Miguel Otárola of the Strib says, “Minneapolis announced that it has joined an amicus brief with 17 states challenging the Trump administration’s plans to weaken fuel efficiency standards for vehicles. The federal government plans to propose a rule that would mitigate ‘clean car’ standards set in 2016 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to the city. Under those standards, a car company’s fleet would have to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, with new vehicles achieving a range of 31 to 61 mpg depending on the type and size of vehicle. Seventeen states, including Minnesota, filed a lawsuit in May fighting claims made by the EPA that those standards were ‘not appropriate’.”
Matt Brickman at WCCO-TV says, “… heavy rain is expected to continue through the day Tuesday, drenching the southeastern corner of the state. One area, in a line from Owatonna to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, could see rain totals between 3 to 4 inches. With such rainfall comes of the possibility of flash flooding. The National Weather Service says that if drivers encounter a flooded road, they should not drive through it. … As for the Twin Cities metro area, communities there could see 1 to 2 inches of rainfall.”
Another WCCO-TV story says, “A new survey from Allstate Insurance shows that when it comes to driving, Minnesotans aren’t the best. Out of 200 cities surveyed, Minneapolis ranks 127th and St. Paul ranks 145th. Each city is graded on the average amount of time between accidents and how that compares to the national average. … The best drivers are found in Brownsville, Texas, where the average years between claims is 13.6. And the city that comes in very last is Baltimore, Maryland, where on average every 3.8 years a driver is involved in a collision.”
A Stephen Montemayor Strib story says, “On the eve of a contentious battle over President Donald Trump’s second U.S. Supreme Court nominee, and with midterm elections looming, a yearslong bid to add two new judges to Minnesota’s federal bench threatened to languish even longer. But a rare late-August deal to fast-track votes on a batch of Trump’s federal district court nominees has Hennepin County Judge Nancy Brasel and Minneapolis lawyer and law professor Eric Tostrud poised to help fill a pair of vacancies that had been deemed ‘judicial emergencies.’”
Says Dave Orrick in the PiPress, “Keith Ellison, Keith Ellison, Keith Ellison. It’s all about Keith Ellison, at least according a Republican narrative as part of the first wave of what promises to be a tide of political attack ads coming to Minnesota’s 2018 election season. Even in races where Ellison isn’t running, from the U.S. Senate high on the ballot down to state House races, he’s under attack. … The ads and social media messages basically say this: Democratic candidate (insert name) has refused to condemn Keith Ellison for domestic abuse. He/she should be ashamed.”
Erin Golden of the Strib reports, “The Twin Cities-based attorneys for the Chinese billionaire arrested in Minneapolis over the weekend say they are confident their client will not face charges over allegations of criminal sexual misconduct. Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu, was back in China on Monday, two days after he was released from the Hennepin County jail. The founder of the e-commerce site JD.com was arrested Friday evening and released from jail around 4 p.m. Saturday without posting bail. Attorney Joseph Friedberg said Liu was not charged with a crime but was briefly held by police on suspicion of sexual misconduct before his release. … Friedberg said he was not familiar with Liu before he became involved in his case. He and another local attorney, Earl Gray, spent about 30 minutes talking with Liu at the jail before Liu was called away by a deputy, Friedberg said.”
Says Kristi Belcamino of the PiPress, “Angela Davis, a longtime WCCO news anchor and reporter, is joining MPR News and will host a morning program that will focus on issues important to Minnesotans. Davis starts her new position as host of the 11 a.m. program in early November, according to MPR. … Davis spent more than 20 years as a reporter in Minnesota and other states. She has served on the board for Twin Cities Academy and is on the YWCA Minneapolis board.”
In addition to the allegation from Mr. Ellison’s former girlfriend, is there any evidence that he is, in fact, a domestic abuser? If so, let’s see it. If not, with any luck, this will come back to haunt numerous Republican candidates by election day. Apparently, all that’s necessary is to accuse someone of something tawdry and, at least in Republican strategist’s eyes, they’re automatically guilty. I wonder if Minnesota’s GOP leaders will be equally eager to condemn a Republican candidate who’s similarly accused?
When it comes to Republicans, I never expect that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Ray, you’re making an assumption. The allegation itself is that Ellison pulled his girlfriend by the foot and called her a bad word. That’s not domestic abuse. It’s not even tawdry. There’s no there there.
I think people are seeing these ads for what they are: If we can’t say anything good about ourselves, we’ll smear the other guy.