News

How Minnesota COVID-19 Death Tolls Were Inflated During Stay At Home MN

As Minnesota’s death tolls surged in May, the words of a prominent Twin Cities funeral director were ringing in my ears: “What useful purpose is being served to record loved ones that died with COVID-19, not from COVID-19?” He concluded the interview by counseling: “Tony, get the total Minnesota mortality numbers for April and May and verify if the growth justifies the scale of the public emergency.”

Well, that was easier said than a done. First a voicemail to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and then an email a week later — went unanswered. Finally, an email to Director...

Minnesota Funeral Directors Grapple With Inflated COVID-19 Death Tolls

Gill Brothers Funeral and Cremation served Minnesota families by horse and buggy when it was founded in 1889 and has been family-owned ever since. When its President Dan McGraw, a funeral director since 1981, tells me the last two months have been “unprecedented,” he draws my undivided attention. McGraw explained that during the regular course of business, he picks up approximately two thirds of his decedents at long term care facilities or at private residences.

As a result, COVID testing has often not been feasible. During February and March, he said that many of those cause-of-deaths were recorded as COPD, Sepsis...

After ‘Stay At Home MN’- the Next COVID-19 Battleground

I have lived in Minnesota most of my life and have to admit a strong sense of pride in our innovative homegrown companies. It is uplifting to learn how 3M, Medtronic, Ecolab, Mayo Clinic, Fairview and others have rapidly ramped up COVID-19 equipment production, testing and research.

Confined at home without an NBA or MLB box score to scour, my new morning routine includes pulling up the Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 case dashboard at 11:20 a.m. every day. I am eager to see how our community sacrifices are paying off. After all, we are Minnesota and we can execute this plan better than...

Lock’em Up! How Northwest Airlines Sent Administration Officials to Jail for Contempt of Congress

The story sounds eerily familiar: a new party in power in Congress; a special Congressional committee investigating collusion and top administrative operatives refusing to cooperate or testify. No, this is not the maelstrom of today’s House Judiciary Committee and the highly publicized subpoena absences of Attorney General William Barr or White House Counsel Don McGahn.

These were the nascent days of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, mired in the depths of the Great Depression. In 1933, FDR’s ally Senator...

5 Down Payment Assistance Programs to Consider in Minnesota

While the path to home ownership may be clear on paper, coming up with a down payment and figuring out proper financing is a whole different story. But as a potential first time home buyer who may be looking to make that long-awaited transition from renting to owning, what you might not realize is that Minnesota has over 70 different down payment assistance programs that are specifically designed to help people just like you realize the dream of owning a home, regardless of situation or circumstance.

So if you ever find yourself wondering how you’ll ever save enough money for a down payment, here’s a brief overview of just some...

Wildcatting Minnesota Oil -- Boom or Bust?

The Minnesota Oil Boom was sparked by a Missouri mining engineer visiting his doctor in Rochester in 1923. In between treatments, he whiled away the time “going up the country,” touring the surrounding landscape. He confided to his doctor that he liked the “lay of the land,” and that many of the geologic formations resembled oil field operations out West.

The engineer must have been particularly persuasive because soon a local realtor joined them to form a wildcatting syndicate called the Rochester Oil and Development Company. The plan was to enlist 25 wealthy, local investors to finance the...

When Your Wildest Dreams Come True -- Call The Powerball Lawyer! 

Updated January 2020:

The wacky lottery streak that we covered in 2018-- continues in eastern Florida! While Minnesota offers scratch off games with “modest payouts” up to $200,000 the latest trend in Florida is scratch offs paying up to $15 million. A $15 million recipient and 3 other scratch-off winners have recently wandered into the same attorney office we visited in this article. 

The Powerball Lawyer

Kurt Panouses is reclining in a chaise lounge alongside his pool in Melbourne Beach Florida. The panorama reveals surf breaking in the Atlantic...

United Airlines Embargo Grounds Pets Around The World

Imagine if Amazon announced that they were halting all deliveries for six weeks and would let us know later if they were ever going to come back into the business. That is the hidden impact of the three recent, astonishing United Airlines pet travel mishaps.

United sent a Kansas City-bound dog to Japan; fatally stowed a snub nose dog in the overhead bin; and was forced to make an unplanned landing in Akron to get another dog to its correct destination. When those incidents occur over three days, something is bound to hit the fan and their Board of Directors quickly met to quell the media carnage.    

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5 Financial Benefits of Home Ownership

Benefits to Homeownership 5 Financial Benefits of Home Ownership

The benefits of owning a home go far beyond just piece of mind, and many of these advantages are directly tied to financial stability. So if you’re a first time home buyer in Minnesota and are hoping to soon make the transition from renting to owning, here are just some of the financial benefits linked to home ownership.

Improve your net worth

Building equity almost acts as a savings account of sorts, and each time you make a monthly payment, you’re increasing your equity. ...