Rachel Paulose, Free Cubby the Bear! (and the Zimmermann trial tapes)

PiPress reporter Ruben Rosario:

But in the meantime, at the very least, I would settle for knowing what happened to Cubby the Bear.

A federal judge sentenced country music star Troy Gentry to three months of probation and a $15,000 fine earlier this year for improperly tagging the bear after killing it three years ago in an enclosed area near Sandstone, Minn.

There was talk the bear, now government property, would be preserved for educational purposes or exhibited at a museum.

A Pioneer Press courts reporter called two months ago to find out about its fate. The inquiry has gone unanswered. Perhaps it's classified.

Small potatoes, perhaps. But Minnesotans deserve better than this.

Gary Dean Zimmermann Still Owns Property Worth $794,500

At the time of his trial, Gary Dean Zimmermann had a court-appointed lawyer. Zimmermann claimed he was broke.

According to the City of Minneapolis website, Zimmermann still owns 3 properties worth $794,500. How is that possible?

2200 Clinton Av. S. $226,500

2012 Grand Av. S. $389,500 

2416 - 17th Av. S. $178,500

Rachel Paulose and the Zimmermann Tapes

Reporters and bloggers are trying to figure out why a loyal Bushie was put in charge of the US Attorney's office in Minnesota.

So far they've been looking in all the wrong places.

The question they should be asking is what happened to the investigation of municipal corruption in Minneapolis.

The investigation of Gary Dean Zimmermann should have yielded a treasure trove of information about Zimmmermann and his contacts.... many of them prominent, wealthy and influential right-wing Republicans.

The FBI tapes shown in open court during his trial showed Zimmermann soliciting and accepting large amounts of cash from Gary Carlson who held a fund raiser for Norm Coleman. Zimmermann also lobbied for Crown Hydro, acompany owned by William Hawks who held a fundraiser for Michele Bachmann (special guest Dick Cheney)

Perhaps Zimmermann's computer served up a e-mails to and from prominent Republican politicians and donors. There were a bunch of prominent Republicans promoting PRT and the Taxi 2000 Corporation.

Yesterday I found another prominent Republican donor who for a time was a co-defendant in the Taxi 2000 lawsuit.

Zimmmermann lobbied incessantly for Taxi 2000 while he was in office. I hope that the media takes the time to ask the question fellow Green Party office-holder Annie Young asked back in 2004:

“This is not a Green Party issue; this is Dean’s project. I’m concerned about his relationship to Taxi 2000, and about the time he’s spending on the project and whether he’s meeting the needs of the people in his ward. There are potentially some good things that could come from it, and I see what the point is but I’m not sure the timing is right. There are also a lot of questions about it, like why are the Republicans so interested in it?... "

To learn more about Zimmermann's odd relationship with prominent right-wing Republicans and about the FBI tapes showing Zimmermann requesting and receiving cash bribes from a Hummer-driving Republican developer, read this post at Lloydletta.