Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday. 

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has begun considering what changes, if any, should be made to I-94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul.MPR’s Nina Moini reports: At an unveiling of 10 alternative ideas for the future, Jessica Karls, Director of Transportation Design for the team consulting on the project, laid out MnDOT’s mission for what’s being called Rethinking I-94. “At this stage we are attempting to understand what alternatives best serve the transportation needs of surrounding communities and businesses, as well as others who use I-94 as part of their travel,” Karls said. The 10 alternatives presented included a range of ideas, including at-grade options, which means the roadways that intersect are at the same level. While freeways have bridges that separate local roads from the freeway, the at-grade alternatives would feature intersections with traffic signals. Other options included a freeway reduction, in favor of other modes of travel, and options to expand the freeway. St. Paul City Councilmember Mitra Jalali, who represents some neighborhoods along I-94, wondered why MnDOT would consider expanding the freeway. Any work is still at least five years away.

About 4,500 people a year leave prison in Minnesota, and nearly 1,000 are released onto the street, with nowhere to go. MPR’s Tim Nelson reports those figures come from the latest version of the Department of Corrections homelessness report, the second time the agency has taken a look at where people live once they’re released from state custody. “When these folks walk out of prison, there's a lot going on for them,” state corrections commissioner Paul Schnell said in an interview with MPR News. “A good many of these folks, when they come out, they know that they can't go back to the way they were living before or even the levels of peer associations that they had before. And so housing becomes one of the things that becomes essential for them as a consideration along with a job that pays a wage that can support them.” The report says that 875 of the 4,586 people released in calendar year 2022 were considered homeless, nearly 200 of them to locations unknown to state authorities. The figures include multiple releases for some inmates.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar has a big financial head start in her planned 2024 re-election bid, MPR’s Brian Bakst tells me. Klobuchar, a Democrat, had just shy of $3.5 million in her campaign account as of June 30. That’s according to a new filing with the Federal Elections Commission. Klobuchar took in about $2 million and spent about $727,000 from the start of April to the end of June. She says she'll seek a fourth six-year term next year. No well-known Republicans have announced a challenge to her yet. 

Meanwhile, Klobuchar and Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough were at the Minneapolis VA Health Care Center Monday to remind veterans of an important deadline, reports MPR’s Alex V. Cipolle. The 2022 SFC Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act expands benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits and Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and other toxic substances during the Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan wars. The deadline to file claims that will back-date to August 2022 is Aug. 9. “It covers new conditions that can qualify for help from Agent Orange, and that includes hypertension," Klobuchar said.  

The 3rd Precinct police station in Minneapolis that was burned down during riots after the murder of George Floyd may not be rebuilt anytime soon within the precinct's boundaries. The Star Tribune reports: Mayor Jacob Frey, City Council President Andrea Jenkins and others said they're now supporting a "medium term" plan to relocate the 3rd Precinct to a building on the outskirts of downtown. The latest twist in the years long saga came on the same day that much-anticipated results from a survey of south Minneapolis residents revealed that two-thirds of respondents would rather rebuild at the existing site than construct a new one several blocks away for twice the price. For months, only those two options were on the table as a consultant organized the online survey and more than a dozen meetings to take the pulse of the community. But many residents complained about the process and some vehemently opposed either location, saying that building a new precinct would be seen as a reward for bad behavior. Those sentiments were not reflected in the numerical survey results, which Frey called "inconclusive."

An Iowa judge on Monday temporarily blocked the state’s new ban on most abortions  after about six weeks of pregnancy, just days after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the measure into law.The Associated Press reports that means abortion is once again legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while the courts assess the new law’s constitutionality. The new law prohibits almost all abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure in a rare, all-day special session last week, prompting a legal challenge by the ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic. Judge Joseph Seidlin held a hearing on the matter Friday, but said he would take the issue under advisement — just as Reynolds signed the bill into law about a mile away.