Good morning happy Friday. Here’s the Digest.
1. After an exam this weekDFL Gov. Mark Dayton’s office and Mayo Clinic said the governor’s prostate cancer has not spread. The recommended treatment options are surgery or radiation. A Mayo Clinic spokesman described the cancer as “localized, treatable and curable.” A clinic spokesman says treatment shouldn’t hamper Dayton’s ability to carry out his duties as governor. Dayton said last week he has no plans to leave office prior to the end of his term in early 2019. (MPR News)
2. A Minnesota House committee approved a bill that would prohibit local governments from adopting minimum wages, unpaid leave and other worker benefits that are more generous than those offered statewide. Bar owners, trucking company representatives and retailers said if the local regulations stand they would create an untenable patchwork of expensive labor law from city to city. Advocates for higher minimum wages, union representatives and social justice groups - the majority of those who testified on Thursday - opposed the measure. (MPR News)
3.A nonprofit serving Somali-American youth has refused a $500,000 grant from the federal Department of Homeland Security because of President Trump’s refugee and travel restrictions. Ka Joog was one of two Minnesota groups that had received funding in the latest round of the nation’s Countering Violent Extremism program, known as CVE. In a statement released late Wednesday, Ka Joog leaders said, “As Minnesotans, we are deeply troubled by our nation’s new administration and their policies which promote hate, fear, uncertainty, and even worse, an unofficial war on Muslim-Americans and Immigration.” (MPR News)
4.The White House is disputing reports that the first military action under Trumpwas approved without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup operations. “It’s hard to ever call something a complete success, when you have the loss of life or people injured,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said. Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, 36, was the first known combat fatality of Trump’s presidency. Three other U.S. service members were wounded in the raid, and more than a dozen women and children were killed. “But I think when you look at the totality of what was gained to prevent the future loss of life … it is a successful operation by all standards,” Spicer added. (Los Angeles Times)
5. After promising a radical break with the foreign policy of Barack Obama, President Trump is embracing key parts of the former administration's strategy, including demanding that Russia withdraw from Crimea and threatening Iran with sanctions for ballistic missile tests. In the most startling shift, the White House issued an unexpected statement appealing to the Israeli government not to expand the construction of Jewish settlements beyond their current borders in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Such expansion, it said, "may not be helpful in achieving" the goal of peace. (New York Times)
