From dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net Wed Jan 2 09:31:16 2008 From: dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net (dfledfoundation-announce@communityforum.net) Date: Wed Jan 2 09:30:41 2008 Subject: [DFLEF] The Transportation System Minnesota Needs Message-ID: <477BAE44.8050209@scheie.homedns.org> *Plan on joining us! * Downtown Discussion Group /Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 12:00 noon / The Transportation System Minnesota Needs: From bridges to bus rapid transit, an assessment of moving Minnesotans in the 21st Century. With: Peter McLaughlin, Hennepin County Commissioner and former legislator, McLaughlin has been a leader on transportation issues for decades. Fredrickson & Byron Law Firm 200 S. 6th Street, 40th floor U.S. Bank building, corner of 6th St. and 2nd Ave. Bring a bag lunch, drinks will be provided For more information, visit www.dfleducationfoundation.org If you no longer wish to receive our announcements, reply with 'remove' in the subject line. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mapnp.Geeks.ORG/pipermail/dfledfoundation-announce/attachments/20080102/38161b62/attachment.html From dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net Fri Jan 4 08:55:41 2008 From: dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net (dfledfoundation-announce@communityforum.net) Date: Fri Jan 4 08:58:22 2008 Subject: [DFLEF] New strategic plan for Minneapolis public schools Message-ID: <477E48ED.3080001@scheie.homedns.org> *Plan on joining us! _Stone Arch Discussion Group_* The* new strategic plan for Minneapolis public schools *, will kick off the Stone Arch Discussion Group's 2008 meetings, Saturday morning, January 12, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at Jitters, 205 E. Hennepin. This plan builds on the McKinsey report prepared for the school board, taking into account declining enrollment and budget constraints. * Chris Stewart,* *elected school board member will lead the discussion. * Invite anyone interested, and remind them that *one or more Minneapolis school issues may be on the November ballot.* Even if you have no children in the schools, if you are a Minneapolis resident, you will be asked to vote on these issues. Do come, buy your coffee and join the discussion. Also, on your new 2008 calendar mark the second Saturday as Stone Arch--always at the same place and time. Stone Arch is sponsored by the DFL Education Foundation. Our Stone Arch discussions are available later on podcasts from the DFL Education Foundation's website. For more information, visit www.dfleducationfoundation.org If you no longer wish to receive our announcements, reply with remove in the subject line. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mapnp.Geeks.ORG/pipermail/dfledfoundation-announce/attachments/20080104/4bd3c3be/attachment.html From dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net Tue Jan 15 15:50:42 2008 From: dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net (dfledfoundation-announce@communityforum.net) Date: Tue Jan 15 15:51:16 2008 Subject: [DFLEF] The Transportation System Minnesota Needs Message-ID: <478D2AB2.5030300@scheie.homedns.org> *Plan on joining us! * Downtown Discussion Group /Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 12:00 noon / The Transportation System Minnesota Needs: > From bridges to bus rapid transit, an assessment of moving Minnesotans in the 21st Century. With: Peter McLaughlin, Hennepin County Commissioner and former legislator, McLaughlin has been a leader on transportation issues for decades. Fredrickson & Byron Law Firm 200 S. 6th Street, 40th floor U.S. Bank building, corner of 6th St. and 2nd Ave. Bring a bag lunch, drinks will be provided For more information, visit www.dfleducationfoundation.org If you no longer wish to receive our announcements, reply with 'remove' in the subject line. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mapnp.Geeks.ORG/pipermail/dfledfoundation-announce/attachments/20080115/9499425d/attachment.html From dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net Fri Jan 25 15:29:41 2008 From: dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net (dfledfoundation-announce@communityforum.net) Date: Sat Jan 26 08:41:44 2008 Subject: [DFLEF] IdeaNews - January 2008 Message-ID: IdeaNews - January 2008 an occasional publication of The DFL Education Foundation In this issue - Constitution and Separation of Powers - Transportation - News Media - DVDs Erosion of our Constitution's Separation of Powers? Activating the "Fourth Branch" of our Government Our two guests will challenge us to examine the critical element of our democracy that has been missing from the discussion about our constitutional system?the "fourth branch"'. Warren Spannaus - former DFL Party Chair and Attorney General currently in private practice. Peter Erlinder - Professor of Constitutional Criminal law at William Mitchell College of Law. Sunday, March 2, 2008 -- 2:00 - 4:00 pm St. Louis Park City Hall 5005 Minnetonka Blvd (parking in rear) Free and open to the public A brief annual meeting will follow. Transportation ?Minnesota transportation needs more funding!? This was the song of ?the three mayors? and two citizen activists at a November 28 gathering at the Bloomington Civic Plaza. Mayors R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis, Gene Winstead of Bloomington, and James Hovland of Edina, along with DFL Education Foundation President and former State Senator Carol Flynn and Dave Van Hattum of Transit for Livable Communities spoke to a crowd of about 75 people; Lori Sturdevant of the Minneapolis Star Tribune moderated. The event, "The Transportation Crisis: Resolving Political and Infrastructure Gridlock,? was organized by DFL Senate District 41 and the DFL Education Foundation. Mayor Rybak noted that Governor Tim Pawlenty for two consecutive years has vetoed bills passed by the Minnesota legislature that provided support for a comprehensive transportation solution involving roads and transit. In 2007 the veto was almost overridden, falling only two votes short. Rybak urged citizens to contact their legislators to pass the bill again in 2008, and this time override the veto if the governor blocks it. One specific upgrade that Rybak advocated was Bus Rapid Transit which would take riders quickly between Lakeville and downtown Minneapolis. Mayor Winstead has two interstate highways, I-494 and I-35, running through his city of Bloomington. He pointed out that because the state and federal governments have short-changed highway funding, the freeways are clogged and spillover into city streets results in a lower quality of life for the citizenry and extra costs for the city government. Van Hattum, the policy and advocacy program manager of