The Daily Digest: Solon may run in Duluth
Good morning! Sorry for the technical problems yesterday that delayed the newsletter.
In Minnesota
Outgoing DFL Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon is considering a run for mayor next year in her hometown of Duluth. (MPR News)
MNsure officials say Minnesotans now have until 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 20 to enroll in a health plan through the exchange for coverage starting Jan. 1. The original deadline was last night but demand for insurance has been high, the site's CEO says. (MPR News)
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A departing state lawmaker who pushed for tougher security measures inside the state Capitol building, including tighter restrictions on guns, offered a harsh assessment today of the special committee designed to address those sensitive topics. (MPR News)
National Politics
The Senate narrowly confirmed Vivek Murthy to be the nation's next Surgeon General over the strong opposition of the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups. (Politico)
The giant spending bill that just passed Congress may be a sign of a new governing coalition in Washington that includes fragments of the Republican and Democratic parties. (Roll Call)
U.S. Rep. John Kline, who chairs the House Education Committee, predicts the new Republican-controlled Congress will act quickly next year to dismantle the No Child Left Behind law that dictates how students and schools are evaluated and transfer education decision-making to states and local school districts. (Pioneer Press)
In June, NASA finished work on a huge construction project here in Mississippi: a $349 million laboratory tower, designed to test a new rocket engine in a chamber that mimicked the vacuum of space. Then it shut down the tower because the rocket program the tower was built for had been cancelled. (Washington Post)