Good morning and welcome to the final Thursday of July. Here's the Digest. 1. DFL lawmakers ask Walz to reject PolyMet permits. The effort to delay the advancement of Minnesota's first copper-nickel mining project gained steam Wednesday, July 24, as 18 Democratic state lawmakers urged Gov. Tim Walz to drop permits for the project. In a letter to the governor, the legislators highlighted recent reports that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) failed to address concerns from the EPA about the mine and processing plant set to be built near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt and agents acted to keep those concerns out of the public record. The lawmakers urged Walz and his administration to suspend the permits and require PolyMet to re-write its permit applications. They also suggested that the state require a health impact statement about the project and ask PolyMet to put down a down payment that could serve as a security deposit in the event clean up is needed around the mine site. "We need to recognize that this flawed process resulted in flawed permits," the lawmakers wrote in the letter. "The scandal at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) over EPA concerns related to PolyMet certainly has the appearance of a cover-up. There is no good explanation for the MPCA telling EPA scientists and engineers — who are responsible for protecting our waters — to refrain from sending their detailed concerns in writing." ( Forum News Service) 2. Deputy pleads not guilty in shooting death. Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Brian Krook pleaded not guilty to a manslaughter charge Wednesday afternoon. He was released without bail. In April of 2018 he and other deputies responded to a 911 call about a suicidal man at Lake Elmo Avenue and 34th Street North. Krook, 31, shot and killed Benjamin Evans, 23, after deputies tried to persuade Evans to put down a gun, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said at the time. The BCA also said a handgun was found nearby, as well as a bean bag rifle that the agency said had not been fired. Video from dashboard and body cameras captured part, but not all of what happened. In a statement, Krook’s attorney Kevin Short offered condolences to Evans' family but said Evans was "an armed, suicidal, emotionally disturbed man who refused many commands to put his weapon down." Krook "had no choice but to follow his training and use deadly force," Short added. It’s rare for law enforcement officers to be charged with a crime for killing someone in the line of duty. Krook is only the third Minnesota officer to be charged with manslaughter in an on-duty death. (MPR News) 3. Lawmakers work on drone bill . Minnesota lawmakers want support from police for a proposal to regulate drones that they plan to reintroduce next year. A House-Senate panel on data practices held a hearing Wednesday on the proposed regulations, which include a requirement for law enforcement agencies to obtain search warrants to operate unmanned aerial vehicles in non-emergency situations. A modified version of the bill that failed to pass last session is expected in 2020. “Hopefully we can improve this bill, polish it up a little bit and move forward,” said Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, who chaired the meeting. Representatives of state and local law enforcement agencies provided testimony. Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie told lawmakers that his department has been operating drones for two years, including 42 times this year. Leslie said the county already has tight guidelines in place for drone use. “It’s narrow in scope, and every time we use it, the sheriff citizen advisory council, every quarter, examines all of our use,” Leslie said. Julia Decker, policy director for the ACLU of Minnesota, stressed that drone rules are needed to protect privacy. “Drones are new and powerful tools,” Decker said. “In working with law enforcement to craft exceptions in this bill, we’ve acknowledged the real-world benefits of drone usage. However, drones are also unique in the potential for secret surveillance.” ( MPR News) 4. Supreme Court will hear lake name dispute. The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Department of Natural Resources had the authority to change the name of Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis to its original Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska. The state Court of Appeals ruled in April that the agency overstepped its authority. Because the name had been Lake Calhoun for more than 40 years, the appeals court said, authority to change it rested with the Legislature under statutes governing lake and other place names. The DNR disagrees with that interpretation of the statutes and says it had the authority to change the name. Hennepin County asked the DNR for the change because Lake Calhoun was named for pro-slavery former Vice President John Calhoun. But some nearby property owners challenged the change. (AP) 5. U of M professor allegedly billed thousands in personal spending to the university. A six-month investigation by 5 Eyewitness News found at least $30,000 in questionable spending by a world-renowned explorer and professor of education at the University of Minnesota, including first class flights, expensive meals, and gifts that now appear unrelated to the professor's work at the university. In anticipation of the report, University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel sent an e-mail to all faculty and staff on Tuesday afternoon with the subject line "holding ourselves accountable" and asked them to review the university's expense policy. "It only takes an instance or two of falling short to damage the public trust," Gabel wrote. University administrators recently confirmed they've launched their own internal audit of professor Aaron Doering's expense reports, but KSTP reported administrators were alerted to Doering's alleged misuse of grant funds as early as December 2017. It's unclear what action the university took at the time. Doering, who is serving time in the Hennepin County Workhouse for a domestic assault conviction, remains on paid leave from the university and he continues to collect a salary of $114,000 a year. (KSTP-TV) |