Transit for Livable Communities, said Portland, Denver, Seattle, and other cities with which the Twin Cities compete have all developed rail systems, not just a single line. He urged passage in the Minnesota legislature of H.F. 946, a bill that includes a sales tax increase in the metropolitan area that is set aside for transit. Van Hattum said other metropolitan areas, unlike the Twin Cities, have already done this. The presentations of the three panelists were followed by questions and comments by members of the audience. DVDs of this forum are available (see below) News Media MINNPOST A NEW MODEL FOR JOURNALISM? Newspapers are in trouble, and we need a new model, according to Joel Kramer, former publisher of the Minnesota Star Tribune. Kramer spoke to a meeting of the Minneapolis Downtown Discussion Group, sponsored by the DFL Education Foundation, on December 6. Newspapers have been vital for democracy throughout U.S. history, said Kramer. They are the only medium that has invested in journalism; the other media rely on newspapers for much of their ideas and information. But the profits of newspapers have been steadily declining in recent years because of a loss of advertising revenue, and this has resulted in radical staff cutbacks. For the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, their advertising revenue has fallen by a tenth in the past year, and almost all of that is a loss of profit. The San Francisco Chronicle is already losing money, and other newspapers will follow them into debt. Because of reduced revenue the Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press have cut about half their journalistic staff, and that has resulted in a further cutbacks in circulation. What can be done to preserve quality journalism? Kramer has founded MinnPost, a newspaper available on the internet each weekday, seeking a model different from the failing print newspapers. MinnPost?s target audience is the perhaps one in six adults in the Twin Cities that values good journalism--the people who listen to public radio, read books, the New York Times and high quality magazines. Kramer said the time is right for his model to work in the Twin Cities because of three factors: 1. The availability of good journalists. In the past year over 125 have lost their jobs at the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press; they have some income from buyouts and pensions, but many of them still want to work. 2. The core audience is disaffected with the Twin Cities newspapers as a result of the dropoff in quality in recent years. 3. A new newspaper can only succeed if it can capitalize on the low cost of the internet--and the core audience is now almost entirely on line, unlike five years ago. Kramer said he looked into launching MinnPost as a for-profit organization, but soon realized it could not obtain enough advertising to maker a profit. Instead it will be a non-profit organization, like public radio and television--give the paper away, have some advertising, and ask readers and foundations to support it. Thus far, in its first month, the paper has been a success. Their goal was 400,000 hits in the first month; even setting aside the first two days, when there was enormous traffic drawn out of curiosity, MinnPost has averaged 480,00-500,000 hits a day. There are 2500 email subscribers, and each weekday at 11 a.m. 1500 copies are printed and distributed from locations throughout the metropolitan area. Although MinnPost has received very little media coverage in the Twin Cities, there has been great journalistic interest and attention throughout the rest of the country. Curious yourself? Want to read it? Go to www.minnpost.com DVDS The Transportation Crisis - Resolving political and infrastructure gridlock History Series #1 through 5 now available. Future events will also be recorded. Fairer Taxes / Wiser Investments with Joel Kramer. DVD's available for a $5.00 contribution. ($4.70 + .30 tax) Make check payable to DFL Education Foundation Mail to Barbara Allivato, 4825 Valley View Road, Edina, MN 55424 http://www.dfleducationfoundation.org. About the Foundation The DFL Education Foundation began in 1985 with an endowment from Barney Allen, the Democratic Farmer Labor Party's first candidate for governor in 1944. The foundation's goal is to promote informed participation in politics, through citizen education, leadership development, and public discussion of political issues. Nearly all the work is accomplished by volunteers and supported by individual contributions. We are grateful for any contribution you have sent or can send. They are tax deductible and can be mailed to our treasurer, Brian Hanninen, 2213 Milwaukee Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404. Vici Oshiro, Editor -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mapnp.Geeks.ORG/pipermail/dfledfoundation-announce/attachments/20080125/04412863/attachment.html From dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net Wed Jan 30 07:50:59 2008 From: dfledfoundation-announce at communityforum.net (dfledfoundation-announce@communityforum.net) Date: Wed Jan 30 07:49:12 2008 Subject: [DFLEF] Erosion of our Constitution's Separation of Powers? Activating the "Fourth Branch" of our Government Message-ID: <47A080C3.2090005@scheie.homedns.org> *Plan on joining us! * The DFL Education Foundation Annual Meeting: Erosion of our Constitution's Separation of Powers? Activating the "Fourth Branch" of our Government At this time, as we approach national elections and as the executive branch seems to be claiming virtually unlimited power, our two guests will challenge us to examine the critical element of our democracy that has been missing from the discussion about our constitutional system...the "fourth branch". Sunday, March 2, 2008 2:00 -- 4:00 pm St. Louis Park City Hall 5005 Minnetonka Blvd (parking in rear) This event is free and open to the public! With featured guests: Warren Spannaus -- a former State DFL Party Chair (1967-69) and Minnesota Attorney General (1970-82), Spannaus is currently a lawyer in private practice. Peter Erlinder -- a Professor of Constitutional Criminal Law at William Mitchell College of Law, Erlinder has litigated numerous cases involving issues of political, social or legal significance and was one of the first commentators to warn of the danger of the Patriot Act. He is also Lead Defense Counsel at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Questions? Please contact Barbara Bearman (612-374-4847) For more information, visit www.dfleducationfoundation.org If you no longer wish to receive our announcements, reply with 'remove' in the subject line. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mapnp.Geeks.ORG/pipermail/dfledfoundation-announce/attachments/20080130/96674aa7/attachment.html