A new documentary on the Jacob Wetterling kidnapping, St Louis County gets creative to secure construction cash, and the U.S. Senate overturns a 20-year mining ban near the BWCA.
Transcript
WITH HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE STATE, I’M XAN HOLSTON.
COMING UP…
[JACOB WETTERLING: MY FULL NAME IS JACOB IRVIN WETTERLING ... MY FAVORITE FOOD IS STEAK. MY FAVORITE COLOR IS BLUE.]
WHERE YOU CAN SEE A NEW DOCUMENTARY ON THE JACOB WETTERLING CASE THIS WEEKEND.
AND... SAINT LOUIS COUNTY GETS CREATIVE TO SECURE CRITICAL CONSTRUCTION CASH …
BUT FIRST...
[THE YEAS ARE 50, THE NAYS ARE 49, AND THE JOINT RESOLUTION IS PASSED.]
--HJ RES 140 PASSES--
WITH THE VOTE... THE U-S SENATE OVERTURNED A 20-YEAR FEDERAL MINING BAN .... BRINGING MINING NEAR THE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS CLOSER TO REALITY …
THE HOUSE PASSED THE RESOLUTION TO REVERSE THE BIDEN-ERA BAN ON NEW MINING LEASES IN JANUARY … SO ... THE SENATE VOTE ALLOWS TWIN METALS MINING TO PURSUE ITS PLANS FOR A COPPER-SULFIDE MINE.
NORTHERN MINNESOTA REPRESENTATIVE PETE STAUBER INTRODUCED THE RESOLUTION … SAYING THE NORTHLAND IS RICH WITH CRITICAL MINERALS LIKE COPPER … NICKEL … AND COBALT … THAT THE U-S DESPERATELY NEEDS.
STAUBER SAYS REMOVING THE BAN ON NEW MINING LEASES ISN’T AN OPEN INVITATION ... ANY NEW PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS TO MINE WILL REQUIRE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS … AND FEDERAL AND STATE APPROVAL.
[REP. PETE STAUBER: ALL IT DOES IS REMOVE THE DANGEROUS, MISGUIDED BAN THAT STOPS US FROM CONSIDERING ANY PROJECT.]
U-S SENATOR TINA SMITH SAYS MINING NEAR THE B-W-C-A WON'T BENEFIT MINNESOTANS OR U-S CITIZENS …
AND THAT THE CHILEAN OWNER OF TWIN METALS — ANTOFAGASTA — WILL SHIP MINNESOTA’S MINERALS TO CHINA FOR PROCESSING BEFORE SELLING THEM ON THE OPEN MARKET.
[SEN. TINA SMITH: THE REAL WINNERS OF THIS DEAL ARE THE CHILEAN BILLIONAIRES WHO WILL FURTHER LINE THEIR POCKETS WITH PROFITS FROM THIS MINE]
--RIVER POLLUTION CONCERN--
CONCERNS ABOUT MINING NEAR THE B-W-C-A WATERSHED GO FAR BEYOND ECONOMICS … A NATIONAL RIVER CONSERVATION GROUP RECENTLY RANKED THE SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER THIRD ON ITS LIST OF THE NATION’S MOST ENDANGERED RIVERS.
THE RIVER RUNS ABOUT 75 MILES THROUGH THE B-W-C-A … FEEDING LAKES, STREAMS, AND WETLANDS.
THE GROUP WARNS SULFIDE-ORE MINING THREATENS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WITH ACID DRAINAGE AND TOXIC RUNOFF … ENDANGERING FISH HABITAT, WILDLIFE AND SOME OF THE CLEANEST WATER IN MINNESOTA.
[MUSIC TRANSITION : 03]
--HENNEPIN COUNTY WARRANT FOR ICE--
HENNEPIN COUNTY PROSECUTORS HAVE FILED THE FIRST CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST A FEDERAL AGENT FOR HIS ACTIONS TIED TO OPERATION METRO SURGE.
PROSECUTORS ISSUED AN ARREST WARRANT FOR FELONY ASSAULT CHARGES FOR ICE AGENT, 35-YEAR-OLD GREGORY DONNEL MORGAN JUNIOR OF MARYLAND.
THEY SAY HE POINTED A GUN AT TWO PEOPLE IN ANOTHER CAR … WHILE HE ILLEGALLY USED THE SHOULDER TO PASS TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAY 62 IN RICHFIELD BACK IN FEBRUARY.
