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EXTREME WEATHER: Winter Arrives Early In The Upper U.S. Midwest - Winter Storm Dumps Over A Half Foot Of Snow In South Dakota, Minnesota, And Nebraska!

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: yellow;">November 07, 2013 - UNITED STATES </span></b>- A storm that trekked from southern South Dakota and northern Nebraska  to northwest Iowa and central Minnesota Tuesday dropped up to 10 inches  of snow with rates of one inch per hour in some locations.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vAIuPxSPsxQ/UnuSBK3qsTI/AAAAAAABNVs/BQkudgXzp-I/s1600/usawinterstorm01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vAIuPxSPsxQ/UnuSBK3qsTI/AAAAAAABNVs/BQkudgXzp-I/s1600/usawinterstorm01.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />In South Dakota, as much as 9.5 inches of snow fell 5 miles east of the town of Porcupine. Sioux Falls, located in the extreme <a href="http://www.weather.com/video/southeast-regional-forecast-362?lc=int_mb_1001">southeast</a> part of the state, saw just over a half foot of snow. <br /><br />The top snow total in Nebraska was 10 inches in Gordon. <a href="http://www.weather.com/weather/today/North+Platte+NE+USNE0353?lc=int_mb_1001">North Platte</a> saw its first measurable snow of the season with a total of 2.2 inches<br /><br />Up to 10.5 inches covered the ground in Minnesota near Milroy. Minneapolis/St. Paul saw its first measurable snow of the season with 1.8 inches.<br /><br />Weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce says, "The snow will linger in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan early on Wednesday before finally tapering off as low pressure heads into eastern Canada."<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7xKg7cpXxh0/UnuSMXxNnKI/AAAAAAABNV0/bCQwmhYxF9I/s1600/usawinterstorm02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7xKg7cpXxh0/UnuSMXxNnKI/AAAAAAABNV0/bCQwmhYxF9I/s1600/usawinterstorm02.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rod Evans shovels the season's first blanket of snow Tuesday, Nov. 5,  2013, outside his photo studio in <br />Sioux Falls, S.D. He just signed his  snow removal contract but it doesn't start until Nov. 15 so<br /> he had to do  it himself. (AP Photo/Carson Walker)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8b0c_C246r8/UnuSMzqJ5BI/AAAAAAABNWA/XX4pBq4qFA0/s1600/usawinterstorm03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8b0c_C246r8/UnuSMzqJ5BI/AAAAAAABNWA/XX4pBq4qFA0/s1600/usawinterstorm03.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This iWitness photo was taken by Joe Reklaitis 5in Concord NE.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9QnwqGZxWWg/UnuSMo3l84I/AAAAAAABNV4/nwpGtro3zcU/s1600/usawinterstorm04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9QnwqGZxWWg/UnuSMo3l84I/AAAAAAABNV4/nwpGtro3zcU/s1600/usawinterstorm04.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This iWitness photo was taken by Britt Griffith in Elgin, Neb.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />South Dakota farmers could use that break. The sunflower harvest is 31 percent done; the corn harvest is 63 percent complete; and the soybean harvest is at 92 percent, according to the latest U.S. Agriculture Department crop progress report.<br /><br />"Obviously, the snow will bring them to a standstill for a few days," said Keith Alverson, who farms near Chester, in the eastern part of the state. "But it looks like it's going to warm up and stay pretty dry, so hopefully it's a temporary shutdown."