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Minneapolis News Edition
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME XIII NUMBER 1 OCTOBER 1, 2026
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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, a science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
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* Congressional News Briefs … Minneapolis Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, together with Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. Scott and Texas Congressman Greg Casar, has announced introduction of the Protecting Workers’ Wages from Medical Debt Bill, to prohibit garnishment of workers’ wages to pay medical debt, estimating that some 100 million Americans are threatened since they labor under $220 billion in medical debt. Representative Omar and House of Representatives associates blame the so-called Big Beautiful Bill with exacerbating the plight of Americans by reducing government health-care coverage. Their legislative proposal would, given that federal law permits weekly garnishment of up to 25 percent of workers’ take-home pay, bar garnishment entirely and prohibit any state or court from issuing or enforcing a wage-garnishment order for medical debt. Commenting on House passage of a measure she influenced by insertion of language that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns the cutoff wall in the bed of the Mississippi River and is responsible for maintenance, the Congresswoman stated, “… passage addresses long-standing concerns shared by the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and the State of Minnesota about … infrastructure that is vital to the stability of the river at the heart of the Twin Cities. It builds on our work to protect this historic segment of the Mississippi waterfront, and ensures this sacred site will be safe and stable for our future generations.” Incorporated into the Water Resources Development Act, the provision references the structure the Corps constructed in the 1870’s to stabilize the riverbed of the Mississippi after the rapid collapse of St. Anthony Falls. In addition, in the aftermath of ICE operation, Metro Surge in Minnesota, Representative Omar says she introduced the Make ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Pay Bill, alleging the immigration sweep cost Minneapolis almost $700 million and that ICE and Customs and Border Protection owe communities across the U.S. $140 billion due to the financial impact those agencies have had. On her part, Senator Amy Klobuchar reports that, since the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act was passed in 2007, there have been no drain-entrapment deaths in any public swimming pool in the U.S, but the Senator says that re-authorization is important, observing, “Working together, there is so much we can do to make sure our pools are safe. We can stop entrapments. We can prevent drownings. We can save lives.” After all, drownings remain the leading cause of unintentional deaths among children 1 to 4 years old. Indeed, she says, “This bipartisan legislation makes critical updates to the original law that incentivized states to enact pool-safety laws.” For example, the legislation continues to require all public pools to install safe drain covers to prevent suction entrapment, and this re-authorization bill would fund a national public-education outreach to raise consciousness about drowning prevention. Besides, the Consumer Product Safety Commission grant program would be expanded to permit eligibility of Indian tribes and the Commission must hire a drowning-prevention specialist. What is more, speaking on the Senate Floor, she explained that she has supported 13 Resolutions to end the Iran War because Congress has not authorized a war that has cost $42 billion so far, according to the Pentagon’s own estimates, and the President “has no plan for how to end it.” The Senator conceded, “To be clear, Iran is a terrorist state and should never have a nuclear weapon. And the regime’s aggression in the region and repression of Iranian citizens must end.” Then, Senator Klobuchar attempted to make a practical connection between support for sanctions against Iran and preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons through the agreement President Barack Obama arranged with Iran. She said, “That’s why …I opposed President Trump’s decision to take us out of that agreement.” Were Obama Administration nuclear talks with Iran successful in preventing Iran from developing a nuclear-weapons capability? The Senator did not specifically say, but later in her remarks she acknowledged that the U.S. is not “now dealing with Iranian leaders who are less hard-line.” She expressed concern about the loss of life and that the President is requesting $70 billion more for the war effort and that fuel prices for farmers and consumers have risen more than $1.50 since the war began, burdening American families with a new expense that the Senator said has surpassed $800 annually. Senator Tina Smith, in turn, noting that many insurance companies excluded terrorism risks from coverage following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, is co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to increase availability of the coverage through the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Bill of 2026. The Senator finds that approximately 60 percent of American businesses have secured the insurance, and, to date, the Senate Banking Committee has approved the bill unanimously. In other developments, Senators Smith and Klobuchar have pressed the Trump Administration to release energy assistance money for the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program as soon as possible since temperatures are dipping now and in excess of 100,000 Minnesota households depended on the aid last winter to stay safe and warm. Nationally, the Senators point out, approximately 6 million households received the subsidy for heating and cooling costs during the last year, and this year demand for assistance is expected to be greater. Also, so students need not drop out of college when there is a death in the family or they are hit with such other financial emergencies as high medical bills or record-high
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college costs, Senator Smith has re-introduced the Emergency Grant Aid for College Students Bill. Finally, Senator Smith informs that her $1.5-billion Building and Maintaining Homeless Shelters Bill would accommodate the 8,300-plus Minnesotans who experience homelessness each day by upgrading aging shelters and shelter the estimated 1,800 people for whom there is currently no room, beside furnishing permanent supportive housing.
