Good morning and welcome to Wednesday in a holiday-shortened week. Hope you had a good Independence Day. Here are some stories you may have missed over the past couple of days.

1.Many of those who protested the route of an oil pipeline near North Dakota’s Standing Rock Reservation for months are focusing now on Minnesota, where Enbridge Energy hopes to build a new pipeline to replace its aging Line 3. Activists are pressing Minnesota officials to deny the permit and kill the project. State officials and company executives working to head off a confrontation say they’re doing more than ever to listen to the concerns of those in the pipeline’s potential path. That may not be enough to stop a prolonged protest. (MPR News)

2. Along with the picnics and fireworks yesterday there were plenty of parades, and some of them drew politicians, which gave people a chance to tell them what’s on their minds. Sixth District Republican Congressman Tom Emmersaid constituents were asking him about health care, the impact of immigration and world events on their safety and what they see as unfair attacks on President Trump.Republican Jason Lewis marched in the Eagan parade, and DFLer Keith Ellison walked the Edina parade route. Edina residents were also expecting to see Republican Erik Paulsen, but parade organizers say Paulsen was unable to attend because of a family reunion. Instead, protesters upset about Paulsen’s vote on health care took his place in the parade. (MPR News)

3. As he enters his final 18 months in office, Gov. Mark Dayton says his goal remains to stabilize Minnesota’s finances and prevent a return to the massive deficits he inherited when he took the state’s top political job. But now, locked in an unprecedented court battle with the Legislature, the DFL governor finds he has a lot of explaining to do. He’s trying to convince Republican legislators that they should reconsider a host of tax cuts he believes are a threat to the state’s future financial health. He’s trying to persuade a judge that he had the authority to line-item veto the Legislature’s funding in order to force the issue. And he’s trying to assure Minnesotans that he created this mess in order to keep the state out of a much bigger one in the future. (Star Tribune)

4. Writing his latest book has been a lucrative venture for DFL Sen. Al Franken. The precise terms of his deal with his publisher aren't known. Buthis latest financial disclosure form filedwith the U.S. Senate shows Franken earned a $332,750 advance last year for the book. That's more than four times what fellow Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, also a Democrat, got for the "Senator Next Door" autobiography published in 2015. Her financial disclosure forms indicateshe has been paid $75,000 in royalties from publishing house MacMillan Holdings. Herlatest Senate filingsays the University of Minnesota Press has acquired paperback publishing rights. Senators earn a salary of $174,000 per year.(MPR News)

5.Longtime state Rep. Debra Hilstrom is the latest candidate to enter the increasingly crowded race for Minnesota attorney general. Hilstrom is a Democrat from Brooklyn Center and an Anoka County prosecutor. She, like the other Democrats running for attorney general, is getting into the race in case current Attorney General Lori Swanson doesn't seek re-election. Swanson, a possible gubernatorial candidate, has not yet announced her 2018 plans.
If elected, Hilstrom said she would make consumer protection issues a priority. (Pioneer Press)