Last week, I filed a Complaint with Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) regarding Gary Iocco for Mayor and his sign on the roof along Hwy. 61, above. In his Campaign Finance Report, he says he paid big bucks for the sign, but the sign lease was $1. Right… Campaigns are supposed to pay market rate for a sign lease.

Just now, I’ve received the OAH determination of prima facie violation and setting of a probable cause hearing.

There’s a probable cause hearing on THURSDAY! Whew, that’s fast!

Who owns the roof on which the sign is posted? Is it Dehn Oil, the “new” owner of a handful of parcels there, or is it Wilson Oil, which has a corporate HQ on one of that group of parcels?

Turns out, it doesn’t matter to OAH, the complaint goes forward with all 3 Respondents. Which corporation contributed the roof space for the sign and it’ll all come out in the wash.

ONWARD!

This Thursday in a rare divided vote, 3 of the 5 Commissioner of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved moving the Megellan pipeline in southern Minnesota to a route near Pipestone National Monument and to an area where there are active pipestone quarries. Commission Chair Sieben and Vice Chair Sullivan voted against it, and Commissioners Ham, Means, and Tuma voted for it.

The Administrative Law Judge had recommended it be approved, but that’s just a Recommendation, and the it goes to the Commission — the PUC is “the decider.”

OAH FOF, Conclusions & Recommendation 7-17-24

Here are the route options reviewed, and “RA-02” was the one recommended — it’s the purple one going north and then east in the middle of this map:

Here’s the PUC staff Briefing Papers laying out staff perspective with decision options (at the end) and then additional decision options:

• Briefing Papers
• New Decision Option 1.a-Commissioner Tuma
• New Decision Options-Commissioner Sieben
• New Decision Option 3.b.i-Commissioner Tuma
• New Decision Option 4.a-Commissioner Tuma

The PUC’s discussion begins at 3:29:09:

https://minnesotapuc.granicus.com/player/clip/2418?meta_id=265921

In the STrib:

Minnesota regulators narrowly approve gas pipeline near Pipestone Monument

NoCapX 2020 and the Prehn Family petitioned for intervention in the “Mankato-Mississippi River” transmission line, a/k/a Wilmarth-North Rochester-Tremval (plus a Chester spin off).

Now the work begins.

To look at the filings in the dockets, go HERE to the PUC’s eDockets page, click “eDockets” again, and search for 22-532 (Certificate of Need) or 23-157 (Routing):

OR

UPDATE: U.S. Citizens Convicted of Conspiring to Act as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government

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Trump’s 2016 “campaign advisor” Dimitri Simes and his wife Anastasia Simes are indicted:

Meanwhile, it appears they are no longer in the U.S.

He was featured in a Carnegie “Great Immigrants, Great Americans” series, where it was noted that he was an advisor to Nixon — too early for any mention of Trump, although Trump for sure had Russian ties before he started his campaign in 2015 (see Temples of Chance, David Cay Johnston):

Simes was named, though not charged, “many”(at least 134) times in the Mueller Report — READ THIS AND SEARCH. Just do it – try it for yourself, and note his interactions with Kushner, who I hope will be next to be indicted, and look at his direct link to the Clinton info fiasco. It’s all connected, and I wonder and wonder why red flags did not go up on hearing “Russia, if you’re listening” and Trump was not ejected immediately. Sleeping at the switch…

Meanwhile, some uninformed folks are saying that the Mueller Report “showed no collusion” (remember, “collusion” is not a thing in this context) and that the “Russian investigation” ended and there was N-O-T-H-I-N-G!

Nope, WRONG! We’re seeing some results. It’s about time, and I’m so looking forward to additional indictments.

Russian TV presenter named in Mueller report charged with sanctions violations

Now’s a good time to trot this out again, for those who have not read it! You can find “House of Trump House of Putin” at abebooks.com. While you’re there, pick up a copy of “Temples of Chance” by David Cay Johnston.

Putting out millions for disinformation, misinformation, money laundering… nothing new — but maybe they’ll be held accountable. Here’s the indictments, with more to follow — this is definitely a “Hold my beer” moment, week, month, era:

Where the heck is the Dimitri Simes indictment??? Still looking…

Ah-HAAA: View the indictments for District of Columbia cases #24-cr-403 and #24-cr-404. 

From the Department of Justice:

Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Services to and Receive and Launder Over $1 Million from Sanctioned Russian Broadcaster; One Defendant Allegedly Provided Art and Antiques to Sanctioned Oligarch

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YouTube takes down right-wing channels linked to DOJ Russia indictments

Ex-Trump adviser indicted in Russia crackdown

These Right-Wing Pundits Were Allegedly Funded By Russia—What To Know About DOJ Indictment