Chanhassen Villager - Forum topic - Comments

Unconstitutional? A blogger

FAdams — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:18:29 -0500

Unconstitutional?

A blogger at the Capitol reports Sen. Julianne Ortman is calling for a Senate floor debate on the issue of federal healthcare reform and also wants the attorney general to take action to oppose the federal legislation.

http://www.hometownsource.com/blogs/index.php/2010/03/17/senate-republic...

The ceiling is on hold for a

FAdams — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:00:00 -0500

The ceiling is on hold for a couple hours.

What amazes me is how quickly this guy works. I spent hours sanding that ceiling and then painting it. He spent about 45 minutes sanding off everything what I painted and then maybe another 30 minutes sanding the part of the ceiling that has dried. And it looks much, much better than when I did it.

This all just goes to show the benefits of the division of labor. I write. That's my specialty. That's my labor, so to speak. The handyman/construction guy fixes what other people are unable to fix. That's his labor. He does physical labor. I do mental labor.

We all know who contributes more to society.

Here's a joke about a plumber and an attorney. An attorney called a plumber to fix his leaking sink.

He asked the plumber how much the plumber charged per hour. The plumber told him how much.

The attorney said, "That's outlandish. I don't even make that much as an attorney."

The plumber said, "Neither did I."

The big Hannah Montana

FAdams — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:37:59 -0500

The big Hannah Montana season finale, "Miley says goodbye?" was less an end and more a 'to be continued.' This was the third season for the Disney Channel hit.

The fourth and final season of began filming in January and will be completed by early June, according to an entertainment news magazine-I forget which one. Apparently, season four will consist of 11 half-hour episodes and a special one-hour final installment.

According to the Disney Channel, the second episode of the season 3 finale registered the network's best numbers in that time period ever, standing as cable’s No. 1 telecast in total viewers (6.9 million) and TV’s No. 1 telecast in Kids 6-11 (2.4 million/9.9 rating) and Tweens 9-14 (2.4 million/9.7 rating). Sunday’s part 2 out-delivered part 1 by 10% in Total Viewers (6.9 million vs. 6.3 million), by 4% in Kids 6-11 (2.4 million vs. 2.3 million) and by 9% in Tweens 9-14 (2.4 million vs. 2.2 million).

"Rep. Paul Kohls

FAdams — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:52:39 -0500

"Rep. Paul Kohls (R-Victoria) and Rep. Dave Olin (DFL-Thief River Falls) said no evidence was presented showing a definitive connection between gun show sales and crimes with a firearm."

http://www.reviewmessenger.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

On Saturday I installed new

FAdams — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:50:28 -0500

On Saturday I installed new fill valves in our toilets. For one of them I needed to get a new line to run from the water source to the toilet, but all that required was going to the hardware store, getting the part, bringing it home and screwing it on. This was one of the easiest projects every. We have no more constantly running toilets.

Last weekend I painted the

FAdams — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:44:12 -0500

Last weekend I painted the ceiling in my bathroom. Boy, do I wish I would have hired somebody else to do the prep work.

The bathroom used to have popcorn-type stuff on the ceiling. I hated it, and now it's not there anymore. The problem was once the stuff was scraped off, the ceiling needed to be leveled and sanded, so it would look decent. Apparently, contractors tend to put up that stuff on the ceiling to cover shoddy workmanship. I thought I could sand away some of the ceiling flaws. It's dusty, dirty work, but a good shoulder workout.

Unfortunately, after I primed and painted my sanded-down ceiling, I was unhappy with how it looked. Apparently, it wasn't as sanded down as it should have been because when I painted it, there ceiling flaws were showing everywhere. Now somebody who knows what he's doing is here. He scraped off everything that I did and is now getting ready to put mud on the entire ceiling, to level it, before I re-prime and re-paint.

Filings for these positions

rock333 — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:14:00 -0500

Filings for these positions will be accepted at City Hall from Aug. 26 through Sept. 8 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, Sept. 9, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Candidates may withdraw their candidacy until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11.

With use of his line-item

FAdams — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:36:00 -0500

With use of his line-item veto pen Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Monday trimmed the state's capital funding bill from $999 million to $680 million and then signed it into law.

In his letter to House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Pawlenty took swipes at the DFL-controlled legislature and boosted his credentials for as a fiscal conservative.

"Government needs to live within its means," he stated in language familiar to Republicans. "The DFL-controlled legislature seems incapable of prioritizing projects or simply saying no."

