Minnesota House passes $3.2 billion education bill

No love for the U of M. The Associated Press has the details of the $3.2 billion education bill that passed the Minnesota House: “Republicans’ proposed $22 million for the University of Minnesota fell well short of the school’s $147.2 million proposal. … Two-year and technical colleges in the Minnesota State system fair better under the bill, with a tuition freeze planned for next year and a decrease the year after. Four-year state institutions, not including the University of Minnesota, would see tuition rise next year and stay steady the following year.”

This got ugly fast. Don Davis of the Duluth News Tribune reports Auditor Rebecca Otto cites problems with the Roseau and Hubbard county financial audits and has asked for a do-over: “[Otto] said the Hubbard and Roseau audits contain ‘enough issues that they will have to have their audits totally re-done.’ That is not going to happen, said Colleen Hoffman of the Thief River Falls-based Hoffman, Phillips and Knutson accounting firm that conducted those two and six other audits of Minnesota counties. ‘It is absolutely a hoax; a terrible, terrible injustice,’ Hoffman said.”

Overflow, albeit noncommittal, crowds. Adam Belz covered last night’s Minneapolis caucuses for the Star Tribune: “The meetings were the first sign of whether a young movement of progressive DFLers will dislodge established incumbents, and early indications were that challengers Jillia Pessenda in the First Ward, Jeremiah Ellison in the Fifth Ward and Mohamed Farah in the Ninth Ward all made strong showings.”
Related: “Scenes from a Minneapolis DFL caucus: ‘Uncommitted’ has a good night” [MinnPost]

Largest settlement in St. Paul history. Mara H. Gottfried at the Pioneer Press reports on the St. Paul City Council Wednesday afternoon vote on the settlement for the 53-year-old man bitten by a police K-9 and kicked by an officer: “Of the $2 million settlement that was reached, half of will go into a structured settlement annuity that will pay [Frank Arnel] Baker about $4,500 a month for his lifetime. The other $1 million will be used to pay Baker’s insurers who covered his medical expenses, attorney fees (one-third of the total settlement), legal costs and for a lump-sum payment to Baker, according to [Baker’s attorney Bob] Bennett.”

First they came for the skyways. Mike Mullen at City Pages notes Minneapolis is considering halting the proliferation of drive-throughs: “A staff research memo completed in late March for the city planning commission floats a number of possible directions Minneapolis could go with halting the proliferation of drive-throughs. Among them: tighter restrictions on what sort of zoning allows drive-throughs, which might shrink the number (and type) of neighborhoods where they can exist; regulating which drive-through designs are allowed; limiting drive-throughs so they only exist ‘on the ground floor of a larger mixed-used development; or … an outright citywide ban.’ “

In other news…

That’s cold: “April Fool’s joke draws people to non-existent St. Paul transit meeting” [Star Tribune]

Afton city leaders vs. the Rusty Patched Bumble Bees: “Endangered bumble bee could stand in way of Afton sewage plant construction” [KSTP]

Capping a year of tributes: “How Minnesota is paying tribute, one year after Prince’s death” [The Current]

Making a deposit: “SUV crashes into bank in Eden Prairie” [KARE]

We’re #50: “Best (And Worst) States For Veterans To Get Jobs In 2017” [Veterans Today Jobs]

Local angle: “Caribou Coffee owner to buy Panera Bread in $7.5 billion deal” [NPR]

Quite the condiments: “SD hot dog shop owner gets 15 years for ‘pushing illegal drugs’ in community” [Forum News Service]

Perfect for when we host the Winter Olympics: “Goodhue board clears ramp for ski jump facility to fly” [Rochester Post Bulletin]

Dance like nobody’s watching on YouTube: “Let’s all be more like this small-town Minnesotan gettin’ down to Afroman’s ‘Because I Got High’ ” [City Pages]