Archdiocese Criticizes Mpr's Reporting

By Brian Lambert
MinnPost
February 21, 2014

http://www.minnpost.com/glean/2014/02/archdiocese-criticizes-mprs-reporting

The Archdiocese seems to think it knows what the problem is … At MPR, Madeleine Baran writes: “The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released a statement late Wednesday criticizing an MPR News story on clergy accused of sexual abuse. The MPR News story published Wednesday said the archdiocese has not disclosed a complete list of clergy accused of child sexual abuse. The story cited police reports, court records and the archdiocese's internal files. In its statement, the archdiocese said that it remains committed to disclosing ‘substantiated’ claims of abuse. ‘The 28 clergy members identified by MPR have not been publicly disclosed by the archdiocese because they do not, to date, constitute substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor,’ the statement said. The archdiocese said that improperly identifying individuals ‘is irresponsible and does not serve victims, safety of children or the public good.' " Which are clearly the archdiocese’s primary concerns.

GOP Senate candidate Mike McFadden is getting “specific” … again. Mark Zdechlik of MPR reports: “This week, he added an issues section to his campaign website. In an extended MPR News interview, he staked out some of the specifics critics accuse him of avoiding. On the Patriot Act, he said he thinks some changes are needed to protect civil liberties. ‘It strikes me that we're out of balance right now in this country; that we've gone too far towards invading American individuals' privacy,’ he said. ‘I think we need to get back into the right balance.' " Which, you know, sounds specific-y. MinnPost's Eric Black has weighed in on McFadden's issues section, too.

And Zygi Wilf thinks he was described pejoratively … Chris Serres of the Strib writes: “A federal judge has called on the Legislature to take immediate action to fix Minnesota’s ‘draconian’ sex-offender treatment program, but stopped short of ruling the system unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank said the Legislature is ‘best equipped’ to develop policies that would preserve the rights of nearly 700 rapists, pedophiles and other sex offenders kept in civil confinement.”

The Prez is coming to town. Corey Mitchell of the Strib says: “President Obama will visit the Twin Cities on Wednesday to discuss the economy, marking his first trip to Minnesota in more than a year. A White House official said more details about the visit will be released in the coming days. Obama has toured the country in recent weeks, pitching the economic plans he unveiled in his State of the Union address.” The Secret Service should check the forecast for next week …

The GleanAnd you thought the rent was bad … James MacPherson of the AP says: “North Dakota's oil boom isn't just driving up housing prices at the epicenter. Getting a roof overhead is getting more expensive throughout the state, with the average value of a home sold last year topping $200,000 — up more than 20 percent from 2011, a real estate trade group says.”

We’re a long ways from 40 acres and a mule … In Mike Hughlett’s Strib story, he says: “Minnesota lost a greater share of farms than the nation did over the past five years, while the state’s average farm size grew by 5 percent and its average farmer just kept getting older. Those data morsels come from the latest Census of Agriculture, which takes a snapshot of U.S. farms every five years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the 2012 census Thursday.”

Hmmm … The PiPress’ Christopher Magan writes: “Members of the Minnesota House Education Policy Committee got their first look at a task force recommendation to eliminate a college-level skills test that teachers must pass before getting a license. Task force members Christopher Smith, an Augsburg College professor, and Rose Hermodson, of the Minnesota Department of Education, told lawmakers Thursday that the majority of the group supported eliminating what's now known as the ‘basic skills test’ in reading, writing and math.”

The Strib gives Golden Valley officials a public slapping … “There were welcome calls at Tuesday’s Golden Valley City Council meeting for ‘facilitative discussion’ — including facts and public education about mental illness. The problem is that the council’s newfound sensitivity came after a three-member majority that included Mayor Shep Harris effectively ran out of town a developer who had planned to turn an aging building into a day-treatment center for school-aged children. … Had the officials sought out facts instead of swallowing the unvetted information presented by a small, hysterical group of nearby homeowners, they would not have found themselves belatedly scrambling this week to undo an ignominious chapter in the city’s otherwise proud history.”

We’re No. 40! And I know why … City Pages' Aaron Rupar writes: “[A] sexual stamina study uses data from Spreadsheets, a mobile app that ‘monitors data from user's movement and audio levels through the accelerometer and microphone to provide statistical and visual analysis of their performance in bed,’ according to its website. … Anyway, using data from 10,000 users, Spreadsheets broke down the relative stamina of each state, and it turns out Minnesota is home to a bunch of two-pump chumps. Here are the results:

38. Oklahoma — (2:21)

39. Colorado — (2:21)

40. Minnesota — (2:19)

41. Ohio — (2:18)

42. Louisiana — (2:17)

43. Kentucky — (2:14).”

Do they have any idea how exhausted we are from shoveling snow?