Minnesota News Network

State officials celebrated this week as Minnesote became the first state in the nation to have over 400 gas stations selling E-85. American Lung Association’s Bob Moffitt says, “Vehicle exhaust is the single largest source of air pollution in the state, and E-85 burns much cleaner than traditional gasoline.”

Moffitt says one thing the legislature could do to expand E-85 is help station owners partially offset the cost of new equipment.

The American Lung Association hopes increasing the tobacco purchasing age to 21 in Minnesota will have more traction at the state legislature in the fast-approaching 2019 session. Association spokesman Bob Moffitt says with a number of counties and cities increasing the age to 21, “it might have a better push this year”  He says, “We expect the same pattern that happened with the smoking ban…. It’ll pick up steam and, sooner or later, someone’s gonna say, let’s just make this statewide, it makes sense.”

The Metropolitan Airports Commission as part of a 10-year lease agreement would lend Sun County Airlines up to 5.4 million dollars to turn one of its hangars into a headquarters, if the carrier promises to stay there, reports the Star Tribune. A special meeting is next week to consider the deal.

The U-of-M Board of Regents votes next Tuesday (12-18) after interviewing their finalist for president today. Regent and former Minnesota House Speaker Steve Sviggum asked South Carolina Provost Joan Gabel how she’ll establish relationships with the legislature.  “It’s absolutely critical to our success,” says Sviggum, to which Gabel immediately responded, “Without question.”  Gabel contends there are very few areas where the U-of-M doesn’t overlap with lawmakers’ interests in some way.  She says, “The nature of the relationship is making sure I think that our elected officials understand all of the different ways that the university creates value.”  Gabel says the way to find common ground is through relationships: time, conversation, doing a little homework and keeping up-to-date.

Board of Regents Chair David McMillan asked Gabel how she’ll take the uniquely urban and rural attributes of Minnesota “and match that against what a land grant university has classically been thought of, and what it might evolve to in the future.”  Gabel acknowledges it’s a management challenge, not without tension or friction:  “It doesn’t mean it’s not hard. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have obstacles to overcome, but overcoming it would be tremendous… what this university can do that no one else can do,” she says.

A Saint Paul man has a court appearance today, charged with three counts of assault for allegedly beating two teachers and slamming another student into the wall at Normandale Community College in Bloomington.  Prosecutors say a teacher had asked 21-year-old Gavin Hutson to stay after class to discuss an inappropriate remark he made to another student, and that’s when Hutson allegedly knocked the teacher unconscious, breaking two bones in her face. Investigators say Hutson punched a second teacher who was trying to pull him away as he continued hitting the first victim.  They say when Hutson ran from the classroom he shoved a student who already had a broken wrist into the wall.  Police later found a loaded semi-automatic pistol with extra ammunition in his backpack.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents interviews the lone finalist for U-of-M president today.  It comes after University of South Carolina Provost Joan Gabel toured all five U-of-M campuses. She was in the Twin Cities Monday, at Morris and Crookston Tuesday, and at Duluth Wednesday — where students and faculty said their campus — second-largest in the U-of-M system — gets shortchanged on funding. Officials say there will be layoffs and program cuts at U-M-D if its request for an 11-million-dollar budget increase isn’t approved. Gabel visited the U-of-M’s newest campus in Rochester on Thursday.