Morning newsletter

Signs of progress, perhaps Good morning. Speaker Kurt Daudt meeting with Gov. Mark Dayton this morning for breakfast. Daudt available for comment outside the residence at 9 a.m., all D.C. Sunday morning talk show style. Daudt and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk met until 10:30 last night, Daudt's people say. Progress made. Tea leaves: Dayton cancelled a morning press conference with his MMB and DHS commissioners, where he likely would have railed on the GOP budget proposals. So that seems like another sign of progress. He'll head north after the breakfast with GOP leaders. At 8 p.m., he'll provide remarks at the BOSS Banquet in Cook (North Woods School, 10248 Olson Road E., Cook.) House and Senate are in session, plus conference committees on education, public safety, transpo, taxes, HHS, though they'll need budget targets to really nail it down. Schedule. In remarks after a Capitol Preservation Commission Wednesday (total cost for the renovation now over $300 million, by the way), Daudt seemed eager to wrap it up. (Oh, hey, we have a new website. If you're looking for the politics channel, go to "All Sections" at the top of the homepage and you can find it that way.) More trouble for Erhardt on his House floor bird flu stunt, with lawmakers filing a "letter of protest," Abby Simons reports. Republicans can smell a pickup in the Edina district he's served off and on (mostly on) for more two decades. PoliGraph says Erhardt's claim is false. Oil train derailment in North Dakota rekindles debate here,Jen Brooks and David Shaffer report. Health Department put out state of Minnesota drinking water report, timed to Dayton's water initiatives. Tony Kennedy story. Star Trib is buying City Pages. Washington and beyond Todd Purdum in California, where he examines the complex politics and policies to deal with drought. More than 12 million trees killed there by drought. Huge surprise in the Alberta election changes oil sands politics. More trouble for Christie. A remarkable Times story about the nail salon business and the price of nice nails.