Good afternoon, President Joe Biden will give his first presidential news conference at 12:15 CT today. He's likely to face questions on immigration, mass shootings, divisions within the Democratic Party and COVID-19. [Listen live on MPR News] [Watch live] The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that Minnesota's law criminalizing sex with victims who are "mentally incapacitated" doesn't apply to people who voluntarily consume intoxicating substances. Now activists and some lawmakers want the Legislature to close this "loophole" in the law. [Read more from Matt Sepic] Federal stimulus money could mean support for rural broadband initiatives in Minnesota, but Sen. Tom Bakk — a former DFLer who now caucuses with Republicans — is warning that rural broadband could be sunk if it's tied to a related dispute about tax increases. [Read more from Brian Bakst] Minneapolis residents might vote this fall on whether to strengthen the powers of the mayor compared to the city council. [Read more from the Star Tribune's Liz Navratil] Grand drama in the North Dakota Legislature, after a beloved capitol fixture was forcibly removed from the building for causing trouble: a popcorn machine. [Read more from The Associated Press] Business groups, activist organizations and others spent more than $67 million last year lobbying state and local officials in Minnesota. That figure, while still quite high, fell a lot amid the pandemic last year, to its lowest level since 2012. [Read more from the Star Tribune's Jessie Van Berkel]
Something completely different: If you have upper-elementary-age kids, you might check out the podcast "Big If True," featuring weekly interviews by a nine-year-old girl and her mother of experts on the topic of big things. The most recent episode features a certain MPR newsletter writer talking about J.R.R. Tolkien's Ents. [Listen] Listen: The experimental Swedish group Wintergatan built an elaborate Rube Goldberg-like machine that makes music using an elaborate cascade of marbles. [Watch]
