December 30, 2011

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  Mass. budget motel fights forfeiture by feds 

  Russ Caswell remembers driving a bulldozer at age 11 to help clear farmland for his father to build the Motel Caswell in the 1950s.
  
  Six decades later, the family's $57-per-night budget motel is a sought-after property, not because of the cheap accommodations, but because the federal government says it is a magnet for drug deals.
  
  Caswell is fighting a move by the U.S. Department of Justice to take his motel under a law that allows for the forfeiture of properties connected to crimes. In Caswell's case, the government is not claiming that Caswell committed any crimes, but says the motel should be shut down because of the drug-dealing that goes on among its guests.More »

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  Vikings scrutinize downtown Mpls. stadium site near basilica 

  The Minnesota Vikings are taking a closer look at a stadium site in downtown Minneapolis near the Basilica of St. Mary, a $1.03 billion proposal that so far is the least known of the team's possible new homes.
  
  While the team insists its first choice remains Ramsey County's Arden Hills, a Vikings spokesman said the team is conducting a detailed traffic analysis of the so-called Linden Avenue site because the property's ability to house a stadium was relatively unknown. Lester Bagley, the team's vice president for stadium development and public affairs, cautioned that the team does not yet have a preferred site for a new stadium in Minneapolis.More »

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  Kelly Clarkson criticized on Twitter after singer endorses Ron Paul for President  

  Maybe all Kelly Clarkson ever wanted was Texas Rep. Ron Paul for President.
  
  Clarkson, the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and first "American Idol" winner, endorsed the 2012 GOP presidential hopeful Thursday and immediately faced a barrage of criticism from the Twittersphere.
  
  "I love Ron Paul," Clarkson tweeted. "I liked him a lot during the last republican nomination and no one gave him a chance. If he wins the nomination for the Republican party in 2012 he's got my vote. Too bad he probably won't."
  
  The pop idol's Twitter followers blasted Clarkson for backing the Libertarian-leaning Texan, who finds himself on the defensive amid revelations that he published a series of racist and homophobic newsletters under his name in the 1980s and 1990s.
  
  "I have never heard that Ron Paul is a racist or a homophobe," tweeted Clarkson, who said she backs Paul because he believes in less government.
  
  
  
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  Political Predictions for 2012 

  As New Year's approaches, here are a baker's dozen predictions for 2012.
  
  • Republicans will keep the U.S. House, albeit with their 25-seat majority slightly reduced. In the 10 presidential re-elections since 1936, the party in control of the White House has added House seats in seven contests and lost them in three. The average gain has been 12 seats. The largest pickup was 24 seats in 1944—but President Barack Obama is no FDR, despite what he said in his recent "60 Minutes" interview.
  
  • Republicans will take the U.S. Senate. Of the 23 Democratic seats up in 2012, there are at least five vulnerable incumbents (Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Pennsylvania): The GOP takes two or three of these. With the announcement on Tuesday that Nebraska's Ben Nelson will retire, there are now seven open Democratic seats (Connecticut, Hawaii, North Dakota, New Mexico, Virginia, Wisconsin): The GOP takes three or four. Even if Republicans lose one of the 10 seats they have up, they will have a net pickup of four to six seats, for a majority of 51 to 53.More »

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