Washington, D.C.
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Minnesotans are key votes on CAFTA
Monday, July 25, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| In a showdown that could be a defining moment in President Bush's second term, Congress is preparing to vote this week on the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
And all eyes are on two Republican congressmen from Minnesota.
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Conservatives pin hopes, fears on court pick
Monday, July 18, 2005 Rob Hotakainen - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| As Bush prepares to nominate a replacement for the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor, it's feeling a bit like Christmas Eve for abortion opponents and social conservatives. After decades of activism, many of them are delighted at the prospect of momentous change coming to the nation's highest court.
But there's plenty of anxiety among Republicans, too. Some fear that interest groups will push the issue too hard, alienating centrist-minded Americans.
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Coleman takes on a new challenge: Karl Rove
Saturday, July 16, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| It might have been the two most important hours of Norm Coleman's Senate career, or, in his words, "a terrible waste of time."
Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, under attack by Republicans, had just called on President Bush to fire senior advisor Karl Rove, who some Democrats have alleged disclosed the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife.
Within hours, Coleman was tapped to lead the Republican rebuttal, joining a broad GOP attack on Wilson and fending off an effort by Democrats to revoke Rove's security clearances.
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Gore speaks on climate change, but media aren't invited
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 Tom Meersman - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Former Vice President Al Gore delivered what was billed as a "one-of-a-kind multimedia presentation on global climate change" Tuesday evening in St. Paul. The event was sponsored by the Gegax Family Foundation and Minneapolis businessman Vance Opperman, and was hosted by the Science Museum of Minnesota.
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Sabo tries again to ease wage imbalance
Wednesday, July 13, 2005 Melissa Lee - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Making another attempt to close the income gap between the country's highest- and lowest-paid workers, Rep. Martin Sabo, D-Minn., introduced legislation Tuesday that would limit the tax deduction for executives' pay to 25 times that of their company's lowest full-time wage.
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Coleman vote on CAFTA could hurt him
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
AP's Fred Frommer - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Sen. Norm Coleman's decision to vote for the Central American Free Trade Agreement could hurt him in western Minnesota, where sugar beet growers are not convinced that the concessions he won will offset CAFTA's damage to their industry.
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Former FBI agent Rowley formally announces bid for Congress
Thursday, July 7, 2005 Dane Smith - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Former FBI agent Coleen Rowley, who landed on the cover of Time magazine after her critique of the nation's pre 9/11 security lapses, announced Wednesday that she will seek the DFL nomination to run against two-term incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. John Kline in Minnesota's 2nd District.
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Battle begins for O'Connor's successor
Saturday, July 2, 2005 Rob Hotakainen and Dan Wascoe - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| The first U.S. Supreme Court vacancy in 11 years unleashed huge and emotional grass-roots campaigns in Minnesota and across the country Friday that ultimately could decide the future of abortion, affirmative action and an array of other volatile social issues.
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Five smart points to help you get beyond the hype
Saturday, July 2, 2005 Eric Black - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Roe vs. Wade will not be overturned because of O'Connor's resignation.
Abortion has come to dominate politics over Supreme Court appointments and will probably dominate the confirmation battle ahead. But O'Connor was not the swing vote on the fundamental issue of whether the Constitution guarantees a woman's right to choose to have an abortion.
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Coleman, Kennedy back new trade pact
Friday, July 1, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| In a move that puts them at odds with the state's $2 billion-a-year sugar beet industry, two Minnesota Republicans -- Sen. Norm Coleman and Rep. Mark Kennedy -- sided with the Bush administration Wednesday in backing the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
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Democratic group says GOP support among women sliding
Thursday, June 23, 2005 Margaret Talev - - Minneapolis Star Tribune (McClatchy)
| Women helped reelect President Bush last year, but a national survey finds many have turned against him and the Republican Party -- more so than male voters -- as they have grown displeased with the war in Iraq, plans to change Social Security, and what they see as inappropriate political intervention in personal or family decisions.
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New blood box could save untold lives on battlefield
Thursday, June 16, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| After a deadly battle on an Afghanistan mountaintop three years ago, U.S. military commanders renewed debate on a question that has nagged them for decades: How do you keep blood that's badly needed for combat victims from spoiling in extreme conditions?
Tinkering in his basement near White Bear Lake, retired Minnesota scientist Bill Mayer came up with an idea for thermal-insulated boxes to protect front-line blood supplies from being ruined by the harsh climates of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon likes his invention so much that Congress is expected to send Mayer's newly created Plymouth company, Minnesota Thermal Science, $5 million to develop thousands of blood boxes for soldiers.