<br /><br />Alverson got all of his corn out Monday, though he still has field work to do.<br /><br />It's been an on-again, off-again harvest, he said.<br /><br />"We've had these small windows the month of October. It seems about once a week we'd get some rain or snow or something. We'd have two to three days off and go hard for a few days and then have a break, so we certainly made an intense push there," Alverson said.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8TUD4jC_8PE/UnuSVdzheSI/AAAAAAABNWM/LoD7T2PpjhY/s1600/usawinterstorm05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8TUD4jC_8PE/UnuSVdzheSI/AAAAAAABNWM/LoD7T2PpjhY/s1600/usawinterstorm05.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This iWitness photo was taken by Penny Wal 5 miles NE of Avon, SD.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vkN_E8cIA-c/UnuSVZHWEKI/AAAAAAABNWQ/-7No5UZvbgg/s1600/usawinterstorm06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vkN_E8cIA-c/UnuSVZHWEKI/AAAAAAABNWQ/-7No5UZvbgg/s1600/usawinterstorm06.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This iWitness photo was taken by Penny Wal 5 miles NE of Avon, S.D.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zbgoy0wjET4/UnuSVvK8BOI/AAAAAAABNWU/t6eEddrekHw/s1600/usawinterstorm07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zbgoy0wjET4/UnuSVvK8BOI/AAAAAAABNWU/t6eEddrekHw/s1600/usawinterstorm07.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southeastern Minnesota. (Mark Tarello)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Kurt Stiefvater said the corn on his farm in Salem, about 45 miles east of Sioux Falls, will need a few days to dry. Otherwise silk on the ears of corn can clog the combine and the ground will be too sticky from the cold and snow.<br /><br />"It makes the ground conditions on top a little greasy," he said.<br /><br />The snow prompted the postponement of some events but otherwise had a minimal impact.<br /><br />"It's gotta happen sometime," said Rod Evans as he shoveled the heavy snow off the sidewalk outside his photography studio in Sioux Falls.<br /><br />He mailed his snow removal contract for the year on Tuesday morning, just before the snow started to fall. It goes into effect Nov. 15. <br /><br /><br /><span style="color: lime;"><b>WATCH: </b></span>Winter Arrives Early in South Dakota.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="333" id="BLOGGER-video-bfdebe016826d45d-3109" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzf6gzsaZP06ZmIYZj3meH3r_Hr26V-KFrggkiuW3QlK_OtOvf7IwurXV3Cj1jfkZpZqcw6WHH509AR593lJrPKl9dJlVcA86N9UvnUIwYWjaEkJLIy9-AUyUSokLcaLMWfbJE" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="570"></iframe></div><br /><br /><br />In southwestern Minnesota, a trained spotter measured 8.5 inches of snow about 6 miles to the east-southeast of Marshall.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.weather.com/video/a-national-look-at-the-next-3-days-364?lc=int_mb_1001">National</a> Weather Service says a spotter estimated 8 inches of snow 5 miles north-northwest of Holland.<br /><br />Other <a href="http://www.weather.com/maps/maptype/forecastsusnational/ussnowfallforecast_large.html?lc=int_mb_1001">snowfall</a> reports include 3.5 inches near Kingston and in Granite Falls and 3 inches in Sacred Heart. - <a href="http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/snow-south-dakota-minnesota-nebraska-20131106"><span style="color: orange;"><b>TWC</b></span></a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /></div>

