Political notebook: Dayton takes to road

Dayton takes to road

Gov. Mark Dayton heads to Norway next weekend to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a Minnesota-Norway military exchange program. The Norway trip will be sandwiched between stops in Washington, D.C., for a National Governors’ Association meeting.

“The Minnesota National Guard and the Norwegian Home Guard have the longest-running bi-lateral troop exchange program in the world,” Minnesota Adjutant General Rick Nash said. “Each year, 100 Minnesota National Guard soldiers and airmen travel to Norway to train on cold-weather tactics; simultaneously, 100 Norwegian soldiers travel to Minnesota and become familiar with U.S. military equipment and procedures.”

Bovine TB gone

Minnesota officials have dealt with bovine tuberculosis in northwestern Minnesota since 2005, but that now has ended.

The eight years of monitoring ceased when studies showed no TB in wild deer.

“We have accomplished what many believed was not possible,” said Michelle Carstensen of the state Department of Natural Resources. “By reducing the incidence of TB in wild deer to an undetectable level and hopefully eliminating it, Minnesota has become an international example on how to successfully respond to a disease outbreak that has a significant wildlife component.”

None of 325 deer killed during the 2012 firearms season tested positive for the disease, the third straight year that happened.

Bovine TB was discovered in cattle operations and wild deer near Skime and state officials worked since then to keep it from spreading.

Working together

University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities officials are working to find ways the two state-run higher education systems can work together.

University President Eric Kaler and MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone and their aides have exchanged ideas about partnerships, including coordinating programs between the systems and buying supplies together.

“This was our second meeting in recent months and demonstrates our mutual commitment to ensuring that the U and MnSCU are working together to serve the higher education needs of Minnesotans," U of M Board Chairwoman Linda Cohen said after a recent meeting.

Klobuchar a chairwoman

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has taken over as chairwoman of the Joint Economic Committee. It is a House-Senate committee that oversees issues relating to the U.S. economy. It recommends economic policies.

“In order to compete in the global economy we need to be a country that thinks, that invents, that makes things in America and exports them to the world,” Klobuchar said. “I have long been committed to efforts to create a competitive agenda for this country that encourages research and innovation, boosts exports and helps our businesses grow and thrive, and I look forward to continuing this work as Senate chair of the Joint Economic Committee.”

— Compiled by Don Davis, Forum News Service

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