THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION FINALLY ENDED
SIGHT FOR THE POOR
Joshua Silver, with help from the U.S. military, handed out 20,000 free pairs of his new invention: glasses that inject light-bending silicon into plastic lenses, until the world comes into focus for the wearer. Costing only $20 each, they offer hope for millions around the world who previously could not afford glasses.
HEARING FOR THE POOR
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and the owners of Starkey Laboratories distributed more than 3,500 sets of hearing aids to poor Indians, on their 2008 trip to India.
SWEET CAROLINE
• The University of Minnesota will have a new children’s hospital—the Amplatz Children’s Hospital—thanks to a $50 million donation (the second-largest in the history of the university) by Caroline Amplatz, daughter of Minnesota medical device pioneer Dr. Kurt Amplatz.
• Eden Prairie is about to get its own observatory, thanks to a gift by Doug and Carolyn Kohrs of Edina.
SERIOUS RECESSION FIGHTERS I
Walgreens and Take Care Health Systems offered free clinic visits to the unemployed and uninsured through the end of 2009, providing free tests and routine treatment for minor ailments through its walk-in clinics.
SERIOUS RECESSION FIGHTERS II
After selling his Florida bank, Leonard Abess Jr. handed out $60 million in bonuses, not just to his executives but to all his 471 employees and retirees, who received an average of $127,000.
SUPERHEROES
2009 saw some genuine heroes:
• Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, pilot of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, who landed his disabled plane safely in the Hudson River, saving the lives of all aboard.
• Capt. Richard Phillips, who had Somali pirates release his crew but keep him for a ransom instead.
THE THINNEST CHILDREN
In 2009, Minnesota had the lowest rate of overweight children in the nation.
WE’RE PEDAL PUSHERS
Minneapolis was one of only three cities in the U.S. named to Travel + Leisure Magazine’s list of top 10 biking cities.
SUN COUNTRY FLIES
In the depths of the recession, Sun Country Airlines showed a quarterly profit in 2009. It was Sun Country’s CEO, Stan Gadek, who, when forced to cut employees’ pay, also cut his own—to nothing!
HIV BREAKTHOUGH
Scientists at the University of Minnesota discovered an inexpensive way to prevent the transmission of HIV in female monkeys. If it works in people, it could effectively prevent the infection in women throughout the world.
HONORING THY SON
Distraught over the death of his son, Dr. Bill Krissoff decided to honor his memory: he closed his orthopedic practice in Truckee, Calif., and, at age 60, joined the Navy Medical Corps, hoping to be assigned to Iraq.
SAVING MINNESOTA WILDLIFE
More than 187,000 acres of forest and wetlands in northwestern Minnesota—an area only about 70,000 acres less than the entire existing state parks system—would be permanently protected under a proposal by the Department of Natural Resources.
DORCAS, YES. DORKS, NO
Three Twin Cities women, moved by the plight of Ugandan women who were thrown out of their homes after their husbands died of AIDS, created the Dorcas Widows Fund, which raises money for food and medical care for the widows and for the education of their children.
CHICKENS BEAT CITY HALL
When the city of Burnsville threatened to take away 11-year-old Stefan Remund’s pet chicken, he protested to the City Council, which is now considering a new ordinance that would allow Remund to keep his clucker.
DOLLARS TO SOOTHE THE PAIN
On Christmas Eve, an anonymous benefactor donated $1 million—the equivalent of $17,500 each—to residents displaced by a Burnsville apartment fire.
ONLY IN AMERICA
The first black female rabbi, Alysa Stanton, assumed the job of spiritual head of a (predominantly white) synagogue in Greenville, N.C.
CHINA HEARS OTHER VOICES
A group of prominent Chinese lawyers and legal scholars released a report arguing that the Tibetan riots were rooted in legitimate grievances brought about by failed government policies, and not through a plot of the Dalai Lama.
AMERICA HEARS OTHER VOICES
The Rev. Richard Cizik, a fixture in Washington, D.C., for over three decades and the vice president of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, voiced his support for same-sex civil unions and said he is “shifting” on gay marriage.
BRAZIL’S GREAT CLIMATE CHANGE CONTRIBUTION
After years of turning a blind eye to the deforestation of its great rain forest, the government of Brazil, under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has done a 180 and introduced ambitious targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and deforestation.
OUR OVERGENEROUS SENATOR
Amy Klobuchar admits she has made mistakes on her tax returns. But unlike Tom Daschle and other high-profile tax nonpayers, Klobuchar’s error was overpaying—in 2003.
A COOL WEDDING
Sarah King, who is a captain of her hockey team, and Aaron Mastrian, a right wing and assistant captain on his hockey team, were married on ice skates at the Richfield Ice Arena.
THE MINNESOTA SENATE (NOT THE HOUSE) COMES TO ITS SENSES
The Minnesota Senate voted to approve the use of medical marijuana in the state.
A GOVERNMENT PLAN THAT WORKED
Since 2005 one of the main goals of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative has been to reduce the number of young people sent to the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center. Culminating this year, that number dropped by 33 percent.
ALL PRAISE TO THE BRAVE FIGHTER HOPPY
Though he has been impounded twice by Minneapolis’ Animal Care and Control, Hoppy the cat still has not learned his anger control lessons. He has twice raced from his South Minneapolis yard to attack passing dogs.
A LONG SHOT MAKES IT
50-to-1 long shot Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby.
A WIN FOR SMALL BUSINESS OVER BIG GOVERNMENT
The St. Paul Port Authority withdrew (at least temporarily) its effort to take the property of Advance Shoring, a decades-old St. Paul business employing 42 people.
DOLPHIN RESURGENCE
Scientists discovered a thriving population of Asian dolphins in the brackish waters off Bangladesh. Previous to that discovery it was thought the Asian dolphin was near extinction. L&P
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