The Morning Report 7/31/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Top Story: Franken campaigns on drug prices for seniors.

Best of the Blogs and Think Tank Thoughts:

• Congratulations, Steve Sviggum, Politics in Minnesota
• House Race Jeers, Cheers And Website Tips, Politics in Minnesota. The good, the bad and the ugly websites for 2008 House races, plus handy tech tips.
• Coleman changes his mind on Stevens money, The Political Animal
• Complaint returned ‘incomplete,’ SCSU Scholars
• No one’s asking permission to protest RNC in Minneapolis or Bloomington, Minnesota Independent
• Minneapolis Police award winning embarrassment, Urban Renaissance Coalition
  
• Bring back Stepin Fetchit: Katherine Kersten’s non-existent ‘new black leaders,’ Minnesota Independent
• ‘Those mobster ads’ and why union choice issue really matters, Minnesota Brown
• Lord Faris says Franken doesn’t have Minnesota values, Minnesota Democrats Exposed
• Dog licks dog, Shot in the Dark
• Sonia Pitt — The by-product of government on the cheap, mnpACT!

Business/Economy:

• Foreclosure rate rising in Hennepin suburbs, Star Tribune
• Biz services firms projecting growth: report, MSP Business Journal
  
• Airport leader wants facts on Delta plans for Minnesota, Star Tribune
• The foreclosure fixer, Finance and Commerce
• Cleveland Cliffs posts record quarter revenues, Mesabi Daily News
• MSP descends in busiest airport rankings, MSP Business Journal
• Delta to raise baggage fees, Atlanta Business Journal

Campaigns-Senate:

• Franken says proposals would lower senior drug costs, Pioneer Press
• Franken says feds should negotiate Medicare drug prices, MPR
  
• Coleman to donate indicted senator’s money, Pioneer Press
• Franken’s jokes, Coleman’s digs: Do voters really care?, MinnPost
• Reality Check: Norm Coleman’s bowling buddies, WCCO
  
• Al Franken is starting to look like Ollie North, New York Observer
  

Campaigns:

• Paulsen vs. Madia: Among the best-funded races in the nation, MinnPost
• DFL challenger Tinklenberg rips Bachmann on energy policy, MPR
• Report: Upper Midwest focus of presidential ads, AP
• Democrat Sarvi cross-endorsed by Independence Party, MinnPost
  

Crime/Police:

• $2 million bias settlement between officers, Minneapolis derailed, Star Tribune

Environment:

• Environmental groups bordering Mississippi River seek limits on pollution, urging feds to act, AP
• Green building, Finance and Commerce
  

Government-Local:

• City asks judge to reverse verdict, Red Wing Republican Eagle

I-35W Bridge Collapse:

• Drivers adapt to life without 35W bridge, MPR
• 3 officers’ OT is a windfall for pensioners, Star Tribune

Legislature:

• Tschumper to hold forum on proposed transmission lines, Rochester Post-Bulletin
  
  

Media:

• Writers and business interests: How far should transparency go?, MinnPost

Opinion-Commentary:

• Craig Westover: Well done, Minnesota Department of Health (seriously!), Pioneer Press
• Dane Smith: Minnesota needs more investment, St. Cloud Times
• Steve Kelley: John McCain’s education adviser has a history of incompetence, Dolan Media Newswires

Opinion-Editorial:

• Editorial: Why give awards in botched police raid?, Star Tribune
• Editorial: We don’t think that’s ’safe,’ MnDOT, St. Cloud Times
  

Pawlenty:

• Pawlenty: Let’s govern like Sam’s Club, The Swamp
• Pawlenty becomes a punch line as VP hype continues, KSTP
  

Public Health/Safety:

• Fired by MnDOT, now at Homeland Security, Star Tribune
• The land of 10,000 laws, Finance and Commerce
• Minnesota’s new laws take effect Friday, Pioneer Press
  
• Report: Xcel nuclear employee had phony engineering degree, Finance and Commerce
• Outbreak example of nation’s ‘largely broken’ system, Osterholm says, Star Tribune
• Duluth explores options for combining police and fire, MPR
• Foodborne illness cases give Minnesota lawyers something to chew on, Finance and Commerce
• Jury seated in Olga Franco trial, MPR
• Feelings mixed about no-smoking ban at Olmsted fair, Rochester Post-Bulletin
  

Republican National Convention:

• City Council panel OKs cab fare increase, rejects RNC surcharge, Star Tribune
• Bloggers will be in full force at Republican National Convention, MPR
• St. Paul will provide soap box for RNC protesters, Star Tribune
• Look who’s coming to the big bash, Pioneer Press
  
• St. Paul in the Spotlight, MPR
• Anti-war protestors continue walk from Chicago to RNC, AP
  

St. Paul/Minneapolis:

• Shuttered: Minnesota Center for Photography bows to ‘financial strain’, MSP Business Journal
• The last rites for a Hmong institution, Pioneer Press
  

Stadiums:

• Target Center to undergo acoustic upgrade, KSTP

Transportation:

• Structurally deficient bridges largely unfixed in year after MN bridge collapse, AP
• Motorist relives his close call on I-35E, Pioneer Press

Z-File: Irresistible Stories Beyond the Purview of PIM

• War photos spur emotion — and ignite controversy, MinnPost
• Officers forced to shoot bear with jar over head, AP
• Phoenix Club expels member over his press interview, New York Times