Bob CollinsGetting ready for the same-sex marriage debate, a lesson for hotshots, embracing spring, a goodbye to Harmon, and homeowners vs. the power line.
1) IS MINNESOTA THE NEW MAINE?
The House didn’t vote last evening on whether to put the same-sex marriage ban on the November 2012 ballot. It may take it up today if supporters of the bill can figure out how to explain dealing with an intense social issue before the state has a budget in place. It was quite a scene in the Capitol yesterday afternoon as supporters and opponents spent hours shouting at each other. Get used to it. An 18-month debate over a question on the ballot is going to be the most intense political fight ever witnessed in Minnesota.
It’ll look like this…
And this…
What will be interesting is determining how many people don’t already have an opinion on the issue that won’t be shaken by months of endless TV ads.
Gallup reports today that for the first time, a majority of those surveyed favors the right of gay people to marry.
2) A LESSON FOR OTHER HOTSHOTS
Lewis Brown was one of those college basketball players headed for stardom in the ’80s. Reggie Theus, an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, says Brown “probably had as much talent as any man his size I’ve been around.”
What happened to him? The New York Times found him…
These days, Mr. Brown spends much of his days at the Mobil station, washing drivers’ windows as they pull in for gas. As dusk fell one recent night, he headed for home, a pile of boxes and blankets on a patch of sidewalk set among the production studios south of Santa Monica. “Vine is mine, all the way down to the 7-Eleven,” Mr. Brown said, his huge frame lumbering down the street, nodding at people who know him from his 11 years on these streets, as well as a few who still recognize him from his basketball days.
It’s a tragic tale for many reasons, not only because of wasted potential, but because a young man with mental health problems, never got the help he needed.
3) EMBRACING SPRING
You out-of-staters are probably wondering why we Minnesotans stick it out through the long winter.
This is why: A week of the sweet aroma of apple blossoms:
Taken — and provided by — the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum yesterday.
4) A GOODBYE TO HARMON
Harmon Killebrew’s funeral will be held at noon today in Arizona. The visitation was held last evening…
Online coverage is being provided at KARE11.com. Several Twins will serve as pallbearers, prompting the headline of the day. “For once, Twins will carry Harmon Killebrew.”
5) HOMEOWNERS VS. THE POWER LINE
If you knew a huge power line project was heading in your general direction, would you build a home nearby? The huge CapX 2020 power line project is underway in the Monticello area; it’s the first stage of an eventual route from St. Cloud to Fargo and homeowners in the Freeport area are realizing it might come right through their land, the St. Cloud Times reports.
“I think everybody just assumed it wasn’t going to come … this way,” Anne Welle said. She and her husband, Peter, own a 60-cow dairy farm near Freeport. “I think we got a little comfortable, but everyone’s starting to panic.”
Most of the route will be along I-94 but the area around Freeport is too tricky. Those include the Spunk lakes, numerous businesses, cemeteries and two rest areas owned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and protected under state law, the paper says.
Bonus: Is there anything a good cellphone can’t do? The Duluth News Tribune has the story behind the story of the rescue of six people in a tree-planting crew who got lost earlier this week.
A LifeLink helicopter from Hibbing searched for them in the dark…
“They gave us some direction saying that they’re north and east of us, and so we went in that direction,” (Nurse Tom) Mayo said. “And within two minutes we could see their cell phones just like they were holding up flashlights.”
Seeing or hearing the helicopter coming, the hikers held up the cell phones as if they were at a rock concert. The crew could spot them, Mayo said, because all three were wearing night-vision goggles.
TODAY’S QUESTION
Predictions about the end of the world come and go. The one getting all the attention just now says the end will begin at 6 p.m. this Saturday. Today’s Question: Why are we so interested in predictions about the end of the world?
WHAT WE’RE DOING
Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) – First hour: Financial advice for young people.
Second hour: Chan Poling performs in the Maud Moon Weyerhauser studio.
Midday (11 a.m. – 1 p.m.) – First hour: Former Minnesota legislative leaders discuss the race to a state budget.
Second hour: Live broadcast from the National Press Club: AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.
Science Friday (1-3 p.m.) – First hour: An update on the damaged nuclear power plants in Fukushima.
Second hour: Newly discovered planets floating all alone in space.
