Fossil Fuel Energy Production

Beyonce unveils Mrs. Carter World Tour 2013 dates -- St. Paul in July

Beyonce just put on one of the most stunning Super Bowl halftime shows -- easily the best since Prince's -- and it's no shock that an announcement of her Mrs. Carter World Tour follows. The shows begin in Europe in April, and a North American stint launches on June 28 in Los Angeles, and wrapping at ... More >>

The 10 Most Corrupt Tax Loopholes

If Mitt Romney won't tell you which ones need to be closed, we will

The Fracking Fiasco

America's latest gold rush portends the greatest environmental disaster of a generation

Ananya Dance Theatre: Moreechika: Season of Mirage

SCHOENBURG on Sufjan Stevens, adulthood, and his record label

See Also:SCHOENBURG on Short, But Sweet, and why Paul Simon is "next level sh*t"Billy Schoenburg may be one of the hardest working musicians in the Cities. On any given night of the week, the singer is seen working at a venue or out enjoying a concert. Along with his bandmates, Graham Barton and Dan ... More >>

America's Petro-Terrorists

Wall Street and Washington conspire to destabilize the U.S. economy, one barrel of oil at a time

Twin Cities had biggest gridlock drop in country last year, says U.S. Traffic Scorecard

Compared to 2010, Twin Cities roads and commuters breathed a lot easier last year.According to the 2011 U.S. Traffic Scorecard, Minneapolis (really, the Twin Cities metro) had the biggest decrease in traffic congestion from 2010 through 2011.The scorecard uses traffic information from more than four ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Seun Kuti, Perfume Genius, Cults, and more

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

Klobuchar, Franken aim to crack down on oil speculation

​Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken are sponsoring legislation aimed at reigning in oil speculators. The average price of gas in Minnesota around $3.73, and similar pump pain being felt throughout the country, there's pressure on lawmakers to do something, anything, to bring prices down.A group of liber ... More >>

Record gas prices prompt Coon Rapids to mandate gas prepayment

​As of last weekend, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in Minnesota stood at $3.43 a gallon. That's an all-time record.It's no surprise that rising gas prices correlate with increased drive-off gasoline thefts, which can be devastating for low-profit-margin gas stations. Thanks in large p ... More >>

Fastenal, Winona company, is one of 2011's hottest stocks

​A Minnesota company with a worldwide profile had a great 2011, and it isn't Target, Best Buy, Ameriprise or any of the usual suspects. Winona-based Fastenal was one of this year's ten "hot stocks" according to a Slate analysis.

Sen. Michael Jungbauer denies climate science, and faking his resume

Sen. Mike Jungbauer, climate expert.​State Sen. Michael Jungbauer says he's smarter than 98 percent of the men and women who have dedicated their lives to studying climatology, and dismisses their work on climate change and global warming as alarmist nonsense. What gives the Republican from E ... More >>

Odd Future will make their first million on their own terms

​Odd Future didn't sign a record deal today but did, according to several reports, take a big step towards some millions. While the details are still hazy, the nature of the "deal" is pretty interesting given that these kids could've gone with literally any label they wanted. Instead they just ... More >>

Off! at Triple Rock Social Club, 4/3/11

Photos by Ben Clark​Off! April 3, 2011 Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis Considering the pedigree of the band, this show should have been different, better. Off!'s members hail from such revered punk rock bands (Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, Rocket From the Crypt, Burning Brides, among others) tha ... More >>

Inside the multimillion-dollar essay-scoring business

Behind the scenes of standardized testing

Michele Bachmann: The Year In Crazy

Wingnut of the Year.​Rep. Michele Bachmann took us all on another ride aboard the crazy train this year, questioning the president's patriotism, defending BP, proclaiming herself the queen tea partier -- and winning re-election in the 6th congressional district. Here's a look back.

Enbridge Energy could be Minnesota's BP

Oil company has friends on the PUC

Louis CK's hilarious words at the State Theatre

photo via Louis CK's website​Last Friday night comedian and director Louis CK came to the State Theatre for two nearly sold-out shows. Both performances lasted well over an hour, and included new material from the prolific, spot-on curmudgeon.

Les Claypool of Primus talks Metallica, electronica, and hybrid cars

​When we first hear that low stiff clang of flesh across four heavy strings, immediately we know - it's slap bass. And once our ears have recognized that distinctive sound, our mind promptly tells us, it must be Primus.

Foodie alert: Fabian Seafood truck in the Twin Cities today

www.fabianseafood.comIowans buying Fabian Seafood in the 1980s.​The Fabian Seafood Company of Galveston, Texas (about 300 miles west of the BP spill), is in its 33rd year of driving trucks of fresh seafood--wild-caught Gulf shrimp, blue crab, oysters, and more--to the Twin Cities and selling i ... More >>

Michele Bachmann fears Walter Mondale's bull's-eye on her back

​It's not as if Michele Bachmann actually needs anymore cash; she sits on mountains of greenbacks ready for the good spendin' to keep her congressional seat and personalized studio chair at Fox News. But by golly that Walter Mondale guy has a bull's-eye on her back now. Pelosi too! And don't f ... More >>

Top 5 worst restaurant names

Wondering if this was a good restaurant name...​In honor of Thom Pham's recent naming troubles with his new Wondrous Azian Kitchen (formerly "Wanderers Wondrous Azian Kitchen"), we decided to look into the worst-named restaurants, past and present, in the Twin Cities. Add your suggestions in the c ... More >>

