Good morning, and happy Thursday. Here’s the Digest.
1. Klobuchar has solid debate, but so do other candidates. The Minnesota senator, who is on a slow but steady climb in Iowa polls, drew sharp distinctions between herself and the candidates she perceives as her most effective foils: Mr. Buttigieg and Ms. Warren. In a debate devoid of any signature moments or significant rhetorical battles, Ms. Klobuchar delivered a performance designed to appeal to Democrats nervous about the party’s leftward turn and unsure whether to hand the party to a 37-year-old executive of Indiana’s fourth-largest city. “I’m not going to go for things just because they sound good on a bumper sticker and then throw in a free car,” Ms. Klobuchar said. “We have an obligation as party to, yes, be fiscally responsible, yes, think big, but be honest.” Her hope is that there are a lot of people in Iowa — where Ms. Klobuchar has bet the future of her campaign — who are drawn to that message.She didn’t back down when read her comments to The New York Times about Mr. Buttigieg’s relative inexperience. Ms. Klobuchar said it’s true that she believes the women running for president face higher standards than the men. Asked why her paid family leave proposal, 12 weeks, is less robust than what other candidates are offering, Ms. Klobuchar didn’t apologize. New York Times
2. Carter proposes anti-crime plan. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter proposed a nearly $3 million public safety initiative Wednesday, which includes starting a public health project for violence prevention and intervention. The overall plan focuses on young people, including adding community ambassadors to connect with them and expanding a youth employment program. The supplemental budget proposal for next year does not add police officers. Nearly $1.7 million in the proposal comes from city funds, and the remainder from prospective grants and other funds. If approved by the City Council, the property tax levy would increase 5.85 percent, up 1 percentage point from Carter’s initial budget proposal. The proposal comes in the midst of a rash of gun violence in St. Paul. There have been 29 people killed this year, the most in more than 20 years in the city. “We need a fundamentally new approach,” Carter told the City Council. “Even with a strong police department that leads locally and nationally on so many fronts, we cannot expect our police officers alone to solve all of our problems. … It starts in the home and with the parents and with our families. We have to do a better job raising and investing in our youth to grow to be hopeful, productive members of our community.” Pioneer Press
3. MPCA plans to spend settlement money to go electric. Minnesota received $47 million in the national Volkswagen court settlement, and state officials are floating a plan on how to spend half that money intended to reduce air pollution and edge the state toward “a cleaner transportation future.” The German automaker paid $2.9 billion in 2017 to settle a federal lawsuit after the company was caught violating air pollution standards in its diesel cars and SUVs. The funds have been divvied up nationwide are being spent over a 10-year period. In a draft plan released Wednesday, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said will invest $23.5 million over the next four years. All told, about 65 percent of the funds, which will be spent in 2020 and 2023, will be used to help electrify Minnesota’s transportation sector. About $7 million will be spent on electric heavy-duty vehicles, such as transit buses; $4.7 million on electric school buses; $3.5 million on cleaner heavy-duty vehicles, including trucks; $2.35 million on school bus replacement; and $2.35 million on cleaner, heavy-duty off-road equipment, such as locomotives, ferries and port equipment. MPCA also said it will spend 90% of the $3.52 million set aside for 43 electric vehicle charging stations in greater Minnesota, expanding the statewide charging network by more than 2,400 miles. That is the maximum amount allowed for electric vehicle charging stations under the settlement. Star Tribune
4. Problems found with Medicare site. Counselors who help seniors consider Medicare insurance options say they’ve found a troubling number of inaccuracies on a federal government website for making health plan choices. Since open enrollment began in October, counselors say they have seen a number of errors with the premiums reported for various health plans on the Medicare.gov website, including instances when all options were listed as charging no premium when that’s true only for a subset of health plans, according to officials with the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging, a nonprofit group based in North St. Paul. While problems with premium prices haven’t been surfacing as often in recent weeks, counselors say they are still finding errors with information displayed about consumers’ out-of-pocket medication costs. “We believe that it is quite serious,” said Dawn Simonson, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging, which operates a helpline for seniors. “We’d like to see an extension of open enrollment once the [website] tool is fixed, in order to give people an opportunity to perhaps disenroll from the plan they’ve selected and enroll in a plan that is the best fit for them based on accurate information.” Star Tribune
5. Report shows more work to be done to protect pollinators. A new state report on Minnesota’s efforts to protect pollinators like bees and butterflies says the state is making some progress, but there's a lot of room for improvement. The Interagency Pollinator Protection Team’s draft report to the state Environmental Quality Board measures Minnesota’s progress in three areas: improving pollinator habitat, reducing pesticide use and engaging state residents. "The underlying purpose is for us to really, as research continues to evolve and we learn more, better understand how pollinators are doing in Minnesota so we can target our efforts with greater precision to protect pollinators," said the board’s executive director Will Seuffert. Pollinators play an important role in food production, but many pollinator species in Minnesota are in decline, thanks to habitat loss and pesticide use. MPR News | 