Blogging is the new Black. With the official launch of Eric Black Ink, MinMon’s elder statesman, gets props from Minnesota Public Radio’s Bob Collins (who calls him “the high priest of political blogging in Minnesota“) and The Uptake’s Chuck Olsen, who compares Black’s “nicely designed bloggy online newspaper-type-thing” to larger online news competitors Steve Perry and Joel Kramer.

Starchitect to rebuild 35W? Were it not for the design blog UnBeige, I would’ve missed the Star Tribune’s Aug. 27 story on a group of citizens who want a big-name architect — Santiago Calatrava anyone? — to build a new 35W bridge. Chances are slim to none, from the sounds of Pam Louwagie and Jim Foti’s story.

RNC website launches: Stars, stripes and bunting galore — not downer topics like Iraq, Larry Craig, or the rampant home foreclosures sweeping across the “ownership society” — are the motifs in the just-launched website for the Republican National Convention. The nominating convention, which opens in St. Paul a year from Saturday, will showcase the “unity and momentum of the Republican Party and our optimistic vision for America,” the site announces.

How did the Strib miss the Craig story? That’s the question Star Tribune readers’ representative Kate Parry will address in the Sunday edition. She blogs that readers are wondering why the paper missed Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s early August guilty plea on disorderly conduct charges in Hennepin County or Monday’s story broken by Roll Call. Could prove to be an interesting read.

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