Pawlenty accused the legislature of reducing his recommended funding for military families by 50 percent and for veterans' facilities by nearly 40 percent. He blamed them for not sufficiently funding "critically needed public safety initiatives," like expansion of the Minnesota Sex Offedner Program and security upgrades to a Level 5 prison.

Only two items vetoed from the bill seem like they may have had a direct local impact in Carver County, and they are $2 million that would have been used for Early Childhood Learning and Child Protection facilities and $43.5 million that the Met Council would have used for its Transit Capital Improvement Program.

I like the Music Man. It's a

FAdams — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:27:03 -0600

I like the Music Man. It's a great show. Maybe a music man is what I need to get my singing voice in tune.

Against bonding

FAdams — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:59:21 -0600

Against bonding bill

"Republican Sen. Julianne Ortman of Chanhassen said she doesn't want the governor deciding which projects to eliminate. Ortman said the Legislature should have made those decisions."

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/03/11/bonding-bill/

Rep. Paul Kohls is quoted in

FAdams — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:42:50 -0600

Rep. Paul Kohls is quoted in a story on MSN Money.

"Republican Reps. Mark Buesgens of Jordan and Paul Kohls of Victoria both said on the House floor that Pawlenty's stance was a letdown."

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&d...

Minnesota Senate Minority

FAdams — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:18:14 -0600

Minnesota Senate Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, on Wednesday endorsed state Rep. Marty Seifert for governor, saying the Marshall legislator has "the right style, the right temperament to make things happen," according to a Pioneer Press report.

The latest nearly

FAdams — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:24:37 -0600

The latest nearly billion-dollar bonding bill should be on the House floor Thursday.

A conference committee approved a revamped capital investment bill that provides more money for the sex offender treatment facility in Moose Lake, but also creeps closer to $1 billion in general obligation bonds.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty wants $89 million for the sex offender project; the bill calls for $47.5 million. That is still an $11.5 million increase from last week's working group offer.

That offer totaled nearly $986.43 million; this bill is up to $999.66 million. Pawlenty has repeatedly said he does not want a package larger than $725 million. A previous conference committee report sought almost $999.92 million.

Announcement from Rep.

FAdams — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:45:40 -0600

Announcement from Rep. Kohls...

Friends and neighbors,

We received some updated budgets projections from Minnesota Management and Budget last week. Things might look a little better in the short-term, but they are still far from good.

The current deficit is now projected to be less than $1 billion ($994 million to be exact), but the projected deficit for the next biennium has increased by $400 million to $5.8 billion. We have to address this problem immediately.

I want to provide a little context that should help when thinking about these numbers. In my last update, I talked about spending. The forecast is further evidence that state government has a major spending problem. If programmatic reductions and reforms are not made this session, spending is projected to grow by 24 percent next biennium, but revenue is only expected to grow by 10 percent. That's right, despite the challenging economy, revenues are still projected to grow by 10 percent. The simple fact is we can’t grow spending two and a half times faster than we grow revenue. It is not a Republican/Democrat issue; it’s just Economics 101.

Unfortunately, the Democrat leadership has refused to come forward with a plan to address the current $1 billion challenge and the longer-term deficit. Just yesterday, they provided budget "targets" for some of the budget areas. The "targets" were developed behind closed doors without seeking any input from GOP members and only account for $312 million in reductions. This does not even get a one third of the way toward a balanced budget.

One other important fact to keep in mind…the House Democrat leadership spent $25,000 of taxpayer money to file a brief in the lawsuit challenging Governor Pawlenty's approximately $2.7 billion in unallotments. If the position being advocated by the House Democrat prevails in court, our budget challenge will grow by $2.7 billion. It would seem to me that if they truly believed in the merits of the argument they made to the court using taxpayer dollars that they would come forward with a budget solution that address this issue. To date, they have shown no intention of doing so.

Let me be clear, there are no easy solutions to the fiscal challenges facing our state. That said, I'll keep working with my colleagues on both sides of the political aisle to try to come up with the reforms necessary to fix both our short-term and long-term problems.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Warmest regards,

Paul

Tian Jin is now under new

FAdams — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:27:31 -0600

Tian Jin is now under new ownership. The food is still very good.

The restaurant help is more attentive to customers. In the past year the service has improved. I enjoy going there and practicing my Chinese with the wait staff. Last night we ate spicy beef and green beens with meat. We drank hot jasmine tea.

Maybe I always go there after the big dinner rush, but I seldom see many people in the restaurant. I hope it is successful. I like to eat in a Chinese restaurant that isn't a buffet.