--KAXE — ST. LOUIS COUNTY PLAS--
ST. LOUIS COUNTY SAYS IT FOUND AN UNUSUAL SOLUTION TO PROTECT ITS LOCAL LABOR AGREEMENTS AND KEEP MILLIONS IN FEDERAL FUNDS...
MEGAN BUFFINGTON OF AMPERS STATION KAXE EXPLAINS.
[MEGAN BUFFINGTON: ST. LOUIS COUNTY HAS FOUND A WORK AROUND TO AVOID BEING FORCED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN SUPPORTING LOCAL LABOR OR RECEIVING MILLIONS IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR ROAD AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION.
FOR YEARS, THE COUNTY HAS USED PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS … PLAS ARE PRE-HIRE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS THAT ESTABLISH LABOR PROTECTIONS LIKE WAGES AND HOLIDAYS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WORKERS ARE UNIONIZED.
BUT THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION HAS TO GIVE THE OKAY FOR PLAS TO BE USED ON FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECTS … IT HAS YET TO MAKE A DECISION WITH NO CLEAR TIMELINE AS TO WHEN IT WILL.
THE AGENCY TOLD ST. LOUIS COUNTY THAT IF IT USED PLAS WITHOUT APPROVAL, FIVE PROJECTS PLANNED FOR THIS YEAR WOULD NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR THEIR $6.5 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS.
IN A MONDAY MEMO, THE COUNTY SAID IT WILL DELAY THREE OF THOSE ROAD PROJECTS AND EXCHANGE FUNDING WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION … THAT WAY IT CAN CONTINUE TO USE PLAS.
ST LOUIS COUNTY WILL GIVE MNDOT ITS FEDERAL FUNDS FOR THIS YEAR IN EXCHANGE FOR MNDOT’S FEDERAL FUNDS NEXT YEAR.
THE MEMO SAYS THIS IS A HIGHLY UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE AND WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.
IF ST LOUIS COUNTY DOESN'T COMPLETE ITS DELAYED PROJECTS NEXT YEAR, IT COULD SET UP ALL OF THE PARTNER AGENCIES IN NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA FOR A MAJOR LOSS OF FEDERAL FUNDING.
FROM THE KAXE NEWSDESK, I'M MEGAN BUFFINGTON.]
--WALZ IMPEACHMENT VOTE--
AFTER A SHARPLY PARTISAN DEBATE… HOUSE REPUBLICANS FAILED IN THEIR ATTEMPT TO OPEN IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATIONS INTO GOVERNOR TIM WALZ AND ATTORNEY GENERAL KEITH ELLISON.
THE RESOLUTION WAS TIED TO FRAUD ALLEGATIONS IN STATE PROGRAMS.
IT FAILED ON A PARTY-LINE VOTE IN THE HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE.
--WINONA MISSING WOMAN --
WINONA POLICE SAY A MISSING WOMAN HAS BEEN FOUND SAFE ... AND SHE IS NOW IN THE RAMSEY COUNTY JAIL FACING CHARGES OF FELONY BURGLARY AND GIVING FALSE INFORMATION.
THIRTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD BRIDGET MARTINSON HAD BEEN MISSING SINCE APRIL 6TH, WHEN SHE WAS LAST SEEN IN DOWNTOWN WINONA.
THE RAMSEY COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE ARRESTED HER AROUND 12-THIRTY THURSDAY MORNING.
--JACOB WETTERLING DOCUMENTARY--
AND FINALLY …
A NEW DOCUMENTARY ON THE JACOB WETTERLING CASE PREMIERES THIS WEEKEND AT THE MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.
“ECHOES IN THE NIGHT” TELLS THE STORY OF THE CRIME THAT HAUNTED MINNESOTA FOR DECADES — AND THE WETTERLING FAMILY’S LONG FIGHT FOR ANSWERS AND REFORM.
JACOB WAS ABDUCTED IN 1989 WHEN HE WAS ELEVEN YEARS OLD … AND WAS MISSING FOR 27 YEARS.
JACOB’S PARENTS WILL JOIN THE DIRECTOR FOR A LIVE Q-AND-A AFTER THE SCREENING.
FOR NORTH STAR STORIES, I’M XAN HOLSTON.