Good morning.  Raise your hand if you’re going to Target Field to meet the Twins this weekend. Or please take appropriate medical precautions if you’re going all in on the meat sweats with the Saints.

With Congress on its August recess, members of Minnesota’s delegation are scattered across the state and globe. House GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer was in Israel this week with a delegation from the House and members of the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. In a post on X , Emmer said the group met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding “Our resolve to stand alongside the Jewish community, bring the hostages home, and end Hamas’ terror once and for all remains stronger than EVER.” The Israeli government says the group was briefed on the war in the Gaza Strip, heard comments on the issue of humanitarian aid from Netanyahu and gave updates on efforts to release Israeli hostages.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum held a listening session in St. Paul Thursday to discuss federal funding cuts to public media. Leaders at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it would shut down after six decades. McCollum says she's worried about targeted cuts to arts and humanities. “These nonprofits and these media stations had every right to rely on and plan their budget around,” McCollum said after the hearing. “For some of them, they're on such a shoestring that we might start losing, you know, really important community radio stations in October, in two months.” Public media officials testified about how the cuts will affect their stations and networks. Sixteen media organizations in the state, including MPR News' parent company, are set to lose more than $17 million in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting cuts. "Funding from CPB is nearly 10 percent of Twin Cities Public Television’s annual revenue,” Neils Knutson said at the listening session. “As a result of this funding loss, TPT made the extremely difficult decision to reduce its overall workforce, resulting in layoffs of staff throughout the organization." Last month, Congress voted to rescind more than $9 billion in federal funding for public broadcasting and international development. 

The scramble is on after Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s announcement she won’t run again. State Rep. Cedrick Frazier was quick to say he’s looking at running for the premier public law office post. Matt Pelikan, a DFLer who ran for attorney general in 2018, said he is also exploring a bid. Others will too or are being mentioned as contenders, including former acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk. Meanwhile, Moriarty spoke to All Things Considered host Lisa Ryan about the decision to leave after a single term. Her most recent predecessors all had longer stints. Hear Lisa’s interview with Moriarty here.

A ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court on guns already has legislation in the works. Sen. Ron Latz, the top DFLer on the public safety committee, plans to introduce a bill next session to close what’s now seen by some as a gap in law regarding ghost guns. Those are the privately assembled firearms or other guns that lack a serial number. A state law on the books since 1994 makes it illegal to carry certain guns without that kind of a marking or purposely altering a serial number. A ruling this week by Minnesota’s highest court left the law intact but made it harder for prosecutors to use as the basis for charges when someone has an unserialized gun. Latz, of St. Louis Park, said the decision creates a problem that the writers of the 1994 law could have never imagined. “No one could’ve foreseen a world where you could print the parts to make a gun at home, but that’s the world we live in today.” Given the close party divide in the Legislature and 2026 being an election year, it could be tough for any gun-related bills to move forward.

The man alleged to have killed a top state lawmaker and her husband and shot another DFL senator and his wife resulting in injuries pleaded not guilty on Thursday. Vance Boelter entered not guilty pleas on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations during a federal court arraignment. Boelter, 58, looked unphased as the charges were read out in court and told the judge he was prepared to be arraigned. The next status hearing in the case is scheduled for November.

Republican lawmakers are asking for more answers about a cyberattack targeting the city of St. Paul. In a letter to St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter Thursday, House Speaker Lisa Demuth, along with Reps. Jim Nash, Harry Niska and Paul Novotny, requested answers about the scope and severity of the attack and a timeline on when issues might be resolved. They said the public deserves answers, especially since so many state government agencies are based in the capital city.

Minnesotans who rely on sober homes are in limbo after a new law took effect last week that prevents addiction treatment providers from offering housing support for those who go to outpatient treatment. Star Tribune reporter Jessie Van Berkel reports that advocates worry the change could derail progress that people made in addiction recovery programs. And longer term, the policy could force some sober homes to close their doors. Lawmakers approved the policy that mirrors anti-kickback laws at the federal level after NuWay Alliance and Evergreen recovery were alleged to have violated the federal rules by offering free or reduced price housing to attract clients and most of those people used Medicaid to pay for treatment.