Good morning and happy Friday. Here's the Digest. 1. Complaints allege former corrections department official lobbied for husband's group, leaked confidential information. A top Minnesota prison official who resigned last week had been under investigation for weeks for allegedly lobbying on behalf of her husband’s nonprofit and for leaking private, internal data, according to records released Thursday night. The redacted investigative documents were released by the Department of Corrections less than a week after former Deputy Commissioner Sarah Walker sudden departure from her post to seek “unique opportunities” at the local and national level. The documents -- emails and text messages that detail complaints about Walker’s alleged actions -- were requested lawmakers, MPR News and other news outlets. Allegations against Walker include leaking of information to MPR News about a co-worker’s sexual assault by a corrections employee. Investigators were also looking into concerns that Walker lobbied privately for legislation related to her husband’s nonprofit while on state time. There is no indication the inquiry was completed ahead of Walker’s resignation. (MPR News) 2. Iron Range Democrats split with colleagues on PolyMet. A handful of Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday split with their peers in the Legislature, voicing their support for Minnesota's first copper-nickel mining project. In a letter and in separate statements, five state legislators said they supported the development of the PolyMet mine and processing plant set to be built near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt. The lawmakers were joined by a pair of Republican lawmakers who also represent the Iron Range. The comments came as a rebuke to 18 Democratic lawmakers predominantly from the Twin Cities who wrote a letter to Gov. Tim Walz a day earlier asking him to drop all permits for the project following recent reports that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency failed to address concerns from the EPA about the mine. The group of Iron Range lawmakers defended the project and rejected efforts by environmental groups and Democratic colleagues to ring alarm bells about the validity of the project's permits. "The claims by metro legislators and anti-mining groups about PolyMet Mining are downright fabrications," the group of six legislators wrote. "The people of the Iron Range deserve better. The people of the state of Minnesota deserve better. There is no scandal. The agencies have done their jobs. The letter of the law was followed to a 'T.'" Sens. David Tomassoni and Justin Eichorn along with Reps. Dave Lislegard, Rob Ecklund, Julie Sandstede and Dale Lueck wrote the letter and several issued separate statements defending the project. Tomassoni, Lislegard, Ecklund and Sandstede are Democrats. Eichorn and Lueck are Republicans. (Duluth News Tribune) 3. POST board adopts new training standards related to sexual assault. People preparing to serve in Minnesota law enforcement will face new expectations about how to approach cases of suspected sexual assault after a regulatory board voted Thursday to revise training guidelines. The Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training adopted changes to education programs for people in pursuit of their first law enforcement license. Once implemented, the curriculum changes will be reflected in questions that are part of a licensing exam. Going forward, there will be a new emphasis on recognizing symptoms of trauma that sexual assault victims can experience, including signs of shock or inability to recount everything that happened in chronological order. The objectives also will cover ways to take special care of suspected victims and connect them with services they might need. “Listen with empathy and without judgment,” one portion of the guidelines reads. “Assure victims the assault was not their fault, they are not to blame and have nothing to be ashamed of,” says another. (MPR News) 4. GOP congressional hopeful accused of shoplifting. A Republican candidate for Congress who is aiming to unseat Ilhan Omar in Minnesota has been charged with a felony after allegedly stealing from stores. Danielle Stella was arrested twice this year in Minneapolis suburbs over allegations that she shoplifted items worth more than $2,300 from a Target and goods valued at $40 from a grocery store. She said she denied the allegations. Stella, 31-year-old special education teacher, was reported this week to be a supporter of the baseless “QAnon” conspiracy theory about Donald Trump battling a global cabal of elite liberal pedophiles. This week Stella also described Minneapolis as “the crime capital of our country.” She has in the past complained that local police were “overworked and overburdened” and said that, if elected, she would work to reduce crime. In a series of text messages, Stella said: “I am not guilty of these crimes. In this country I am innocent until proven guilty and that is the law.” She added: “If I was guilty of crimes, I would never run for public office, putting myself in the public eye under a microscope to be attacked by all political sides.” (The Guardian)
5. Minneapolis adopts social media policy. Starting in January, Minneapolis’ elected leaders and staff must start using official accounts to speak to the public about city business through sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The City Council unanimously passed a new social media policy Friday that will set new restrictions for Minneapolis’ mayor, 13 City Council members and thousands of employees and volunteers — the first update to the city’s online rules in eight years. A new and significant change will be the creation of city-authorized accounts for those serving in elected positions, an effort to draw a clearer line between personal and government messaging. The policy will also give the city’s communications staff more influence over how public officials use social media, prompting fresh concern the change will make for less candid online discourse. “It’s going to make city government seem a little more impersonal,” said Council Member Steve Fletcher, speaking at a council committee meeting last week. Fletcher voted for the policy, but said as a result he’ll probably post less frequently to Twitter. “I don’t totally love it,” he said, “but I support it.” Others call the new rules a long-overdue update in an age where politicians increasingly use Twitter and social media as a first line of communicating directly to the public.( Star Tribune) | 