Who is Janee Harteau, and how will she run the Minneapolis Police Dept?
Today on the MPR News Update we take a look at the next police chief of Minneapolis, learn about the rebirth of Duluth, hear more details from the shooting that claimed the lives of two teenagers near Little Falls and talk about a new trial for a priest who had an affair with a parishioner.
THE NEW POLICE CHIEF (ALMOST): At Police Chief Tim Dolan's retirement party last month at City Hall, Janee Harteau, his soon-to-be replacement, joked she might grab on to the outgoing chief's leg to keep him from leaving. Dolan told her she won't need his help, a sentiment other members of the force also have echoed.
LOOKING UP: After years of economic struggles and budget deficits, Duluth may be poised for a new era of prosperity. The city has announced several major industry investments in the area, the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.9 percent and the local economy is diversifying.
2 TEEN INTRUDERS SHOT DEAD: Minnesota law gives people the right to protect their property with reasonable, even deadly force if circumstances warrant. But the law doesn't permit a person to execute an intruder once the threat is gone. That's at least part of the reason why Byron Smith is now charged with second-degree murder.
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TOO MUCH RELIGION: Last year a Ramsey County jury found Christopher Wenthe guilty of having sex with a woman who had sought spiritual counsel for an eating disorder. But the Minnesota Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial for Wenthe after ruling that prosecutors relied too heavily on Catholic doctrine when making their case.
DEFYING THE TAX MAN: For decades, conservative anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist vowed to drive Republicans out of office if they didn't pledge to oppose tax increases. Many lawmakers signed on. But with the country headed towards a fiscal cliff, some are reconsidering things.
TODAY'S QUESTION: Is this a "read my lips" moment? What do you think of the campaign to get politicians to promise they will never raise taxes? Go to Today's Question and tell us what you think.
LAND RUSH: Ramsey County is now the proud owner of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site, the largest tract of undeveloped land in the Twin Cities and the state's largest Superfund site. It's also the site once favored for a new stadium by the Minnesota Vikings.
WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE: Miami-based Rosie Herrera has danced in music videos, appeared in cabarets and acted in plays, and she's choreographed a show that includes all of those things, burlesque, drag and more for a production at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul on Thursday night.
ORCHESTRAL MANEUVERS: Locked out Minnesota Orchestra musicians say a report by the Star Tribune shows that the orchestra's board and management may have misled the community on its financial health. The report raises questions as to whether the orchestra covered deficits with money from its endowment to help win public funding for an Orchestra Hall lobby renovation.
INDIAN LAWSUIT ENDS: After nearly 17 years of courtroom arguments and congressional negotiations over Indian Country natural resource royalty payments, hundreds of thousands of Native Americans could see the first payments of a $3.4 billion U.S. government settlement by the end of the year.
CLEARING THE AIR: The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is set to finalize a rule that requires industries that emit more than 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year to report their emissions. The agency says it's a step toward cutting down on Minnesota's contribution to global warming.
THE RECOVERY: There's more good economic news this morning. U.S. consumer confidence rose this month to its highest level in almost five years; and Standard & Poor's reported that the Minneapolis area recorded its sixth straight month of home resale price increases.
