Minnesota Lawyer
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., has received the 2010 Edward W. Brooke III Housing Leadership Award from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Ellison was recognized by the coalition for authoring the “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009,” which became federal law as part of the “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009.”
The legislation allows tenants who are current on rent payments to stay in homes that enter foreclosure, either for 90 days or through the end of their leases.
Sheila Crowley, the coalition’s president, called Ellison a “leading voice for safe and affordable housing for low-income Americans.”
Applications are being accepted for a trial court bench vacancy in Granite Falls.
The vacancy occurred with last year’s retirement of Yellow Medicine County District Judge Bruce W. Christopherson.
Licensed Minnesota attorneys who live in the Eighth Judicial District can request applications for the position by calling John Hultquist at 651-296-0019, or via e-mail.
Applications and letters of recommendation must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. May 5.
Four people have been appointed and one reappointed to the Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
The new appointees are David W. Krech of Duluth, Peter G. Miller of Maple Grove and Marjorie Pitz of St. Paul. Douglas C. Cooley of Long Lake was reappointed to the board.
Cooley and Krech were appointed to the board as representatives of professional engineers. Miller represents geoscientists and Pitz represents landscape architects.
The board licenses and regulates architects, engineers, land surveyors, landscape architects and geoscientists and certifies interior designers. It is made up of 21 members, all appointed by the governor.
Hal Freshley, planning and policy coordinator of the Minnesota Board on Aging, will receive the 2010 Dutch Kastenbaum Award from the Minnesota Gerontological Society.
Freshley joined the Minnesota Board on Aging in 1997 after working as a senior planner and later planning analyst for the Metropolitan Council. He has directed various aging initiatives in the state and has taught courses on aging topics.
He was part of the original group that founded the Vital Aging Network, which works to build the capacity of older adults to help their communities.
The Minnesota Gerontological Society established its Outstanding Gerontologist Award in 1984 and renamed it in 1998 for Abraham “Dutch” Kastenbaum, who hosted the TV show “Senior Citizen’s Forum” for 25 years.
Five Minnesota state legislators are among recipients of this year’s “Awards for Excellence in Assistive Technology” presented by the Minnesota STAR Program.
The program honors individuals and groups for championing the removal of barriers through the use of assistive technology — any device that maintains, improves or increases function at home, school, work and in the community.
The legislators recognized this year are Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope; Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul; Rep. Bill Hilty, DFL-Finlayson; Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis; and Rep. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake.
STAR is Minnesota’s Assistive Technology Act Program, administered through the Minnesota Department of Administration.
Michael G. Dougherty has been appointed to the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection.
Dougherty, of Burnsville, is president of the Severson, Sheldon, Dougherty and Molenda law firm of Apple Valley. He was a founding member of the firm in 1986 and heads its municipal law and real estate practice groups. He was appointed to the commission as an at-large attorney member.
The Commission on Judicial Election solicits judicial candidates, evaluates applicants and recommends finalists to the governor for district court and Workers Compensation Court of Appeals vacancies that occur during a judge’s term. It is made up of 49 members, 27 appointed by the governor and 22 by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
