strike update#2

The county employees that plow roads and do other maintence could go on strike at midnight tonight. The county has put together there final offer, and teamster employees are voting on it tonight.

Duluth Politics will have an update as we find out, what the out come of the vote is.

Strike update.

It seems likely that the teamsters union will go on strike. Well a date has not yet been set, the county and union have been meeting with no contract settlement in site.

The union filled an intent to strike a little more then a week ago. They could strike at any time. If a strike happens county roads could suffer greatly. As the teamsters represent all county snow plow drivers.


A source that is involved with the county said he could not see a strike right now. He said with the time of year and.the way the economy is, he could not see the union striking. He is the only person I have heard say a strike may not happen.

The issue seems to be focused on seniority.

I hope a strike can be avoided, we will have to wait and see.

County roads to suffer?

There could be a strike coming next week for those that plow our county roads.

150 workers represented by teamsters local 320 could be on strike by the middle of next week. two thirds of them are plow drives the rest work else where in the public works department for the county.

A strike could mean that the county roads would suffer because the lack of plows out. The county has some roads in side the city and countless roads out side of Duluth.

The county said they are preparing for the strike and have a plan in place, it includes managers and supervisors to take of snow plowing. However that only covers 25% of the current workforce.

There is another meeting between the two sides before the mid week strike could take place.

Its a new year.

After a year where some things came a long and I was not able to post much in 2010, and a Christmas and New years break it is time once again to devote time to this blog. Let me thank you all for the well wishes and for allow me the time i needed , as always I am grateful for the large readership of this blog. I just wish people would post.

With a new year comes a new contributor to the blog, Scott Yeazle will be joining our team. Scott is a great person and will offer a different prospective then I on most issues. It will also allow DP to cover more events.

Also new you may now call us if you have a news tip, community event or just a comment about the blog. You can reach by calling 218-260-0241, as always you can email us at duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com

Spam.

to much spam has forced me to go back to not allowing anonymous post, from now on you must be registered with blogger it is free and easy to sign up. Hey why not start your own blog then as well, you can blog about anything you wish.

Mark Rubin gets top pay.

Mark Rubin St. Louis county attorney elect will receive top pay, the county board made the decision at yesterdays board meeting. It will avoid an legal action.

Four years ago now out going attorney Ford was set to receive the lowest possible pay but she was able to increase that to 112,000 up from the 92,000 the board set. Ford took action and the board and her settled on the agreed upon amount.

The reason for the drop in post.

Okay so as many of you have noticed there has been a huge drop in post to this blog. Well I have said there is a personal reason for this I have not yet said why. Here is why after nearly ten years of marriage my soon to be ex-wife has asked for a divorce, because of this I don't have daily access to a computer. Also the first few month I did not really want to do much so the blog was neglected.

I am hoping to post again more offend very shortly till then however I hope you will bare with the sparse posting. Well I won't have daily access to a computer I will make a much better attempt to make post by getting to a computer as a friends or the library or some where.

As always thanks for reading and please stop in again soon.

Glad to see!

The 300 foot rule regarding rental property was finely knocked out by the Duluth City Council. After years of an obcert law the council was able to repeal and it is about time.

The repeal does however set up something else I don't like, the council has an agenda and if you are a college students you should not like it. The members that support it will tell you it will be like dinky town near the campus of the the main U in the twin cities. That simple is not true. what they want to do is herd like cattle all the students downtown.

It is a shame the college student is not more respected here. For every bad one I can point to ten great ones look at the good and disregard the bad.

Johnson Brothers Furniture closing?

The signs on all three of it's locations say it is true the stores are closing. The owner says not so fast. Signs located on all three of furniture shops owned by Johnson Brothers say "going out of business, "calling it quites" and so on.

It seems to be either an early or late April fools joke. None of the stores are closing including the long time store in Duluth Lincon Park area. The signs are in reference of there father retiring at the age of 83. So why the calling it quites and going out of business signs? There is yet no good answer I wish there was.

Chip Cravaak.

Congressman-elect Chip Cravaack is in Washington this week for orientation. Cravaack talked with the media yesterday saying he will better represent all of the district, he felt that congressman Oberstar was not listening to him. Cravaak said his focus will be Minnesota's 8th district when making decisions.

He talked about a number of things ear marks, health care, tea party, and more you can watch a video at www.startribune.com

Kozy bar fire.

There is not a whole lot to report on this fire. The Kozy bar which has long been a trouble spot for the Duluth Police started on fire last night at about 10:15pm and burned in to this morning. Damage is over 500,000 dollars.

No one was killed in the fire thanks to the fast action of the fire department, which went back and fourth with rescue efforts and working on putting the fire out.

The bar has been a trouble spot with nurmous calls made by the police over the years. In 2005 the bar was in jeopardy of loosing there license and it would have been good if the city would have went threw with that.

Other quick notes on the election tomorrow.

Roger Reinert will big for the state senate seat. The Huntley/ Horton race will be close but I think the DFL will retain. The DFL will retain the seat being vacated by Roger as Kerry Gauthier will win big.

