Itasca County Sheriff Recovers Body of Drowning Victim

On Sunday ~ July 24, 2011, at approximately 6:44 p.m., the Itasca County Sheriff's Office received a call reporting that a hat was floating beside a capsized canoe that was half full of water on Jack the Horse Lake. Itasca County Sheriff's Office personnel, Itasca County Search and Rescue and DNR Conservation Officers responded to the scene. The Bigfork Ambulance was placed on standby.

At the scene it was learned that on Saturday, July 23, 2011, just prior to dark, an adult male was observed leaving the dock in the canoe to go fishing and had not returned. The search continued until dark on July 24, 2011.

Itasca County Sheriff's Office personnel along with Itasca County Search and Rescue, Itasca County Sheriff's Dive Team and Minnesota DNR are continuing search efforts this morning, July 25, 2011.

UPDATED INFORMATION: On July 27, 2011, at 8:00 p.m., The Itasca County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team, Recovered the body of Mark Daniel Scott, 56 of Burnsville, MN. Scott was not wearing a life jacket at the time of recovery.

Extensive search efforts were conducted by the Itasca County Sheriff's Office, Itasca County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team, Itasca County Dive Team, Minnesota DNR, (water and air units), St. Louis County Search and Rescue K-9 Unit, and K-9 Emergency Response Team Inc. of Wisconsin.  

Itasca County Sheriff's Office

440 1st Avenue NE Grand Rapids, MN  55744 Phone (218) 326-3477 Fax (218) 326-4663

Saxhaug's Update on Final Budget Agreement

Government Shutdown Ended

The Government Shutdown ended Wednesday.  Governor Dayton called a Special Session on Tuesday and signed the bills into law after a 12 hour session that went past 3a.m. Wednesday morning.  There are still things to do to get our state back up and running but the stalemate between the Governor and Republican leadership has ended.  I am not happy with the final solution but I recognized the need to get our state back to work.
The final agreement that closed the $1.4 billion gap shifted another $700 million, for a total of $2.1 billion, from our schools and sold $700 million in tobacco bonds.  While there is additional revenue it will be years before we pay off that debt.  We are using a proposal that Tim Pawlenty suggested when he was Governor that was a bad idea then and is still a bad idea today.  This agreement does nothing to fix the problems we have in our state budget.
It is the responsibility of the Legislature to pass a total budget package that the Governor will agree to sign.  The Governor said from the beginning that he would not agree to a cuts-only budget and wanted new revenue along with substantial cuts and reforms.  The budget passed by the Republicans increased property taxes on all Minnesotans by $1 billion, cut 140,000 of our vulnerable citizens off of their health care, reduced special education by $56.5 million, made the biggest cuts to colleges and universities in our state's history.  It hurt the shrinking middle class just to protect the 7,700 millionaires in the state from paying the same share of taxes you and I pay.
I thank the Governor for standing up to an additional $1.4 billion in cuts that were proposed by the Republican Legislature.  The Governor already cut $2.2 billion in his budget and any further cuts would have decimated the education and health care systems that we pride ourselves on as Minnesotans.  
We passed 12 bills in the special session ranging from K-12 Education to a Bonding bill which will fund projects to get people back to work.  The final Environment and Natural Resources Budget Bill kept the forest industry competitive and I voted for it.  It does use a substantial amount of one time funding which just creates the same problem for us in the next budget cycle.  The Economic Development Bill is critical for promoting job growth and that was another bill that I voted for.
We are all in this together and I have always worked for a balanced approach to solving our continuing budget problems.  We have to stop using shifts, gimmicks and borrowing to help us generate a more stable state economy.  My hope is that in the next budget cycle we can have true tax reform like a lower sales tax rate that covers more goods and services and income tax reform that relies less on exemptions and deductions.
I am glad that a budget agreement was reached.  But in the next biennium, we will once again be staring at the same problems.  I would like to see the solutions, like the tax reform I mentioned above, before a catastrophe like the shutdown we just endured ever happens again.
Best Regards,
Tom

PUBLIC FORUM TO CREATE CITIZEN BUDGET SOLUTIONS - Grand Rapids July 19

Forums planned for Grand Rapids, Rochester and Twin Cities July 19-21

Saint Paul, Minn. (July 13, 2011) –The Bush Foundation, in collaboration with InCommons, will host a series of three citizen

forums in Grand Rapids, the Twin Cities and Rochester, Minn. from Jul. 19 to Jul. 21. At the events, citizens will work in

small groups to identify potential budget solutions. Citizen-participants will be selected for the greatest possible diversity in

ideologies and perspectives from those who register online at www.InCommons.org/citizensolutions. Participation will be

limited to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to fully engage in the conversation. 

Once the forums are complete, the Bush Foundation and InCommons will compile lessons from these forums to share with

Governor Dayton and legislators, and to inform future citizen engagement efforts.   

"Unfiltered, nonpartisan citizens' voices need to be a part of whatever budget decisions Minnesota's leaders make in 2011

and in the years to come," noted C. Scott Cooper, Director of Communications and Engagement for the Bush Foundation.

"These forums are intended to give interested citizens from diverse ideologies and perspectives a neutral space and good

information so they can come together and reach consensus about our state's budget future." 

WHO: Citizens of diverse backgrounds and perspectives

WHAT: Citizen Solutions forums to engage Minnesotans in offering real solutions to

the state's budget stalemates

WHEN: 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.

WHERE: Grand Rapids, July 19

Twin Cities, July 20

Rochester, July 21

NOTE:Dinner and childcare will be provided to selected participants at each Citizens Solutions venue