Good morning, and welcome to the final day of September.
Enbridge says its Line 3 pipeline replacement in Minnesota is finished and will be operational Friday. From The Associated Press : The project was completed despite stiff opposition from tribes, environmentalists and others who argued that the 1,097 mile pipeline — including the 337-mile segment across Minnesota — would violate treaty rights, worsen climate change and risk spills in waters where Native Americans harvest wild rice. They note it would carry oil from Alberta's tar sands, a heavier crude that consumes more energy and generates more carbon dioxide in the refining process than lighter oil, making it an even bigger contributor to climate change. Enbridge said the project was necessary to replace a deteriorating pipeline built in the 1960s, which could carry only half its original volume of oil, and to ensure the reliable delivery of crude to U.S. refineries. Enbridge expects to start running the pipeline at its full capacity of 760,000 barrels per day in mid-October.
MPR’s Kirsti Marohn has this: Outbreaks of COVID-19 sickened hundreds of people in Minnesota state prisons last year. Twelve died. Prisons and jails are difficult places to control a highly infectious disease. There's little social distancing, and people in prison share living quarters and common areas. Early this year, the Department of Corrections began offering the COVID vaccine to its staff and people incarcerated in state prisons. As of this week, about 80 percent of prisoners have been fully vaccinated. But the department has been less successful in convincing its own employees to get the vaccine. Among all Department of Corrections staff, the vaccination rate is just over 65 percent, and at some prisons, it's lower. Fewer than 60 percent of staff at Moose Lake and St. Cloud have gotten the shot. At Rush City, it’s fewer than half. Paul Schnell, state corrections commissioner, said he’s “deeply concerned” about the department’s vaccination rates. The Minnesota Supreme Court plans to review executive authority used by Gov. Tim Walz during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Mora business owner’s case stemming from restaurant and event venue closures has made its way to the high court. That owner sued seeking government compensation for revenue lost during the closure, saying his property was commandeered. Two lower courts sided with the governor. The case has been combined with a property management company’s lawsuit over a halt to rental evictions. Other courts have also ruled in Walz’s favor in that case. No date has been set yet for the Supreme Court hearing. And this from The Associated Press: More than a year after U.S. health care workers on the front lines against COVID-19 were saluted as heroes with nightly clapping from windows and balconies, some are being issued panic buttons in case of assault and ditching their scrubs before going out in public for fear of harassment. Across the country, doctors and nurses are dealing with hostility, threats and violence from patients angry over safety rules designed to keep the scourge from spreading. Angela Davis did a program Wednesday about health care workers feeling burned out because of the pandemic. And a University of Minnesota student has filed a lawsuit challenging the mandate that all students be vaccinated. And in Washington, the House is expected to approve a stopgap measure to fund the government into early December after a Senate vote Thursday, preventing a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Friday. Democrats were forced to remove a suspension of the federal government's borrowing limit from the bill at the insistence of Republicans. If the debt limit isn't raised by Oct. 18, the country would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession, says Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. But Democrats are still struggling over how to get President Joe Biden's top domestic priorities over the finish line. Those include a bipartisan infrastructure bill that contains $550 billion in new spending for roads, bridges, broadband and other priorities, as well as a $3.5 trillion slate of social, health and environmental programs. The AP is on that one too. | 