Good morning, and welcome to another Monday. 

Nurses in the Twin Cities, Duluth and Moose Lake are on the first day of a three-day strike. MPR’s Michelle Wiley reports the nurses have been in negotiations since March, and working without a contract since June. The main sticking points are wage increases, retention, staffing and safety concerns, as well as addressing ongoing burnout, heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic.  “We are called to care for the people of Minnesota,” Minnesota Nurses Association President Turner said at a press conference announcing the planned walkout. “It is why we went into this profession. It is why we stayed through all those dark days of the pandemic. None of us left our post those two and a half years of the pandemic. But we are at a crisis. And we have to do something about it.” In a statement Friday, officials with Allina Health said their priority is to “provide safe, high-quality care” throughout the strike and is “committed to minimizing any disruptions in care.” On its website, St. Luke’s in Duluth said, “We will continue to offer all services and will be fully open for all inpatient, emergency and clinic-based care, although we may reschedule some non-urgent surgeries and procedures. Patients should arrive as scheduled unless they hear differently from their provider.”

As I’ve noted here the past couple weeks, Gov. Tim Walz has been taking a more aggressive approach to crime, talking about longer sentences for those who use guns to commit crimes. The Star Tribune did a story on the governor’s changing stance along with some other Democrats: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed for "substantive police reform" after the killing of George Floyd two years ago. Now, the Democratic governor is framing himself as a tough-on-crime supporter of law enforcement as he seeks re-election. U.S. Reps. Angie Craig and Dean Phillips, both Democrats who represent Twin Cities suburbs, voted to pass a sprawling federal police reform package after Floyd's death that would have stripped away a hotly debated provision that can protect law enforcement officers against civil lawsuits. Facing re-election challenges, the two are publicly distancing themselves from that part of the bill. Walz, Craig and Phillips are among Democrats across the country scaling back police reform ambitions and emphasizing a law-enforcement-friendly approach as they calibrate their message to appeal to voters rattled by violent crime. 

As Republicans push Democrats on crime and public safety, Democrats continue to make abortion a top issue.The Forum News Service reports: Republican attorney general candidate Jim Schultz has expressed views against abortion in the past and has served on an anti-abortion nonprofit, but he insists the race is about combating rising crime. Democratic incumbent Keith Ellison, meanwhile, says his GOP challenger misunderstands the role the attorney general’s office should play in prosecuting crime, and should stand up for abortion rights, which are guaranteed under the state constitution but no longer protected federally following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. “This is absolutely an issue in this campaign, and I want to be clear that my opponent is not committed to these rights,” Ellison told Capitol reporters Friday, later adding: “Nobody can escape, being accountable to the public as to what they will do to stand up for a woman’s right to choose.”

Walz used the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks to draw attention to a service bonus available to those who served in the armed forces after 2001.  “The Legislature and the people of Minnesota wanted to show a token of their appreciation by providing bonuses to those service members and to the families of our Goldstar families, those 109 that gave their lives in service to this nation,” Walz said. MPR's Vicki Adame reports the bonuses range from $600 to $1,200 for veterans who supported missions between 2001 and 2021. There's a $2,000 bonus for families of veterans who died as a result of their service. State lawmakers set aside nearly $25 million for the bonuses. The Department of Veterans Services says more funding could be needed if all 40,000 people who are believed to be eligible apply. 

A Minnesota nonprofit named in FBI search warrant affidavits related to alleged fraud is suing the state education department for cutting off its federal funding,Sahan Journal reports.   St. Paul-based Partners in Quality Care filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday accusing the Minnesota Department of Education of violating its constitutional right to due process. The nonprofit, which has not been accused of or charged with fraud, also says the department flouted federal regulations governing the Child Nutrition Programs, which give federal money to state nonprofits and agencies to feed underserved children. The department cut off funding to Partners in Quality Care in January after FBI documents revealed that tens of millions of those dollars may have been misused for personal expenses instead. No person or agency named in the FBI documents has been charged with financial fraud in connection with the investigation, which is ongoing.