Archdiocese Assigned Problem Priests to Marriage Annulment Tribunals

By Brian Lambert
The MinnPost
September 26, 2014

http://www.minnpost.com/glean/2014/09/archdiocese-assigned-problem-priests-marriage-annulment-tribunals

Because they’ve displayed such quality judgment in their previous assignments? The Strib’s Jean Hopfensperger reports, “A church tribunal that determines the sensitive issue of whether Twin Cities Catholics can annul their marriages has employed priests known to have engaged in sexual improprieties, according to church documents and other records obtained by the Star Tribune. The practice is defended by the church but challenged by others who say the church is finding jobs for problem priests at the expense of Catholics in crisis.”

MPR’s Brett Neely talked with comedian Bill Maher about his campaign to unseat Second District Rep. John Kline. “When asked if he knew anything about Kline's opponent, Maher said, ‘No, I only found out his name this past week when I read John Kline's fundraising letter in response to our picking him.’ Kline's opponent is former state Rep. Mike Obermueller, who failed in his bid to unseat the incumbent congressman two years ago. But that doesn't matters to Maher. ‘I don't know anything about him and I don't care,’ Maher said of Obermueller. ‘This is not about him. This about the fact that whoever is running against Kline literally couldn't be worse.’" I want video of Maher working the Owatonna Kiwanis Club.

Talk about knowing where to go to knock over the most dominoes. Janet Moore at the Strib reports, “A fire at a suburban Chicago air traffic control facility caused 22 flights from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to be canceled Friday morning. All flights in and out of Chicago’s two airports were halted because of a fire at the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center in Aurora, Ill. The move threatened to send delays and cancellations rippling throughout the nation’s air travel network, as more than 500 flights had already been canceled in Chicago and more were expected. CNN reported that the fire appears to have been set by contract employee.”

WCCO-TV’s Angela Davis talks to Dr. Micheal Ostherholm about the ebola outbreak. “A nationally renowned bio-security expert says the recent cases of the Ebola virus may turn into the largest outbreak we’ve ever seen. Dr. Michael Ostherholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, as well as a professor at the University of Minnesota. … ‘How will we contain this virus? I think ultimately it’s going to be vaccine, but that’s many months off. So, get ready to deal with this for many more months to come,’ Ostherholm said.”

Nice evocative piece from MPR’s Dan Olson on the Rock County bison herd. The fact-y part is that, “Natural resource officials aim to preserve and expand North America's wild bison. Their efforts appear to be working. In 1885, fewer than 500 wild bison remained from the tens of millions that roamed the continent. Today, there are about 500,000. … Bison can play an important role in prairie restoration and conservation efforts. The animals have a unique grazing behavior, working the land in patches leaving grazed and ungrazed tracts of land, according to researchers at the National Resource Defense Council. They eat primarily grasses which leaves other species to flourish, aiding the diversity of prairie plants.”

Speaking of prairie life. Dennis Anderson at the Strib reports, “Gov. Mark Dayton will convene a first-ever Minnesota pheasants summit in December. … Minnesota hunters are forecast to harvest an estimated 200,000 pheasants during this fall’s season from a pheasant population that is higher by 6 percent from 2013. Yet Minnesota pheasant numbers remain 58 percent below the 10-year average, and 71 percent below the long-term average.”

Martha Lueders at MPR offers answers to some of the basic questions about what Amazon is up to in Minnesota. “A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research analyzed how consumers behaved in other states after Amazon began collecting sales tax. Amazon sales in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia fell by 9.5 percent after the retailer began charging state sales tax, the study showed. At the same time, sales by Amazon's online competitors increased.”

If you’ve lost track of all the construction projects going on in downtown Minneapolis, MPR’s Marion Renault is here to help. “Minneapolis officials hope that by 2040, the city will be home to 500,000 residents, with at least 70,000 people living downtown by 2025. For that to occur, the downtown area will need to provide homes to accommodate those future residents, said David Frank, the city's director of transit development. As of July, there are plans or building permits for at least 17 multifamily residential projects — each with estimated construction costs of more than $1 million.”

Judge Doty has had enough of the NFL. Says Brian Murphy in the PiPress, “U.S. District Judge David S. Doty of Minneapolis recused himself Friday from ruling on the latest dispute between NFL owners and the Players Association, ending a 22-year reign over league labor matter. … The union is suing the NFL's 32 teams for collusion, alleging they enforced a secret $123 million salary cap per club in 2010, when there was no cap. The players claim they did not learn about the alleged collusion until March 2012, when the NFL punished the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins for how they structured contracts during the uncapped year.” Remember of course that the rules are different for a non-profit like the NFL.