The Morning Report 6/30/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Top Story: Transit tax for five counties among measures taking effect July 1.

Best of the Blogs and Think Tank Thoughts:

• Spinning as far as the yes can see, Let Freedom Ring
• Norm Coleman: Wasted Opportunities For PCI Investigations, mnpACT!
• Coleman's new ad takes on economic insecurity, The Political Animal
• Stenerson officially announces 7B run, Minnesota Brown
• Prediction: Bad week for Norm Coleman, MN Campaign Report
• It's alive!, Fraters Libertas
• Day to PiPress: 'I'm filing,' Bluestem Prairie
• Klobuchar caved on critical FISA vote this week, The Monitor

Business/Economy:

• Market forces, low support halt talks on mega-hotel near convention center, Star Tribune
• Valspar puts 'green' in every can of new paint, Star Tribune
• Independent gas stations feeling the pain of rising prices, MPR
• Tough times in industrial sector, leasing declines by 50 percent, Finance and Commerce
• From a small town, the world's smallest technology, Finance and Commerce
• Oil makes millionaires in North Dakota, AP
• Stonegate Growth Strategies: Found in translation, Star Tribune
• Mayo-spawned weight-management company pushes ahead, Rochester Post-Bulletin
• Decision on St. Paul Ford plant could come by August, AP

Campaigns-Senate:

• MN earns another top spot: Most expensive Senate campaign, MPR

Campaigns:

• Veteran pol, newcomer compete to take on Walz, Pioneer Press
• Rumor mill churns in North St. Paul mayoral campaign, Pioneer Press
• Political gas is at a premium, Mankato Free Press

Congress-Senate:

• Coleman favors more domestic oil drilling, MPR

Crime/Police:

• Done in by cell phone, Star Tribune

Education:

• Big, yellow and putting schools in the red, Star Tribune
• Student testing: Scores climb in reading; lagging math scores trouble educators, Pioneer Press
• MCA II's show Minnesota students making some gains, MPR
• Dinkytown bookstore to start renting textbooks, KSTP
• MSU uses Facebook to attract international students, Mankato Free Press

Elections:

• IRV: Dead or alive?, TC Daily Planet

Environment:

• Great Lakes compact focus shifting to Congress, AP
• Strib goes green with biodegradable bags, City Pages - The Blotter
• The Strib claims an enviro first, but is it best?, MinnPost

Health Care:

• The graduation gap, Star Tribune

Judicial:

• Anatomy of a Minnesota case: The $24M railroad-crossing verdict, Dolan Media Newswires

Legislature:

• 2008 New Laws from MN House of Representatives

Opinion-Commentary:

• Jay Benanav: Petition was sound, council's obligation clear: Let the people vote, Pioneer Press
• Lori Sturdevant: The professor of policy, Star Tribune
• Katherine Kersten: The real story behind the gay pride issue at St. Joan, Star Tribune

Opinion-Editorial:

• Editorial: Don't block vote on IRV in St. Paul, Star Tribune
• Minnesota within its means, at the moment, Pioneer Press
• Editorial: 'U' wisely reaches out to stadium neighbors, Star Tribune
• Editorial: Turning empty homes into opportunities, Star Tribune

Other States:

• California could stop paying for serious hospital errors, Health Blog - WSJ

Pawlenty:

• Pawlenty boosts McCain on national TV, AP
• Pawlenty on This Week, Polinaut - MPR
• Obama and McCain search for running mates, Los Angeles Times
• Longshots in the veepstakes, Politico

People:

• Ventura speaks! To a wine rag?, MinnPost
• Citizen Herb: Former Duluth mayor enjoying life out of the public eye, Duluth News Tribune

Public Health/Safety:

• The war over affordable housing, Pioneer Press
• Minneapolis replacing lead-tainted fountains, AP
• Duluth bridge renamed for American Indian vets, AP
• Go inside Henn. Co.'s new juvenile supervision center, KSTP
• Austin to cut short tornado sirens, AP

Republican National Convention:

• GOP convention will be a highly wired act, Star Tribune
• St. Paul scrambles to fill storefronts before convention, MPR
• Convention countdown, Pioneer Press
• U.S. military will have role in RNC security, TC Daily Planet

St. Paul/Minneapolis:

• Nick Coleman: An old stack fell in St. Paul, and a hole opened, Star Tribune

Transportation:

• Transit sales tax kicks in, Pioneer Press
• Transit tax starts tomorrow, MPR
• Central Corridor Line faces stiff opposition in St. Paul, Spokesman-Recorder
• Some still prefer a loop for St. Paul light-rail route, MinnPost
• MnDOT confronts bridge issues, Pioneer Press
• The left-turn-on-green-arrow debate, Star Tribune - Roadguy
• Transportation official to discuss highway deaths, AP

Z-File: Irresistible stories beyond the purview of PIM

• U.S. a lonely place for soccer fans, NPR
• What's colorless and tasteless and smells like...money?, Washington Post
• New Orleans-area businesses ignore risk of showing political lean, Dolan Media Newswires. 'Geauxbama'