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The University of Minnesota asked politely twice for state funding to build a new Bell Museum of Natural History on the St. Paul campus. After two rejections, President Bob Bruininks says he won’t ask again. That means the pending move of taxidermists’ and diorama-painters’ handiwork from the museum’s Minneapolis location is no longer as imminent.

Elsewhere around Minnesota this morning …

SOLEM TOWNSHIP: Kensington Runestone dug up again — for TV. A Twin Cities company is making a documentary for the History Channel, including a re-enactment in which actors pretend to find the pretend 14th-century Viking-inscribed rock. [Alexandria Echo Press]

ST. PAUL: BioBlitz starts today. The one-day volunteer effort to log Minnesota’s flora and fauna is like “24″ for people who spy on other living things. [Minnesota Daily]

BROWN COUNTY: Sheriff gets plaudits for handling newshounds during Hauser frenzy. The case of the cancer-stricken boy on the run from court-ordered chemotherapy put county officials’ media training to the test — and they passed, according to the media. [Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch]

DULUTH: Four-mile rummage sale draws deal-hunters across state lines. Park Point residents use the neighborhood’s skinny spit of land to their advantage, lining the main drag with so much stuff to sell that shoppers come from as far away as Colorado. [Duluth News Tribune]

JACKSON COUNTY: Drug bust nets men with school ties. One thing that six alleged pot, cocaine and meth dealers had in common: Jackson County Central School. [Worthington Daily Globe]

ST. JOSEPH: St. Ben’s liquor license preserved with sewer-bill payment. The Order of St. Benedict kicked in for the College of St. Benedict’s $108,000 sewer bill, averting city efforts to strip the school of its liquor license. [St. Cloud Times]