If you’re wondering why Whistleblower has been silent all day, part of my excuse is my work on this story about a lawsuit filed last week by Peggy Greer. Back in February, I wrote about Greer (beautifully photographed by my colleague Jim Gehrz) and her unhappy experience with a court-appointed guardian and conservator. Meanwhile, a state House bill that would tighten oversight of guardians and conservators is scheduled for a hearing before the Finance Committee on April 30.

My Sunday column described the bumpy course of homeownership for newlyweds Mike and Mary Gustafson, thanks to some unpleasant discoveries about their new home in Crystal. Also this weekend, I wrote about what happens to Metro Transit bus drivers when they’re caught driving drunk off-duty. It came as a surprise to me that for other traffic violations, Metro Transit has treated them no differently off-duty or on-duty - it’s up to the driver to deal with the consequences of a ticket for running a red light, speeding, etc. A Metro Transit task force convened in the wake of its alleged on-the-job drunken driving incident is likely to change that policy, I was told.

Whistleblower is off-duty this week on spring break. I’ll return on Monday, April 13. If your news tip can’t wait, call Kate Parry at (612) 673-4678 or send her an email.

I’ve had my eyes opened to Wikileaks.org, thanks to the flap over the leaking of the names and credit card information of Norm Coleman’s election contest donors. My colleague Kevin Duchschere reported how a self-described German programmer associated with the site explains how it happened. The programmer’s description of these lists “floating around on the Internet” makes me think of this virtual world as a warm sea brimming with flotsam and jetsam that’s waiting to be scooped out and put on display by noble information scavengers.

Here’s the mission statement of Wikileaks:

(more…)

I was a mere lad when my predecessors at the Minneapolis Star were hounding businesspeople and bureaucrats on behalf of regular Minnesotans. As I reported in my Sunday column, Column 1 investigated and rectified all kinds of gripes from 1972 to 1979. Thirty years later, I don’t have as large a staff to look into all of the problems reported to me. But I do have reporting tools that Column 1 did not have, such as drawing on the collective wisdom of my readers through this blog. So you can expect more pleas for assistance in the months ahead.