Daily Digest: The lines they are drawn
Good morning and welcome to Thursday. You can listen to live coverage of James Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee starting at 9 on the radio and online at MPR News. Here's the Digest.
1. The Republican-controlled Minnesota Legislature could head to court any day to challenge DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's line-item veto of the House and Senate operating budgets. A lawsuit would pit competing sections of the state constitution against one another. While Republicans who control the House and Senate say Dayton’s action is clearly unconstitutional, there is ambiguity in just how far his legal power stretches to veto spending. (MPR News)
2. Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom says he's joining his colleagues in Hennepin and Ramsey counties who have made the decision without a grand jury whether to charge a police officer who has shot someone. Backstrom noted the change after announcing Wednesday he'd determined a September fatal shooting by Burnsville police was legally justified. Previous cases had gone to a grand jury for review; those proceedings are generally not made public. The long-time county attorney said he was persuaded by growing interest in more transparency for such cases. "These are obviously difficult cases, difficult decisions to make, but we are elected officials as county attorneys," Backstrom said. "We're responsible to the public for the decisions we make. And we're going to be able to put out through this process all of the information that we reviewed in connection with the case." (MPR News)
3. Duluth-based Minnesota Power announced plans Wednesday to partner on the construction of a $700 million natural gas plant in Wisconsin, while at the same time adding more wind and solar power capacity. The utility and Dairyland Power Cooperative, based in La Crosse, Wis., are proposing to partner to build a 525- to 550-megawatt natural gas plant in Superior, Wis., dubbed the Nemadji Trail Energy Center. Each company would chip in $350 million; each would get about 250 megawatts of power. Republican lawmakers in Minnesota lamented the potential job creation across the border. "Republicans want Minnesota Power made in Minnesota — not forced to relocate to Wisconsin," House Speaker Kurt Daudt said in a statement. Republicans say Minnesota's regulatory process has delayed several projects over the last few years, including proposed copper-nickel mines, oil pipelines and another natural gas plant. (MPR News)
4. A state lawmaker intervened to stop an assault last week. Driving to his law office in downtown St. Paul Friday morning, state Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, saw a man hitting his girlfriend. Lesch parked his car and ran over to help, and the woman’s boyfriend ran away. She was crying, had scrapes down both arms and one leg, and bruises and strangle marks on her neck. They went into a restaurant and called 911, but the boyfriend’s brother came inside and threatened Lesch and the woman. “He asked me if I wanted to get hit. I asked him if he wanted to spend the weekend in jail,” Lesch said. (Star Tribune)
5. Former Gov. Jesse Ventura is working for the Russians and isn't afraid to say it. From this piece: "I am working for the enemy of mainstream media now," Ventura said of "The World According to Jesse," a variety show airing Fridays beginning this month on RT America, the Washington D.C. arm of the international network RT. The network formerly known as Russia Today is funded by the government and touts itself as bringing "the Russian view on global news." (Star Tribune)
The Digest is taking tomorrow off to try to find somewhere cool to spend the weekend. Be back next week.
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