Good morning, and welcome to another Monday.
Minnesota’s largest state government employee unions reached new contract deals on Friday that will bring their members the biggest raises in many years. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports the tentative agreements involve DFL Gov. Tim Walz’s administration, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 5 and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees. Union leaders say the new contracts would bring raises of 5.5 percent this summer and 4.5 percent next year. And they pointed to other adjustments to the pay scale to boost ranges for certain positions. Adam Novotny, co-chair of negotiations for MAPE, said his union fought for bigger raises but settled for what the union said were still the biggest two-year pay bumps in decades.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar says the 36-hour mutiny by the leader of the Wagner group of Russian mercenaries shows that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been weakened. Klobuchar was asked on NBC’s Meet the Press about the events that began unfolding on Friday. “We saw here a demonstrable crack in Vladimir Putin's strength,” Klobuchar said. “We saw visible rejection of his war policy by someone who had been an ally and now had turned into insubordination, taking over a city of a million people, marching his troops and his tanks within 124 miles of Moscow. And then you see Putin having to condemn this on their own country's TV. That's what happened.”
The recent crash that killed five women in Minneapolis has many questioning why sentences for criminal vehicular homicide seem so lenient. The Star Tribune had a look: Prosecutors could elevate the charge to murder, but for a host of legal reasons, criminal vehicular homicide is a common charge — and the one that often receives scrutiny for its wide range of punishment. The crime falls in a category of Minnesota's fourth-most severe offenses — on par with aggravated robbery and below the state's three degrees of murder charges. Criminal vehicular homicide, which can encompass reckless or drunken driving, carries a guideline sentence of about three to five years in prison, but it can be as high as 15 years for repeat offenders, according to state law and the state's sentencing guidelines set by a commission created by the Legislature. It's possible that Derrick Thompson, if convicted and sentenced strongly on all counts he was charged with last week, could be imprisoned for the rest of his life, several legal experts said. But that's not the typical case.
First Lady Jill Biden made a brief visit to the Twin Cities on Saturday afternoon as part of President Joe Biden's campaign for re-election in 2024. MPR’s Feven Gerezgiher reports her first stop was a fundraiser for the Biden Victory Fund in Minneapolis hosted at the home of major donors Jim and Mary Lawrence. There, she heralded her husband’s action on the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine-Russia conflict, and the debt ceiling, according to a pool report. “Nothing can slow him down. He’s ready to finish the job, as we get ready to jump back into the campaign,” said Biden. Biden’s second and last stop before departing for Nashville, Tenn., was the Twin Cities Pride Festival in Loring Park. She made brief remarks to a gathered crowd.
The New York Times noted a major shift in public opinion one year after the Supreme Court decision that ended the constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years: For the first time, a majority of Americans say abortion is “morally acceptable.” A majority of them now believe abortion laws are too strict. And for the first time in two decades, Americans are significantly more likely to identify as “pro-choice” than “pro-life.” The increase in support for abortion rights could affect the 2024 presidential election. More voters than ever say they will vote only for a candidate who shares their views on abortion. But Republicans and those who identify as “pro-life” are less motivated by the issue than Democrats and those who identify as “pro-choice,” who are far more concerned about abortion rights. “This is a paradigm shift,” said Lydia Saad, the director for U.S. social research for Gallup, the polling firm. “There’s still a lot of ambivalence, there aren’t a lot of all-or-nothing people. But there is much more support for abortion rights than there was, and that seems to be here to stay.”
Minnesota legislators lifted a two-decade ban on studying a commuter rail line in the southern metro suburbs, but they didn’t approve any money for a study. MinnPost reports: Proponents have long hoped for a transit alternative that could ease road congestion in the southern suburbs. On the average day in 2022, 287,253 vehicles crossed the three busiest freeway bridges over the Minnesota River. One 2001 feasibility study suggested a Dan Patch commuter line could carry 7,500 riders on the average weekday. “As I was door knocking, I heard from a lot of folks about the transportation issues that we have down here — a lot of congestion,” said Rep. Jess Hanson, DFL-Burnsville, who originally authored the repeal legislation. “There’s only a few ways across the river and all of them are treacherous depending on the time of day.” | 