Legalectric

Photos say it all…

Yes, it’s really this bad.  That’s the sun on a “clear” day.  Air quality is baddest of the bad, “Unhealthy” per the MPCA which isn’t exactly fond of negative declarations like that.  Got a 200 reading at St. Michael, that’s as high as the scale goes, so I’m sure that somewhere it’s off the charts.  It was 193 this afternoon in Prestigious East Phillips, and… well… note how few monitors there are around the state.  We don’t have one in Red Wing.  There probably isn’t one in yours either.

See “current conditions” here.

Keep in mind this is biomass we’re breathing, and the emissions from trees are pretty awful.  Ask Alan Muller about that.

This is the result of all the fires in Canada added to the baseline pollution of the ND and MN coal plants, the turkey shit burner in Benson, all the garbage burners around the state including here in Red Wing.  We have a microclimate here in the Mississippi River valley, but it’s not just here where it gathers, it’s bad everywhere, the whole state, well, almost.

Don’t deep breathe, don’t do any outside exertion, don’t breathe the air if you can help it.  If you’re like me, you’re probably hacking and wheezing a bit.

                                      Photo by Linda Wallace

The Hartland firefighter who put the Stars & Bars battleflag on the city fire truck for the Albert Lea parade has been suspended.   He seems to be starting to figure out that he didn’t think it through.  As a condition of keeping his job, he should have to do some homework and write about Minnesota participation in the Civil War and the meanings of the use of that flag from the 1940s to the present, to be published as Commentary in the Albert Lea Tribune.

The parade organizer still refuses to take any responsibility.

It’s hit TIME Magazine:

Firefighter Suspended for Flying Confederate Flag During Parade

From KMSP:

Firefighter suspended for flying Confederate flag at parade in Albert Lea, Minn.

In the Albert Lea Tribune:

Hartland firefighter suspended after flying Confederate flag in parade

So it’s the 4th of July, and yesterday in Albert Lea’s parade, a Hartland Fire Department truck is displaying the Confederate battle flag.  Yes, really.  A publicly owned City of Hartland truck, a public employee, in Minnesota… speechless…

Many people get the origin of this flag confused, it’s not an official state flag or a “Confederate” flag, but is a battle flag of Virginia.  More disturbing is that most people don’t know of the history of use of this flag in the 1940s and on to the present as a symbol of resistance/opposition to integration.  This symbolism is what I object to, the way it’s been used as a symbol of suppression and hate, often under color of law, such as use by Gov. George Wallace when he fought integration of his state’s schools.  People here in the North are particularly ignorant of the history of this flag.  I see it often as a bumper sticker, as a decal on a truck window, or big truck grills and mudflaps.

How many thousands of people attended this parade?  Yet this happened… no one stood up… no one stopped it… silence… The silence of people in Albert Lea on Friday watching this is worse than the display, it is through silence that some of the most horrific behavior in human history has occurred.  The Hartland Fire Department and City which allowed this use on its City equipment should be held accountable.  And then there’s the guy who put it there, Brian Nielsen — what message is he delivering to his daughter, his daughter’s friend, and his niece?  The organizer, per the STrib, “chuckled a bit.”

From MPR: Southern Minnesota fire department takes a stand for the Confederacy

In the STrib: Firetruck flies Confederate flag  alongside stars and stripes in holiday parade

Parade rules distributed to entrants say “all vehicles … must be decorated in either a patriotic theme or according to the parade theme.” This year’s theme: “Teaming Up for America.”

Kehr chuckled a bit and acknowledged that the Hartland firetruck was “probably not” in compliance.

“chuckled a bit” — very funny…

And the Washington Times: Minnesota firefighter flies Confederate flag in parade

And the first article from the Albert Lea paper:

Confederate flag flown at Third of July Parade

Published 1:34pm Saturday, July 4, 2015

A Confederate flag flown on the back of the Hartland Fire Department truck during the Third of July Parade sparked conversation in the community and on social media.

Brian Nielsen, who drove the truck with his wife, daughter, his daughter’s friend and his niece, said he has been on the department for about 10 years.

“It’s not that I’m up for the rebel or the slavery part of it, “ Nielsen said. “It’s history. They’re trying to take this flag away. They’re basically trying to change the history and abolish it and get rid of it.”

The comments come about two weeks after nine people were killed on June 17 at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina. Authorities said the accused gunman had posed in photographs with the Confederate battle flag.

The shooting has sparked debate across the country about the role of the Confederate flag, and the South Carolina Legislature is slated to vote about whether to remove the flag from the Statehouse grounds. Walmart has announced it is removing any items from its store and website that feature the flag.

