Good morning, and welcome to Thursday. Here’s the Digest.
1. Bloomberg makes quick farm visit. Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg paid a brief visit to a farm in southern Minnesota Wednesday, saying he wants to better understand rural America. "I come from the city, but you're the backbone of America, and we eat and live based on what you do, and I think it's easy for us living in big cities to forget about the rest of the world," Bloomberg said during a roundtable at soybean producer Darin Johnson’s farm in Wells, Minn., which is west of Albert Lea. Bloomberg entered the Democratic race late but has been airing TV ads in the state. The billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor is concentrating on states that will vote on "Super Tuesday" in the first week of March. Minnesota’s presidential primary is March 3 this year, and early voting starts on Jan. 17. Jim Anderson, a Bloomberg senior campaign adviser, told reporters the visit was part of a series of campaign stops to highlight various sectors of the U.S. economy that are struggling. Bloomberg also visited Chicago to talk about urban economic issues and Akron, Ohio, to address challenges that post-industrial cities are facing. MPR News
2. A call for change in the Minnesota Constitution. Two prominent Minnesotans launched a campaign Wednesday to change the state’s constitution in an effort to eliminate persistent disparities in education. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and former Supreme Court Justice Alan Page say the constitution’s call for a "uniform system of public schools" isn’t good enough. “With all due respect, that's like a McDonald’s uniform franchise of adequacy,” Kashkari said. “Is that what we aspire for Minnesota's children? I don't believe that." The new language proposed by Kashkari and Page starts with the phrase, "All children have a fundamental right to a quality public education that fully prepares them." They say it's meant to focus on outcomes for kids. "The old language focuses on educational systems and inputs into that system. The new language shifts the focus to children and outcomes,” Page said. “For me this is about … social justice, economic justice. This language embraces that.” MPR News
3. Another candidate in CD2. A former U.S. Marine Corps officer is the second Republican to announce his candidacy to challenge first-term U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat, in the 2nd Congressional District. Tyler Kistner of Prior Lake, a nine-year Marine veteran, said in a prepared statement that after leading men and women through four overseas tours spanning the globe, he has decided to run for Congress to continue serving his country as a public servant in a different capacity. Rick Olson, an attorney and former Michigan state lawmaker now living in Prior Lake, was the first Republican to announce a challenge of Craig in the south suburban district. Craig first won the office by unseating former U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis, a former conservative talk radio host, in 2018, two years after he narrowly defeated her for an open House seat. This year, Lewis is seeking the Republican endorsement to run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith. Pioneer Press
4. Ellison reaches deal with CenturyLink. CenturyLink has agreed to pay nearly $9 million to settle allegations the company overbilled Minnesota customers, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Wednesday. Ellison said the settlement requires CenturyLink to pay more than $844,000 in refunds to more than 12,000 Minnesota customers who were promised a discount they did not receive. The company will pay an additional $8 million that Ellison's office will use to distribute refunds to other customers. The settlement also requires the Louisiana-based company to change its billing practices and to disclose the true price of its services at the time of sale and in its ads. “CenturyLink broke the law by fraudulently overbilling hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans and illegally raising the price Minnesotans had to pay for the company's service,” Ellison said. In a statement, CenturyLink said it disagrees with the attorney general's position, but settled to “avoid the distraction and costs of litigation.” CenturyLink said it believes "it is in the best interests of our company and our customers to amicably resolve these matters." The Associated Press
5. Homicides up but other violent crimes were down in St. Paul last year. Even as homicides rose in St. Paul last year to numbers not seen in more than 25 years, other types of crime were falling. The result was the overall lowest violent crime statistics in the city since at least 1995. Property crime was up 12 percent, however, and St. Paul ended the year with 8 percent more serious crime reports than 2018, according to a Pioneer Press analysis of preliminary statistics released by the police department Wednesday. The rate of gun violence last year — with more than half of St. Paul’s 30 homicides happening in the last four months of the year — shocked and saddened the community. Previously, there was an average of about 16 homicides a year in the city since 1995. The most homicides on record in St. Paul were 34 in 1992. There were 164 people injured or killed by gunfire in St. Paul last year, 20 more than 2018, according to police department figures. Aggravated assaults, which includes shootings, were down nearly 13 percent year-over-year. Overall, violent crime — which the FBI considers murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — declined 10 percent last year in St. Paul compared with 2018. Homicides represent 1.7 percent of violent crimes reported last year. Pioneer Press | 