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Should You Pay Tax When You Buy Online?

A bill to let states impose sales tax on big online retailers passed the U.S. Senate Monday. Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken voted for the Marketplace Fairness Act, as did many Republicans.

Why should online shoppers pay sales tax? Why or why not? Leave a comment below. You could pay the same sales tax for online purchases as you do for shopping at a physical store if a bill that passed the U.S. Senate Monday becomes law. The Marketplace Fairness Act would allow states to collect sales tax from retailers with more than $1 million in annual gross sales to out-of-state customers. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken (both DFL-MN) voted yes, joined by 67 other senators including 21 Republicans. Minnesota Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans praised the Senate action in a press release: "This legislation levels the playing field for all those Main Street businesses in Minnesota and across the country. It also helps large retailers like…

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Nick

1:57 pm on Monday, May 20, 2013

Actually, a great number of online companies are small businesses here in America. Amazon Marketplace is mostly small businesses, and there is Ebay, as well as many, many small businesses that sell through their own websites. It is much easier for an entrepreneur to start an online business as opposed to a brick-and-mortar business because of the very low overhead and the dropshipping that they …   more ›

RECIPES: Ellison’s ‘Juicy Lucy Hotdish’ Can’t Win MN Delegation Hotdish Event

Rep. Tim Walz's 'Hermann the Germann Hotdish' won this year’s competition.

Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison struck out yet again in the Third Annual Minnesota Delegation Hotdish Competition. Rep. Tim Walz's "Hermann the Germann Hotdish" won this year’s friendly “friendly, bipartisan, and bicameral ‘Hot Dish Off.’” The competition between Minnesota’s congressional delegation started in 2011 as a way to celebrate Minnesota before the session started. This year, Ellison entered a “Juicy Lucy Hotdish.” Sen. Al Franken cooked “Willmar Stew,” while Sen. Amy Klobuchar prepared “Hormel ‘I Can't Believe It's Not SPAM’ Pepperoni Pizza Hotdish” Check out the recipes from Ellison, Walz, Franken and Klobuchar below. Click here for recipes from all 10 of Minnesota’s legislators. Past winners *** Bring a pot of water to a boil…

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Threat to Klobuchar and Pelosi, Shotgun Outside Restaurant and House Fires: West Metro Police, Fire Report

A wrap-up of police, fire and court related news reported in the west metro for the week of Jan. 6-12, 2013, including a crime alert.

The following is a collection of articles that recently appeared on Patch sites in Eden Prairie, Edina, Fridley, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Lake Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Richfield, Southwest Minneapolis, St. Louis Park and St. Michael for the week of Jan. 6-12, 2013 Click on the headline to read the full story. 

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'A Tragedy in Connecticut That Affects Us All'—Spring Lake Park Schools

Reaction to Newtown school shooting from Fridley area, MN

Minnesotans in the Fridley area and across the state voiced sadness and sympathy in response to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT Friday. Here are a few of those statements. Add your comment below. Spring Lake Park Schools: "Our hearts go out to all those in the Newton, Connecticut school community affected by Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. We are all affected by news such as this, when tragedy visits a school in another state or anywhere. "So we wanted to take just a moment to remind you that providing a safe environment in each of our schools, and providing for the safety and security of our students and staff is always our number one priority. We care about these students as if they were our …

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VIDEO: Bills-Klobuchar Debate in Duluth

Watch incumbent DFLer Amy Klobuchar and GOP challenger Kurt Bills in U.S. Senate candidate debate.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and state Rep. Kurt Bills (R-Rosemount) debated in Duluth on Sept. 18, 2012, in a U.S. Senate candidate debate sponsored by the Duluth News Tribune, with video streaming live via The UpTake. Watch archived video of the one-hour debate above. Klobuchar is a first-term senator who has carried legislation to ban the kind of synthetic drugs like the one that resulted in the death of a Coon Rapids teenager at Unity Hospital in Fridley last year. Bills is a first-term state representative who talked to Patch in a video interview in August.

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Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota DFL Candidate for U.S. Senate

Incumbent DFLer Amy Klobuchar seeks her second term in the U.S. Senate.

Name: Amy Klobuchar Age: 52 Place of residence : Plymouth, MN Attended college : Yes College : Yale University Degree : B.A. College : University of Chicago Law School Degree : Juris Doctor Party affiliation : Democratic-Farmer-Labor Running for a: Federal office Running for position: United State Senator Chamber/district: State of Minnesota Incumbent: Yes Previous elective offices : Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006; elected as Hennepin County Attorney in 2002 and 1998  Website : http://www.amyklobuchar.com/  Twitter : http://twitter.com/amyklobuchar Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/amyklobuchar Editor's note: Used from amyklobuchar.com In 2006, Amy Klobuchar became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate in Minnesota's history. As…

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Obama Signs Ban on 2C-E Drug That Caused OD Death at Fridley's Unity Hospital

Klobuchar glad 'crack down on synthetic drugs is finally the law of the land.'

The overdose death of a Coon Rapids teenager at Unity Hospital in Fridley last year led to legislation banning the drug 2C-E that President Obama signed into law Monday. In a statement from her office, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) referenced the March 17, 2011 death of Trevor Robinson after a house party in Blaine. “In Minnesota and across the country, we are seeing more and more tragedies where synthetic drugs are taking lives and tearing apart families,” Klobuchar said. “Today’s action means that this critical legislation to give law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on synthetic drugs is finally the law of the land.” The measure, which had backing from Klobuchar, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (DFL-MN) and U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN…

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Fridley Candidate Wrote 'Senate for US Minnesota' on Form in Filing Mixup

But Fadumo Yusuf also wrote '13' for district number and paid fee for state, not U.S., senate.

Take a look at the affadavit of candidacy form that Fadumo Yusuf of Fridley filed at the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office in St. Paul on Tuesday, the last day of the filing period. She told the St. Cloud Times Wednesday that she meant to file for U.S. Senate but is now set to appear on the ballot in Senate District 13 instead—sixty miles from home. The Affadavit On the "Office Sought" line she clearly wrote "Senate for US Minnesota." But then the form says "District #" and she wrote "13." And Yusuf paid a filing fee of $100 cash, as shown in the upper right corner. That's the fee amount for a candidate for Minnesota Senate. The fee for U.S. Senate is $400, according to Patricia K. Turgeon, spokesperson for the Secretary of State's …

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Fridley Resident Wants to Run for U.S. Senate but Filed for MN Senate

Fadumo Yusuf isn't sure what she'll do next, the St. Cloud Times reported.

A Fridley woman filed as a candidate Tuesday, intending to run for the U.S. Senate, according to the St. Cloud Times. Instead, the Minnesota Secretary of State's office has Fadumo Yusuf signed up to run for the state Senate—and in Senate District 13, more than 60 miles from her Fridley home. See her filing document for yourself. Yusuf is filed as a Republican. The other Republican in the race, incumbent state Sen. Michelle Fischbach, also waited until the deadline day of the filing period to make her candidacy official. Yusuf told the St. Cloud Times she doesn't intend to run for state senate and hopes she can still somehow file for U.S. Senate. If she somehow managed to do that past Tuesday's filing deadline, she would be the only other …

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