'A dark day for anglers,' and Trump dread

Good morning. Perfect weather today and tomorrow before clouds and storms return later in the week. On tap this week: The walleye crisis continues, and Republicans get ready for the debate. Jon Stewart's final show is Thursday.

DNR Commish Tom Landwehr calls it a "dark day for anglers in Minnesota." Walleye season ends tonight at Lake Mille Lacs due to the walleye population decline, the first time this has ever happened mid-season. Gov. Mark Dayton will hold a morning news conference.

ICYMI: Dayton's announcement at a town hall meeting in Isle that the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe would forgo their walleye harvest for the next year was a moment of drama that brought him a standing ovation from what seemed like an otherwise skeptical and probably even hostile crowd. He also won them over his usual self-deprecating humor.

Alejandra Matos with a good find: Five school districts have spent $2 million to shed bad employees in the past two years rather than go through expensive litigation to get rid of them.

Minnesota ranchers don't want to compete against Argentine and Brazilian beef.

Pat Condon looks at how Republican campaigns are shaping up in Minnesota. Good rundown of the state of play here. (M)any Minnesota conservatives with plans to tune in are still undecided in the wide-open and unpredictable GOP race. They'll be at O'Gara's for a debate watch party.

Getting ready for the debate. Everyone seems to have Trump dread. By the way, who plays Trump in debate practice? Darrell Hammond from SNL is my favorite imitator. ("My marble and gold apartment designed after some of the great palaces of Iraq.")

Best graf: Mr. Trump, in an interview, laughed when asked if he was preparing for Thursday's debate. While he said that his years of television work, "The Apprentice" on NBC, gave him great comfort in front of the camera, he also contended that he had an advantage over most of his rivals: He would be speaking his mind at the debate rather than trying to recall prepared answers or angling for ways to score points against a rival.

Got that? He thinks because he was a game show host, he needn't prepare for a debate to help decide who will be the nominee of a major political party.

The Bush camp tells The Times that Trump is a blessing because he's taking support from Walker, et. al.

Biden weighs getting in.

Clinton with a quick jab at Jeb Bush, and Bush is a bit blindsided.

Politico at the Koch lovefest in California.

Times analysis: Fewer than four hundred families are responsible for almost half the money raised in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Washington Post finds Sen. Lindsey Graham was getting promotions as a reservist while it's not clear if he was earning them. But a detailed examination of Graham's military record — much of it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act — shows that the Air Force afforded him special treatment as a lawmaker, granting him the privileges of rank with few expectations in return.

Quick rundown of Planned Parenthood fight in the Senate

Obama's climate plan comes out today. It's even stronger than the draft plan, though has the same structure of state-based regulations.

Textile mills in the U.S.? It's happening.

Today, for every $1 required to manufacture in the United States, Boston Consulting estimates that it costs 96 cents to manufacture in China.

Due to cheaper logistical and electricity costs and America's stagnant wages relative to Chinese. This is happening in the South, as you might expect, given lower wages and huge tax incentives, but maybe Dayton will call a special session to get on this.

The successful 50-year campaign to roll back the Voting Rights Act. Great long read.

Sunday I wrote about what it's like to be a politician and an introvert, with help from Sen. Branden Petersen and Rep. Paul Thissen.

The West is on fire. My armchair prediction is that water rather than ideology (Islamism etc.) is the issue that will define the next century. Or maybe the blending of the two, as is already happening in the Middle East. Are you ready to capitalize Minnesota?

There goes my retirement. They've reopened the Greek stock market, and shares plunge.

Great profile of swashbuckling monstrous Dallas sportswriter Jim Dent. Lede: He went to Mexico planning to drink himself to death. By January 2014, Jim Dent had alienated anyone who ever loved him. He was wanted on felony warrants in at least two Texas counties—stemming from his eighth, ninth, and 10th DWI arrests. And his book was so late that the publisher canceled the contract. So he cut off his ankle monitors and made his way down to San José del Cabo, on the Sea of Cortez. He got a condo on the beach for $800 a month and started drinking big bottles of Oso Negro vodka, which he could buy for 83 pesos—a little more than five bucks. He soon decided that he liked it there, and he didn't want to die after all.