The Boy Scouts deal with yet another challenge; Klobuchar and Franken deal with gun violence

In this file photo, a Boy Scout salutes traffic as he stands next to a flag display on a freeway overpass September 11, 2008 in Lafayette, California. A Ramsey County judge has ordered the Boy Scouts of America to release all confidential files on sexual abuse from 1999 to 2008. The decision comes as part of a civil suit filed on behalf of a child who was abused by a scoutmaster. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)by Matt Sepic, Minnesota Public Radio,
Hart Van Denburg, Minnesota Public Radio
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Welcome to the MPR News Update. In the news today, a Minnesota judge orders the Boy Scouts to release more secret files about sexual abuse, advocates for immigration reform gather at the state Capitol, the walleye population in Lake Mille Lacs reaches its lowest level in decades, and Minnesota's two U.S. senators will take part in the first congressional hearings today on gun control following the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., last month.

GUNS: Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken are both Democrats who sit on the Judiciary Committee. Before the day is out they'll have heard from former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, her husband and astronaut Mark Kelly, and Wayne LaPierre, the top lobbyist for the National Rifle Association.

'FIRST OPPORTUNITY': Klobuchar says she hopes the hearings lead to legislation soon: "I think it's going to be our first opportunity to really talk through the administration's proposals, which I think there's a lot of good things in them. And it's going to give us an opportunity to hear what people think about them."

REALITY CHECK: LaPierre famously said after the Connecticut massacre that, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." But in Washington state, one such "good guy" -- a private citizen who drew his gun in defense of others -- paid a heavy price for such an action.

SCOUT ABUSE: A Ramsey County judge has ordered the Boy Scouts of America to release all confidential files on sexual abuse from 1999 to 2008. The decision comes as part of a civil suit filed on behalf of a child who was abused by a scoutmaster. Judge Elena Ostby's order says the Scouts must provide the plaintiff with the files in the next two weeks.

IMMIGRATION DEBATE: Local groups that support changing the nation's immigration laws, including a path to citizenship for those here illegally, will gather at the state Capitol Wednesday. The issue has scaled the priority list in Washington with proposals from a bipartisan group of senators and President Barack Obama. Minnesota groups that have been pushing for immigration reform for years say there's finally a ray of hope.

DYING MOOSE: Researchers at the Minnesota DNR will collar and track 100 moose in northeastern Minnesota to try and solve a mystery. They want to figure out why the moose are dying. The DNR moose study is the largest ever conducted in the state. It gets underway just as federal wildlife biologists are wrapping up the first phase of a moose study at Voyageurs National Park. They're investigating how moose and their habitat might respond to a warming climate. Find that story here, and a photo gallery of images from one flight over the park here.

HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES: The state budget office has launched a website about how a health insurance exchange will work in Minnesota. Officials project at least 1 million Minnesotans will use the exchange to comparison shop for health insurance policies or enroll in Medicaid starting in October. Until now it's been difficult to find complete information about this key part of the federal health care law.

ELDERLY EXPLOITATION: Hennepin County prosecutors Tuesday charged a Maple Grove city council member with perjury and for financially exploiting her ailing father before he died last year. According to the complaint, Leann Sargent used her power of attorney and authority over her father's finances to take more than $150,000 from his bank accounts and credit cards.

COMPETING MISSIONS AT DNR: Setting aside a 20-year-old policy, the Minnesota DNR is opening up some forest tracts to logging, while at the same time adding protections to animal species living in those forest ecosystems. The two moves highlight the built-in conflicts that come with the competing missions of the agency.

FAIR TAX? Gov. Dayton and Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature are sparring over the definition of a fair tax system. Republicans in the House and Senate Tax committees blasted Dayton's budget plan because they say it would force middle-income Minnesotans to pay more in sales taxes. Dayton disputes that claim and says he's creating a fairer playing field for all Minnesotans by lowering property taxes and the sales tax rate.

WALLEYE LIMITS: It's going to be a little harder to keep fish at one of the state's most popular fishing spots this year. Concerns over a Lake Mille Lacs walleye population that's reached its lowest level in decades has prompted regulators to drastically cut the total amount of walleye that can come out of the lake. It's a measure aimed at balancing the needs of the lake's ecosystem and the region's economy.

