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Briefly

Senate ratifies worker contracts

ST. PAUL (AP) — The Minnesota Senate has signed off on raises for the state’s 30,000 public employees and voted to plug a budget shortfall in state pension plans.

Underfunded pensions and state employee contracts have been controversial at the Capitol for years. Republicans on a legislative panel last fall rejected new contracts with a 2 percent raise for state workers, arguing they were too large. And Dayton vetoed last year’s attempt to shore up nearly $30 million in unfunded pension liabilities for this year because it was lumped in with other, more controversial measures.

The GOP-controlled Senate approved both measures Monday, including a unanimous vote to increase pension funding while making some cost-saving cuts.

But it’s unclear if and when the House will follow suit. Neither bill has advanced in that chamber.

Fatal shooting investigated

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Homicide investigators are reviewing neighborhood surveillance video as they work to find the person responsible for a shooting that left one man dead and a juvenile injured near the Little Earth housing complex in Minneapolis.

Authorities say the juvenile was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center Sunday with non-life threatening injuries and was later released. Acquaintances say he played on the Little Earth basketball team.

KSTP-TV says relatives have identified the man who was killed as Alexander LaGarde and that he didn’t live at Little Earth. A candlelight vigil was held for LaGrade Sunday night near where he was shot.

No one has been arrested. The circumstances that led to the shooting are under investigation.

Elk population up slightly

ST. PAUL (AP) — An annual population survey shows a slight increase in northwestern Minnesota’s elk population.

The Department of Natural Resources said Monday the population is estimated at 97, compared with 79 last winter and 83 in 2016.

Area wildlife supervisor Doug Franke says biologists remain concerned about the herd near Grygla in Marshall County, where observers counted 15 elk. That’s down from 17 last year and 21 in 2016, even though the herd hasn’t been hunted since 2012. The DNR’s goal for Grygla herd is 30 to 38 elk.

Observers counted 75 elk in another herd, near Lancaster in Kittson County, compared with 61 last winter and 21 in 2016. The herd goal is 50 to 60.

Minnesota’s largest elk herd ranges across the border with Manitoba and is harder to count.

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