* State Government News Briefs … Governor Tim Walz has announced that the state has received top honors for data-driven decision-making, and Attorney-General Keith Ellison, part of a coalition of 23 state Attorneys-General and two Governors that has reached a court settlement with AmeriCorps, reveals that the settlement commits AmeriCorps to furnish the coalition states with written notice at least 30 days in advance and identify the legal authority for terminating grants en masse, conducting reductions in force of union employees beyond certain previously-planned cuts, or dismissing AmeriCorps service members en masse, the settlement pausing litigation through February 1, 2027. Already, the coalition states have won restoration of $184 million in funding cuts.
* County Government News Briefs … The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, at its meeting on September 22, held a Public Hearing on the 2025 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) and planning for the 2027 Annual Action Plan. Leading into this month, the Board scheduled a Health and Human Services Quality, Safety, Audit and Compliance review on September 28 at 1 PM and discussed Regional Railroad Authority and Housing and Redevelopment Authority matters on September 29 beginning at 1:30 PM. Also, the Board referred to the Public Works Committee a not-to-exceed $450,000 Work Order with the University of Minnesota for land-based carbon sequestration measurement and modeling, as well as a not-to-exceed $500,000 agreement with Bertelsmann Publishing Group, Inc. to furnish hard-cover children’s read-along books with embedded audio players for the period October 20, 2026 through October 19, 2029. Plus, the Consent Agenda called for negotiating agreements with Burlington Northern Santa Fe for new railroad-crossing surfaces on Maple Grove Parkway, with an estimated County cost of $200,000 in Property Tax, and on County Road 90 in Independence, with an estimated County cost of $75,000 in County Bonds. Then, today, from 12 Noon to 3 PM, a budget hearing is planned on Disparity Elimination.
* City Government News Briefs … In advance of the City Council meeting today at 9:30 AM, meetings of the Budget Committee, the Community Commission on Police Oversight, and the Civil Rights Commission were slated for September 28, another Budget Committee meeting was planned for September 29, and a City Council Policy Roundtable was calendared for September 30 to discuss the Community Safety Ambassador Program.
* School District News Briefs … The Minneapolis Public School District’s Board of Directors will have five seats to fill on the 2026 ballot. When the School Board last met on September 15, it received a presentation on the School Transformation Proposal, a non-action item scheduled for discussion.
* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that current conditions at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, as of 4:53 PM on September 29, are foggy and rainy, with a temperature of 62 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 93 percent, barometric pressure of 29.75 inches, wind out of the southeast at 10 miles per hour, a dewpoint of 60 degrees, and visibility of 2 miles. The over-night forecast calls for a 40-percent chance of showers, then patchy fog, and a low temperature of 61 degrees. On September 30, look for areas of dense fog, then partly-sunny skies, with a daytime temperature of 77 degrees. That night, mostly-cloudy skies and a low temperature of 58 degrees are forecast. On October 1, mostly-cloudy skies, followed by partly-cloudy skies, are expected, with the daily temperature changing from 65 degrees to 48 degrees. On October 2, a change from 62 to 49 degrees and from sunny to partly-cloudy skies is anticipated.
Sports … In the NFL, the Vikings (3-0) host the Miami Dolphins (0-3) on Sunday, October 4, for a 1:05 PM game. Over in the WNBA, in Game 2 of their best-of-three-games playoff series, the New York Liberty (1-0) eliminated the Minnesota Lynx (0-1) on September 29, by a score of 87-71, to advance to the second round.
For a copy of the cartoon feature of Rene Bindslev, please E-mail continentalnewstime@gmail.com
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One of the questions Ralph Nader is yet to answer about his book, “Let’s Start the Revolution”:
“Can that ‘left/right coalition’ you mention hang together once formed on certain issues when one side fails to rein in its desire to initiate new spending programs and the other side objects that it’s their money that is to be spent?”
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* Proverbs (chapter 28/verse 22): “He that hastes to be rich has an evil eye, and considers not that poverty shall come upon him.” hastes=hurries.
