Daily Digest: Walz is in

Good morning and welcome to the last Tuesday of March. Here's the Digest.

1.  DFL U.S. Rep. Tim Walz said Monday he's running for governor in 2018. Walz is from Mankato and has represented southern Minnesota in Congress for a decade. He barely held on to his seat in 2016, when Donald Trump won the 1st District by 15 points and Walz defeated Republican Jim Hagedorn by about 2,500 votes, or less than 1 percent.  Walz is the first Democrat from outside the Twin Cities to announce a run for governor. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, State Auditor Rebecca Otto and state Representative Erin Murphy of St. Paul are already in the race. (Rochester Post Bulletin)

2. Minnesota has struggled for years to address teacher shortages but hasn't found a consistent solution. Demands for science, math and special needs teachers have leaped, but the supply has yet to catch up. Despite the state's increasing diversity, the teaching pool remains overwhelmingly white. Attempts to ease shortages by tinkering with the state teacher licensing system have fallen short. The Minnesota legislative auditor's office in March criticized the system as "confusing" and "broken." An MPR News analysis of state data shows teacher turnover is higher in smaller districts. While just under half the state's teachers work in districts of fewer than 300 teachers, since 2010 those districts have accounted for more than 60 percent of the teachers who left for other districts. (MPR News)

3. Local bus service provided by Metro Transit could be drastically cut back if a Republican transportation proposal moves forward at the Legislature, the Metropolitan Council said Monday. The House transportation bill would result in a $122 million reduction in state funding for local transit service over the next two fiscal years, according to Met Council Chair Adam Duininck. Republicans say their transportation proposal simply reflects budget realities facing lawmakers at the State Capitol, including a projected decline in motor-vehicle sales tax revenue that helps fund transit. GOP leaders also noted there are a number of uncertainties regarding transportation funding on the federal and local levels. (Star Tribune)

4. The largest settlement involving police misconduct in St. Paul’s history  has been reached between the city and a man who was bitten and kicked by police forces last summer, according to an attorney involved in the case. The federal lawsuit filed by Frank Baker includes a photo of him in the hospital after an officer kicked him on June 24, 2016, leaving him with seven fractured ribs and both his lungs collapsed. He required the placement of chest tubes, the lawsuit said. Attorneys for Frank Arnal Baker said Monday that they have a verbal agreement with the city for $2 million for the case. The agreement, they noted, has yet to be signed by all parties. (Pioneer Press)

5. The head of the House Intelligence Committee secretly went to the White House grounds to meet with a source, before he surprised his colleagues by briefing the president — and the press — on information they hadn't seen. The revelation, first reported by CNN and later confirmed by a spokesman for the chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, is the latest twist in the strange saga of Nunes' unorthodox actions last week. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in this tweet that Nunes should recuse himself "from involvement in investigation/oversight of Trump campaign & transition." (NPR)

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