November 07, 2013 - UNITED STATES - A storm that trekked from southern South Dakota and northern Nebraska to northwest Iowa and central Minnesota Tuesday dropped up to 10 inches of snow with rates of one inch per hour in some locations.In South Dak…

The truth about public pensions

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6O2T0QecJHOoeAfue_HCvvIvuZgpaRPkgYvbp-fqTkhDNNCPErQIBrf7mb7yekNiJD_ULvQMEx6sOH5PHYzMvR7BEhmw3Ku9bESNht_OCDLmAktOECBbVCIjnkLu6Df8_5Gof1Xx7qEBl/s1600/collectivebargaining.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6O2T0QecJHOoeAfue_HCvvIvuZgpaRPkgYvbp-fqTkhDNNCPErQIBrf7mb7yekNiJD_ULvQMEx6sOH5PHYzMvR7BEhmw3Ku9bESNht_OCDLmAktOECBbVCIjnkLu6Df8_5Gof1Xx7qEBl/s200/collectivebargaining.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="tr_bq">Pensions, which are so <a href="http://www.iaff.org/pensions/documents/why_do_pensions_matter.pdf" rel="nofollow">essential to retirement security</a>, are being attacked as the cause of state and municipal budget shortfalls. These <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/01/fix-debt-is-full-of-crap.html" rel="nofollow">attacks come from radicals</a> who want to dismantle public institutions, like pensions, that don't benefit greedy billionaires. Don't listen to them.<br /><br />Listen, instead, to economist <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/unfunded-pension-liabilities-are-1-trillion-not-38-trillion-never-take-anything-in-a-washington-post-editorial-at-face-value" rel="nofollow">Dean Baker</a> recently called out the Washington Post for making the nonsensical claim that state and local pensions have unfunded liabilities of $3.8 trillion. Baker notes the funds are basically okay: </div><blockquote class="tr_bq">...the $3.8 trillion figure was an estimate of total liabilities, not unfunded liabilities. Since the pensions have $2.8 trillion in assets, their unfunded liabilities are just $1 trillion. Or, to put this in terms that may be understandable to Post readers, the unfunded liabilities are 0.22 percent of projected GDP over the next 30 years. And, as I noted in my earlier post, most state and local governments are already funding at levels that are consistent with making up this shortfall so there will no required tax increases or spending cuts to meet these future obligations.</blockquote><div>It shouldn't be a surprise, then, when Brother Brian Aldes, secretary-treasurer of <a href="http://teamsterslocal320.org/index.cfm?zone=%2Funionactive%2Fview_article.cfm&HomeID=297639&page=Brian27s20Blog#.Ue28svsp5Gs.twitter" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Local 320</a> in Minneapolis, brings us some good news about Minnesota public employee pensions. Cross-posting from <i><a href="http://teamsterslocal320.org/index.cfm?zone=%2Funionactive%2Fview_article.cfm&HomeID=297639&page=Brian27s20Blog#.Ue28svsp5Gs.twitter" rel="nofollow">Brian's Blog</a></i>.</div><blockquote>Today there is a lot of news surrounding pensions for public employees. If you’ve heard the bad news coming out of Detroit you might have retirement on the mind. There’s certainly bad news in Detroit for city workers and retirees, but I'm happy to report there’s also some great stuff in the news today for Minnesota. </blockquote><blockquote>The latest report on Minnesota public employee pensions have all three funds (MSRS, PERA and the Teachers’ Fund) with an investment return of 14.2 percent for the fiscal year that just ended, and it was much higher than expected. </blockquote><blockquote>According to the <a href="http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_23695107/minnesota-public-pension-funds-report-unexpected-gain-investments" rel="nofollow">St. Paul Pioneer Press</a>: </blockquote><blockquote>"The investment return is crucial for the pensions because, historically, investment gains have accounted for about 70 percent of their revenues, helping reduce taxpayer costs. Returns have been rocky in recent years, although the average over the past decade has been 10 percent [investment return]." </blockquote><blockquote>What this year's strong investment return demonstrates is the improved funding ratios and how the total unfunded liability for all three plans is expected to drop. This is positive news and Senator Sandra Papas (DFL-St. Paul) who chairs the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR) told the Pioneer Press that she is “cautiously optimistic” about the funds’ future. </blockquote><blockquote>Meanwhile in Detroit a judge ruled that Michigan Governor Snyder’s action to place Detroit in bankruptcy had violated the state’s Constitution because the move could cut the pension benefits of retired public employees. The judge said pensions were protected under state law, and issued an order that the bankruptcy filing be withdrawn. Gov. Snyder is challenging the judge’s order in the state’s Court of Appeals. If the bankruptcy is allowed to continue it will enable a bankruptcy judge to impose further city-wide budget cuts, void any and all union contracts, and target the pensions owed to 21,000 city retirees and 9,000 active workers. </blockquote><blockquote>What is happening in Detroit is simply a tragedy, but for public employees in Minnesota things are looking up, and for that I am grateful!</blockquote>

Minnesota pensions The truth about public pensions

Pensions, which are so essential to retirement security, are being attacked as the cause of state and municipal budget shortfalls. These attacks come from radicals who want to dismantle public institutions, like pensions, that don't benefit greedy bi…

EXTREME WEATHER: Winter Arrives Early In The Upper U.S. Midwest - Winter Storm Dumps Over A Half Foot Of Snow In South Dakota, Minnesota, And Nebraska!

The truth about public pensions

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