Author Archives: Kevin Featherly

Kevin Featherly, who joined BridgeTower Media in mid-2016, is a journalist and former freelance writer who has covered politics, law, business, technology and popular culture for publications and websites in the Twin Cities and nationally since the mid-1990s.

Bryan, Segal join Court of Appeals

Kevin Featherly January 24, 2020

Former Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal takes the oath of office from her predecessor, retired Court of Appeals Judge Jill Faskamp Halbrooks, during investiture ceremonies Jan. 16. Segal’s husband, MMB Commissioner Myron Frans, watches in the background. Segal is the court’s 59th judge. (Staff photo: Kevin Featherly)

Walz says essays requirement helped him choose.

Capitol Retort: Senate witnesses, equity officer, writing sample

Kevin Featherly January 23, 2020

House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Clerk of the House Cheryl Johnson deliver the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate on Jan. 15 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Following them are the impeachment managers appointed by the House of Representatives. (AP photo)

Should the U.S. Senate call witnesses? Why?

Walz seeks $2.6 billion in capital investments

Kevin Featherly January 23, 2020

Gov. Tim Walz presents his bonding proposal, which includes $2 billion in general obligation bonds, on Jan. 16 in St. Paul. Looking on are, left to right, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington and Transportation Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher. (Staff photo: Kevin Featherly)

Capitol security takes haircut, but prisons get $45 million.

Corrections ombudsman ready

Kevin Featherly January 22, 2020

Minnesota Corrections Ombudsman Mark Haase says he first needs to leverage his office’s $650,000 annual budget to build out and staff up his office, which will be located at Fairview and University in St. Paul. (Staff photo: Kevin Featherly)

Haase starts just as OLA prepares prison safety report.

Bar Buzz: LCC formally bars discrimination

Kevin Featherly January 22, 2020

LCC Director Greg Hubinger (File photo: Kevin Featherly)

Mirroring efforts by the House and Senate, the Legislative Coordinating Commission (LCC) has adopted a formal anti-discrimination policy for its employees.

Bar Buzz: Six bills on gun-hearing agenda

Kevin Featherly January 20, 2020

“I am interested in what outstate voters think about future gun control,” says Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove. (File photo: Kevin Featherly)

For the first time since the latest batch of gun bills started circulating after Democrats took over the House last year, the GOP-led Senate on Tuesday will gavel in a gun-bill hearing.

Primary ballot petitioners consider SCOTUS appeal

Kevin Featherly January 17, 2020

Jim Martin, left, a plaintiff in the De La Fuente, et. al, v. Simon case, looks on has attorney, Erick Kaardal, addresses the media after oral arguments at the Capitol on Jan 9. Hours later, the Supreme Court issued an order dismissing their petition and giving the GOP’s one-candidate state presidential primary a green light. (Staff photo: Kevin Featherly)

State Supreme Court rejects would-be candidate’s case.

Probation ‘guideline’ replaces 5-year ‘cap’

Kevin Featherly January 16, 2020

Tonja Honsey, public representative on the Sentencing Guidelines Commission, addresses fellow member and Court of Appeals Judge Michelle Larkin during a hearing Thursday. The commission voted 8-3 to adopt a modified version of its five-year maximum probation policy for most offenders. But unlike the original proposal, what was adopted is not a hard cap. (Staff photo: Kevin Featherly)

It’s no longer a “cap,” it’s a “guideline.” But a presumptive maximum probation term of five years will become Minnesota policy on Aug. 1, unless the Legislature steps in to stop it.

Capitol Retort: Rocky result, sporting chance, glove slap

Kevin Featherly January 16, 2020

The state Supreme Court denied a perennial candidate Rocky De La Fuente’s petition to be put on the GOP’s primary ballot.

Bar Buzz: MacDonald’s attorney faces sanctions

Kevin Featherly January 15, 2020

Attorney Karlowba Adams Powell, left, poses with her client Michelle MacDonald shortly after oral arguments in front of the Court of Appeals. (File photo: Kevin Featherly)

The lawyer who argued attorney Michelle MacDonald’s defamation appeal last month soon will have her own day in appellate court.