The Morning Report 3/24/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Top Story: Consulting firm’s photos show 35W bridge was warped in 2003, MnDOT won’t say when the state knew; NTSB won’t comment on photos.

Agriculture:

• Growing locally, legislating nationally: Rules hinder state’s specialty farmers, Star Tribune
• No grapes for Merlot, but potatoes for vodka, New York Times.
• Fuel costs dim prospect of profit for agriculture in Mississippi, Dolan Media Newswires

Best of the Blogs and Think Tank Thoughts:

• Is it possible for metro DFLers to represent St. Cloud?, SCSU Scholars
• Norm Coleman: Truth in LMV, mnpACT!
• Larry Pogemiller: Elitist, True North
• Pawlenty going back on higher ed promise?, Blue man in a Red district
• Minnesota DFL loves its pork, True North
• Talking moderate, voting liberal: Melissa Hortman, Let Freedom Ring
  
• Minnesota is blue, MN Blue
• Michele Bachmann uses freedom of the (taxpayer-paid) press to promote herself, MN Monitor
• Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Media?, True North
  

Business/Economy:

• Merger plans grounded, Northwest focuses on survival, Star Tribune
• Survey: Outstate MN especially glum about economy, AP
• State budget deficit defies easy solution, Red Wing Republican Eagle
  
• Two Minnesota banks to share Visa windfall, Star Tribune
• City may hand off Portland project, Star Tribune
• Coal gasification financing still elusive, despite help from carbon concerns, MPR
  
• Landscaper helped execs trim taxes, Star Tribune
• Ethanol: Power of the future? Or future disaster?, Rochester Post-Bulletin
  
• Hoping to get healthy through HSAs, Star Tribune
• For Ciresi, another departure, Star Tribune
• Big Dollar stores closing in region, Examiner. Fridley-based company closing stores in MN and SD.
• China may be new land of opportunity, AP. MN is one of the states where high schools are pursuing Mandarin Chinese most aggressively.
• Bottlenecks along border harm Great Lakes economy, report says, AP. MN part of ‘a single economic region linked by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River system.’

Campaigns:

• Endorsement is only first round in GOP struggle to knock off Walz, Star Tribune
• The day you won my vote: Evy Engrav-Lano, MPR

Congress-Senate:

• Klobuchar to discuss economic development on Tuesday visit, Red Wing Republican Eagle

Education:

• Learning lines and life lessons, Pioneer Press
• Minneapolis schools with low scores will get overhauls, Star Tribune
• Teachers react to plans for a ‘fresh start,’ MPR
• A new middle school will focus on girls, MPR
• Petition could mean vote on different facilities plan, Duluth Budgeteer News
  

Elections:

• Instant runoff election idea goes to St. Paul Charter Commission, Pioneer Press
• GOP state parties are in dire straits, Politico. No mention of MN; Schwarzenegger says CA state GOP is ‘dying at the box office.’

Health Care:

• Family practice popular with UMD medical students, Duluth News Tribune

I-35W Bridge Collapse:

• Photos show warping in MN bridge’s connector plates up to 4 years before deadly collapse, AP
• Funds to aid 35W bridge survivors go unclaimed, Star Tribune
  

Legislature:

• Legislature faces big dollar issues when it resumes, MPR
• Legislative issues update, Red Wing Republican Eagle
  
• A quick guide to Minnesota’s open-government laws, Pioneer Press
• Budget crunch may hit constitutional offices hard, MinnPost
• Local residents to share issues with state lawmakers, Bemidji Pioneer
  

Media:

• Newspapers’ new owners turn grim, New York Times. ‘The near term and medium term at the paper is more negative than what we expected,’ said OhSang Kwon of Avista Capital Partners, which bought the Minneapolis Star Tribune in late 2006.
• Media companies exchange content as they form online ad networks around their brands, AP
• CBC to BitTorrent Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister. CBC. Canada’s CBC will be the 1st major broadcaster in North America to release a high quality, DRM-free copy of a primetime show using BitTorrent technology - and an iPod version too.

Opinion-Commentary:

• Mark Dayton: This time, let’s be fair about the budget gap, Star Tribune
• Lori Sturdevant: D
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