Polinaut: July 20, 2009 Archive

Daily Digest

Posted at 6:38 AM on July 20, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

Gov. Tim Pawlenty made an unannounced trip to Iraq and delivered his condolences to a Minnesota National Guard unit that lost three members in an attack there last week. AP, Forum Communications and the Pioneer Press have stories.

Pawenty will go to Puerto Rico next month for a GOP fundraiser.

After the attorney general sued, a Minnesota company agreed to stop arbitrating credit card disputes.

Sales of E85 fuel are falling in Minnesota.

Panel wants simpler absentee voting.

MNSCU is set to approve budget and tuition increase.

DNR steps up its fight against invasive species.

2010

Former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton is recovering from surgery.

State Rep. Marty Seifert, R-Marshall ranks job growth as the state's top challenge.

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Politics take a backseat to the pain of war

Posted at 5:13 PM on July 20, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)

My editors assigned me to report today on Minnesota's latest casualty, Cpl. Benjamin Kopp, 21, of Rosemount. Kopp died Sat. of wounds suffered July 10 in Afghanistan.

It's been a tough few days for several Minnesota families. For Kopp's mom, Jill Stephenson, she'll bury her only child. It was an honor to speak with her in time of grief.

"He made me more proud than I really ever thought was possible in life," Stephenson said. "And now in his passing, in the conditions in which he died and being an organ donor, words can't express how elated I am and how proud I am to be his mother."

I also talked to several friends who described Kopp as funny, caring, outgoing, intense and hard working. He will be missed.

If you need a reminder of the cost of war, check out the U.S. Department of Defense news releases for just the last month. Click and read a few of the notifications for casualties. Do you feel it? I still do.

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