The Morning Report 2/13/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Top Stories: DFLers offer sweeping transportation initiative, Bill to dedicate funding for the outdoors and arts breezes through committee, $10 million in cuts weighed for St. Paul schools, St. Cloud officials eagerly await Pawlenty’s State of the State address, Twin Cities housing market lags in January, Twins: Ballpark will cost an extra $22 million.
Agriculture:

• S.D. lawmakers approve changes in farmland property tax assessment, MPR
• Bovine TB eradication effort continues in northwest MN, AP
  

Best of the Blogs and Think Tank Thoughts:

• St. Paul Pioneer Press reporters morph into animals - political animals, Politics in Minnesota
• Carpe per diem, The Big Question - Star Tribune
• And now for the least of them, The Political Animal - Pioneer Press
  
• Playing chicken with 35W bridge funding..and other MN legislative notes, True North
• About those thugs redux, Shot in the Dark
• Norm Coleman: Clearly against torture..except when he isn’t, mnpACT!
• Public money for private business: Empowerment Zone bonding for former director’s project, TC Daily Planet
• The rumor - Is Coleman in danger of a challenger? - Maybe, True North
• Ciresi attacks Franken. A lot., MN Publius
  
• MN GOP press release: ‘On Iraq, Franken is only kidding himself,’ MN Democrats Exposed
  
• Until you suffer some, True North
  
• Transpo bill unveiled, Mary’s Page - TPT
  
• On LGBT issues, a less controversial legislative session is expected in 2008, MN Monitor
• Not enough gold with that maroon, Growth & Justice Blog
• First Critical Mass jury trial, Critical Mass Arrestee Support
  

Business/Economy:

• Ecolab’s sales sweep profit up 30 percent, Star Tribune
• Crumbling house market bedevils metropolitan area, Star Tribune
• Twin Cities housing market lags in January, MSP Business Journal
• MoneyGram to get $710 million bailout, Pioneer Press
• Minnesota Power to raise rates for wholesale customers, Duluth News Tribune
  
• Oberstar: NWA merger would hurt travelers and Minnesota, MinnPost
• Edina consulting firm says ‘no sale,’ Star Tribune
• New era dawns for rail building, Wall Street Journal
• Oklahoma House bill would exempt free restaurant food from sales tax, Dolan Media Newswires

Congress-House:

• More goings from Bachmann office, MinnPost

Crime/Police:

• Federal officials to take second look at reward for Moussaoui, AP

Education:

• $10 million in cuts weighed for St. Paul schools, Star Tribune

Environment:

• Minnesota agency suggests ballast cleanup, Duluth News Tribune

Health Care:

• Health care a top legislative issue, Red Wing Republican Eagle
• Governor and legislature largely in agreement on need for health care changes, MPR

Legislature:

• DFLers offer sweeping transportation initiative, Star Tribune
• Bill to dedicate funding for the outdoors and arts breezes through committee, Pioneer Press
• DFL leaders propose raising gas tax in transportation bill, AP

Opinion-Commentary:

• Katherine Kersten: Ethanol: Is it a miracle cure or another dose of snake oil?, Star Tribune

Opinion-Editorial:

• Editorial: Gridlock at Capitol carries high price, Star Tribune
• Editorial: Short session, short tempers?, Red Wing Republican Eagle
• Editorial: Greenhouse affect, Wall Street Journal
• Editorial: One bad night shouldn’t doom caucuses, Rochester Post-Bulletin
• Editorial: Find a roads bill that can be overridden, Bemidji Pioneer

Pawlenty:

• Putting words in the governor’s mouth, MinnPost
• St. Cloud officials eagerly await Pawlenty’s State of the State address, MPR
  
• Showdown over the gas tax, MinnPost
  

Stadiums:

• Twins: Ballpark will cost an extra $22 million, AP
• State’s infrastructure debate includes Target Center and the X, too, MinnPost

Technology:

• Comcast, under investigation by FCC, defends its practice of hampering file-sharing traffic, AP

Transportation:

• Community plan, not transportation plan, would help to solve commuting problems, MinnPost
• Northstar commuter line extension to Cambridge considered, Pioneer Press
• Central Corridor rail line clicks a step closer to reality with plan, Star Tribune
  
• Getting the LRT through the U of M, The Bridge
• House leader expects full funding for Twin Cities rail line, AP
  

Z-File: Irresistible stories beyond the purview of PIM

• Scandinavian bread you don’t knead, Chicago Tribune