Republican Brad Finstad soundly defeated (by a three-to-one margin) G-O-P challenger Jeremy Munson in Tuesday's primary election for U-S House in southern Minnesota's 1st Congressional District -- meaning he'll be on the ballot this fall against Democrat Jeff Ettinger.  And Finstad also is the apparent winner against Ettinger in a special election and will serve the rest of the late Congressman Jim Hagedorn's term.  He says it gives him momentum for the November election... "It's I think a sign or a signal that... common-sense southern Minnesota conservative values that I've displayed my entire life and career are what voters are asking [...]

Republican-endorsed candidate Jim Schultz will be on the ballot this fall against Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, after beating G-O-P challenger Doug Wardlow by more than 15 points in Tuesday's primary election.  Schultz says people responded to his message: "Minnesotans deserve a safer state -- a state in which they can live and raise their families in safety, where they can go to our major cities and be confident they'll be safe, where they can live in our major cities and be confident that they'll be safe -- and we haven't had that for the past few years." Wardlow highlighted differences [...]

Though cases of COVID are down, relatively speaking, the cumulative psychological impact of two-and-a-half years of dealing with the pandemic is taking a toll. So says Dr. Kaz Nelson with the University of Minnesota... "There's tremendous fatigue from people taking steps to mitigate and manage living in a pandemic and a very strong urge to adopt the previous patterns and behaviors that we had prior to when the pandemic took place." Dr. Nelson says it's important for our health--both physical and mental--that we continue to follow the advice of public health officials and infectious disease experts when it comes to being [...]

As back-to-school purchases head into high gear, the state Revenue Department is reminding you to save those shopping receipts. Spokesman Ryan Brown says there are two valuable K-12 tax benefits: "K-12 educational credit does have income limitations but subtraction does not and most parents will qualify for that subtraction if they don't qualify for the credit." Brown says last year, more than 19,000 families received the K-12 Education Credit and saved an average of $261. Nearly 130,000 families received the K-12 Education Subtraction with an average subtraction of $1,207.

A bill that just passed in the Senate would provide comprehensive relief to all generations of toxic-exposed veterans for the first time in U-S history. U-S Senator Amy Klobuchar says it's been a bipartisan effort to get the bill passed and... "We've done some really good things in here to make sure that they get treated for conditions related to toxic exposures and before this that was not the case." Klobuchar says with the bill "we're telling our nation's heroes that they are not going to be our generations Agent Orange...we're not going to wait that long."

Governor Tim Walz this afternoon (Wed) at a "Rally for Democracy" at the State Capitol says many Minnesotans benefited from the fights that happened before us... "It is frustrating that we're fighting for women to make their own choices about their health care." Walz is talking about a leaked draft opinion that suggests the U-S Supreme Court could overturn the 1973 Roe -v- Wade decision legalizing abortion.

The largest property tax cut for homeowners and renters in over 20 years... child care tax credits...  and no state income tax on Social Security benefits for those making under 75 thousand dollars -- among highlights of Democrats' tax cut bill the Minnesota House passed today (Wed, on a vote of 69-to-62).  Dilworth Representative Paul Marquart: "It looks at our families, it looks at our seniors and say(s), how can we be of the most help with this tax bill." Republicans say Democrats could lower state income taxes permanently for Minnesotans, except... ..."spend is what you do -- spend, spend, spend [...]

The Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate is threatening to *not* give the University of Minnesota any funding from a supplemental higher education bill, unless the Board of Regents establishes a special commission to address students' and parents' concerns about some athletics programs being cut at the "U."  Republican Senator Jason Rarick from Pine City: "I didn't want to tie up funding to the University of Minnesota to this....  I wanted them to respond to what the people of Minnesota are asking them to do.  They failed!" Saint Cloud Democrat Aric Putnam says he also wants a special commission, but withholding funding from the [...]

Controversy continues to swirl after the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion suggests an end to legal abortion.  Sarah Stoesz (stays) with Planned Parenthood says there are already legislatures in the U-S where lawmakers... "Attempts to make abortion illegal specifically refer to ectopic pregnancies and wanting to protect the life of the fetus in an ectopic pregnancy even though we know that it would endanger the life of the woman carrying that ectopic pregnancy." An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus--and most often occurs in a fallopian tube.

It's Walk and Bike to School Day in Minnesota (WED). MnDOT's Dave Cowan says there are many benefits to walking or biking to school, including... "Creating safe routes to school, building a sense of community or school spirit and inspiring families to use their feet for the school commute a little more often." Students can also participate in a Bike to School Day poster contest by creating and submitting posters showing how they feel when they ride a bicycle to the Minnesota Safe Routes to School Facebook page using the hashtag mnbikes. The top three posters will win prizes.