For KSTP: “Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is adding her voice to those of more than a dozen of her Democratic colleagues across the country in opposing President Trump’s executive order on immigration. The order severely restricts immigration from seven countries with mostly Muslim populations. ‘We’ve very much researching and monitoring the situation,’ Swanson told KSTP on Monday. … Swanson says she believes the president’s order violates the due process clause of the Constitution. ‘And part of that due process clause is that a law can’t be overly broad and in this case the executive order is very, very broad, in terms of banning across the board certain countries, certain individuals within those countries,’ Swanson said.”
Local faith leaders are also denouncing the immigration order, reports MPR’s Jon Collins: “Leaders of churches, mosques and synagogues met in Minneapolis Monday to condemn President Donald Trump’s executive order on refugees and immigration. The faith leaders said the ban, which temporarily bars travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and halts refugee admissions for 120 days, violates the core principles of their religions. … Faith groups condemning the executive order Monday said they represent the vast majority of religious institutions in the state. They included Muslims and Jews, as well as Christians from evangelical, Lutheran, Catholic and other denominations.”
Another small business not so happy with Trump’s immigration order? the Mayo Clinic. Writes the Rochester Post-Bulletin’s Brett Boese: “Mayo released another statement on Monday noting that ‘approximately 20 (Mayo Clinic) patients … may be affected’ by the 90-day travel ban. Another ‘80 staff, physicians or scholars associated with Mayo Clinic’ have ties to the seven countries included in the executive order. Mayo treats about 1.3 million patients annually from all 50 states and 140 countries, including the seven named by President Trump for a travel ban.”
Train (planning) in vain? Also from the P-B, Heather J. Carlson reports: “As some lawmakers seek to derail a proposed high-speed rail line, the fate of the company behind the Rochester-to-Twin Cities route is uncertain. Sen. Mike Goggin, R-Red Wing, recently introduced a bill prohibiting the use of eminent domain to build the project. It also blocks any public dollars from being spent on designing, planning or constructing such a rail line — including money from cities, counties and Destination Medical Center Corporation.”
In Real ID news, the Pioneer Press’ Rachel E. Stassen-Berger writes: “A measure to allow Minnesotans to get driver’s licenses that comply with federal Real ID standards will get its first hearing in the Minnesota Senate on Tuesday. But unlike the House version, the Senate bill will not address the issue of driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. That issue, among others, has caused controversy as the House measure went through committees. State Sen. Eric Pratt, the chief sponsor of the Senate version, said he plans to move the measure without the immigration-related House provision.”
But weed is still in need, says the AP: “Minnesota’s medical marijuana program needs extra state funding to cover the costs of its patient database and inspections of drug manufacturers, just a few of the regulations that make it one of the most restrictive such laws in the country. It’s the latest reminder of the financial constraints on the program borne from the heavy restrictions on Minnesota’s 2014 law. ….”
Cue the midseason meltdown, thanks to this from the Star Tribune’s Michael Rand: “Your Minnesota Wild, owing to a tremendously nice first half of the NHL season in which it has racked up 69 points, shows up in the No. 1 spot of Sports Insights’ “most likely teams in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals” list, one which is compiled by looking at betting odds. Capitals-Wild is first on the list, followed closely by Capitals/Blackhawks. And there’s more: the Wild occupies four of the top seven spots, with Columbus (No. 3), Montreal (No. 5) and Pittsburgh (No. 7) as the other opponents.”
From the Dept. of Baby Animals, MPR’s Emma Sapong reports: “The first egg of the year was laid over the weekend in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources EagleCam nest.”
Cleaning up the mean streets of Minot? “A district court judge approved a plea deal on Friday that drops a felony child abuse charge against a 50-year-old Minot woman who had been accused of scratching her 13-year-old son’s face and hitting him in the head with a cooler and a vacuum cleaner,” reports the Fargo Forum. “Instead, Trina Lenn Feist pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol while accompanied by a minor, a Class A misdemeanor.”
