Despite Dayton's Second Amendment view, Minnesota could have tougher gun laws
WASHINGTON — While Gov. Mark Dayton and other DFLers say the Second Amendment hinders the state from doing more to control guns, legal experts and gun-control advocates dismiss those worries and say...
View ArticleGov. Dayton will have back surgery at Mayo Clinic
Gov. Mark Dayton will have back surgery next week at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.His office says the diagnosis is stenosis, which causes constriction in the spine. Doctors will fuse vertebrae in his...
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Ely black bear aspires to photography
When photographing black bears in the wild, if one of them decides to inspect your equipment there's not much you can do but let it. A photographer working near Ely did just that, but luckily had...
View ArticleYes, Virginia, reindeer can have red noses (even if they don't glow)
More than 70 years after the publication of Robert May’s Christmas tale, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” scientists have finally gotten around to investigating exactly why the noses of reindeer (or...
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Both sides gear up as gay-marriage advocates prepare to lobby Legislature
The question some leaders of the new DFL majorities had been hoping to avoid — whether Minnesota should join the states where gays and lesbians can marry — has become inevitable.Both sides of the...
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7 best planning moves in Twin Cities history
When I first mentioned to a local urban expert that I wanted to write two year-end columns -- one each about the best and worst planning moves Minneapolis and St. Paul have made -- he said: "Finding...
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Wolves ‘coming-out party’: Team finally syncs up offense to beat OKC
There were a bevy of beneficent things arising out of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ triumph over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. It happened in a marquee forum — the NBA’s national weekly...
View ArticleFergus Falls marching band will return to D.C. for another Obama inauguration
The Fergus Falls High School marching band is headed back to Washington, D.C., to march and play in the Inauguration Day parade on Jan. 21.The band also played at President Obama's first inauguration...
View ArticleMinneapolis may consider allowing outdoor displays of merchandise
In Minneapolis, where you can get a ticket for setting up a flea market, there is the possibility that merchants might one day be allowed to display their merchandise outside, in front of their stores,...
View ArticleSome sales taxes in Duluth expire; dinner at Grandma's is 7 cents cheaper
Two local sales taxes in Duluth expired in November, making it slightly cheaper to eat, drink and stay in hotels there.The Duluth News Tribune says the taxes were 0.5 percent tax on food and beverage...
View ArticleWalz 'deeply disappointed' by NRA proposals
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, a National Rifle Association-endorsed Democrat who opened the door to increased gun control earlier this week, said Friday he's "deeply disappointed" by the NRA's...
View ArticleMayor Chris Coleman 'appalled' at NRA suggestion for armed guards in schools
Following the NRA's response this morning to the Newtown, Conn., school massacre — a response which called for armed guards in every school — St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman made this statement:On the day...
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$2.8 million will buy you 'the Mary Tyler Moore house'
The most famous house in Minneapolis is back on the market. Strib real estate guy Jim Buchta writes: “It's been a very, very long time since a big house with a sweeping front porch at 2104 Kenwood...
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SPCO musicians locked out: 'We want to stay here, and we want to play'
Part 3 in a seriesWhen the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians' contract ended in September, the orchestra kept "talking and playing," until the musicians were locked out by management in late...
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Voting amendment defeat: 'When they announced it, I was like, Yes! Justice...
Part 4 in a seriesMinnPost photo by James NordMyrna NelsonMyrna Nelson is a leader with a “core team” at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in St. Paul. She volunteered against the voting amendment as...
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Locked out by Crystal Sugar: 'I’ve lived here all my life. I don’t want to...
Part 5 in a seriesScott Aubol, 55, has worked at the American Crystal Sugar processing plant in Crookston for 34 years, most recently as pulp dryer foreman. Since Aug. 1, 2011, he and other members of...
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Wolf hunting: 'Every day I feel this weight, this heaviness'
Part 6 of a seriesCollette Adkins Giese, of Blaine, prepared the lawsuit that the Center for Biological Diversity and Howling for Wolves brought to stop Minnesota’s new trapping and hunting seasons on...
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Duluth flooding at zoo: 'The devastation was beyond comprehension'
Part 7 in a seriesMaicie Sykes, the lead keeper at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth, was among the first on the scene when torrential rains flooded much of the city June 20. Two-thirds of the zoo...
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Unemployed in a weak economy: ‘I found myself in a shelter’
MinnPost photo by Cynthia BoydDavid JordahlPart 8 in a seriesThough government officials have officially declared the end of the tidal-wave Great Recession, its economic aftereffects continued in 2012....
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Few tenants remain on Block E: ‘We're lonely here’
Part 9 in a seriesThey departed one by one: Borders, Hooters, Bellanotte, Hard Rock Cafe and more. The biggest blow came this fall, however, when the 15-screen AMC movie theater abandoned Block E, the...
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