“They’re acting as if we had that view in 1995 or in 2005 and we didn’t,” Scissors said of the committee’s thinking of the U.S.-China relationship during the period when Walz frequented China. He said it’s unfair to apply the current thinking to Walz back then.

The early 90s was also a time when student exchange to China was common during the “high point of U.S.-China engagement,” said Robert Daly, director of the nonpartisan Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States.

“That activity was all conducted and was seen as being in the American national interest,” Daly said of student exchange trips.

“I would be surprised if this probe yielded anything about these activities, other than what Governor Walz and his students have themselves described,” Daly continued.

During Walz’s six terms in Congress, he often criticized the country’s human rights abuses.

He was a member of the Congressional Executive Commission on China, a group that looks at human rights issues in the country. He also held meetings with high-profile activists from China, Hong Kong and Tibet, including the Tibetan spiritual leader in exile, the Dalai Lama, whom China accuses of being a separatist.

City officials are asking voters to approve a 0.5% sales and use tax to help cover the cost of a new Chanhassen Bluffs Community Center. The new center, planned for the intersection of Highway 212 and Powers Boulevard, would include an indoor walking track, an ice arena that doubles as a venue space, field house, indoor playground and other amenities. The project would cost nearly $80 million and would be funded using the new tax, the property tax levy and money from a sale of the existing recreation center and other sources.

The city of Cottage Grove is asking taxpayers to approve a 0.5 % sales and use tax to help pay for projects at three different parks. Each project will be a separate question on the ballot, but whether one project passes or all three pass, taxpayers would only see a 0.5 % sales and use tax increase.

If approved, Hamlet Park would see up to $17 million for a new building, play equipment, skateboard park, athletic facilities, splash pad, and other updates. The Mississippi Dunes Park would see $13 million for improvements including an interpretive center, habitat restoration, a kayak, canoe, and small boat launch, outdoor educational spaces, walking and hiking trails, and a nature-themed playground. The River Oaks Golf Course and Event Center would see $6 million for pickleball courts, indoor multi-sports simulators, a winter mountain biking course, upgrades to the building and patio, and a nine-hole putting green course.

City leaders are asking residents to continue a 0.5% local sales tax until $23 million has been collected. They hope to pay for improvements to Excelsior Commons Park, including walkways, beaches, picnic areas, tree preservation and erosion control efforts.

The city of Oakdale is asking taxpayers to support an extension of an existing 0.5% sales and use tax for five more years, from 2048 to 2053, to help pay for inflationary costs of constructing a new public works facility. The extension would last until an additional $6 million has been raised or for five years, whichever comes first.

Voters will see three questions asking them to approve 0.5% sales and use taxes to fund up to $65 million in park and recreation projects. City leaders hope to bring in $45 million to build a new community center that includes gyms and sports courts, an indoor walking track, meetings rooms and other spaces. They’re seeking $9 million to help update Veterans Park, including replacing the pool liner and basin, upgrading the ice arena and resurfacing trails, among other projects. They also hope to build a new $26 million educational facility at the Wood Lake Nature Center, a project that would also be covered with state and federal funds. More information can be found at www.ourlegacyourfuture.org.

Bethel University officials announced this week that the school will cut tuition for all undergraduate students to about $26,000 — about $18,000 less than this year — starting in the fall of 2025.

The reduction won’t cost the university much to implement. Because of scholarships and aid, the new discount reflects what most students would already have paid.

“This really is driven around transparency and being clear with our students and families,” Ross Allen, president of Bethel University, said in an interview.

Private colleges have gotten into a “pricing game” where there’s a high sticker price, but many discounts or scholarships are available to students who qualify. But that can be frustrating and confusing to navigate for families, Allen said.

Some people rule out private colleges altogether because of their perceived cost, said Paul McGinnis, Bethel University’s vice president of marketing and enrollment.

“Very few people pay the full sticker price and we want to just be clear and simple,” he said, adding that much of the national conversation around whether college is worth it uses colleges’ sticker prices, which can be deceiving.

Students will also still be eligible for federal financial aid and scholarships from the Arden Hills school, which enrolls roughly 2,000 undergraduates and 2,000 students in its graduate, online and seminary programs combined.

This year, the cost for tuition, room and board and fees is about $57,000, McGinnis said, but that will drop to about $39,000 for everything next year. Room and board costs roughly $12,600, he said.