The Daily Digest (More on the bombing, poison letters in the Senate, Minnesota tries to lure Baxter International)

Boston

President Obama will visit Boston on Thursday.

More information is released about the identities of the three people who died in Tuesday's bombing.

The bombs were made from pressure cookers and appear homemade -- much like the improvised explosive devices used against Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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But so far, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says there's no sign of a larger terror plot against the United States.

In Minnesota

The Senate narrowly voted in favor of a 35 percent pay increase for lawmakers. It would be their first raise since 1999 but no other state appear to be considering similar pay increases for legislators.

A measure to expand what the sales tax covers while lowering the overall rate has advanced in the Senate.

Residents of southeastern Minnesota could be on the hook for a greater share of the costs to upgrade infrastructure around Rochester to accommodate the Mayo Clinic's expansion plans now that state lawmakers have reduced the state's proposed contribution.

Speaking of public subsidies, the state and Brooklyn Park have teamed up to offer a package of tax incentives to lure pharmaceutical company Baxter international to relocate. The price tag: $4,000 to $8,000 per job.

A party in Chicago to promote business investment in Minnesota is NOT being paid for by state taxpayers despite some lawmakers' suspicions.

In Washington

Poison-laced letters are sent to two U.S. Senators.

A deal on amendments is reached for the Senate gun bill. Senators will vote this afternoon on amendments about background checks, an assault weapons ban, a high capacity magazine ban and concealed weapons

Minnpost observes that some of DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar's H-1B visa proposals for high skilled workers have been included in the draft immigration bill the Senate will consider.

The Star Tribune reports that Congressional investigators are also looking into whether Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign improperly used campaign resources to promote the sales of her book (which ultimately only sold 3,000 copies).

Congress at its most efficient and stealthiest: an ethics law passed last year (and introduced by DFL U.S. Rep. Tim Walz) gets scaled back very quietly. The parts of it that apply to elected officials remain unchanged though senior congressional staffers now won't have to post financial disclosures online.

Sequester this: the Smithsonian will soon begin closing galleries on a rolling basis due to federal budget cuts.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows 70 percent of the public believing that the Republican Party is out of touch with the American public.

Even more on the first quarter campaign finance numbers.

After multiple dinners with Republican Senators, President Obama will be dining with Democratic Senators tonight. But neither of Minnesota's Democrats are invited, reports Roll Call.