“Even the Minnesota flag, they want to change that,” Nielsen said. “Where does it end?”

Nielsen said he wasn’t looking to get a lot of attention from his decision to fly the flag, and he didn’t think it would spur as much discussion as it has. He, himself, has a family member who is black, he said.

He had the Confederate flag on one side of the back end of the truck, while the U.S. flag was on the other.

He noted he saw two or three other Confederate flags along the parade route.

Nielsen said he talked with a few of the other firefighters on the department, and they supported him standing up for his rights. Another fire department in the county approached him as well saying they had considered doing the same thing.

Here’s another photo, this one by Laura Walker:

From Ryan Ruud who took this in Erhard, MN on July 4th:

                Photo by Marie McNamara

Beginning of review by USFWS of impacts of take permits for wind projects (where death is presumed and project is given permit despite protected species kills).  SPREAD THE WORD!

Just in from USFWS:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hosts Public Information Meetings in Eight Midwest States

for Regional Wind Energy Habitat Conservation Plan

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is inviting public input as it develops an environmental impact statement on the potential impacts of issuing incidental take permits for covered species under the draft Midwest Wind Energy Multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan.

Public meetings will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time at the following locations:

• July 13 – Minneapolis, Minnesota. Elliot Recreation Center, 1000 E. 14^th St. 55404
• July 14 – Madison, Wisconsin. Warner Park Community Recreation Center, 1625 Northport Drive, 53704
• July 15 – Ames, Iowa.  Iowa State Memorial Union, Campanile Room, 2229 Lincoln Way, 50011
• July 16 – Columbia, Missouri. Battle High School Commons, 7575 E. St. Charles Road, 65202
• July 20 – Lansing, Michigan. Letts Community Center Gymnasium, 1220 W. Kalamazoo Street 48915
• July 21 – Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Downtown High School Commons,364 South 4^th Street 43215
• July 22 – Indianapolis, Indiana. World Sports Park Ballroom, 1313 South Post Road, 46239
• July 23 – Bloomington, Illinois. Illinois Wesleyan University, Memorial Center, Young Main Lounge, 104 E. University Avenue, 61701

The first hour of each meeting will be an informal open house, followed by a brief presentation at approximately 6:00 p.m.  After the presentation, the informal open house will resume.

The Service also will host an online public meeting on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at 1 p.m. CT.  To participate, you can call a toll-free number and join a web conference:

·         Log on to http://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?i=741848583&p=&t=c  to view a Service presentation about the Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan and scoping for the Environmental Impact Statement.

·         To listen to the presentation and ask questions, call toll-free 1-888-324-7813. Enter passcode 9116767# to join the call.

For more information on this meeting, go to http://www.midwestwindenergyhcpeis.org

The draft plan is being prepared by the Service and their planning partners, including state wildlife agencies for seven of the eight states within the plan area, the American Wind Energy Association, a consortium of wind energy companies and The Conservation Fund.  States within the plan area include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The plan addresses incidental take of eight species that may be injured or killed at wind turbine facilities. The covered species include Indiana bat, northern long-eared bat, Kirtland’s warbler, Great Lakes and northern Great Plains populations of the piping plover, and least tern, all listed under the Endangered Species Act. Also covered are the bald eagle, protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and the little brown bat, a species of concern.

Habitat conservation plans are agreements between a private landowner or a non-federal company or group and the Service, allowing permit applicants to undertake otherwise lawful activities on their property that may result in the incidental death, injury or harassment of covered species; the applicant agrees to conservation measures designed to minimize and mitigate the impact of those actions.

Individuals unable to attend the meetings may submit comments and materials through August 11, 2015, by any of the following methods:

U.S. Mail:

Regional Director, Attn: Rick Amidon

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services

5600 American Blvd. West, Suite 990

Bloomington, MN 55437-1458 

Electronically:

Visit the Federal eRulemaking Portal:  www.regulations.gov. In the search box enter (Docket Number FWS-R3-ES-2015-0033).

More information about the draft EIS for the proposed Midwest Wind Multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan can be found at http://midwestwindenergyhcpeis.org.  Information about endangered species in the Midwest can be found at www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered.

Additional opportunities for public comment during development of the environmental impact statement will be provided when the draft statement is released for public comment, which is anticipated for early spring of 2016.

If you have any questions, please contact Rick Amidon (Phone: 612-713-5164 – Email: rick_amidon@fws.gov).

—
Kim Mitchell

Ecological Services

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

5600 American Blvd. East, Suite 990

Bloomington, MN 55437

612-713-5337

Kim_Mitchell@fws.gov

www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered