Mankato Minus 100 jobs, Closing the Gap, and Woodbury’s Wind NIMBY
May 29th, 2009 at 12:32 pm By Jason HitchcockHere’s Friday’s news:
MPR: Kato Engineering cuts nearly 100 jobs in Mankato
Company spokeswoman Emily Umbright says the cuts are permanent and needed because of declining demand for the firm’s products. It will leave the company with 344 employees.
MinnPost: Geoffrey Canada: Here’s how Minnesota can close its achievement gap in schools
But to eliminate the gap, the investment in poor children must be major, community-wide and long-term, he said. Canada estimated that his organization invests an average of $5,000 per child above what is already spent on public schools and programs for poor families in the 100-block section of Harlem.
“That’s what you have to spend if you’re going to provide this kind of support for children,” he said in an interview before speaking to more than 1,000 people at a luncheon meeting at the Minneapolis Convention Center sponsored by the Minneapolis Foundation. Canada has raised the necessary funds with the help of foundations and financier friends and his own engaging and charismatic message.
MinnPost: More school administrators agree to pay freeze to help with budget woes
Woodbury residents: ‘Wind turbines aren’t pretty enough for us’
Thanks for looking at the big picture Woodbury. Turning down green energy because it “looks ugly” is a compelling argument conservatives haven’t even touched yet.
“Geothermal heat? No problem. Solar panels? Fine. But a few 60-foot wind turbines? As east metro cities race for earth-friendly renown, a proposed ordinance in Woodbury has some locals saying: not in your back yard.”
State aid cuts to New Brighton leave $400,000 budget hole
State aid has been cut this year, and the city anticipates cuts will continue for the next two years. This year’s revenue loss leaves an estimated $400,000 hole in the city’s $13 million budget for 2009, City Manager Dean Lotter said.
Daily Planet: Recession brings new challenges for injured workers, attorney says
In 2004, the most recent year for which data is available, 124,000 workers’ compensation claims were paid in Minnesota, according to the Department of Labor and Industry. About 80 percent of the claims involved medical coverage only, while 20 percent involved both medical and “indemnity” benefits, such as lost wages and rehabilitation costs.
The number of workers’ compensation claims has dropped in recent years, but the number of cases in dispute continues to rise.
Disputes mostly center on whether the applicant has an injury that is work-related and the extent of the injury. Sometimes an employer will dispute an employee’s right to retrain for another job because of an injury. In other cases, insurers disagree about who is responsible for coverage, with the injured worker caught in the middle.
MinnPost: Oberstar making plans for huge highway bill
Rep. Jim Oberstar, the dean of the Minnesota delegation who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, plans to unveil draft legislation for a projected $450 billion highway bill after Congress reconvenes after its Memorial Day recess.
The goal will be to move the mammoth spending bill, which is intended to fund road and rail projects over the next six years, to President Obama’s desk by the end of September, according to The Hill.
LikeTags: Achievement Gap, highway bill, injury, pay freeze, turbines
