Good morning! It's national bad poetry day — make time to rhyme today. 

Gov. Tim Walz issued a sweeping executive order Tuesday that aims to prevent the mining of copper, nickel and other precious metals within the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeast Minnesota. The order directs the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency not to issue any mining permits or leases in the area , which spans about 350 square miles of the Superior National Forest within the Rainy River headwaters surrounding the wilderness. Any proposed mining project in the state — even on federal lands — requires permits and environmental approvals from state agencies before it can move forward. The executive order, if it stands, would likely end the prospects of Twin Metals, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining company Antofagasta. Twin Metals has worked for over a decade to build an underground copper-nickel mine about nine miles southeast of Ely and just three miles from the southern edge of the wilderness. “I am using my full executive authority to protect the waters and wildlife of the Boundary Waters and to ensure the outfitters, small businesses, and communities that depend on it continue to thrive for generations to come,” Walz said in a statement accompanying the executive order. “It’s our duty as Minnesotans to ensure the sacred place remains wild, pristine, and unharmed.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth is criticizing Gov. Tim Walz after an MPR News/APM Reports investigation raised questions about Minnesota’s group home industry. The latest installment of the investigation centers on Sekou Dukuly, a Liberian official tied to Minnesota group homes where multiple residents have died. The investigation calls into question whether the state’s Department of Health and Department of Human Services are conducting enough oversight over the state’s group homes, where vulnerable adults are housed and cared for. Minnesota House Speaker Demuth is expected to talk today, along with her running mate Ryan Wilson, about her “updated” plan to tackle public services fraud. In a statement, Demuth said the investigation “raises enormously troubling questions about the Walz administration’s failed oversight of the state’s group home industry.” Both Demuth and DFL gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar are scheduled for interviews on MPR News today. 

A Blaine city council member and candidate for Minnesota House says her vehicle was covered with obscene photos over the weekend, but police say it was a juvenile matter. Leslie Larson says her vehicle was vandalized, when a group of four people put photographs of a hand holding up a middle finger all over her vehicle. The incident was caught on camera. Blaine Deputy Police Chief Joe Gerhard says the incident is not related to Larson's political campaign, but related to juvenile activity. He said the incident is no longer under investigation and is considered closed. He said there was no damage to the vehicle, and there are no criminal charges. Larson, a Republican, is challenging incumbent DFL Rep. Matt Norris for House seat 32B.

Minnesota cities and counties are increasingly divided over Flock cameras, with some police agencies touting the technology as a powerful tool for solving crimes while others are shutting down cameras amid privacy concerns. In Medina, a city west of Minneapolis with fewer than 8,000 people, Police Chief Jason Nelson told the city council earlier this year the license plate reader technology helped investigators track down a suspect in the kidnapping of a 9-year-old girl. The department also uses the cameras to locate stolen vehicles and investigate high-profile burglaries, including one in which police tracked a suspect all the way to Florida. But as Nicole Ki reported, the technology is facing growing backlash . At least four Minnesota cities have reported Flock cameras being vandalized or stolen, including Winona, where all eight cameras were taken.

The head of Minnesota’s Republican Party made some risky moves this primary season, but they may have paid off. Walker Orenstein at the Minnesota Star Tribune breaks down the contentious GOP endorsement process earlier this summer and party chairman Alex Plechash’s decisions to undermine his party’s gubernatorial endorsee and President Donald Trump’s pick in the race. Although Kendall Qualls won the Republican endorsement in the governor’s race, Plechash paved the way for Lisa Demuth to continue in the race. Plechash acknowledged problems with the voting technology at the endorsing convention and said because of the “confusion” that caused, any candidate should feel free to continue to the gubernatorial primary. Plechash also publicly condemned Mike Lindell, who won Trump’s endorsement. In the end, Lisa Demuth prevailed with about 43 percent of the vote, which many Republicans believe sets them up for their best chance at success in November. Walker also walks us through Plechash’s political maneuverings farther down the ticket.

Next month the state will stop using hotel rooms for crisis respite, a Medicaid-funded service. Jessie Van Berkel and Sarah Ritter at the Star Tribune report that a temporary solution to try to get children and vulnerable adults in crisis out of emergency rooms has backfired and the state will stop supporting the practice. Minnesota doesn’t have enough treatment facilities or psychiatric beds for people in crisis, so post-pandemic, some counties began using hotel and motel rooms as temporary placements for people in crisis — all paid for by Medicaid. A 13-year-old in a Woodbury hotel room broke a window, survived on fast food, didn’t get schooling and was sometimes left alone while he was supposed to be getting services to help him emotionally stabilize. A 16-year-old meant to be with someone 24/7 got out of their room and stabbed a hotel guest with a steak knife. A vulnerable adult who also needed 24/7 supervision left a hotel and was hit by a car. Hennepin County stopped using hotels for people in crisis and the Minnesota Department of Human Services said in June that people getting crisis respite services can’t be placed in hotels. DHS said anyone already in a hotel must stop being served there by Sept. 15. Berkel and Ritter break down the data and the human stories behind the numbers — and ask where will the people who were being placed in hotels go now?