Minnesota News Network

Republican state Representative Nathan Nelson from Hinckley warns Democrats’ “Green New Deal” could choke off propane supplies for Minnesota farmers in the future. Demand is up and supply is low in some areas this fall because farmers need propane to dry their crops after a particularly wet harvest season. Nelson says Democrats want a moratorium on construction of new propane facilities but he’ll introduce legislation to protect propane supplies. “We do need take steps I think to be more efficient and to be moving forward, however I don’t want to see our infrastructure having no investment in it,” he says.

Backers of the “Green New Deal” say climate change demonstrates that Minnesota must move away from fossil fuels.

Republican lawmakers are blasting state agency heads for improper contracting practices that violated state law nearly 18-hundred times over the past year. Senator Julie Rosen from Vernon Center says it’s “very, very troubling that there’s this attitude — and now we see it’s an attitude across all the agencies — that we can go ahead and spend whatever we want, and then we’ll get approval, and then we’ll tell you what it’s for. …This has got to change.” Officials at the state Management and Budget Department acknowledge the violations are illegal, but say when state employees report problems, it prevents money from actually being spent without the proper contract procedure.

Republican Senator Michelle Benson from Ham Lake says, “The takeaway from this is it’s not just D-H-S… and so we need some systemic change. We need the governor to get a handle on these agencies from today going forward.” Governor Walz wasn’t immediately available to comment.

Before Wednesday’s hearing, most of the focus had been on the state Human Services Department, where Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said they’re working to regain trust of lawmakers and Minnesotans.

Republican lawmakers are blasting top officials at numerous state agencies for mismanaging contracts that caused nearly 18-hundred violations of state law in the past year. Saint Paul Democrat Richard Cohen responds it appears violations go back a number of years, and so blame rests mostly on previous governors and current Governor Tim Walz inherited the situation. “Surely the least amount of blame would be placed on this current administration, since they’ve been there for all of eight months or so,” Cohen said.

But Republican Senator Julie Rosen from Vernon Center says, “There needs to be some accountability for, for example, the 130 million on missteps from D-H-S in 2019 under this governor’s watch.”

State officials released numbers showing 32 agencies did not follow contracting rules. The Department of Employment and Economic Development had the most violations — nearly 600 — more than double the number at the Human Services or Health departments.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom says his investigation concludes that five officers were justified in fatally shooting 23-year-old Isak Aden during a standoff July 2nd in Eagan. The four-and-a-half-hour ordeal began when Aden pointed a gun at his ex-girlfriend. He later put the gun to his head several times and urged officers to shoot him. Officers say during the standoff they threw three flash-bangs at Aden, plus used “less lethal munitions” which they believe struck him. They say Aden got up, lunged for a gun and began to raise his right hand with the weapon in it. It was later determined that Aden fired. Five officers then fired and a number of rounds struck and killed Aden. His sister says “there was never a standoff” because it was “90 law enforcement officers in SWAT gear with armored vehicles and rifles against an innocent and frightened 23-year-old.”

Two girls on a drinking spree triggered a search of a swamp early this morning in Bemidji. Officials say one girl showed up at a hospital emergency room and told authorities she and the other girl had been drinking and fled into a swampy area when they saw a squad car. She said when her friend couldn’t walk any longer she dragged her to the edge of the swamp and went for help. After an initial search and making preparations to call in a helicopter, authorities located the second girl at an apartment about a mile away. She was released to the custody of a parent.

As farmers in northwest Minnesota struggle to get in the last of the corn and soybean crop, Minnesota Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap says the biggest hurdle right now is a shortage of L-P gas where producers need it. “The crop is later than normal,” says Paap. “It’s wetter than normal, so it’s taking more gas to dry, and this cold weather is also increasing demand — not only residential and business heating but also for our livestock.”

Paap says an executive order by Governor Tim Walz helped the situation by temporarily relaxing restrictions on hours for motor carrier drivers.

Paap says farmers can’t really do much more harvest of root crops like potatoes and sugar beets — however, “Corn and soybeans, mostly corn, left in the field, the cold weather has been somewhat helpful with our muddy conditions [in] being able to harvest the crop.”

Papp is urging motorists to be extra careful because there’s more farm equipment than usual on rural roads at this time of year.

Minnesota Senate Republicans have hearings this afternoon (2pm) on the latest problems at the state Human Services Department. Employees reportedly allowed vendors to perform work without signed contracts, in violation of state law. Senate Finance Committee Chair Julie Rosen from Vernon Center says her approach is to “start asking some really tough questions like, what are you going to do about it? What have you done? And perhaps they need a little more push on adjusting their entire attitude in the department.”

Rosen says she’s surprised she hasn’t seen outrage from Governor Tim Walz. His Human Services Commissioner, Jodi Harpstead, says that department is taking necessary steps to regain trust of legislators and Minnesotans.