No Grand Jury for Archdiocese ... Yet

By Brian Lambert
The Minnpost
December 18, 2013

http://www.minnpost.com/glean/2013/12/no-grand-jury-archdiocese-yet



Not yet, anyway. MPR says: “Ramsey County Attorney John Choi reaffirmed his determination Wednesday not to convene a grand jury while police are still investigating allegations of child abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. ‘I have to make some tough calls, and I believe in a certain way to get to a conclusion,’ he said on The Daily Circuit. ‘An investigative grand jury at this moment, when there's an active police investigation going on, would be really inappropriate and an abuse of my power. Let's let the police investigation come to some completion, and then they can present information to us, and we can make appropriate decisions based upon that.' "

An editorial in the Marshall Independent goes fairly easy on the archbishop: “We credit Archbishop John Nienstedt for his frankness when commenting publically Sunday on the allegations of sexual abuse by priests in Minnesota, but we're not surprised if what he said fell on a lot of deaf ears across the state. … Nienstedt didn't make excuses, apologized for overlooking the issue and admitted he should have investigated it ‘a lot more than I did.’ We respect his candor and willingness to take responsibility, but that won't wipe his slate clean. And saying he was ‘surprised as anyone else,’ surely didn't help his cause, or the church's. In a position of such great leadership, Nienstedt should've done his due diligence, regardless of what he was told. Had he, perhaps those blinders wouldn't have been put on and he wouldn't have been so ‘surprised.’ This issue is just too damaging, too sensitive and personal, for him to have assumed anything.”

A long-overdue change … Matt McKinney of the Strib says: “Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau said Wednesday that her department will no longer investigate its own cases when a police officer uses a gun and someone gets injured or killed. Instead, she said, they will be handled by Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. ‘I hope to never need them,’ she said of the BCA. The Minneapolis Police Department will still do internal affairs investigations of the cases, called critical incidents. … Before 2004, the Minneapolis Police Department sent officer-involved fatality cases to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office for investigation. Former Chief Bill McManus ended the practice and brought the investigations into the department, prompting a warning from then-Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar, who said she preferred outside review.”

I’d like to see the fuel bill just for hauling this much dirt … Stribber Paul Levy reports: “Blaine is finally getting its Vikings stadium, but not in the way it once hoped. The city — considered a potential stadium destination in 2006, until the team and Anoka County dissolved their partnership — will be getting the fill from the Metrodome site as the team’s new Minneapolis home is developed. Trucks are expected to haul 350,000 cubic yards of soil to a 33-acre site in Blaine by April, a Blaine official said Tuesday. ‘It’s clean fill,’ said Bryan Schafer, the city’s community development director. ‘The team hasn’t always been very good, but the fill’s good,’ he said jokingly.” Let’s hear you say that, pal, when the new stadium puts us in the Super Bowl.

Speaking of … In case you’d forgotten about that Arden Hills site where Zygi was going to spend our dough, Frederick Melo of the PiPress writes: “How much housing, office and retail space could Ramsey County's share of the redeveloped Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant support? Planning consultants for the city of Arden Hills have come up with a preliminary concept for the 427-acre parcel, which would make up a village in its own right. The Cunningham Group is proposing 1,700 units of housing on 168 acres, 2 million square feet of office space on 156 acres and 300,000 square feet of retail on 18 acres.” Hmmm, that'd be big enough  for two Home Depots, two Applebees, three Paneras and an outlet mall …

This would be worse than sitting next to a fat guy with a phlegmy cold … The AP says: “Authorities say a Sun Country flight was en route to Minneapolis from Fort Myers, Fla., but was diverted to Greater Rochester International Airport Monday night. A 77-year-old Shakopee man on the flight was sitting next to his wife when he suffered an unspecified medical problem. People on board the plane administered CPR in flight. Olmsted County sheriff's officials say paramedics were waiting on the runway when the plane landed … [they] were unsuccessful in trying to revive him and he was pronounced dead.

You don’t get as big as Target without throwing your weight around … Thomas Lee of the Strib writes: “The Minneapolis-based retailer confirmed Tuesday that it will not sell the CD version of Beyoncé’s latest self-titled album because the pop superstar decided to release it on iTunes first. Target, which previously worked with Beyoncé, said the singer’s digital-first distribution strategy sapped the excitement and sales that retailers normally gain from a new album, especially one of this blockbuster caliber. ‘At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections,’ Target spokeswoman Erica Julkowski said in a statement.” I think all “guests” should be offered complimentary beverages and canapes.

Over in Wisconsin, there’s a plan to expand charter schools … via federal money. Jon Swedien of the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reports: “A Republican-backed bill would redefine charter schools in Wisconsin and allow for the creation of independent charter schools throughout the state. Under the bill introduced last week by five Republican assemblymen, two- and four-year UW colleges, regional educational agencies and technical college district boards could establish independent charter schools throughout Wisconsin. The independent charters could be run by companies or nonprofits that would contract with the institutions authorized to establish independent charter schools. Current law only allows independent charter schools in Milwaukee and Racine. … Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, who introduced the bill, said he hopes it is not viewed in a partisan light. Kooyenga said because Wisconsin defines charter schools differently than other states and the federal government, the proposed bill would make it easy for charter schools to obtain federal dollars.”

At The Current, Jay Gabler is kind of upset at who is already in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall Fame … while Minneapolis’ Replacements are not. He says: “In what’s become an annual ritual since the Replacements first became eligible in 2006, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame declined to induct the seminal Minneapolis band. This year, for the first time, the ‘Mats were at least included on the ballot sent to voters by a Hall of Fame nominating committee — but when the votes were counted, the Let It Be band didn’t make the cut. It’s hard to argue with voters’ decision to induct Nirvana this year, but other inductees are more arguable … so let’s argue. If we could bump an act — either a present or past inductee — to make room for Paul and Tommy and Bob and Chris, here are some acts that might be considered ..."