Legalectric

Yes, the Xcel’s Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Draft Environmental Impact Study has been released by Commerce EERA. Now it’s time to read it and submit substantive comments.

Here’s the NOTICE with all the details:

Public Comment Sessions:

*November 19 in-person at the Red Wing Ignite Building, 419 Bush St., Red Wing, MN

*November 20 @ 6 p.m., virtually via Webex, https://tinyurl.com/5auc8ksp

Password: MnPUC! or

Join by phone: 415-655-0003 or 1-855-282-6330

Access code 2485 318 0139

I’d forgotten about this, and it’s an important point that needs attention, given the election. We need to focus on bolstering Social Security.

Social Security withholding… talk about short-sighted… do you remember when tRump ordered a pause in payroll withholding for Social Security? It was chump change for the workers who got a small boost in take home pay and later had to pony up for those missed contributions. But policy wise, it was a HUGE step, and keep in mind that it was done by a Presidential Memorandum:

Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster – Memorandum for the Secretary of the Treasury

Guidance: Relief with Respect to Employment Tax Deadlines Applicable to Employers Affected by
the Ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) Disease 2019 Pandemic

Yes, he really did that, deferral of withholding from September 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Thankfully, after those few months, payroll deduction was resumed.

What would it mean if Social Security payroll withholding were discontinued long term?

Social Security would go broke. As of now, it is projected to run out of funds in 2035. From the Social Security Administration:

The Future Financial Status of the Social Security Program

We know that they’d love to end Social Security and Medicare, that’s a well documented talking point, one which they do not like to have raised publicly. Every worker has paid into this fund for their entire working life. How to dismantle it? They’d start out, bit by bit, raising the age to receive Social Security and Medicare, decreasing or eliminating withholding, lowering the benefit. Just NO!

NO! WE ARE NOT GOING BACK!

Alan’s a train nut, and we’ve not been able to get out much, so I heard about this and scheduled a quick run down to Kansas. The hat from the Union Pacific Museum in Cheyenne, where we visited Big Boy in 2022 when Curt Gowdy State Park there, I-80 too, shut down due to blizzard:

Anyway, Union Pacific, Canadian Pacific, it’s all Pacific, nobody cared that it was a different one:

Stopped first in Wichita for some touristy stuff, like the Kansas Aviation Museum:

Something I did not understand… this one, and others, are on the second floor. HOW did they get those planes in there? I can’t imaging disassembling them and sliding in through the windows. ???

In the kid’s room, there’s a pretty sophisticated row of flight simulators, and multiple frustrating tries, I couldn’t even get off the ground:

And we have one of these under the couch, but I think it’s aluminium… ???

And the Baymont in Wichita, huge open rooms and CHEAP, my kind of place (no, I don’t get $$$ for referrals!!!). Huge windows, which makes it delightful, well, as delightful as a cheap hotel can get:

We’re missing Little Sadie, traveling without her just isn’t the same. Here’s our Sadie, same room, last spring (those trees blooming, oh, the smell):

And the afternoon before, up to Salina to catch Big Boy:

There was an afternoon “meet & greet” at the Salina depot, where folks gathered to check it out as it sat there all morning (there was a private CP event in the afternoon):

HUGE crowd, at least 1,000, in the middle of Kansas. Big Boy just sat there, engine running, and they tooted the horn at regular intervals. In the meantime, workers were adding oil, fiddling around underneath, and walking around inspecting:

So after getting our fill of Big Boy, there was plenty of time to hit the best restaurant around, Martinelli’s in Salina. It’s right up there with La Villa in Russellville, AR — well worth the drive for the salmon picatta:

And still more time in the afternoon, so off to “The Garage” to check out some classics:

And these, I swear they’re old “Domino’s” cars, two of the most awful specimens in U.S. automotive history, and both were the company delivery cars circa 1975! And red…

The next morning was the big moment, when Big Boy took off from Salina, heading west. Because it was so crowded at the depot, we headed down the road and got a good spot at a crossing along the route:

Note the long, long parade of cars following down old 40 on left of screen.

And there ya have it! Big Boy through Nebraska!

Hot off the press:

You can also attend online:

To review the DEIS, go to the PUC’s eDockets. Start HERE, click on “eDockets” on that page, and you’ll go to the search page. Enter “22” for year, and “131” or “132” for the docket:

The DEIS was filed in MANY documents on October 8. The full text is here:, all 506 pages of it:

And here’s where it gets interesting. This Notice is also for the Evidentiary Hearing, and note the limitations for the public:

Here’s what the rules say about public participation at ALL hearings, Minn. R. 1405.0800:

And also this, from Minn. R. 1405.1500:

And then there’s Minn. Stat. 216E.03…

So let’s take another look at that “Evidentiary Hearings” paragraph from the Notice just received:

We had the Probable Cause hearing in the Iocco_2024-Campaign-Finance-Complaint. That huge sign was a flagrant violation of Minn. Stat. 211.15, prohibiting corporate contributions. The lease for the sign claimed a $1 charge, but it’s supposed to be market rate, otherwise it’s a corporate campaign contribution.

The ALJ had issued Notice-of-Determination-of-Prima-Facie-Violation-and-Order-For-Probable-Cause-Hearing. Then I missed that hearing, had the wrong conference code and no amount of calling and waiting made it work, grrrrrrrrr. Thankfully the judge did reschedule: Campaign Finance Probable Cause Hrg Rescheduled but left only Dehn Oil as a Respondent, and dismissed Gary Iocco, Gary Iocco for Mayor, and as I’d withdrawn complaint against Wilson Oil as it was Dehn Oil on the lease, received the night before, Wilson wasn’t, technically, involved.

This latest probable cause hearing was Monday. Dehn Oil had hired attorney just that morning, so he wasn’t up to speed, and the judge reluctantly did reschedule. Then after it was adjourned, the attorney and I got on the horn, chatted briefly, we put an agreement together, and we’re DONE! The sign is DOWN! It came down within hours of our talk — when he said “immediately,” he was not kidding. Dehn Oil is out of it, I’ve sent letter to the judge to dismiss Dehn Oil. I really appreciated his attitude, particularly in light of just getting into this matter just a couple hours at best before the hearing, not knowing background, jumping in cold.