Michael OlsonCentral High School, Duluth, Minn. (Mr Nixter / Flickr) The Duluth school district is considering a policy that would require random drug tests for students. Administrators view substance abuse as a growing problem, reports the Duluth News Tribune. Superintendent Bill Gronseth said he’s thought about the merits of such a program for some time, long Read more →
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Archives for January 2014
Jedediah Purdy writes in the New Yorker about the politics of “no ones job” and how it is seen in the response to the chemical leak in West Virginia’s Elk River. Last Thursday an estimated seventy-five hundred gallons of MCMH, “a chemical used to remove impurities from coal, ran into the Elk from a one-inch Read more →
Congress agrees something. “Top congressional negotiators Monday night released a bipartisan $1.1 trillion spending bill that would pay for the operations of government through October and finally put to rest the bitter budget battles of last year.” (AP) The House is expected to vote Wednesday on the bill. In November, the approval rating of the Read more →
“When the Minnesota Legislature convenes next month, lawmakers are expected to take up a bill designed to strengthen the state’s anti-bullying law, often described as one of the weakest in the nation,” writes MPR News reporter Tim Post. The House passed just such a measure late in the last session, but the Senate did not Read more →
PolyMet Mining wants to mine copper, nickel and precious metals for 20 years at a site located just north of Hoyt Lakes in the Superior National Forest. The NorthMet Deposit is part of what is known as the Duluth Complex, which stretches from about 150 miles north of Duluth all the way to the Canadian Read more →
Precinct 14 (Photo courtesy Matt Abe) Dissatisfaction with the the two major political parties in the US is high. A new poll from Gallup indicates that a record number of Americans view themselves as political independents. The survey, based on more than 18,000 interviews conducted throughout the year, found that 42 percent identified as independent, Read more →
“Even in the land of 10,000 lakes, water is no longer unlimited. Lakes shrink, groundwater drops, wells go dry or get contaminated. Some cities have to look harder for good municipal water or pay more to treat it. Twenty years ago these were isolated problems. But three-quarters of Minnesota’s residents get their water from aquifer-tapping Read more →
When Mayor Betsy Hodges and the City Council get down to business this year, they promise that racial equality will be on the agenda, writes MPR News reporter Curtis Gilbert. The city’s need to narrow wide disparities between white residents and minority communities — in education, employment, health and other areas — was a recurring Read more →
Frozen fairgrounds. #tellmpr pic.twitter.com/9yu3nDYBAZ — Jeffrey Thompson (@jeffreythompson) January 6, 2014 Minnesota is colder than Mars today. It is expected to warm up a bit tomorrow, but temperatures will be nearly as cold as they were this morning. Cold comfort: at -50 Siberia is still colder. Temperatures on Monday will not likely break the Twin Read more →
An unexamined life is not worth living. – Socrates NPR’s David Green spoke with two people involved with the Quantified Self movement who belive that if you want to make your life better you need to keep track of it. Green chatted with Kitty Ireland, who works for a life logging app called Saga, and Read more →