Erin Murphy

Ominous news about job losses and financial woes at Minnesota hospitals over the last week coincide with Gov. Pawlenty’s line-item veto of $381 million in General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) grants and his vow to make more cuts by unallotment. But as bad as the doomsday scenarios are, they shouldn’t include St. Paul’s Regions Hospital closing — a prospect that a DFL press release warned of over the weekend.

A ban on credentials for online media to cover the Minnesota House of Representatives was lifted Monday, at least for one state Capitol newshound: Internet and radio reporter Marty Owings. The persistent volunteer journalist for KFAI-FM and Radio Free Nation apparently wore down resistance among DFL House leaders and was awarded a floor pass Monday. [...]

Like many couples, Tim Reardon and his partner Eric diligently prepared everything they needed should one of them die. But when Eric lost his struggle with brain cancer, Reardon discovered that a single error in their legal paperwork meant that he couldn’t fulfill his longtime partner’s end-of-life wishes. Reardon told his story today at a press conference announcing proposed legislation called the “Final Wishes Act” which aims to give same-sex couples some of the same rights legally married couples get automatically.

At the end of Barack Obama’s speech last night, roughly 20 audience members were whisked away to the bowels of the Xcel Energy Center to meet with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The group, assembled by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman during the previous 24 hours, were supporters of Hillary Clinton. They included former Secretary [...]