AM.MN: Slick! A Minnesota oil-spill mystery, just like in the Atlantic Ocean

Just like in the Atlantic Ocean, where an oil slick came not from a downed Air France jet but from who-knows-what, officials in Minnesota want help explaining how 1,000 gallons of diesel got into the Mississippi River last week and stunk up Winona. Deck-chair detectives set on solving the mystery can take Skipperliner riverboats last used as ferries a year ago when the Interstate Bridge simultaneously appeared likely to collapse and on a postage stamp.

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning … 

DULUTH: Locals claim best foreclosure-assistance outreach programs in the state. But consider the competition: Minneapolis boards up people in their own houses. [Duluth News Tribune; Star Tribune]

PIPESTONE: City reeling from green job losses. By October, Suzlon will employ only half the 324 workers who now manufacture wind-turbine blades at a plant built three years ago with free land and tax breaks from the city and state. [Worthington Daily Globe; Pipestone County Star]

LONG PRAIRIE: Paintball vandalism hits home. On an otherwise gray Sunday morning on Pinto Blvd., residents woke to find fresh red splotches on numerous houses. [St. Cloud Times]

HIBBING: ‘Eclipse’ sighted. A 20-foot steel site-specific sculpture by hometown artist David Aho was unveiled outside the Hibbing Courthouse Annex Building. Anyone got a photo or is it too dangerous to look at, like the real thing? [Hibbing Daily Tribune]

STILLWATER: State patrol clamps down on Lift Bridge traffic. Truckers apparently have their own plan for the historic but nettlesome bridge: Wreck it by crossing in vehicles that are too tall or overweight by 5,000 pounds. [Stillwater Gazette]

STATEWIDE: New law letting cops stop cars for failure to wear seatbelts clicks in Tuesday. Hey, wait a sec: The Stillwater story cited above said, “Passenger vehicles were pulled over for seatbelt violations” — last Friday. [Minnesota Public Radio; Stillwater Gazette]