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Wisconsin's Feingold tests presidential waters
Monday, June 13, 2005 Rob Hotakainen - - Minneapolis Star Tribune (McClatchy)
| When Sen. Russ Feingold came here for his 893rd listening session, retired teacher Roland Mead popped a blunt question: "How does President Russ Feingold sound to you?"
"Like a lot of work," Feingold replied, moving quickly to the next question.
The third-term Wisconsin Democrat says it is too soon to decide whether he will run for president in 2008, but he is looking and sounding like a candidate, promising to travel to all 50 states to make the case for his party.
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Minnesotan nominated for EPA post has seen controversy
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 Greg Gordon and Melissa Lee - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Minnesota-bred Marcus Peacock, a low-profile but senior figure in President Bush's budget office, has been nominated to be deputy chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Peacock, 45, a 1978 graduate of the Blake School in Minneapolis, would become the state's highest-ranking Bush appointee.
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Congress faces raft of hot-button issues
Tuesday, June 7, 2005 Lawrence M. O'Rourke - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Stalled in confirmation fights and torn by ethics battles, Congress returns to work this week on a full plate of significant legislation, including energy policy and highway construction, as leaders promise an end to the stalemate of recent weeks.
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Watergate: The scandal that brought down Nixon
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
AP's PETE YOST - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| The scandal began with a botched burglary that initially attracted little attention but ended two years later with the first and only resignation of a president.
To many Americans, Watergate is a dimming memory, if that. A majority of living Americans were not yet born or were children when President Nixon was forced from office in 1974.
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Washington buildings closing more doors to public
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
AP's SIOBHAN McDONOUGH - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Visitors to the capital once could wander the White House grounds, poke around the Capitol, check out fabulous artwork in the Justice Department and generally have the run of just about any federal building.
Security, if there was any, often consisted of little more than a guard at the door nodding as people entered.
No more.
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State senator's son killed in Iraq
Saturday, May 28, 2005 Mark Brunswick and Patricia Lopez - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Helicopter pilot Matthew Lourey, son of state Sen. Becky Lourey, has been killed in Iraq, a Senate spokesman said.
Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Lourey, 41, was assigned to fly Kiowa Warrior helicopters with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. He died Thursday during his second tour in Iraq, said Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson.
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Should women be shielded from combat?
Friday, May 20, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Spec. Xao Her went to Iraq with a quartermaster company that was supposed to provide supplies to all-male combat troops.
Instead, her company came under frequent attack. "When you're in Iraq, you're in a war zone," said the 28-year-old Army Reservist from St. Paul. "We were under fire almost every week."
Her's experience is common among the 60,000 women who have been deployed in support of the war in Iraq over the past two years, a number that is reshaping the debate in Congress over women's role in the military.
In an effort to keep women out of combat, a House committee approved a measure Thursday that would bar women from jobs related to direct combat operations, codifying a 1994 Pentagon policy that critics say is out of date.
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Crimes against children targeted
Thursday, May 19, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| In the 15 years since Patty Wetterling last saw her son Jacob, Congress passed the Wetterling Act and a series of other laws named after missing children.
But the rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in Florida earlier this year showed that crimes against children continue, prompting Wetterling to join Wednesday with other parents of high-profile abducted children to back a tough new crackdown on sex offenders that has been introduced in Congress.
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Coleman, British legislator lock horns
Wednesday, May 18, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| A member of the British Parliament on Tuesday called a Senate inquiry "the mother of all smokescreens," denying Sen. Norm Coleman's accusations that he had profited from a U.N. oil-for-food scheme in Iraq.
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Social Security: Looking for trust in the trust fund
Sunday, May 15, 2005 Eric Black - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| There's a four-drawer filing cabinet in Parkersburg, W. Va., that generates a perpetual torrent of controversy, confusion and anger.
In its drawers are kept $1.7 trillion worth of U.S. government bonds, constituting the holdings of the Social Security Trust Fund.
Depending on which side of the controversy you believe, those bonds will enable Social Security to pay full benefits to all beneficiaries until 2041, or they are evidence of the biggest swindle in human history, a crime so heinous that Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., once called it "the most reprehensible fraud in this great jambalaya of frauds."
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British legislator likens Coleman to McCarthy
Friday, May 13, 2005 Kevin Diaz and Rob Hotakainen - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| A day after Sen. Norm Coleman implicated a member of Parliament in a U.N. oil-for-food scheme, the British legislator shot back Thursday in a cross-Atlantic exchange of words.
The legislator, George Galloway, likened Coleman to the late Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy, a characterization that sets the scene for a televised confrontation on Capitol Hill Tuesday, one that could further raise the Minnesota Republican's profile.
