National Politics

As of 1:03 a.m. Nov. 5, all 28 McLeod County precincts have been counted. With 21,003 registered voters in the county, 19,124 ballots were cast. Voter turnout was 91 percent.

The unofficial results — compiled from data from the McLeod County Auditor's Office and Minnesota Secretary of State — are as follows:

• Hutchinson City Council race
MAYOR CITY OF HUTCHINSON
Steve Cook: 6,042 votes, 97.51 percent
Write-in: 154 votes, 2.49 percent

COUNCIL MEMBER SEAT 3 CITY OF HUTCHINSON
Eric Yost: 3,287 votes, 50.66 percent

Leo K. ThorsnessJohn McCain’s presidential campaign deployed two battle-tested veterans on a tour of west central Minnesota last Thursday (Oct. 23). Their mission? To make the case that McCain is the best candidate for commander-in-chief.

Minnesota native Leo K. Thorsness served in the Air Force from 1950 to 1973. He was deployed to Vietnam in 1966. As a fighter pilot, his job was to take out surface-to-air missile launchers.

If the SAM sites were camouflaged, he had to use his own plane as bait, getting them to open fire so he could spot them and dive bomb them. “It was a deadly game,” he explained.

He won the game on 92 missions, but during his 93rd, Thorsness was shot down. He and his co-pilot were captured and taken to Hoa Lo Prison — aka the “Hanoi Hilton” — where Thorsness shared a cell with McCain for about two years.

Federal lawmakers are pushing to ban the use of double-decker trailers for transporting horses, after an October 2007 crash in Illinois killed 19 horses.

The horses, owned by Keith Tongen of Brownton, were among 59 being transported in such a trailer. According to the Chicago Tribune, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., is proposing legislation to prevent interstate transportation of any horse in a vehicle with two or more tiers stacked atop one another.

Under the proposed Horse Transportation Safety Act, violators would be fined $100 to $500 for each infraction.

When Sen. Norm Coleman walked into the Coffee Company in Hutchinson Monday afternoon (June 16), it was as if he was a beloved regular customer.

Many in the packed house cheered, and one man yelled “Norm!”

Coleman is seeking re-election to the U.S. Senate this fall and his chief opponent is the DFL-endorsed candidate Al Franken. While many seemed grateful for the chance to rub shoulders with Coleman, he spent a fair amount of time trying to bridge divides with some of the more vocal local conservatives.

Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, is scheduled to appear at Ridgewater College’s Willmar campus today, (Monday, May 19) to discuss the recently passed farm bill.

The bill, which was approved by the U.S. House May 14 on a 318-106 vote, and by the U.S. Senate May 15 on a 81-15 vote, could face a veto from President Bush. The president’s administration has called the $290 billion, five-year legislation bloated. It also doesn’t include reforms Bush had sought.

The House and Senate passed the bill with enough votes to override a veto.

Small American businesses are increasingly unable to provide health insurance to their employees due to escalating costs, especially plan administrative costs.

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman told about 75 Hutchinson area business and government officials that a bipartisan bill he is sponsoring would make it easier for employees of small businesses to get health insurance. Coleman was on a tour of Greater Minnesota cities Friday that was to include stops later that day in Marshall and Bemidji. The Bemidji stop was canceled because of threatening snow in northern Minnesota.

When Super Tuesday is bigger news than the Super Bowl, something is happening in America.

Spirits were high tonight at Hutchinson's GOP precinct caucuses.

A standing-room only crowd filled a meeting room at the Hutchinson Event Center and local Republican Party chair Julie Schaffer noted, “We've never had this many people.”

Across McLeod County, the Minnesota Secretary of State's office reports 479 turned out to vote at the GOP caucus, a figure close to the county's reported 493 DFL votes.

Alan RoebkeFormer farmer Alan Roebke plans to challenge incumbent Congressman Collin Peterson in his 2008 re-election bid.

Roebke wants to revamp American farm policy, slashing billions in what he sees as shamelessly wasteful subsidies.

Nine-time incumbent Democrat Collin Peterson, representing Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District, is up for re-election in 2008.

In the red corner is the challenger, Republican Alan Roebke of Chaska. He announced his candidacy in a news release to area media outlets last week.

Roebke feels U.S. agricultural policy should be based on “sound economics, and that it (should) stop the outrageous handouts promoted by Congressmen Peterson and his powerful friends.”