Good morning, and happy Thursday. Yes, it’s the first day of the State Fair.
New numbers from the state show students are still struggling with learning loss from the pandemic. MPR’s Elizabeth Shockman reports: Newly released test data show only about half of Minnesota public school students are meeting or exceeding the state’s grade-level standards in reading and math — evidence, officials say, of the ongoing effects of school disruptions driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Statewide reading performance this year slipped 1.2 percentage points from 2022, with 49.9 percent of students meeting or beating their grade-level standard. Math performance improved slightly from the prior year, with 45.5 percent of students tested meeting the standard. The plunge in performance from before the pandemic is significant. Scores in math, reading and science are all down about 10 percentage points compared to 2019. State education officials released the data publicly Thursday morning and are expected to speak to the data later in the day. “Our students, families, school communities and educators are continuing to recover from the pandemic and need our support,” Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett said in a statement accompanying the data. “These results send a renewed sense of urgency and underscore the importance of key supports that are already underway.”
We’re getting our first sense of how big the hemp-derived THC market is. MPR News reports: Minnesota collected $594,000 during the first month of a tax tied to hemp-derived THC products, according to preliminary data released Wednesday. That means state sales of THC-infused gummies, seltzers and other products totaled nearly $6 million in July. A state Revenue Department official said 571 businesses submitted tax collections for July as of a deadline earlier this week, but more money could still trickle in. The new Minnesota marijuana law imposed a 10-percent gross receipts tax on sales. That includes the hemp products that have been legal for a year but hadn’t been previously assessed a separate tax. Retail marijuana isn’t widely available yet and might not be for at least a year. Cannabis sold through tribal dispensaries is not subject to state taxes.
Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for a woman who sought out and groomed five teenage girls for convicted sex trafficker Tony Lazzaro. MPR’s Matt Sepic reports: Gisela Castro Medina, 21, pleaded guilty to charges of sex trafficking and obstruction, and spent a full day on the witness stand testifying against Lazzaro during his March trial. She faces sentencing Sept. 5. Earlier this month Lazzaro, 32, was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, short of the 30-year term that the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office had sought. Lazzaro was a Republican donor and activist.
Stearns County commissioners have rejected an effort to help property owners address racist language in their deeds. MPR’s Kirsti Marohn reports: The proposal stemmed from research conducted last spring by students at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, who uncovered dozens of racial covenants in Stearns County. The covenants prevented people from certain racial and ethnic groups from buying and owning land. They became illegal in Minnesota in 1953, but were added to some Stearns County deeds as recently as the 1980s. Under Minnesota law, property owners who discover racist language on their deed can fill out a form with their county recorder’s office discharging the restrictive covenant. In Stearns County, they must pay a $46 recording fee. On Tuesday, the county board spent 45 minutes debating a resolution that would have waived the fee for property owners who wish to reject a racial covenant on their title.
The Associated Press has a write up of last night's GOP debate: The Republican presidential candidates vying to be the leading alternative to front-runner Donald Trump fought — sometimes bitterly — over abortion rights, U.S. support for Ukraine and the type of experience needed to manage an expansive federal government during the first debate of the 2024 campaign. But when it came to arguably the most consequential choice facing the party, virtually everyone on the debate stage in Milwaukee on Wednesday night lined up behind Trump, who declined to participate, citing his commanding lead. Most said they would support Trump as their nominee even if he is convicted in a series of cases that range from his handling of classified documents to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his role in making hush money payments to a porn actress and other women. ''Let's just speak the truth," said tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. ''President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century. It's a fact.'' | 