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Appeals court keeps Cheney energy task force secret
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
AP's PETE YOST - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Vice President Dick Cheney doesn't have to disclose the advice his energy task force got from the industry, an appeals court ruled Tuesday in what probably was a final blow to a politically charged lawsuit over public access to White House decision making.
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Although battered, Blair leads as election nears
Monday, May 2, 2005
AP's ED JOHNSON - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| He's loathed by sections of his own party, has been heckled by voters and accused of lying over the Iraq war. Yet Prime Minister Tony Blair heads into the final days of Britain's election campaign leading the polls, thanks in part to alienated Labor Party stalwarts who will hold their noses and vote for him anyway.
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Barkley goes from quirky to Kinky
Saturday, April 30, 2005 Dane Smith - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Dean Barkley, the mastermind behind former Gov. Jesse Ventura's "shock-the-world" 1998 upset, is going to work for a Texas gubernatorial candidate so outlandish he makes Ventura look almost conventional.
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U.N. supporters to speak in Twin Cities
Tuesday, April 19, 2005 Sharon Schmickle - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| A counterpoint to Sen. Norm Coleman's criticisms of the United Nations' leader will sound today at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota, where two prominent U.N. supporters will lead town hall meetings on the future of the world body.
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Klobuchar is first DFLer in U.S. Senate race
Monday, April 18, 2005 Eric Black - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| With kids hanging from a big maple tree in her mother's front yard on Sunday and hundreds of supporters chanting her name, Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar became the first DFLer to announce her candidacy in the 2006 U.S. Senate race.
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This time, there's no gun debate in Congress
Sunday, April 10, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| The day after the Red Lake shootings, the latest of three mass killings in Minnesota and Wisconsin in recent months, a group of House Democrats fired off a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., demanding a fresh look at new gun legislation.
But gun control was not on the agenda when Congress returned last week from spring break. Top Republicans are loath to do anything that could restrict gun rights, and Democratic leaders -- still smarting from recent election reverses -- aren't eager to advertise themselves as the antigun party either.
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Coffers for Senate race grow
Wednesday, April 6, 2005 Greg Gordon - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| In just five weeks, Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar raised $580,000 toward a likely Democratic run for the U.S. Senate, her campaign announced Tuesday.
Klobuchar's fundraising surpassed that of her most probable Democratic opponent, child safety advocate Patty Wetterling.
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Social Security had roots in doctor's proposal
Tuesday, April 5, 2005 Eric Black - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| In 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, a tall, skinny, bespectacled doctor named Francis Townsend saw three destitute old women in the alley near his California home rummaging through garbage cans for food.
Horrified by the idea that millions of American seniors were reduced to similar circumstances, Townsend hatched an idea intended to eradicate the stratospheric poverty rate (more than 50 percent) among elderly Americans and stimulate a recovery of the U.S. economy through a massive infusion of consumer spending.
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Pawlenty to get a boost from Karl Rove
Thursday, March 31, 2005 Dane Smith - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser and a favorite headliner among Republican activists, will be the main celebrity and speaker at an April 8 fundraiser for Gov. Tim Pawlenty's 2006 reelection campaign at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
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Pawlenty heading to 3 Red Lake funerals
Friday, March 25, 2005 Dane Smith - - Minneapolis Star Tribune
| Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has held off traveling to the Red Lake Indian Reservation out of respect for the privacy and sovereignty of the community, said Thursday he will fly there Saturday to attend the first of the funerals for the shooting victims.
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Rural areas neglected at nation's peril, report says
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 Kevin Diaz - - Minneapolis Star Tribune (McClatchy)
| As Congress begins to shift more anti-terror money toward big cities and the coasts, a group of public health experts released a report Tuesday highlighting potential threats to the nation's food and water supply that they say are "unique to rural America."
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Worries swelling over oil shortage
Monday, March 21, 2005 Greg Gordon - - Minneapolis Star Tribune (McClatchy)
| In the space of a couple of hours last week, crude oil prices hit a record $56 a barrel, President Bush fretted publicly over world oil shortages and the Senate voted to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to drilling.
The converging events drew attention to what administration officials call a temporary global energy crunch. Bigger worries also are bubbling to the surface -- fears of a day of reckoning over world oil reserves.
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Asbestos aid gets a boost by leaving some victims out
Sunday, March 13, 2005 Greg Gordon - - Minneapolis Star Tribune (McClatchy)
| Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has spent days huddling with Democrats and fellow Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee that he chairs, trying to walk a political tightrope.
Specter is jockeying to break a years-long impasse over complex legislation to settle the nation's torrent of asbestos-injury lawsuits.
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