Summary: Dr. Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, former leader of the opposition in the South African parliament, has died. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 16, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that for the first time in 15 years, a majority of Americans called themselves “pro-life” rather than “pro-choice” on the issue of abortion. Meanwhile, Iraq has lost more than half of the 1.4 million Christians who once called it home, mostly since the war began, and few who fled have plans to return.

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Summary: There are mothers who will spend Mother’s Day missing sons and daughters fighting overseas. There are women who have lost children in those wars, for whom Mother’s Day will never be the same. And then there is Eva Briseno, mother of wounded warrior Joseph “Jay” Briseno Jr. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 9, 2009, Aubrey Immelman examined the likelihood of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) being defeated in the 2010 U.S. House of Representatives election in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. He concluded that Bachmann was vulnerable to defeat, but not by a Democrat in the general election. Instead, Bachmann was found to be most vulnerable in the primary election against a Republican challenger — the reason being Minnesota’s open primary system. Specifically, with no party registration in Minnesota, self-identified Democrats and Independents are able to vote in the Republican primary against Bachmann, joining forces with disaffected Republican voters. The fact that Bachmann did not receive a majority of the votes in either the primary (47.2%) or the general election (46.4%) in 2008 underscores her vulnerability to a primary challenger with cross-partisan support.

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Summary: At a somber ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned of the need for continued vigilance against terrorists. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 19, 2009, Aubrey Immelman commemorated the 14th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing; at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a truck bomb containing approximately 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring more than 600 at the hands of Gulf War veteran and militia movement sympathizer Timothy McVeigh. It was the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil until the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack.

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Summary: “Welcome Home” event for the Minnesota National Guard 34th Infantry Division Red Bulls and other Central Minnesota military veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), organized by the St. Cloud Times and St. Cloud-area civic organizations and businesses. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 28, 2009, Aubrey Immelman featured a compilation of reports regarding U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s conspiracy theory that the United States would soon be moving to “give up the dollar as our currency and we would just go with a One World currency,” which would mean the U.S. as a country would be “no more.” (Bachmann grabbed the mythical ball and ran with it after China’s central bank governor suggested replacing the weakening dollar as the world’s reserve currency.)

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Summary: Pat Forte suffered a setback this year around Easter with a relapse of thymic carcinoid, but has fought back courageously, sustained by his strong Christian faith, the prayers and support of his many friends, and excellent medical care at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 27, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported on Pat Forte’s achievements as Sartell hockey coach while battling life-threatening thymic carcinoid. … Update: U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame honors Pat Forte with “Spirit of Life” award.

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Summary: U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, eager for a few minutes in the media limelight but evincing little appreciation of Sacrifice in Service to Country, colludes with Laura Ingraham in a drive-by dissing of decorated war hero Bob Dole, essentially characterizing him as a loser. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the third day of his write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman thanked supporters for their messages of encouragement and online contributions and published excerpts from Nick Coleman’s Oct. 21, 2008 Star Tribune column, “Republican angered by Bachmann revives candidacy.”

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Summary: Inauguration of Fr. Robert J. Koopmann, OSB, as the 12th president of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 22nd day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on the growing Taliban influence in Pakistan.

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Summary: Today is the 8th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11. But with the timetable set for withdrawal from Iraq and the fighting in Afghanistan nearing its ninth year, U.S. war coverage has waned, often pushed off the front page by the economic recession, health care reform, and celebrity deaths. One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the second day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman paid tribute to the victims and heroes of 9/11.

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Summary: U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) died late Tuesday night, August 25, 2009 at his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, at the age of 77 after a year-long battle with a brain cancer.

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Summary: U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) expressed criticism of those comparing Democratic leaders to Nazis in the healthcare debate. … U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Bill Cahir, 40, a journalist who enlisted at the age of 34 after 9/11, has been killed by enemy gunfire in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 34th day of his campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination as House of Representatives candidate in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman attended the annual St. Francis Xavier Parish Fall Festival in Sartell, Minn.

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