Capitol View for November 29

Good morning. Looks great. Little full. Lotta sap.

The State Emblems Redesign Commission wants the public to weigh in by Friday on the finalists for the next state flag and state seal. The panel spent yesterday ruminating over the early feedback, which hasn’t been particularly kind. The input can be logged here. MPR’s Dana Ferguson says the commission is so far hearing from people upset by the lack of a loon (why they and some others are slighting the abstract loon entry is beyond me). Sen. Steve Drazkowski told the panel that bypassing the state bird on the flag was a miss. "If the people of Minnesota can't relate to our flag, it's not going to be around long. And I think that's what we're missing from the flag." Commission Chair Luis Fitch argues that using the bird on a flag wouldn't encompass all Minnesotans. "It’s a bird that, yes, it’s our state symbol but it doesn’t represent the people everywhere in the state since we haven’t seen it."

Dana also tracked down another designer of one of the six flag finalists. He’s Andrew Prekker of Luverne and he told Dana he had been mocking up flag possibilities before the commission put out a public call for submissions. We’ve introduced you to four people now who have shed more light on their work and what went into it.

Minnesota’s secretary of state says his office will use new software to keep closer tabs on grants it administers. Secretary of State Steve Simon responded to a legislative audit out yesterday that recommended tighter controls around grants. Read the audit here . The overall audit found sound compliance with accounting practices. Auditors did say Simon's office didn’t universally require grant recipients to include invoices or receipts with financial reports. Those are used to make sure funds were spent on eligible purposes and that leftover grant money is turned back. Simon told auditors that a new grant management system will close the accounting gap, beginning with local reimbursements for the 2024 presidential nomination primary.

Distrust in the 2020 election results and disinformation campaigns are central to an ongoing legal battle involving Minnesota pillow-maker Mike Lindell. Lawsuits against Lindell seeking steep damages persist. Lindell is onto his latest set of lawyers after the prior attorneys quit over lack of payment. The Star Tribune says Lindell is bringing in a Virginia-based law firm to defend him in the defamation cases brought by voting machine manufacturers.

And that’s a perfect segue to an entertaining and insightful read about Lindell. The Minnesota Reformer’s Deena Winter spent time as a fly on the wall of Lindell’s world, which she artfully captures in one sentence: “At MyPillow headquarters in Chaska, Minnesota, religion, politics, pillows and a kinetic CEO fuel a never-ending tornado that Lindell flies around in nearly every minute of every day, selling — always selling — his latest set of sheets, pseudo-Biblical prophecy, election fraud theory, grievance.” Deena also gets into the toll Lindell’s election conspiracies have exacted on the business that launched him: “He says he’s spent millions on this quest and his employee-owned company has lost hundreds of millions of dollars amid the fallout, and employees haven’t gotten a dividend in three years.”

Minnesota has a new federal judge. By a 49-46 vote, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jeffrey Bryan for a spot on the U.S. District Court bench. Bryan had been on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. He’ll be the first Latino federal judge in Minnesota. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar praised Bryan's years of legal experience, saying it helped draw bipartisan support. “This is really a tribute to Judge Bryan and those who have worked with him over the years, who stood by him. And you know, at a time where things are really polarized, it was really great to have a nominee that got support on both sides of the aisle,” she said. He'll replace Judge John Tunheim, who is moving to senior status.