Trump to hold rally in Duluth next week

The Duluth News Tribune’s Tom Olsen reports: “The event is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Arena, according to a news release. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. Trump, who campaigned in Superior in April 2016, will be the first sitting president to visit the Northland since George W. Bush rallied at the DECC in 2004. In announcing the stop, Michael S. Glassner, executive director of Trump’s 2020 re-election bid, promised ‘another high-energy Trump rally’ — a hallmark of his successful 2016 campaign. ‘The president will meet with Minnesota patriots to report the latest developments for our surging economy, including record-low unemployment and fair trade reforms, and his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,’ Glassner said in a statement.” Start practicing your “Lock her up!” chants.

Related. Cory Hepola of KARE-TV reports, “Canada. America’s oldest, yet now annoyed ally. ‘Canada has done nothing recently to change the peaceful and mutually beneficial trade pattern that we’ve had with Canada for a very long time,’ said Dr. Robert Kudrle, a Freeman Professor of International Trade and Investment Policy at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School. So, why then did President Trump all of a sudden slap steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, causing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to hit back with trade taxes on billions of US goods starting July 1st. ‘He’s obsessed by the idea that we’re running a trade imbalance with the rest of the world, he doesn’t seem very fussy about the situations that underlie that trade imbalance,’ said Kudrle. That situation would hit Minnesota companies hard, with Business Insider estimating nearly $200 million worth from Minnesota to Canada could now be taxed: steel, aluminum, food processing, and agriculture.”

Whoops? In the Star Tribune, Andy Mannix reports: “The nonprofit charged with drawing tourism, conventions and national events like the X Games to Minneapolis overstated its success by nearly $200 million over the past three years. Meet Minneapolis gave flawed estimates by double counting money generated by events, relying on pre-event estimates instead of readily available final counts and, in at least one case, ignoring a contractual mandate to procure an independent audit, according to a city audit presented Monday.”

For the American Bar Association Journal, Debra Cassens Weiss reports, “A Minnesota law that invalidated beneficiary designations to spouses after a divorce does not violate the contracts clause when applied to a policy purchased before the law’s enactment, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. Justice Elena Kagan was joined by seven other justices in her majority opinion in Sveen v. Melin. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch dissented. Minnesota is among 26 states that have adopted ‘revocation on divorce’ laws that revoke beneficiary designations to former spouses.”

Also from the Supremes: KARE-TV’s John Croman says, “Minnesota voters needn’t worry about having their names purged from voter registration rolls, even if the nation’s highest court says it’s OK. Even if someone accidentally removes your name from the rolls, you can restore it at your polling place, thanks to the state’s same-day registration law.… The United States Supreme Court ruled Monday, by a five-to-four margin, that elections officials in Ohio have the power to purge voter rolls of the names of voters who’ve missed two straight general elections, if they’re notified.”

This has gone viral. ESPN’s story says, “A Minnesota high school pitcher consoled his friend after striking him out in a playoff game. Mounds View pitcher Ty Koehn struck out Jack Kocon of Totino-Grace to end the game in the Class 4A, Section 5 baseball final last week. The win touched off a celebration near home plate as Mounds View advanced to the state tournament. But before joining his teammates in the celebration, Koehn consoled Kocon at home plate. Koehn was seen on video giving his friend a long hug and walking him back toward his dugout before joining the celebration.”

Was Cliven Bundy spotted anywhere near? In the Strib, John Reinan writes, “A long-running battle over public access to an Otter Tail County lake has heated up, with a landowner facing 12 new misdemeanor charges for blocking a road to Jolly Ann Lake near Ashby, Minn. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently took down a fence that the landowner, Rick Chodek, erected on a gravel road offering the only public access to the lake. In a court filing Friday, the state charged Chodek with 12 misdemeanors. .… In its criminal complaint, the state said Chodek blocked ‘numerous’ citizens from fishing Jolly Ann, including several who had fished there for 50 years or more and even some anglers who live on the lake but use the public access to launch their boats.”

Seems reasonable. Says Emma Nelson of the Strib, “ … some of those bicyclists are calling on the city to improve the intersection at Summit and Snelling avenues where Alan Grahn was killed, in the hopes another fatality can be avoided. Bicyclists have been pushing to make Summit safer for years and say they’re hopeful that new attention from city officials and neighbors will spur changes along the heavily traveled street.”

Where’s the money coming from? MPR’s Tom Scheck says, “The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is crafting a plan that leans on budget cuts, property sales and the generosity of Catholics to help the church emerge from bankruptcy and move beyond a clergy sex abuse scandal that has plagued it for years. The archdiocese has committed to pay $40 million of the historic $210 million settlement with clergy abuse survivors that isn’t covered by insurance. Officials on Friday shared the basics of their proposed payment plan with MPR News. Other details were gleaned from interviews and a review of court documents. The archdiocese hopes to present its final proposal to the bankruptcy judge within the next month.”