TWITTER VERSED: Lastly, we bring news from the Twitterverse, a place where Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is more than comfortable; he's downright gabby. Now, the candidates vying to replace him have some catching up to do, as this handy chart makes clear.

Matt Sepic is a newscaster and general assignment reporter for MPR News.

Hart is the morning online editor at MPR News.

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Looking for ways to deter gun violence; combating a deadly flu outbreak

Getting a flu shot in St. Paul. The Minnesota Department of Health is now declaring that Minnesota is in the midst of a severe flu season. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel)by John Wanamaker, Minnesota Public Radio,
Hart Van Denburg, Minnesota Public Radio
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FLU DEATHS: The Minnesota Department of Health is now declaring that Minnesota is in the midst of a severe flu season. The agency reports that over 400 people were admitted to the hospitals last week for laboratory-confirmed flu. The death toll from flu has jumped to 27 people.

CAPITOL AGENDA: Democrats in the Minnesota House are placing education, property tax relief, jobs and health care at the top of their to-do list for the 2013 Legislative session. Among the proposals: Property tax refunds for homeowners and new investments in economic development and international commerce.

GOP SALARIES: Republicans in the Minnesota Senate are criticizing their DFL counterparts for slashing staff salaries and jobs in the Senate Republican Caucus. Senate Republicans lost more than half of their staff and the remaining employees saw their pay cut after the GOP lost the majority in November. Republican Senate Minority Leader David Hann says the action is unreasonable.

SEGREGATED SCHOOLS: A report Friday from the University of Minnesota says the state's open enrollment policy is increasing racial segregation in Twin Cities metro area school districts. Open enrollment was set up in the 1980s to let families choose any district they want their children to attend. But this study, the first of its kind in Minnesota, says that's resulted primarily in white students leaving racially diverse districts.

GUN VIOLENCE SUMMIT: Nearly half of the firearms recovered from crime scenes in Minnesota were first bought locally, according to a recent study. It's against that backdrop, and national stories about gun violence, that a regional conference on gun violence took place in Minneapolis Thursday. Attendees included law enforcement leaders, elected officials and scholars who study crime and violence participated.

VIOLENT DEATHS: The United States suffers far more violent deaths than any other wealthy nation, due in part to the widespread possession of firearms and the practice of storing them at home in a place that is often unlocked, according to a report released Wednesday by two of the nation's leading health research institutions. URS QUALMS: Newly-released documents shed light on why the Metropolitan Council rejected URS Corporation for engineering work on the planned Southwest light rail line.

GET YOUR ICE HOUSES READY: The ice is thick enough for the 23rd annual Brainerd Jaycees $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza. The Crow Wing County sheriff's office issued organizers an event permit Thursday. Sheriff Todd Dahl and Sgt. Scott Goddard met with Brainerd Jaycees on Gull Lake's Hole in the Day Bay to verify ice conditions.

OJIBWE HYMNS: Music is a time honored part of worship in most religions. For many Ojibwe people in northern Minnesota, hymns are much more than an expression of religious devotion. They represent a unique piece of Ojibwe tribal culture that members are trying to preserve.

400 BAR STORIES: It's the bar where Golden Smog, Zuzu's Petals, and Semisonic all began, and where Dan Wilson first debuted his big hit "Closing Time." It's the bar where Bonnie Raitt hung out while in the Twin Cities to record her debut album. It's where First Ave stage manager Conrad Sverkerson kicked out his first rowdy patron. And it's where Peter Ostroushko was playing pool when he got the call to go play on Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks album. Now it's closing, but its stories lice on.

CLIMATE CAST: This week on Climate Cast, we discussed the role climate change may have played in Hurricane Sandyand the drought, and looked at some of the most extreme Minnesota weather events in 2012.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: A fine day on Lake Superior, the Packers dispatch the Vikings, the Wild return, the Legislature reconvenes, pond hockey's returning, and Ricky Rubio hides under a towel. See it all in MPR photos of the week.

John Wanamaker is a newscaster for MPR News.

Hart is the morning online editor at MPR News.

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