Reporting on State Politics and Government
Reporting on State Politics and Government
Capitol View Digest reporting on state and politics and government
| | The Daily Digest for September 25, 2019 | | Posted at 6:30 a.m. by Bill Wareham |
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Good morning. Let's start Wednesday with a Minnesota perspective on the top national political story. 1. Where Minnesota's delegation stands on impeachment. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that the House will move forward with an official impeachment inquiry of President Trump, and more than half of Minnesota’s delegation in Washington is supporting her decision. In the wake of reports that Trump sought assistance from Ukraine’s president in investigating former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential 2020 rival, MPR News surveyed the delegation on where members stand. Not all of the reaction is falling along party lines, and not all members have weighed in. ( MPR News)
2. St. Paul police release body cam video in fatal shooting. St. Paul police on Tuesday released body camera video from the fatal police shooting of a Little Canada man last week that shows the man coming at the officer with a knife. The video of the confrontation shows Ronald Davis, 31, with a knife in his right hand. Officer Steven Mattson appears to backpedal as Davis appears to go after him, with Mattson at one point apparently falling down. In the video, he yells for Davis to get away and put down the knife; then he fires. Davis falls and the officer calls for medical attention. Chief Todd Axtell said he wanted to release the video to correct misinformation about the incident he said was spreading across St. Paul. Mattson had “no choice but to defend himself against an immediate and violent threat,” an angry Axtell told reporters. (MPR News)
3. Probe of Vin Weber closed. A long-running Justice Department investigation of two of Washington’s best-known lobbyists was closed this week, the latest sign of the challenges facing prosecutors attempting to more aggressively pursue possible violations of foreign lobbying rules. Tony Podesta, a longtime Democratic power broker, and Vin Weber, a Republican former congressman, said they were notified Monday that federal prosecutors in Manhattan had closed the inquiry into work they did that benefited Ukrainian interests. “It’s been a long two years,” Podesta said. “I’m happy that it’s over and happy that I can go on with the rest of my life without looking at this every day.” An attorney for Weber, Robert P. Trout, said, “We are obviously pleased by this development,” adding that “at all times Mr. Weber acted in good faith and in keeping with the legal advice his company received from its outside counsel.” (Washington Post)
4. Met Council contract for bus garage under legal scrutiny. The Metropolitan Council's plan to award a major construction contract for a $150 million bus garage just outside downtown Minneapolis has been put in limbo amid legal accusations that they botched the bidding process. The council, which oversees Twin Cities transit, has been preparing for nearly two decades to build a new garage beside its existing Heywood garage in the North Loop, to accommodate an expanding fleet of vehicles. Just as they were preparing to award the $114 million construction contract to Knutson Construction, a rival bidder filed suit last week in district court alleging they had been unfairly disqualified. AP Midwest, which filed the suit, submitted the lowest bid for the project - $355,000 less than Knutson's bid. The council rejected it for not assigning at least 15% of the work to women- and minority-owned businesses. The firm claims the council overlooked their extensive efforts to solicit that work, however, despite rules saying bidders could still qualify if they show a "good faith" effort to meet the 15 % goal. The lawsuit says the bid ultimately committed to 12.5 %. (Star Tribune)
5. Former Gov. Carlson slams PolyMet permit process. On the eve of his 85th birthday, former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson stood on the steps outside Duluth City Hall Monday to share his concerns over PolyMet, which is vying to be the state's first copper-nickel mine but faces numerous legal and permitting challenges. "The biggest concern that I have is the appalling lack of transparency," Carlson said in front of a crowd of PolyMet opponents and news media. The flawed process and potential for pollution, Carlson told the News Tribune, is what made him such a passionate opponent of the mine. Carlson, who served as governor from 1991 to 1999, was first a Republican but didn't earn his party's nomination in the 1994 election. During his two terms, he was fiercely pro-business. On Monday, he cited his efforts in the 1990s to ensure Northwest Airlines opened facilities throughout the Northland and noted that Delta Air Lines still employs people at the former Northwest call center in Chisholm after the two airlines merged. So it might strike some as odd that Carlson has become such a staunch opponent of PolyMet, which could support 300 jobs at its open-pit copper-nickel mine and processing facility near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt. But Carlson doesn't see it that way. "If you are for capitalism, you are also for good behavior," Carlson said. (Duluth News Tribune)
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