Podcast 165

Take a ride on the near deserted Minneapolis to Saint Paul Light Rail ‘Green’ Line. A little more than a week ago, the new LRT line between downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul opened to wide acclaim. As many as seventy five thousand people took advantage of a free ride on a train, while the local media gushed about the line’s ‘success’. Will this billion dollar project be a success? Have increases in federal and state funding for these kinds of projects in cities all over America produced higher levels of ridership? Do these LRT lines attract ‘investment’ or are tax dollars displaced to ‘subsidize’ development? Is the ‘creative class’ moving into downtown areas? Are companies moving into downtown areas? What about the transportation needs of industry and commerce, and the smaller cities in the state. Are you ready for a substantial increase in state and federal gas taxes to support these projects in the future? Sponsored by Edelweiss Design. 

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Podcast 138

Live from the deck, while a big storm rolls in, updating key stories for the weekend. What ARE the Russians up to with troop movements, fly by’s, and full on tests for massive nuclear retaliatory attacks. It may not be the Cold War, but maybe we should start paying attention to just what Putin and Russia’s overall plan is? Are are? The infamous Sequester – reported to be terrible for Americans – resulted in how many actual lay offs of personnel across 23 departments? How cold was last winter? If you live in the upper midwest? President Obama parties with the one percent of Hollywood, how is it covered? And, a tunnel digging machine gets ‘stuck’ underneath Seattle. Anyone wonder what happens if a tunnel digging machine gets trapped under the Minneapolis City Lakes, during the construction of the Southwest Light Rail? You don’t suppose it could drain the lakes? Sponsored by X Government Cars! 

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Podcast 124

The stand off at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada is over, a Blood Moon, and trouble in Ukraine. Here in the Twin Cities, the Met Council is starting to look like the Bureau of Land Management as they pull out all the stops to smooth over progressive officials in Minneapolis proper, in an attempt to ram a train down the throats of the rich people of the Kenwood, Cedar and Lake of the Isles neighborhoods. Oh the jobs! The extra development! The trolley Cars! (Sounds like a children’s book, doesn’t it). Sounds like legal bribery to me. Will newly minted Mayor Hodges fall for it? And if she does, how far will her political future go when the lakes are drained from a tunnel project gone wrong? Plus President Obama’s taxes (He is actually legally avoiding the full tax for his income bracket), and more. Get the top stories to get your week started right. Sponsored by PlanVision. Do you know how much you pay in 401K management fees every year? Does your company’s HR Department know? It could be as much as 2%!  Bumper Music from my friend, Brian Just.

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