The Daily Digest 8-29-07
Yes, Mr. Scheck is gone on a well-deserved vacation, and he insists he will not listen to the news or read the papers while he's gone...which means he should be calling by about 10:30 to talk about something he heard.
2008
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, insists he's not gay, as Mitt Romney cuts him loose and some fellow Republicans call for an ethics investigation.
Craig says he has hired a lawyer to review his guilty plea to disorderly conduct at the Twin Cities airport, but the Star Tribune reports that withdrawing the plea may not be easy.
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A more uplifting story about another senator, as Tim Johnson, D-S.D., announces he is back from a brain hemorrhage. ABC's Bob Woodruff has been following Johnson for some time and Nightline aired his piece about Johnson's recovery last night.
Minnesota is joining a rush of other states to accelerate the 2008 presidential nominating contest, but in typical Minnesota fashion we won't go TOO fast. The DFL party joined state Republicans by agreeing to move precinct caucuses up to Feb. 5, which is now being called "Tsunami Tuesday" because "Superduper Tuesday" was an even sillier name.
And Sen. Norm Coleman is making another trip to Iraq. His office isn't releasing many details, but says Coleman wants to take a look at the situation on the ground, and to meet with government leaders to find out why there hasn't been more progress on reconciliation.
Minnesota
New census numbers show the poverty rate is down for the first time several years, but nationally the number of people without health insurance is rising. MPR, the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press all have stories on the Minnesota data.
Gov. Pawlenty had a little more to say about a possible special session yesterday, but there's no a deal yet. The state DFL party put out a release yesterday accusing Pawlenty of stalling on bringing lawmakers back, but DFL legislative leaders aren't saying that, at least publicly.
And guess what? Apparently a bunch of politicians are out at the State Fair.
Finally
It's the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans, and there are special reports everywhere. MPR is airing a documentary from American RadioWorks at noon called Routes to Recovery.