Minneapolis TV station KARE-11 has the intriguing headline "What's the deal with the big duck," along with a photo of a giant yellow "toy" duck in front of the Minnesota State Capitol. The story is about an effort to gain support for a bill that would ban phthates from some children's products.

Senator Sandy Rummel, DFL - White Bear Lake, is the chief author of the bill in the senate.

She said she was elected to protect people from harmful things and who better to protect than Minnesota's children.

"We need to remove risk and there should be no acceptable risk especially when it comes to children," said Sen. Rummel.

"We live in a chemical world and some of those chemicals are unsafe and we know that."

I imagine we'll see this duck at other State Capitols around the country in coming weeks. If we can get a copy of the duck's itinerary, we'll know what state legislatures will be looking at phthalate bans this summer.

I wonder if it's also available for birthday parties?