The Lynx catch a Fever and fall behind
Today on the MPR News Update look back at a rough weekend for Minnesota sports fans. Some seniors worry how they might be affected by the proposed voter ID amendment. And we hear from Michael Brodkorb in the wake of his firing from the state Senate over a sex scandal.
ROUGH WEEKEND: The Minnesota Lynx are on a campaign to defend their 2011 WNBA title, but they dropped the first game of this year's finals on Sunday night against the Indianapolis Fever 76-70 at the Target Center. Check out this photo gallery from the Lynx game, then have a look at this gallery from the Vikings-Redskins game, in which Washington snapped the Vikes' three-game winning streak.
THE VIKINGS STADIUMS YOU'LL NEVER SEE: Dallas-based HKS Inc. was picked to design the new Vikings stadium in Minneapolis. Here's a gallery of some of the stadium designs that didn't make the cut. The winner is at the end.
KILL RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL: The Gophers lost too, falling to Northwestern on Saturday 21-13. Adding to the bad news: Minnesota coach Jerry Kill was hospitalized for a seizure after the post-game news conference in his private locker room. He was released from the hospital the next day. University physician Pat Smith said Sunday that Kill is "in excellent health."
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HER NAME WAS TINU: Two years ago, Bob Collins wrote about several suicides in two area high schools. Because schools like to keep these things quiet -- citing a fear of causing another one -- he didn't know the name of the 9th grader from North Oaks who took her own life at Mounds View. He didn't know she was in the student council, played basketball, ran track, loved to dance, and played the cello. Now he does.
WOLF TRACKS: Regulated wolf hunting starts today in Wisconsin and gets underway in Minnesota about two weeks from now. As hunters and trappers head into the woods, the debate over the fate of the wolf follows them, along with lawsuits and public relations campaigns.
BRODKORB SPEAKS: Former Republican state Senate staffer Michael Brodkorb has broken his silence about his firing in the aftermath of a Capitol sex scandal that came to light last winter, after he asked a federal judge to lift the gag order on the case so that he could counter allegations made about him in public. He maintains that his relationship with Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch broke no rules, and continues to insist that he's being treated unfairly.
MENINGITIS SCRUTINY: From a window positioned over his desk, longtime pharmacist Gary Carlson has a bird's-eye view of lab workers filling IV bags in the sterile production line of Fairview Compounding Pharmacy. At its busiest, the Minneapolis facility can manufacture as many as 20,000 doses in month of its most popular sterile drug, which it then distributes among the medical system's six hospitals and about 40 clinics. But like a lot of compounding pharmacies, it's under scrutiny as the national meningitis outbreak spreads - because of the practices at a pharmacy in Massachusetts.
ANOTHER MINNESOTA CASE: The number of confirmed fungal meningitis cases in the state linked to tainted steroids has risen to five, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAILThe presidential race polls, including some that gauge the all-important electoral college, are tightening. Over the weekend, Republican Mitt Romney's campaign filed a federal lawsuit seeking more time for military and overseas voters in Wisconsin. This week, when a black actress who tweeted an endorsement of Romney was subjected to a stream of abuse from other African-Americans, the politics of racial accusation came full circle once again. And abortion is moving to the fore again as a campaign issue. "The next president will get one or two Supreme Court nominees. That's how close Roe v. Wade is," Vice President Joe Biden said. He went on to predict that Romney, if elected, would appoint justices like Scalia who would vote to "outlaw abortion."
SENIOR SCORN: For nearly 70 years, Christeen Stone has voted in every election, the same Maplewood precinct, without having to present a document to prove she is a qualified voter. "It's just an insult to people who have voted all their lives," said Stone, 91, of the proposed voter ID amendment to the state constitution. "They've been good citizens, and then to go in and be suspects in their own country, I don't like that."
VOTER ID DEBATE: The proposed amendment continues to straw strong reaction on both sides. You can join the debate here.
