MinnPost

Speeding in your car to work, to pick up your children from school, or go from one errand to the next not only wastes money in gas and sends harmful emissions into the air, it barely saves you time, new research says. It is something to think about as gas prices stay elevated throughout the summer months and add pain to day-to-day driving and seasonal road tripping.

WASHINGTON – In 1775, a year before the nation declared its independence from Great Britain, the Continental Congress convened with representatives from all 12 original colonies established the congressional frank. The frank was a taxpayer-funded way to give members of that early American assembly a way to inform their constituents, a practice that has changed over the ensuing 250 years but remains vigorous.

This post comes from our Capitol Conversations newsletter. Sign up here to get Matthew Blake’s takes on the latest Minnesota state government news, delivered to your inbox Thursday mornings. Dear Minnesotans, A potpourri this week as I learn that summer in Minnesota is also unbearable. I wrote a story about Nate George, who the Republicans endorsed in the state auditor race, and Facebook posts fudging his fraud-fighting credentials.

“What’s the worst building in Minneapolis, and why is it the Multifoods Tower?” That’s the question I jokingly asked my friend Vince a while back. He’s one of the Twin Cities’ most dogged local historians, and we sat down at a St. Paul brewery because I needed to pick his brain. I wanted to know, specifically, if the City Center / Multifoods Tower was the worst building in the city and, if not, what competition it had.

President Donald Trump has endorsed MyPillow founder Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor, praising him as “one of America’s greatest and most hard working Patriots” and giving formal backing to a fellow election denier a day before the Republican president delivers a national address he says will focus on election security.

It’s likely just the start. Though the Minnesota skies were free of that smoky, hazy air from wildfire smoke well into July, that changed this week with the outbreak of wildfires in Superior National Forest in the northern border.

For South Dakota-based artist Ray “Rock Boy” Janis, mentors have become his collaborators. Together, they’re central to Janis’ new exhibition at Minneapolis’ All My Relations Gallery, called “Sakowin Synergy.” The show’s title refers to  the people of the Seven Council Fires – the Oceti Sakowin – an historic alliance of Dakota, Lakota and Nakota nations.

Skip to content Steve Sack is drawing again, and publishes an editorial cartoon, like this one on Trump and Iran, on MinnPost each Thursday. For more of Sack’s work, follow him on Substack. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Keep up with the politics, culture and stories shaping Minnesota with MinnPost's daily newsletter.

Public trust in government is fragile. Regardless of political affiliation, many Americans have grown skeptical of the institutions that serve them. The reasons are numerous and complex, but the consequences are clear: when trust declines, our ability to solve problems together declines as well. As our nation prepares to elect new leaders, there is an important lesson worth remembering: leadership is not primarily about authority, power or winning. It is about serving.

The common loon, Minnesota’s state bird, is more closely related to a penguin than a duck. Despite loons predominantly living in the northern hemisphere and penguins mostly living in the southern hemisphere, researchers consider them to be genetic cousins. Taxonomic analyses placed them in an evolutionary cluster tracing back 40 million to 50 million years ago, along with herons and pelicans. While loons and ducks share habitat on Minnesota lakes, they aren’t close relatives.