Daily Digest: Wednesday roundup

Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday. I hope the week is going well for you so far. Here's the Digest:

1. A University of Minnesota scientist was pressured by the Environmental Protection Agency's chief of staff to alter her recent testimony before Congress and play down the agency's dismissal of expert advisers, his e-mails show. Deborah Swackhamer, an environmental chemist who leads the EPA's Board of Scientific Counselors, was to testify May 23 before the House Science Committee, when Ryan Jackson, the EPA's chief of staff, asked her to stick to the agency's "talking points" on the dismissals of several members of the scientific board. "I was stunned that he was pushing me to 'correct' something in my testimony," said Swackhamer, who retired recently from the U. "I was factual, and he was not. I felt bullied." (New York Times via Star Tribune)

2. Metropolitan Council Chair Adam Duininck is stepping down after leading the regional planning agency for the past two-and-a-half years. Duininck is taking a new job as director of government affairs for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, a union that represents 26,000 members. He previously served as legislative director for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49. Gov. Mark Dayton announced Tuesday that he has appointed Alene Tchourumoff to replace Duininck as chair. Tchourumoff is currently the state rail director. (MPR News)

3.  Media organizations and advocates for government transparency in Minnesota asked Tuesday to be allowed to intervene in a court case involving the investigation of Jacob Wetterling's abduction and murder. Tens of thousands of pages of investigative files, as well as video and audio recordings from the 27-year-old investigation, were scheduled to be made public earlier this month. However, the release of information was delayed when Jacob's parents, Jerry and Patty Wetterling, filed a lawsuit arguing information related to their marriage or family should be kept private. Under Minnesota law, closed criminal investigations are considered public information with limited exceptions. (KSTP TV)

4.  The Mankato City Council, a leader for the last dozen years in attempting to reduce nicotine use, is ready to consider raising the age for tobacco purchases to 21. But 12 years after a previous council was one of the first in Minnesota to ban smoking in indoor public spaces — and three years after it was one of the first to apply the same rules to electronic cigarettes/vaping — council members indicated Monday night that they don't want to move forward without North Mankato.  Edina, which acted in May, is the only Minnesota city to bump up the minimum age for buying cigarettes and other nicotine-infused products to 21 from the current legal age of 18. St. Louis Park is also considering raising the legal age to buy tobacco. (Mankato Free Press)

5. Senate Republican leaders delayed a vote on their health care bill Tuesday until at least next month, forced to retreat by a GOP rebellion that left them lacking enough votes to even begin debate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had hoped to push the measure through his chamber before an Independence Day recess that party leaders fear will be used by foes of the legislation to tear away support. The bill, which would roll back much of President Barack Obama’s health care law, has been one of the party’s top priorities for years. At least five GOP senators — conservatives and moderates — have said they would vote against even beginning debate, and the bill would be derailed if just three of the 52 Republican senators voted against it. (AP via MPR News)

6. More than 100 people attended St. Anthony's City Council meeting Tuesday night, many demanding that Mayor Jerry Faust step down. Protesters brought a litany of complaints about the city under his leadership during more than two hours of community forum. The complaints ranged from the handling of the Philando Castile shooting to the city's denial of a permit in 2010 to build an Islamic community center to the private sale of Lowry Grove, a mobile home park. (MPR News)

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