Not every observer of the state likes the addition of state jobs. Know-nothing blogs and self-styled fringe watchdog organizations are falling all over themselves decrying the “growth of government.” In order to conform to their blinder-clad anti-government ideology, they blithely misrepresent and manipulate the jobs picture. They also dishonestly frame the growth in the state’s ongoing operating budget by including one-time expenditures for roads, education buildings and other infrastructure. Their purposefully skewed prattle should be dismissed.
Gov. Dayton catches first walleye at 12:25 a.m.
Doesn’t he know that you can buy walleye at the grocery store? 
PARK RAPIDS, Minn. – Park Rapids fishing guide Jason Durham received praise from Gov. Mark Dayton Saturday morning after a successful fishing outing shortly after midnight.
“Jason is my new hero,” Dayton said Saturday morning. “He can walk on water.”
The governor caught a walleye at 12:25 a.m. Saturday. It was bigger than the other two fish he’s caught on previous openers combined, he said.
Gov. Dayton was joined by North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple, Minnesota Sen. Rod Skoe Saturday morning as they launched a boat on the Fish Hook River at about 8 a.m.
“It’s cold, it’s windy, it’s icy. It must be a Minnesota Fishing Opener,” Dalrymple said.
He is familiar with the Fish Hook Lake area of Park Rapids. When he heard this year’s opener would be in Park Rapids he wanted to join Gov. Dayton.
Dalrymple said that Minnesota and North Dakota have a good relationship with people fishing and hunting in both states and he wanted that to continue.
Skoe grew up waterskiing on the Fish Hook River and recalled it being a lot warmer than it was today. Temperatures this morning were in the mid-30s with gusting winds.
Eventually, it will warm up and Minnesota will have a great summer and great tourism season, though, Skoe said.
Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon also spoke briefly Saturday morning. This was the first time the governor had caught a fish before her in the opener. She joked about their friendly competition and wished all fishermen good luck.
“I hope everyone is successful in catching their walleye today,” she said.
Activities continue throughout the day with a shore lunch for media and dignitaries and a celebration dinner tonight. At tonight’s dinner, the location of the 2014 Governor’s Fishing Opener will be announced.
EX-SC GOV. SANFORD BACK IN POLITICAL OFFICE
The free lunch bunch won’t like this news. 
I wonder if Comedy Central will go dark as a sign of mourning.
I wonder if Comedy Central will go dark as a sign of mourning.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Former Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford revived a scandal-scarred political career by winning back his old congressional seat Tuesday in a district that hasn’t elected a Democrat in three decades.The comeback was complete when he defeated Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert. With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, Sanford had 54 percent of the vote.
Sanford, who turns 53 later this month, has never lost a race in three runs for Congress and two for governor. And he said before the votes were counted Tuesday that if he lost this race, he wouldn’t run for office again.
Sanford told a cheering crowd of more than 100 supporters after his election victory that he has experienced human grace as he came back from political scandal to rebuild his political career.
Earth’s core is hotter than previously thought
What did humans do to cause this?
New research has found that the Earth’s core is hotter than previously estimated.Experiments conducted in the 1990s suggested that the temperature of the core was about 5,000 Celsius, but computer models provided different estimates, BBC News reported.
“Other people made other measurements and calculations with computers, and nothing was in agreement,” Dr. Agnes Dewaele of the French research agency CEA, told BBC News. “It was not good for our field that we didn’t agree with each other.”
Now a new study co-directed by Dr. Dewaele, published in Science, says Earth’s core is about 6,000 Celsius (about 10,800 Fahrenheit), or as hot as the surface of the Sun.
The Earth’s core is composed of solid, mostly iron inner core, and a liquid outer core. At the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the scientists studied the melting behavior of iron at extreme pressure and high temperatures after squeezing a sample of iron between the points of two synthetic diamonds and heating it with a laser.
Bill Gates urges focus on poverty gap
What about the gap between his net worth and mine?
Since he’s in town, maybe he can take a look at my computer.
MOORHEAD – The richest American, a man worth $67 billion by one recent estimate, on Saturday told an audience at Concordia College that one of the world’s most critical issues is the gap between the rich and the poor.
“I think, if we’re not careful, that divide will grow and grow,” said Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft turned international philanthropist.
In discussing that inequity and other pressing issues, Gates said learning and innovation are the way to solve global problems.