[A timely warning against get-rich-quick schemes]
A free copy of the Etna, California News Edition of Continental Newstime [dated August 14, 2020] containing the newspaper feature of outdoor writer Lee Snyder is also available by
E-mail request to info@continentalnewsservice.com
*Free
Marion, Montana News Edition
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME I NUMBER 1 AUGUST 17, 2022
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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest, periodic newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, an intermittent science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
Marion, Montana News Edition of Continental Newstime
Editor-in-Chief: Gary P. Salamone
Continental Features/Continental News Service
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* Congressional News Briefs … Marion’s agent in the U.S. House of Representatives, Matt Rosendale, decided he was not going to sugar-coat House Bill 5376. While House Democrats said they were acting to pass the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the Congressman contended that legislation increasing the size of government, raising taxes on hard-working Americans and spending billions of taxpayer dollars on the Left’s Green New Deal was actually an “Inflation Acceleration Act” and he cast a vote against the bill. Warning that the spending would “cripple our nation’s budget,” he noted that the legislation “will also raise an army of 87,000 IRS agents to squeeze more taxes out of already-hurting American families. With frivolous spending and an enlarged, aggressive IRS, the only climate that will be changing over the next year will be the economic climate, and it will get worse.” He offered this solution: “To reduce inflation, Congress must freeze spending, a concept the Left does not understand. Reining in federal spending and reducing taxes to lower inflation will reaffirm confidence in those investing in our economy.” On his part, Senator Steve Daines, commenting on the $739-billion, so-called Inflation Reduction Act of President Joseph Biden and Senate Democrats that he opposed, asserted that Senate Democrats voted against Daines’ amendment to eliminate policies that would increase costs on Made in Montana energy and other amendments that would render the bill “less painful for Montanans.” He characterized, as “supersizing the IRS,’ the plan to hire more than 80,000 Internal Revenue Service agents “to audit small and medium-size businesses and assert control over the lives and finances of Montanans.” He termed a subsidy for “rich people” the provision to offer $7,500 tax credits to individuals making up to $150,000, so they can purchase expensive electric vehicles. Considering the bill “a slap in the face of Montana families,” the Senator added, “The Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend bill is bad for Montana families, bad for Montana energy jobs and bad for Montanans’ pocketbooks.” Working with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono, Senator Daines has introduced bipartisan legislation, known as the BABES (Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening) Enhancement Act, to require the Transportation Security Administration to clarify and update guidance, every five years, on handling breast milk, baby formula, and other related nutrition products based on consultation with leading maternal-health experts. Calling the legislation a “Bill to Support Montana Moms,” Daines informs that companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives, and the measure is endorsed by such organizations as the March of Dimes and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Senator Jon Tester, in turn, as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announces that the $792.1-billion Defense Appropriations Bill earmarks almost $182 million for Montana priorities, saying, “This legislation will keep America safe by investing in Malmstrom Air Force Base, giving our troops a well-deserved pay raise [4.6 percent], ensuring our servicemen and women are well-equipped with the most up-to-date technology, and shifting resources towards programs that’ll maintain our fighting edge over adversaries like China and Russia.” For example, over in Columbia Falls, uAvionix is due to receive $7 million to develop Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System communications. In addition, he reports that, for Montana, the American Rescue Plan Act means $266 million to deliver high-speed Internet to rural areas of the state, something that is “one of the biggest keys to success for Montana’s students, families, and small businesses.”
* State Government News Briefs … Governor Greg Gianforte has expressed the view that the Montana Supreme Court, after upholding a district-court order temporarily blocking three pro-life bills he signed into law—the Court should not delay bringing into line its 1999 ruling in Armstrong v. State with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision finding that there is no constitutional right to abortion and that the states are entitled to restrict abortion. In other developments, the state legislature has highlighted a recent report by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology that acknowledges findings of the Department of Environmental Quality that the ingestion of too much manganese through drinking water may be harmful, at the same time the Bureau notes that the mineral, naturally present in many common foods, is essential for proper nutrition and that too little may be harmful, as well. Some research shows that adults and children drinking water with high manganese concentrations for sustained periods may suffer from memory and attention problems and motor-skill deficits. But, since most Montanans tap groundwater supplies for their drinking water, they mainly avoid high levels of manganese. Those that do not? The Bureau’s Ground Water Assessment Program reports that 7 percent of the water samples it tested exceeded the recommended health-standard limit for
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adults and children older than 6 years of age. Checking 3,858 water samples from across the state, the Bureau gives assurance that manganese concentrations were low and safe for 85 percent of the well samples it analyzed and that lower concentrations were recorded in samples from western Montana aquifers; higher concentrations, in the eastern part of the state. Specifically, certain aquifers near Flathead Lake, north and west of Great Falls, and in the Missouri River Valley yielded more samples with elevated manganese concentrations. The Safe Drinking Water Act categorizes manganese as a secondary water contaminant, like iron, pH and sulfate, meaning it is safe to drink, but may damage water equipment and transmit an unpleasant odor and taste. The state legislature reports that 380 Montana schools, to date, have tested water fixtures for the primary water contaminant, lead and are implementing remedies for contaminated fixtures.
