Daily Digest: TGIF Edition

Good morning, and happy Friday. Here's the Digest.

1. The tax overhaul plan released by House Republicans in Washington Thursday drew mixed reaction in Minnesota. Republican lawmakers and some business leaders welcomed it as long-overdue change. But others contend the package would disproportionately benefit the wealthy and take away important deductions. Realtors and home builders were especially concerned about new limits on the mortgage deduction in the plan. It also eliminates the federal deduction for state income taxes and sales taxes. (MPR News)

2. Special counsel Robert Mueller's grand jury is investigating a prominent Democratic lobbyist and a former GOP Minnesota congressman for their involvement in an influence campaign on behalf of Ukrainian interests tied to Paul Manafort, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. At the center of the widening probe are Tony Podesta, a longtime Democratic operative, and Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman and leader of his own high-powered lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. The two men were hired as part of a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort directed by Manafort and longtime associate Rick Gates. Representatives for Weber's firm and Podesta said they are cooperating with the special counsel's investigation. (AP via Star Tribune)

3. Five days ahead of the election, leading contenders in St. Paul mayor's race drew some distinctions between one another in a two-hour debate on Thursday with Melvin Carter, Elizabeth Dickinson, Tom Goldstein, Pat Harris and Dai Thao.  Like Monday's MPR News debate with Minneapolis' mayoral candidates, the St. Paul debate was a mostly polite affair. All candidates agreed that a controversial mailer last month questioning contender Melvin Carter's response to a gun theft in August was inappropriate and regrettable. "That incident last week was troubling, and in many ways it was even more violating than the original burglary at my home," Carter said. Rival Pat Harris, who is endorsed by the police union that sponsored the mailing, again denounced the brochure. "Voters should know that I feel the piece was appalling, I've rejected it outright," he said, while also saying he was proud to have the endorsement of the city's police force. (MPR News)

4. Construction has officially begun on the first phase of a major Rochester development. Discovery Square is a cornerstone of the Destination Medical Center economic development project, a 20-year plan to transform Rochester and the surrounding economy. The cluster of buildings, which will eventually take up 2 million square feet of property downtown, is meant to be a hub of medical innovation that brings together Mayo staff with health care pioneers, entrepreneurs and investors. Mayo Clinic will occupy most of the first building going up downtown as part of a 2 million square foot cluster of facilities. Roughly 35 percent of the building is still available to additional tenants. (MPR News)

5. Sen. Al Franken fired off a lengthy letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday, asking him to give his own account of interactions between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. It followed the guilty plea earlier this week by a Trump administration on charges of lying to federal agents about his contact with Russians. Russia and the Trump campaign have been a flash point between the former Senate colleagues since Sessions’ confirmation hearing, when he responded to a question from the Minnesota Democrat with a claim that he hadn’t heard from any Russians during the campaign. Sessions later clarified that he had met several times with the Russian ambassador, in his role as a United States senator at the time. (Star Tribune)

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