Governor Tim Walz this morning rolls out the final parts of his bonding request to the legislature, for public safety and asset preservation, plus what he dubs his “Quality of Life” package. It’s expected those areas will take his total bonding proposal to right around two billion dollars — significantly more than Senate Republicans say […]

Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren got backup from Minnesota rival Amy Klobuchar during last night’s presidential debate in Des Moines — as Warren stood by her accusation that rival Bernie Sanders told her in 2018 that a woman couldn’t win the election. Sanders denies the allegation saying, “Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three […]

Republicans and Democrats have sharp differences over state bonding for public works projects, even as Governor Tim Walz prepares to roll out his request for public safety infrastructure on Wednesday. The governor says his total bonding request across all areas will be right around two billion dollars — but Senate Republicans are talking about less […]

Discussion in court Monday on a possible plea agreement for the former C-E-O of the Commercial Club in Brooten in west-central Minnesota. Prosecutors allege 38-year-old Jana Zenner of Glenwood cheated the club out of more than 135 thousand dollars in pull tab revenues. Investigators say Zenner played new pull tab games, collected the winnings, then […]

Republican Majority Leader Paul Paul Gazelka says the state Senate is *not* going to pass a bill during the 2020 session to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota. Gazelka says, “We did a hearing on that last year. We brought in people from Colorado and all of the data was bad: Homelessness rates were up. Accident […]

The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office says further investigation has determined a suspect in a domestic assault fired and hit an armored vehicle as a SWAT team was approaching a Sauk Centre residence during a several-hour-long standoff Sunday. No officers were injured, a nine-year-old child was released from the residence after initial negotiations, and a 27-year-old […]

Lowering the tax burden on Minnesota farmers and completely eliminating state income tax on Social Security benefits — Senate Republicans say those are prominent agenda items for them in the 2020 legislative session which begins in about a month. Governor Tim Walz says about any possible tax cuts, “That’s probably best left for a budget […]

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has reversed three permits the D-N-R issued for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes, saying the agency did not fully examine objections by environmental groups and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The court ordered the D-N-R to hold a hearing. The ruling doesn’t cancel […]

State Senate Republicans lay out their agenda for 2020 this morning, just under a month from the start of the legislative session. Republicans have been saying they’d like more tax cuts — either personal and/or for businesses. After the fall economic forecast showed another billion-dollar-plus budget surplus that topped off the state’s “rainy day” fund, […]

Governor Tim Walz today rolls out part three of his bonding proposal for state public works projects — this segment paying for building maintenance and new construction at the U-of-M and state colleges and universities. Walz says his total bonding bill number will be around two billion dollars, while Senate Republicans say under a billion […]