Don Davis
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Don Davis has been the Forum Communications Minnesota Capitol Bureau chief since 2001, covering state government and politics for two dozen newspapers in the state. Don also blogs at Capital Chatter on Areavoices.
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- Member for
- 5 years 4 months
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ST. PAUL—Millionaire Rob Undersander sat at a Minnesota House witness stand saying he received food stamps for 19 months to prove a point: Not everyone who gets the aid needs it. Democratic legislators did not like his Wednesday, April 11, testimony, particularly Rep. John Considine, D-Mankato. "You knew this was wrong and you did it anyway," Considine said while staring at Undersander. "I find it pretty despicable. .... I am just sorry there is no way we can prosecute you."
ST. PAUL—Minnesota state Sen. Bill Weber released a video in which he tore up paper, as if destroying a rule that could have greatly increased penalties for violating a law requiring plants to surround water. Hours later, on Tuesday, April 10, a state official figuratively ripped up the proposed rule, saying he now knows that it was a mistake.
ST. PAUL — A stick or rabbit dropping in the yard of a Minnesota child care center, or a crayon mark on a table, may be enough to get a citation from state regulators. That is going too far, child care center workers told a state Senate committee Wednesday, March 28, and senators agreed. "If you truly want to stop the child care crisis now ... then you need to hold the Department of Human Services accountable," Elizabeth Bangert of the Here We Grow child care center in Mankato told a Senate health and human services committee.
ST. PAUL — Minnesota's broadband situation is better than some other states but 12 percent of Minnesotans, mostly in greater Minnesota, have internet connection speeds slower than the state standard. "We're not taking the elevator, we are taking the stairs on this one," General Manager Dave Wolf of Gardonville Telephone Co-op of the Alexandria area said Wednesday, March 28, standing alongside Gov. Mark Dayton and other broadband advocates.
ST. PAUL—Democrats and Republicans are getting together to bolster Minnesota's response to serious lapses in care delivered to senior citizens. State legislation to be considered soon was written to improve care already regulated by the state and to require assisted-living and dementia care facilities be licensed. Gov. Mark Dayton said he will ask legislators to appropriate nearly $15 million to make improvements in the rest of the current two-year budget; then, $25 million would be needed in the following two years.
ST. PAUL—Republican Minnesota lawmakers want a law requiring able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work. They said the bill they unveiled Monday, March 12, would not force disabled people or those who need to stay home to care for a dependent to give up Medicaid, known in Minnesota as Medical Assistance. Rep. Kelly Fenton, R-Woodbury, said her bill would "lift Minnesotans out of poverty by encouraging them to get work." If they do not have jobs, they would be required to look for work or be enrolled in a job-training program.
ST. PAUL—Jessica Goodwin was holding her 1-year-old in a Lifetime Fitness Center last November with her four other children next to her and husband not far away when a "man walked up behind me and fully groped my buttocks." The Columbia Heights, Minn., woman talked to managers at the fitness center and police, only to learn the man's action was perfectly legal. She also learned that four other women said he groped them the same day, she said in written testimony given to Minnesota state senators.
ST. PAUL — A state office that exists to protect vulnerable Minnesotans, such as those in nursing homes, is dysfunctional and fails to safeguard people in its charge, a watchdog agency reports. The Office of Legislative Auditor issued one of its most critical reports ever on Tuesday, March 6. Legislative Auditor James Nobles called it "a serious problem in state government." Nobles and Deputy Legislative Auditor Judy Randall told of poor Health Department management, lost case files, lengthy delays and failure to communicate with vulnerable people.
ST. PAUL—Ice seems simple enough: Get water cold enough and it freezes. True, but the science of ice is much more complex, especially when it is in real world bodies of water. Scientists agree on a couple of things: No ice is fully safe and the thickness, and thus safety, of ice can vary greatly in a very short distance.
ST. PAUL—An anti-gun violence rally scheduled before last week's Florida school shooting packed more than 1,000 young and old Minnesotans into the state Capitol Thursday, Feb. 22, encouraging lawmakers who work under the dome to enact legislation to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. Sen. Ron Latz, D-St. Louis Park, gave an example of what he sees as a problem: A store clerk job applicant may undergo a criminal background check, but not all gun buyers do.