Good morning. Welcome to a new week and a new Digest:
1. Klobuchar looks ahead to New Hampshire. Al Cantor lives in a house of loving division. “My wife and I are strong Democrats but she’s choosing Elizabeth Warren and I’m with Amy Klobuchar,” he said. The Cantors wear their politics on more than just their sleeves. Klobuchar and Warren campaign signs compete for attention along the boulevard outside their home in Concord, N.H. Cantor, who consults for nonprofits, recently declared his support for Klobuchar after a rigorous review of the large field of Democratic presidential contenders. “I meet all the candidates, and sometimes I meet them several times,” he said. MPR News
2. Backlash in Beltrami County. Almost immediately after the 3-2 vote was cast on Tuesday, Jan. 7, which established Beltrami County as the first unit in Minnesota — and the second in the nation — to refuse refugee resettlement, a social media firestorm erupted, laden with calls to boycott the tourism-driven community. Comments from thousands of people across the country poured in on Twitter and Facebook with many expressing that they would no longer vacation or spend money in Beltrami County because of their disapproval of the vote. One Twitter user posted: “My family has vacationed in the Bemidji area for years. Time to make reservations somewhere else.” Another tweeted: “You have the right to vote this way. I have the right to not spend a dime in your county until this decision is overturned.” Bemidji Pioneer
3. Walz makes pitch for investment in water infrastructure. Gov. Tim Walz is proposing $293 million in borrowing to help improve drinking water and wastewater facilities throughout Minnesota. The DFL governor announced the plan Friday at the State Capitol. It was the second in a planned four-part rollout of a bonding bill that is expected to reach $2 billion. Republicans have said the number is too big. Walz said the investment in water-related projects is needed to replace aging infrastructure and meet basic needs in communities. “This will go toward supporting projects to fix pipes and plants that process the state’s sewage and drinking water,” Walz said. “It will harden existing stormwater infrastructure and build new, more resilient infrastructure to manage increased extreme weather events we see as a result of climate change.” MPR News
4. Iran’s impact at home. A week ago Sunday night, after American forces killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani but before Iran retaliated by firing missiles at Iraqi bases housing American soldiers, 5-year-old Alex Haynes was playing with his toy helicopter and screwdriver that Santa had recently delivered. In the bedroom Alex shares with his sister Jalei in Eagan, he was pretending to work on a helicopter just like his dad — a Minnesota National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crew chief who deployed to the Middle East just weeks before — when, suddenly, he burst into tears. “Who’s crying?” his mother, Ja’Mira Haynes, shouted amid the chaos of a home filled with five kids ages 2 to 13. “I think Dad’s dead!” Alex sobbed. It had been 81 days since Sgt. Deonte Haynes headed to Texas to train with his 34th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Hood for their yearlong deployment. Ja’Mira, a type-A yin to her husband’s cucumber-cool yang, started the deployment with confidence: Just one year. I got this. Then came December’s helicopter crash in St. Cloud that killed three of her husband’s fellow National Guardsmen. That’s when her anxiety kicked in. This month’s tension between the United States and Iran has only made it worse. Star Tribune
5. State’s cross country fund shrinking. The number of people buying Minnesota cross country ski passes has dropped dramatically in recent years, down more than 50% from peak winters, throwing the state’s trail grooming grant fund into the red. The problem is so severe that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is delaying payments to local clubs and cities, grants used to pay for trail grooming, until more money flows in. The Great Minnesota Ski Pass has been around since 1983 and is required on most public trails that receive state funds for grooming. The idea was that skiers could buy one pass and ski on trails across the state, knowing they were paying their fair share for grooming and maintenance. Sales of the pass peaked at just over 24,000 in 2001 and hit nearly 20,000 in 2004. But since then sales haven’t been near that high, dropping as low as 4,500 in the no-snow winter of 2012 and hovering near 10,000 the past few years. Duluth News Tribune | 