“I think it’s a wonderful time to be a student,” Gates said. “It’s going to take all the ingenuity that all of you have to find the solutions.”
Gates spoke largely about innovation, philanthropy and even his initial passion, software, as part of the dedication ceremony for the college’s new Offutt School of Business and renovated Grant Center.
Concordia’s Memorial Auditorium was filled with 3,800 students and community members, who had to get through tight security to enter – including a check of all bags and coats. Gates spoke for about an hour, starting at 10:30 a.m.
The 57-year-old, pegged by Forbes magazine’s most recent rankings as the 2nd-wealthiest man in the world, briefly discussed what he called his two careers – first with software giant Microsoft and now with his charitable foundation.
Edna Does Damage Control
MOORHEAD – Minnesota State University Moorhead is stepping up security as fallout builds two months after a controversial guest speaker visited campus in February.President Edna Szymanski said the university has lost a “significant amount” of donor money since William Ayers was there for a Feb. 26 speech and three days of meetings with faculty and students on how to incorporate social justice issues into curricula.
But she said the tone of recent feedback turned from alumni threats of cutting off funding to “institutional and personal threats” after conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh mentioned the visit last week while discussing how Ayers “got his start” in the same way as the Boston Marathon bombers.
“We are working with our security forces and they are working with the police department about making sure that we step up our safety practices on campus in light of the threats we have been receiving,” Szymanski said. “There is definitely significantly enhanced security on campus right this minute.”
Gun Background Check Plan Fails in Senate
Let the mindless hysteria commence at once! 
A bipartisan proposal to expand background checks to gun shows and Internet sales fails in the Senate in a 54-46 vote, in major setback for gun control push.
Why is the free lunch bunch picking on poor “Hidey?”
Shortly after the vote, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee announced it would launch an ad campaign targeting Democratic senators who voted against the bill. Those included Mark Pryor, D-Ariz., Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Max Baucus, D-Mont. and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.
The President’s effective federal income tax rate is 18.4 percent
Is that more than his secretary pays?
The President released his 2012 federal income tax returns. He and the First Lady filed their income tax returns jointly and reported adjusted gross income of $608,611. The Obamas paid $112,214 in total tax.
The President and First Lady also reported donating $150,034 – or about 24.6 percent of their adjusted gross income – to 33 different charities. The largest reported gift to charity was $103,871 to the Fisher House Foundation.
The President’s effective federal income tax rate is 18.4 percent. The President believes we must reform our tax system which is why he has proposed policies like the Buffett Rule that would ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share while protecting families making under $250,000 from seeing their taxes go up. Under the President’s own tax proposals, including limitations on the value of tax preferences for high-income households, he would pay more in taxes while ensuring we cut taxes for the middle class and those trying to get in it.
The President and First Lady also released their Illinois income tax return and reported paying $29,450 in state income tax.
American Crystal workers vote to approve contract
What have they gained; what did they prove?
Published April 13, 2013, 07:15 PM
Locked-out American Crystal workers vote to approve contractLocked-out American Crystal workers have voted to approve the contract proposed by management, the Bakery Workers union said today.The contract passed with 55 percent of the vote. Workers have voted four other times to reject the contract, each time by narrower and narrower margins.They have been locked out since Aug. 1, 2011, the day after the first vote. About 1,300 workers were affected initially, but management says that about half have since retired or found other work.Crystal, based in Moorhead, has processing plants in East Grand Forks, Crookston, Moorhead, Hillsboro, N.D., and Drayton, N.D., and packing and transporation sites in Chaska, Minn., and Mason City, Ia.
Obama seeks deal, proposes cuts to Social Security
Why does he want Nanaw and Papaw to starve to death?
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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s proposed budget will call for reductions in the growth of Social Security and other benefit programs while still insisting on more taxes from the wealthy in a renewed attempt to strike a broad deficit-cutting deal with Republicans.
The proposal aims for a compromise on the Fiscal 2014 budget by combining the president’s demand for higher taxes with GOP insistence on reductions in entitlement programs. But the plan was already encountering negative reviews from top Republicans for insisting on revenue and from liberals for its effect on the social safety net.
Obama would reduce the federal government deficit by $1.8 trillion over 10 years, according to a summary from the Obama administration provided Friday y. The president’s budget, the first of his second term, incorporates elements from his last offer to House Speaker John Boehner in December. Congressional Republicans rejected that proposal because of its demand for more than a $1 trillion in tax revenue.