Michele Bachmann revives BP, death panel bunk

​Up for re-election in November, congresswoman Michele Bachmann must figure it's time to haul out the scare tactics again. Two weeks ago the White House was fomenting socialism and One World Government. Now, we're back to Obama creating death panels with health care reform and opening a politi ... More >>

Jim Oberstar hammers BP for treating us like chumps [VIDEO]

Screen grab via YouTubeOberstar in action​Rep. Michele Bachmann drew hoots a few weeks ago for warning BP executives not to end up getting fleeced like chumps at the hands of the White House. How dare the president demand -- and get -- BP to create an independent, $2 billion fund to help victi ... More >>

Gay GOP "Drill, Baby, Drill" condom offers limited protection

We picked this little gem up at the Log Cabin Republicans booth at Twin Cities Pride over the weekend. It offers protection when used as designed. But we're not sure a thin layer of latex is the answer to BP's toxic plume in the Gulf of Mexico. City PagesThe Log Cabin Republicans handed out condom ... More >>

CJ Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band

Tarryl Clark tars Michele Bachmann as being "in an oily hole"

Photo: USCG via FlickrMichele Bachmann has been targeted for her reflexive defense of BP, rather than the devastated lives of Gulf Coast residents​Tarryl Clark and the Democrats are hitting Michele Bachmann and other congressional Republicans hard for their odd defense of BP and the toxic filt ... More >>

Bachmann slams Obama on BP, so we follow the money

Photo: USCG/FlickrDeepwater Horizon's fiery demise​Rep. Michele Bachmann got her crazy on again this week, lobbing a factually-challenged verbal assault on the president for persuading BP to establish a $20 billion independent escrow account to administer claims against the oil giant for its d ... More >>

Michele Bachmann wants to protect BP from being "fleeced"

Boldy defending BP against the ranks of New Orleans' unemployed​Rep. Michele Bachmann, America's Dumbest Congresswoman™, worries that the Gulf oil spill could turn into one big rip-off ... for BP.Bachmann leapt to British Petroleum's fiscal defense at a Heritage Foundation luncheon yesterday, wh ... More >>

Gulf seafood: Will the Twin Cities be affected?

Louisiana oyster worker circa 1938​As BP oil spills on and on into the Gulf, the seafood industry is being especially hard hit. With P & J Oysters in New Orleans--a major supplier, and the oldest plant of its kind in the United States with 134 years in business--shutting its doors, this had us ... More >>

Sacred Minnesota loons could meet oily end thanks to BP

This is a BP pelican. It could be a loon.​Sure, we're sad BP's killing the coastal economy in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida -- and maybe a big chunk of the Eastern seaboard. Yes, we're heartbroken over those images of the flailing brown pelicans. But messin' with our loons? Come on. Now w ... More >>

Tim Pawlenty tries to blame Barack Obama for BP debacle

Screen grab via GMATim Pawlenty talked politics on "Good Morning America"​He got to mix wonk with wisecracks last night on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, but this morning, Gov. Tim Pawlenty put on a necktie and did a little breakfast-time jousting with "Good Morning America" host George St ... More >>

Policy and a Pint: Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around

BP's oil spill would cover a big chunk of Minnesota

Via If It Was My HomeSome local context​How big is the oil spill unleashed by the blowout of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico? One way to get a handle on the size of the disaster is to put it in local context. We figured it out (after the jump) with the help of some cool and ea ... More >>

BP oil spill, Bush's war: Top 10 Epic Bad Calls

BY CP STAFFThe goat of the week is umpire Jim Joyce, who cost pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game with a blown call at first base. While this will surely go down in history as one of sport's all-time great fuck-ups, Joyce is far from the first person to screw up at a crucial moment.

Keith Olbermann mocks Michele Bachmann on "commandeer" comment

Michele Bachmann, she of "gangster government" fame, continues to draw national media mocking for insisting that President Barack Obama should have commandeered boats to combat the drill-baby-drill BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. First, Hardball weighed in. Now, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann ... More >>

Michele Bachmann calls the U.S. Attorney General a "trial lawyer"

Maybe time for a civics lesson?​Michele Bachmann invoked the Charge of the Light Brigade, and epic British military failure, as a rallying cry for teabagger victory against health care reform. She flubbed the history of the Slaughter Solution. She got net neutrality exactly backwards. No ... More >>

Michele Bachmann demands gangster president commandeer boats

​Rep. Michele Bachmann is happy to tar President Barack Obama as the anti-American leader of a gangster government. But evidently there are times when she's all in favor of a little gangster action -- such as Friday on the floor of the House of Representatives when she accused Obama of havin ... More >>

Amy Klobuchar wants BP criminal probe after oil spill disaster

Photo: uscgd8Deepwater Horizon burns and an environmental disaster looms​BP, the oil company staring down the maw of a vast environmental disaster after its Deep Horizon drilling rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, may have offered the federal government a bargeload of hogwash when it said it k ... More >>

Jim Oberstar sets House hearings on BP's Deepwater Horizon debacle

U.S. Air ForceA U.S. Air Force C130 drops oil-dispersing chemicals on the Gulf of Mexico​BP executives and others are going to get an earful from members of Congress tomorrow, when the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure opens hearings into the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig ... More >>

Halliburton and KBR back off on Jamie Leigh Jones case that inspired Al Franken's anti-rape law

Jones says she was gang-raped in 2005 by other KBR employees and then locked in a shipping container when she tried to report the attack.

Policy and a Pint: The Mortgage Meltdown

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

Walking in a Wiener Wonderland