Housley announces bid for Franken’s Senate seat

by MinnPost staff 12/19/201712/19/2017

You’d never know we already were going to have a Senate election in 2018. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports: “State Sen. Karin Housley became the first Republican to declare a candidacy for the 2018 U.S. Senate special election, a race touched off by the planned resignation of Democratic Sen. Al Franken. … Housley, 53, entered the race Tuesday with a video that traces her political involvement to the campaigns of former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, whose old seat is on the line next year. In a message to Republican delegates, who got first word through email, Housley said she has ‘fought hard for our senior citizens, our kids’ education and the unborn.’ ”

A few more details about the shooting at MPD downtown. The Star Tribune’s Libor Jany reports: “A young man who was shot by Minneapolis police in an interview room Monday after he produced a knife and stabbed himself nearly a dozen times before turning on officers, according to department sources. … Officers fired multiple shots at the man after he refused repeated commands to drop his knife and couldn’t be subdued with a Taser, according two people who have seen video of the encounter, which was captured on the room’s camera.”

Strike. KTTC reports: “Hospital workers at Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea are walking the picket line. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members voted to authorize the strike after contract negotiations faltered. … Those workers say they’ve had enough of what they call Mayo’s devaluation of rural health care. … Close to 80 workers voted for this strike last month. They stepped onto the picket at 6 a.m. Tuesday for their one day protest. The workers are carrying signs they made last week.”

A homecoming. The Fargo Forum’s Ryan Johnson reports: “Shane Friesz left North Dakota in his 20s to ‘go be gay’ somewhere more progressive. … The native of New Salem, N.D., is back now and recently opened a gay bar—the only one of its kind near Fargo-Moorhead in several years. … Friesz and his partner, Shawn Weber, opened The Sanctuary Bar & Bistro on Saturday, Dec. 16, drawing patrons to check out how the couple converted a small-town watering hole into a gay bar.”