* County Government News Briefs … The Flathead County Board of Commissioners [Brad W. Abell, Pamela Holmquist, and Randy Brodehl], at its last meeting on August 11, considered six different lakeshore permits, including one at McGregor Lake, one at Flathead Lake, and another at Whitefish Lake; conferred with Erik Mack, of the Planning & Zoning Office, who reported an uptick in zoning violations; discussed giving authorization to publish a Notice of Public Hearing on Road Abandonment concerning an unnamed portion of road off Highway 93 West; took up the matter of authorization to publish a Call for Bids for the estimated $120,000 Fall, 2022 Pavement Striping Project; was due to hear from Liz Wood, of Mountain Climber Transit, on ridership increases, and from Ashley Cummins, Director of the County Library, who reported approximately 1,000 daily patron visits system-wide and who provided an update on the Library Board vacancy; planned to meet with Sheriff Brian Heino; and, among other County business, was tasked to sign a Behavioral Health Hospital Provider Agreement with Logan Health.
* School District News Briefs … The Marion Elementary School District, with the library closed during the summer due to remodeling, plans a Back to School Kick Off Event on September 1, with school starting on September 6. Earlier this month, the District posted a notice that it was hiring for full-time teaching positions in physical education and in the sixth-grade classroom. The School Board is scheduled to meet again on September 12. Meantime, in the Kalispell Public Schools District, Flathead High School announces that classes resume either on August 31 or September 1, depending on the grade level.
* Sports … The Flathead High School Boys Varsity Football Team is set to play Skyview on August 27 at 7 PM and is due to visit Gallatin on September 2 for a 7 PM kickoff.
* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that current conditions 17 miles west-southwest of Kalispell, as of 3:15 PM on August 17, are sunny, with a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 15 percent, barometric pressure of 29.95 inches, visibility of 10 miles, wind out of the south-southeast at 3 miles per hour, and a dewpoint of 36 degrees. The over-night forecast calls for clear skies, northeast wind of 3 to 5 miles per hour and a low temperature of about 55 degrees. Tomorrow, look for sunny skies, with a daily high temperature of about 91 degrees, calm wind becoming east-northeast wind of about 6 miles per hour in the morning. Thursday night, expect mostly-clear skies, with a low temperature of about 56 degrees and northeast wind of 3 to 6 miles per hour.
* Community Calendar … August 19—Pachyderm Meeting of Flathead County Republicans (12 Noon-1 PM) at the Eagles (37 First Street W, Kalispell); August 27—Pheasants Forever Chapter #138 Banquet (5 PM-9 PM), at the Fairgrounds; September 16/17—Quilt Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 17—Glacier Rabbit Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 30—Kalispell Ski Swap, at the Fairgrounds.
Dry Tortugas [Reprinted and Updated] by Lee Snyder
Named “Las Tortugas” (the turtles) by 16th-century Spanish explorers who found the harmless reptiles nesting on its shores, the Dry Tortugas is a collection of several sandy spits and tree-dotted islands. Fort Jefferson, once famous as a 19th-century “American Devil’s Island,” remains one of the world’s largest brick structures. The red brick fort is most famous as the jail where Dr. Mudd was held after treating Lincoln’s assassin for a broken leg.
Fort Jeff, past National Monument, is now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, which, together with the water and island reefs, is one of this nation’s most remote and unique units of our National Park system. While sharks are still occasionally found swimming in the moat, tourists are more likely seen snorkeling around the fort’s outer boundary viewing a dazzling array of fish, coral and sponges. Today, the Coast Guard’s close scrutiny of increasing public pressure allows visitors to see what underwater Florida is supposed to be. Divers claim the park waters are the liveliest anywhere in the state. “Little Africa,” an unspoiled section of coral reef near Loggerhead Key, the largest island in the chain, boasts expanses of staghorn and elkhorn coral more like those found in Caribbean than in Florida waters.
Nearly 27,000 people—mostly fishermen, yachtsmen, and divers—visit the park by boat each year.
But, for a six-week period, the bulk of the visitors attend for another reason. Spring in the Tortugas is definitely a birdwatcher’s delight. Florida’s peninsular shape is like an appendage reaching out into the ocean. Its islands are the first safety offered travelers crossing the Gulf of Mexico…. The “funneling effect” allows for close inspections of the birds in their most colorful breeding plumage—an opportunity that draws enthusiastic birders from all over the world….On any given spring day in the Tortugas, birders with four, five and six hundred birds on their lists are found. Listers with seven and eight hundred on their lists are usually there as guides, having visited the islands years before. But, even so, an errant species from South America, the Bahamas or Cuba could fly by adding to all lists.
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