One race I don't want to call at this point is the Oberstar/Carvaak race, I will vote for Chip and hope he wins. Two weeks again I was saying what I have been saying all along I don't think there is a chance Oberstar is defeated. Now I am not sure I think it will be close and it at this point is a toss up. Carvaak has ran a good race well Oberstar has ran a negative race. He is an un-none spot that is for sure. Oberstar has never faces a challenge like this.

Okay got to run and campaign more tomorrow as we follow the election all day long. don't forget to vote!!!!

Tomorrow is election day.

Tomorrow is election day. A time most people can't wait for, but a sad day for me. I love the political season. Most people by now are sick of all the ads and door knocking and such publicity. With that said please do take the time to vote tomorrow. It only takes minutes out of your day.

I don't see a whole lot of changes in the Duluth area. Here is a look at one of the races tomorrow. With my picks of who will win.

1st District county board race. Dennis Fink and Frank Jewell.

This is a rematch of a race four years ago. Dennis Fink retained is seat by a little more then 200 votes last time. I don't see the numbers changing much, if they do I see them changing in favor of Fink.

Fink has been in office for 16 years and the experience is a big issue in this election. At a time where the county could face cuts from the State we need to retain a board member that has the experience of working on the budget. Fink has helped hold on the line on county taxes. The last three years the county has had the lowest increase in taxes.

Frank Jewell's campaign has been nothing but a huge attack ad. They attack on a couple of miss leading stories reported by the Duluth News Tribune. I won't even give them the satisfaction of saying what they are.

Prediction: Fink 55% Jewell 45%

The other two siting board members will keep there seats with big wins.

So there has been a lot of talk about the debate.

There has been a lot of talk about the debate at the DECC between Chip Cravaack and Jim Oberstar. First I must say the moderaters did a horrible job on all ends. It was poorly organized and set up.

The word debate should not have been used as it was not even a debate set-up, It should have been called a town hall meeting or forum.

Now on to what every one seems to want to talk about. The crowd. Yes the crowd was ruckus and loud, it did turn in to more of a rally then anything, only because the moderaters let it.

Keep in mind both sides made catcalls and voiced there opposition to what the other candidate said. Well the Oberstar group was more polite later in the forum they also where just as guilty as the Cravaack supporters. This being said I don't think what the crowd said should be a reflection on either candidate.

The actions of the candidates should be a reflection on them. Cravvack remained claim when calls came out from the Oberstar supporters. Oberstar was clearly frustrated and unsure of what to do when the same calls came out at him. Now I am not condoing any of the action by the crowd but is shows how upset people are on both sides.

Dave Stramberb (Stranberg).

So I was listening the morning news today on one of Mid-West's Radio stations and Dave Stranberg was talking about tonight night debate between Chip Cravaack and Jim Oberstar on the range. Hear is the thing.

Stranberg who has been doing the news on radio for a long time said Skip Cravaack. Dave it is way to late in the political season to be giving the wrong name of a candidate. You have been doing this long enough and at best check your sources. No where have I ever seen Chip Cravaack refereed to as Skip unless of course we are talking about your news items.

It even says Skip on the Dave and Dave blog on KDAL's web page

Fink campaingn page.

First district county commissioner Dennis Fink has a web page for the first in 16 years. His page is www.thinkfinkagain.com, well the page is a campaign page it is set up much better then his opponents Frank Jewel.

The page is very informational, it explains the role of the county board and how it effects the state,county and city. The page talks about what Fink has done for the county and the district. Its focus is more on issues then what where he is and wanting people to contribute to the campaign.

He has a message on the front page talking about making the tough decisions and having the courage to do what is right. I urge you to check it out.

Hello

Hello blogging world. it has been some time sense I have had the chance to blog. Again I will post as I can, as of late been busy with other political projects.

I will post more and more as we get in to the hussle of the election as of now there has not been a lot going on. It is a bit of a surprise to not have much happening.

Fink did not seek endorsement.

AFSCME and the Central Labor Body held there screening for endorsing a candidate in the first district county board race. The two body's have merged together and have a new name this year however will still hand out two endorsements.

Fink said in a statement that he could not in good faith except the invite to the screening. Commissioner Fink believes in representing all of the first district and the county, and by taking part in this or any endorsement process would not allow him to do that. He does not believe in having to behold to any special interest group.

He paraphrased and article in the Reader written by Barb Olson. Two union representatives went to a council meeting to remind the councilors that seven of them where backed by the union. One of the speakers went as far to say he expects a 7-2 vote.

Fink also pointed out that not long ago there was a flier in the county court house that stated contract negations start at the ballot box. The flier caused a lot talk in the media on whether it was legal or not to post in such a place.

I think Commissioner Fink was right to not take part in the process and I hope people give him thought when they vote November 2nd. At such a troubling time we need a board member that will think with an open mind and not be held to any special interest groups. Fink is the person that will represent all of us.

No strike?

It seem that both hospitals have come to a contract agreement with there nurses. St.Lukes voted to accept a contract last week, St. Mary's nurses will vote today.

This is a good thing for both sides if both have in fact reached an agreement. It does appear the issues was in fact safty and not wages.

St.Mary's talks lasted more then 24 hours till they reached a tentative agreement.

Questions for those running for office.

What are four major issues in your campaign?


How would you balance the budget(for the office you are running for)?


Take a crack at these two questions more later.