Star Tribune
Gov. Tim Walz, opponent Scott Jensen once found common ground on some key issues
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and GOP nominee Scott Jensen have framed themselves as political polar opposites who agree on few, if any, issues.
But they once overlapped on some insulin, marijuana and gun policies, particularly back when Jensen was an unpredictable state senator willing to break ranks with his party.
They applauded each other in April 2020 as Walz signed a low-cost emergency insulin program into law. Jensen, a Chaska physician, sponsored the insulin affordability bill in the Senate, and DFL Rep. Mike Howard carried it in the House.
“I want to thank Rep. Howard and Sen. Jensen for the work that you did, for continuing to doggedly pull this thing along … and to deliver a product that it’s our hope does exactly what it said: Makes life-saving insulin affordable to everyone,” Walz said during the bill-signing ceremony held remotely via Zoom.
Jensen returned the praise, describing Walz as a “very positive force” who helped keep negotiations alive until a bipartisan agreement was reached.
“You said we could get this done. You were absolutely committed to ‘can we find the common ground?’ ” Jensen told Walz. “You rejuvenated the effort.”
In March 2018, Jensen came out in favor of having universal background checks for gun sales and transfers. Walz, serving in Congress at the time, was a proponent for universal background checks then and has remained so.
Now running for governor, Jensen says one of his priorities is to expand the right to use deadly force in self-defense. In a video message last year, he said he would also “pass a constitutional carry bill.”
“If we end up with four more years of Tim Walz, I am terrified of what will happen to our Second Amendment rights,” Jensen said in the video.
Walz and Jensen have both encouraged dialogue about legalizing recreational marijuana.
While in the Senate, Jensen co-sponsored a marijuana legalization bill. He said he had concerns about criminalization and wanted to start a discussion.
Since taking office, Walz has called for marijuana legalization and said he’d sign a bill if it reaches his desk.
But in an August interview at the Star Tribune’s State Fair booth, Jensen said he would rather let voters decide on marijuana via a constitutional ballot amendment instead of having the Legislature legalize it.
“If we can have a discussion and then put it on the ballot as an amendment, I think that makes a lot of sense,” Jensen said. He added he thinks Minnesota should consider decriminalizing possession of “trivial amounts” of marijuana and expunging records.
Walz also weighed in on the topic during a State Fair interview. Cannabis prohibition does not work, he said, noting that certain groups have been “unfairly targeted” with its criminalization.
“I’ve always felt that it should be legal, it should be well-regulated,” Walz said. “I trust adults to make their own decisions.”
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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