Stuff

Life moves quickly, especially in the summer. Here are updates from the past couple of weeks.

National Night Out

It was great to be out in our neighborhoods last night on National Night Out. National Night Out is a many years old event sponsored by law enforcement entities across the county. Last night I joined Officer Eric Johnson, St. Paul Police, for a ride along. I learned a lot about the demands of community policing in the 3 hours we spent together. Thanks to everyone who welcomed us to their block party. The lemonade was great!

Rock Tenn Community Advisory Panel

On August 4, the Rock Tenn Advisory Council (RCAP) received fuel source recommendations from the St. Paul Port Authority. The Port Authority offered 3 priorities for RCAP’s consideration. None of the 3 proposals include RDF (refuse derived fuel). The top choice is the use of biomass and anaerobic digestion (AD) to create gas for fuel. The proposal represents a "first in the nation" use of AD at this scale, creates a valuable rural urban partnership and would contribute to the state's goal of renewable energy and to the reduction of greenhouse gases.

RCAP will respond to the proposal at its next meeting on August 18, 2008. You can review the proposal at www.rtadvisory.org . The proposal goes from the RCAP to district councils and the St. Paul City Council. The work of the parties; RCAP, the Port Authority, Rock Tenn and the many stakeholders involved has yielded a proposal that could very well keep Rock Tenn in the recycling business, keep good jobs in St. Paul, maintain the public’s health and provide leadership on energy – and it is sorely needed. Congrats on the work to date. It is a demonstration of what is possible! WOW

Proposed Regulation to Diminish Reproductive Health

In 2007, the legislature adopted and the governor signed into law a requirement that hospitals provide emergency contraception in the emergency room to rape survivors to help prevent a pregnancy after a violent attack. The legislation had multiple hearings and the language, skillfully finessed, earned near unanimous support.

The Bush Administration has proposed a new regulation which could nullify this law in Minnesota by allowing health providers and systems to deny emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. The proposed regulation also confuses contraception to prevent pregnancy and abortion to end a pregnancy, likely resulting in an increase in unplanned pregnancies. Finally, the proposal seeks to change the definition of conception from the standard medical definition of implantation to fertilization. This is a definition based in ideology and not in science. Over the next months, there will be opportunity to comment on the proposal and I will provide comment to the Administration. As I get more information, I will share it here.

My trip to Virginia and the Emerging Political Leaders conference was stellar!