Hunting ‘mansions’ occupy public land; Same sex ballot suit; Kruse tries again

Massive hunting shacks, bait crops and shooting lanes invade public lands

Duluth News Tribune: "Increasingly across St. Louis County forests, including on public lands, permanent deer stands have become a whole lot more elaborate -- some far too elaborate for county land managers. And hunters are cutting more trees near those stands so they can see deeper into the woods. Some hunters are even planting crops on public land to attract deer to their stands. 'We're getting over-built. We're seeing mansions out there -- basically hunting shacks on stilts,' Bob Krepps, St. Louis County land commissioner, told the News Tribune."

Sec. of State sued over marriage amendment

MPR News: "Supporters of an effort to amend Minnesota's constitution to block same-sex marriage say they're filing a suit about the ballot question's title."

Will 3rd time be a charm for Kruse?

Marshall Independent: "Al Kruse wasn't planning on running for office again this year, but now that he is, he's looking forward to ending his personal losing streak and getting a chance to make a difference in St. Paul in 2013."

Poor man's apocalypse

Minnesota Brown: "When you live where we do the lack of electricity means more than the loss of internet, TV and interior lighting. We also lose water. Honestly, that's probably the part that wears you down. We have bottled water to drink and do some basic grooming, but any dishes that weren't washed by Monday night are still there. Laundry is piling up. You can't flush the toilets unless you pour a bucket of lake water into the back of the tank, water that smells roughly as bad as the used toilet water we flush every fifth use. As one of our sons pointed out, "It smells like a petting zoo in here!" Actually, that's exactly right."

Reports on mailings get a bit more frank

Hotdish Politics: "Members of Minnesota's congressional delegation spent almost $690,000 over a 13-month period to send out millions of pieces of taxpayer-financed mail, buy Facebook ads and host telephone town halls with their constituents."

Amy Senser case: Will she go to prison or get probation?

Pioneer Press: "Until about 11 p.m. Aug. 23, Amy Senser could be defined by fairly routine labels: Wife. Suburban mother of two teen girls. Bookkeeper at a chiropractor's office. Volunteer for service work in Peru. Second-degree black belt.In an instant and its aftermath, all that changed."

National

Cell carriers see uptick in requests to aid surveillance

New York Times: "In the first public accounting of its kind, cellphone carriers reported that they responded to a startling 1.3 million demands for subscriber information last year from law enforcement agencies seeking text messages, caller locations and other information in the course of investigations."

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