Minnesota Independent

With St. Paul–based Xcel Energy on pace to disconnect power to some 70k Coloradans this year for nonpayment, energy activists there are questioning why ratepayers should foot the bill for lavish executive board-member dinners, hotel and spa retreats and luxury box tickets to professional sports game...

The year 2011 will be the end of an era in broadcasting. That’s when Oprah will leave her long-running show — and, by coincidence, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty will leave his, Minnesota Public Radio confirms. ...

A new report by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCOC) finds that, despite the nation’s economic turmoil, Minnesota’s civic health is good — so much so that we’re among the country’s leaders in indicators like voter turnout, volunteerism and charitable giving.

We're hiring a full-time contract reporter/blogger to cover politics in the state. Deadline for applications: Nov. 30.

The Minnesota Independent is seeking freelance reporter/bloggers to help cover politics at the state, county and local levels.

The religious right’s annual “War on Christmas” is ramping up early this year, and at least one Minnesota company is on its hit list. The American Family Council targets SUPERVALU (Cub Foods) for using "holiday" in its ads, conjuring Nazis in the process.

Gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher landed another labor union endorsement today, from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49. The “49ers” credit Kelliher with engineering the 2008 override of Gov. Pawlenty's veto of the transportation bill.

Michele Bachmann wasn't the only GOPer to be part of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide's “Appeal to Heaven” benefit: gubernatorial hopeful Tom Emmer was in attendance too.

As if Michele Bachmann’s 2010 re-election battle wasn’t already going to be a doozy, it’s begun shaping up as a proxy war between the forces of Sen. Franken and the man he bested in Minnesota’s recount, former Sen. Norm Coleman.

Neither chamber takes aim at the underlying fiscal problems of Medicaid, the state-federal partnership that covers the poorest Americans.

Republican Allen Quist solicits funds saying he and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann “are two peas in a pod.” Now he’s set to announce Thursday whether he’ll make a bid to join Bachmann in Congress by running against Democrat Tim Walz in Minnesota’s First District.

The national chapter of the Sierra Club has launched an ad attacking Rep. Michele Bachmann for what the group says are close ties to the oil industry.