Legalectric

Minnesotans — CLICK HERE TO Find out where to attend your precinct caucus.

It’s caucus day today, and right now what’s humming around in my brain is the need for beefed up regulation of train traffic.  There’s the exploding Bakken oil tankers, due to the increased volativity of the crude and need for degasification, and there’s the delay of Amtrak trains through North Dakota, putting people on BUSSES, because of the increased traffic.  These are examples of how the rail system is NOT working.

Here are a few resolutions I’m putting in:

I’ve got a list of resolutions, growing by the minute:

• Ban use of polyacrylamide for mining processing in Minnesota (used in silica sand mining, also proposed for use at PolyMet).

• In the interest of public safety, Bakken crude oil must be properly tested, characterized, classified, and where appropriate sufficiently degasified prior to loading onto rail or truck tanker cars, or into pipelines, to identify potential hazards and degasified to lessen volativity prior to transport.

• Amtrak trains must be given priority over freight traffic, particularly through North Dakota, where currently trains are significantly delayed (hours), or passengers are put on busses to go around the oil train traffic.

• AMEND – delete garbage from definition of “renewable” energy sources:

216B.1691 RENEWABLE ENERGY OBJECTIVES.
Subdivision 1.Definitions.

(a) Unless otherwise specified in law, “eligible energy technology” means an energy technology that generates electricity from the following renewable energy sources:
(1) solar;
(2) wind;
(3) hydroelectric with a capacity of less than 100 megawatts;
(4) hydrogen, provided that after January 1, 2010, the hydrogen must be generated from the resources listed in this paragraph; or

(5) biomass, which includes, without limitation, landfill gas; an anaerobic digester system; the predominantly organic components of wastewater effluent, sludge, or related by-products from publicly owned treatment works, but not including incineration of wastewater sludge to produce electricity; and an energy recovery facility used to capture the heat value of mixed municipal solid waste or refuse-derived fuel from mixed municipal solid waste as a primary fuel.

• Repeal 216B.1694 INNOVATIVE ENERGY PROJECT.

The Excelsior Energy Mesaba Project was rejected by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the statute should be repealed.

• Develop publicly available state registry of animal abusers, including those convicted of abuse, neglect and hoarding, identifying names, current address and address at time of conviction of those convicted, dates and charges, resolution, and contact information for probation officer.

How did I miss this?  Tom Micheletti’s house is for sale… has been for some time, since September 2009.  DOH!  Somebody’s been sleeping at the switch!

In the STrib:

Orono: A long way to go to regain value

Hennepin Co. “market” value $1, 362,000.  It hit a high of $1,582,000 in 2007.

Listing: 519 Ferndale Road North, Orono, MN

The bathroom is bigger than my office…

I wonder if they’re still here, or if they took off to Italy or something… it doesn’t look lived in or at all personal, not like the listing for Peter (a/k/a Tan) Mastic (!), maybe they’re long gone.

If you’re so inclined, if you have anything to say to the MNsure Board of Directors, their meeting is this next Wednesday, and Public Comment time starts at 2 p.m.:

MNsure Board of Directors Meeting

Wednesday,February 5, 2014

81 East 7th Street, St. Paul MN

1st Floor Atrium

1:00 to 4:00 pm

Meeting agenda

In today’s St.PPP:

For thousands of users, promise of MNsure is always ‘pending’

This letter is a must read — thanks to Kelly Fuller for posting:

TIERNEY LETTER

In this letter, West Virginia’s Governor is begging for help.  He spends quite a few words explaining a need.  Why is this even necessary?  Is it not obvious?

Yet despite the best efforts of the company and government many people no longer view their tap water as safe and are continuing to demand bottled water to meet their potable water needs.  It is impossible to predict when this will change, if ever.

There is little hope that these costs can be recouped by the party found responsible for this event.  The company that was storing the contaminants has filed for bankruptcy and there are several pending suits against that company.  It is very unlikely the state will ever receive any reimbursement for its costs from the responsible party.

This is exactly the sort of situation where they must pierce the corporate veil and go after them individually, civilly and criminally, and hold them accountable.  What are they waiting for?

From NPR:

How Industrial Chemical Regulation Failed West Virginia

Other articles:

West Virginia Chemical Mystery: Who Runs Freedom Industries?

West Virginia Official says residents are breathing cancer-causing agent after chemical spill

 

Maybe, just maybe, there has been some progress in the glacier that is MNsure.  Yesterday at the CARE Clinic, I was told the computer was down, the woman there had just come back from reaming out the unknowing toady who answered the phone.  She couldn’t help me because she had no access, but did offer some advice.  DEMAND TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR, and DEMAND COVERAGE NOW!

Oh, OK, I can do that.

So I dealt with my poor bloody nose, took a couple of Azithromycin tabs, a squirt of steroid up the schnozz, and got belted into my chair (it’s still dizzy out, but better).  Called and listened to that horrible soprano sax elevator music again, finally was connected to “Mubarak” (sp?), who then sent me to “Eric” with a “warm transfer” (see, aren’t we feeling better already?), who said I should send in a hard copy application.  Now will someone explain why it took MONTHS to get to this point?  And so here this guy answering the phone, telling me to send in a hard copy and giving me an email ends up being the savior!  It’s that simple?!?!  We’ll see.

So fuzzy and dizzy, I got it done, sent it in.

Just got confirmation that he got it, and is sending it off to the bowels of St.  Paul to be masticated and spindled and mutilated, and, again, we shall see.  But one step accomplished.

Guess I’ll unpack my bag for the sit in at MNsure that I was ready to begin — it’s feeling that positive.  Maybe it’s just my drugs kicking in.  But I am so upset about having to lose a weel of my life to feeling like this when it’s so easily solved and I should be able to get in to see a doctor about something so obvious.  And no, unlike a suggestion over the wire yesterday, I’m not about to go into the ER for something like this, no way can I afford that, people without health “insurance” get charged three times as much as anyone else and it would be well over $1,000 for ER treatment.

And yes, today I am better, was able to get downstairs without any swan dives, let the poor dog out and didn’t skate around the back yard.  Two more days and I’ll be back in fighting form.

Thank you to Eric, the hero of the day!  Week!  Maybe even month!