Almanac: At the Capitol

It should have been good. Rukavina, environmentalists, big business all in one packed hearing room. But the room was hot and the testimony was dry. I counted half a dozen people actually sleeping during the House-Senate hearing today on the possibility of copper mining coming to the Iron Range. The first guy talked for an hour. I think there should be a new rule limiting testimony to 20 minutes per person at the most. Reporters were leaving and dropping like flies. Rukavina did have some great one-liners as usual as he questioned one guy why he would reveal his lucky fishing spot at a mine and questioned the value of a lawyer's life in a cost-benefit analysis. There's no legislation yet. Everyone seems they want both the new jobs and environmental safety. We'll have some "highlights" tonight on Almanac.