Best of 2012

Proposed Amendments Draw Huge Community Response: No. 5 Story of the Year

One of the most followed stories of the year.

Richfield Patch covered a lot of different stories, topics and events throughout 2012, but there were a few that stood out as the most interesting, important or possibly infamous to our readers. The following is the No. 5 story of the year. *** Election Day 2012 was no doubt a very important day for every Minnesotan. Not only was every Minnesota state legislator up for re-election, but voters were faced with two major constitutional amendments. The marriage amendment would've defined marriage as between one man and one woman, while the photo voter ID measure would've required all to present a valid state ID in order to cast a ballot. Follow Richfield Patch on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our daily newsletter While …

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Hennepin County Reports High Voter Turnout at 84 Percent

Many precincts in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Edina, Golden Valley, Greenwood, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, Plymouth and St. Louis Park had turnouts of more than 90 percent.

The following was released by Hennepin County: The Hennepin County Canvassing Board certified the county’s election results on Tuesday – and those results showed high voter turnout – 84 percent. More than 610,000 voted on Election Day, and more than 72,000 voted prior to Election Day.    “Minnesota typically leads the country with the highest voter turnout – in 12 of the past 16 elections,” said Rachel Smith, Hennepin County elections manager. “We especially want to thank the more than 5,000 election judges throughout the county who worked to make this election so successful. These election judges are essentially volunteers – they work long hours and put in an incredible amount of effort to make this voting process happen. Together with …

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Keith Ellison Won in All but Two of Patch Cities' Precincts

Republican Chris Fields did better in areas Patch covers than in the Fifth District overall.

Patch cities gave U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) one shy of 76,000 votes in the Nov. 6, 2012 election that returned him to Congress for a fourth term. His Republican challenger, Chris Fields, got fewer than half that number of votes from areas Patch covers: 33,623. Only two precincts out of 76 in Patch cities favored Fields over Ellison. Both precincts were in Edina—a new part of the Fifth District, added when redistricting redrew political boundaries based on the 2010 U.S. Census. Edina gave Fields the most support of the six Patch cities in the Fifth Congressional District, with 44.52 percent of Edina's votes going to the Republican. Sixteen precincts in neighboring Southwest Minneapolis gave Fields the least support he enjoyed in Patch'…

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Controversial Quilt, Bad Bus Driver Decision and Frankenstein: Pick of Our Patches

This week's selection includes a new gallery/gift shop, a levy rejected, school boundaries issue, DFL wins and good news for Southwest Light Rail Transit.

Editor’s Note: Every week we will bring you a sampling of stories from Patch sites in the west metro: Eden Prairie, Edina, Fridley, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Lake Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Richfield, Southwest Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, and St. Michael. District 281 Bus Driver Asks Student to Pick Up Gun A Robbinsdale Area Schools spokesperson said a bus driver asked a seventh-grade boy to pick up a gun he spotted along the road. The district is shocked by the incident and has communicated with parents and students. Bus Driver Fired After Asking ISD 281 Student to Pick Up Gun The incident occurred on Nov. 8 around 8 a.m. The district immediately took action after the driver notified school employees about the weapon. A Hillary-…

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MN Marriage Amendment Got Majority Support in Only One Patch City

Voters in the mostly suburban cities Patch covers were more opposed to the proposed gay-marriage ban than Minnesota voters generally.

Here's how residents in a selection of Minnesota cities voted on the ballot measure that would have added a definition of marriage as only between one man and one woman to the state Constitution. Statewide, the ballot measure failed to exceed the 50 percent level of support it needed in the Nov. 6, 2012 general election. It got 47.53 percent, according to unofficial results from all but two of Minnesota's 4,102 precincts' results. Taken together, people in cities served by Patch—mostly in the Twin Cities suburbs—rejected the marriage amendment in greater proportion (61.21 percent) than Minnesotans taken as a whole (52.47 percent). Support for the amendment in places covered by Patch ranged from 14.51 percent in Southwest Minneapolis to 54.…

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Connor Goulet

5:26 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Now this is the kind of outcome I expected to see from MN! It's good to see those bigoted bible thumpers didn't get their way this time.   more ›

After DFL Wins, Could Legislature Repeal State's Ban on Gay Marriage?

DFL leader coy on prospects.

With a resounding victory Tuesday night and the DFL now primed to assume control of the 2013 legislative session, a prominent state senator is suggesting incoming lawmakers could try to repeal a Minnesota law banning same-sex marriage. A prominent Minneapolis legislator, though, said it was too early to discuss legalization. Roseville state Sen. John Marty said he sees Tuesday night's election results as a changing of the guard. After just two years at the helm of the Minnesota Legislature, Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate on Tuesday night—a defeat at least some Democrats are attributing in part to the marriage and Voter ID  amendments. Voters rejected both amendments by votes of 53 percent to 47 percent. During …

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In 14 Cities Patch Covers, Voters Favored MN Voter ID Amendment

How did your city vote on the constitutional amendment to require photo ID to vote?

Here's how residents in a selection of Minnesota cities voted on the proposed Voter ID amendment to the state Constitution, which would have required photo ID at polling places. Statewide, the ballot measure failed to pass the 50 percent level of support it needed (46.34 percent with all but three Minnesota precincts' results). But if citizens in 14 of these Patch communities had their way, the state Constitution would have a new amendment. Support for the amendment in these cities covered by Patch ranged from 19.30 percent in Southwest Minneapolis to 61.23 percent in St. Michael.* "No" in the table below includes ballots on which voter left "Yes" and "No" blank. NOTE: These are unofficial figures until local canvassing boards verify them…

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