Daily Digest: Water, water, everywhere
Good morning, and welcome to Monday. There's just one week to go before the Legislature has to adjourn, and Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to make an offer on transportation funding today. If he can't get a deal with Republicans on that it's hard to see how they can agree on anything. Let's pretend we have a CNN-style countdown clock and get it ticking. In the meantime here's the Digest.
1. Regulators say 40 percent of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes (actually has almost 12,000 of them and nearly 70,000 miles of rivers and streams) are polluted. Today MPR News launches a series of reports on the threats to water quality. Even the seemingly-pristine Whitewater River in southeastern Minnesota has pollution problems. (MPR News)
2. An eighth-grade charter school language arts teacher was named teacher of the year Sunday by the state teachers' union. Abdul Wright is originally from Chicago. He moved to Minneapolis with his mother and siblings when he was young and lived in transitional housing before graduating from college. Now he's about to get a master's degree in education. It sounds like you'd be lucky to be in his class. (Star Tribune)
3. A pair of retiring state lawmakers say the Capitol has grown more partisan since they started. Rep. Tim Sanders, R-Blaine and Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato are hard workers, not party activists. (Star Tribune)
4. Donald Trump often judges women on their physical appearance. He has also often relied on women in his real estate company. While Trump didn't seem to remember many of his interactions with women, many of the women involved were left with lasting impressions. (New York Times)
5. Even some of her strongest supporters acknowledge Hillary Clinton has weaknesses as a candidate. And they say just not being Donald Trump may not be enough for her to win the election. Clinton herself has said she's not a natural politician, and polls show that many people don't think she's likable. (Washington Post)
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