Good morning, and happy Wednesday.
Minnesota’s long term care facilities have long struggled to find enough people to fill jobs, but MPR’s Peter Cox reportsafter two years of COVID-19, the industry is reeling and a hard reality is beginning to take a toll on the residents of these facilities and their families. The pandemic has crippled the industry’s ability to recruit and retain workers. The state’s long-term care workforce has plummeted by around 20 percent during the last two years. Since 2019, 18 nursing homes have closed, including six so far this year. Complaints alleging violations of state and federal policy tied to the immediate health of residents have doubled over the last two and a half years. It’s metastasized into a situation observers say may be compromising care quality and can’t easily be remedied.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson has had his license suspended for 30 days.FOX 9 reports: The Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board voted to suspend Hutchinson’s license for 180 days, but 150 days were suspended as long as Hutchinson doesn’t have any new offenses for the next three years. The decision stems from Hutchinson's conviction for a drunk driving crash on Dec. 8, 2021, while returning from a police conference in Alexandria. Hutchinson went on medical leave from his $186,000 a year job in late May.
The leader of the Republican National Committee says Democrats, including Minnesota 2nd District Congresswoman Angie Craig, are talking about abortion to distract from economic problems. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik reports: Ronna McDaniel was in Apple Valley Tuesday to campaign for Craig's GOP challenger Tyler Kistner and other Republicans. She said Craig is trying distract voters with her focus on threats to legalized abortion. "She's talking about one thing and you know what, as a woman, I find that pretty insulting because women don't wake up thinking about one thing all day long,” McDaniel said. “We are worried about our kids and the deficits that they have from the shutdowns you had in Minnesota. We are worried about the fact that jobs are leaving our states. We are worried about gas prices. We are worried about inflation." In response, Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said Republicans' extreme positions on issues including abortion rights are not appealing to a majority of Minnesotans. "There's nothing to suggest that their very extreme positions on a whole host of issues are going to allow them to now suddenly appeal to suburban voters or voters in the urban core," Martin said.
Several Minnesota county attorneys on Tuesday announced their support for Attorney General Keith Ellison’s bid for reelection. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports: at a Capitol news conference, attorneys from Anoka, Cook, Hennepin, Ramsey and Winona Counties, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Attorney General Skip Humphrey, said they supported Ellison. Winona County Attorney Karin Sonneman said Ellison supported county attorneys as they prosecuted challenging violent crime cases. “Keith knows, unlike his opponent, that justice is delivered in the local trenches across Minnesota at the city and the county prosecutors’ offices,” Sonneman said. “And, unlike his opponent, Keith also shares the vision that many of us have that criminal justice is a multifaceted issue.” The endorsements come after Ellison’s GOP challenger Jim Schultz last month received endorsements from 22 county sheriffs and other police organizations. Polls show the two are running neck-and-neck.
Why do some people run for Congress when they will more likely than not lose? MinnPost has the story: Like others challenging congressional incumbents in Minnesota, Jill Abahsain is running in a district where her party is disadvantaged. Voters in the 7th District supported former President Trump over President Biden 63 percent to 34 percent. Still, year after year, underdog candidates like Abahsain run for Congress, trying to beat tremendous odds. Incumbents to the U.S. House of Representatives enjoyed a nearly 95 percent reelection rate in 2020 and that winning record isn’t expected to change much this year. “At the end of the day, everyone runs for Congress for their own reasons, and it’s difficult to assign blanket motivations to a whole swath of candidates,” said Jacob Rubashkin of Inside Elections. “Some folks do it out of a sense of obligation, they feel that voters should always have a choice, even if it’s one where the outcome is easy to predict. If no one else is going to run, they will.” | 