All politics is local: Brooklyn Center's state senator is Chris Eaton. Eaton's husband Tim Willson ran for Brooklyn Center mayor in 2018, but lost in the runoff to Elliott. Now Eaton is criticizing Elliott's decision to fire longtime city manager Curt Boganey, who "is a personal friend and does an excellent job." Eaton also suggested Elliott, a first-time elected official, might lack experience to command the city's police. [Read more from Axios' Nick Halter]
Elliott won his 2018 race against Willson comfortably, beating him by about 10 percentage points or 1,000 votes, and getting above 50 percent in every precinct.
Gov. Tim Walz's emergency powers were extended another 30 days today. The governor justified the extension by citing the recent wave of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Walz has been exercising emergency powers since March 13, 2020, a total of 13 months and counting. [ Read more from the Star Tribune's Briana Birschbach]
Don't call it a State of the Union: President Joe Biden will address a joint session of Congress for the first time on April 28. It's not technically a State of the Union address — presidents don't give those until their second year in office — but for all intents and purposes these habitual first-year speeches function the same. Except, of course, that nothing is the same in the pandemic, which might lead to fewer people in the House chamber than usual for these speeches. [ Read more from The Associated Press]
Another day, another legal defeat for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, who just had his emergency powers to limit restaurant capacity struck down by the state's conservative-controlled Supreme Court two weeks after they overturned his mask mandate. The ruling will have little immediate practical effect, since Wisconsin doesn't currently have an active limit in place. [Read more from The Associated Press]
Something completely different: Film director Michael Bay is no one's idea of a cinematic genius. But watch his films carefully, as millions of people have, and there is — if you'll pardon me — more than meets the eye. This surprisingly fascinating video essay highlights how Bay isn't a hack director just translating scripts to screen, but rather has a unique (if not exactly sophisticated) vision and technique that makes his films "overblown, dynamic and distinct." [ Watch "What Is Bayhem"]
Listen: The Clockwork Quartet was a group that attempted a decade ago to create an ambitious steampunk multimedia project. Very relatably, it fizzled out after a few months, but they still left a few intriguing songs behind, including "The Doctor's Wife," a dark tale of monomania and mad science. [Listen]
