{"id":55432,"date":"2015-10-02T05:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T10:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=55432"},"modified":"2015-10-01T21:35:59","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T02:35:59","slug":"all-the-news-thats-fit-to-gin-up-from-pretty-much-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=55432","title":{"rendered":"All The News That’s Fit To Gin Up From Pretty Much Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:<\/p>\n

Star Tribune breathlessly reports that\u00a0“questions” have been raised<\/a>, front page, above the fold.\u00a0 Why did 98% of the new state subsidies for rural bus routes go to Mn\/DOT Commissioner Zelle’s former employer?\u00a0 Conflict of interest?\u00a0 Shenanigans?\u00a0 What’s going on here?<\/p>\n

\u201cJefferson Lines and Land to Air Express were two of three firms who applied<\/b> for the state funding that year. The third, Rainbow Rider Transit, received less than $8,000 in state subsidies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three firms applied.\u00a0 Rainbow Rider is the short bus for handicapped people<\/a> in a few counties in Western Minnesota, counties you never heard of, like Grant and Pope.\u00a0 They got a few bucks.\u00a0 The other companies provide bus service and airport shuttle.\u00a0 They got the rest because Nobody Else Applied.\u00a0 Which isn\u2019t surprising \u2013 how many bus companies can you name besides Greyhound and they run long-haul between cities, not back lanes to Clodhopper, Minnesota.\u00a0 There’s no conflict, there isn’t even a question, it’s perfectly clear and obviously the whole thing is completely above-board.<\/p>\n

So why the headline?\u00a0 The headline leads low-information voters to think the Commissioner\u2019s a crook when the story itself completely exonerates him.\u00a0 What a pathetic excuse for a newspaper.<\/p>\n

Joe Doakes<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They’re just asking questions:<\/p>\n