AM.MN: City to buy homes as a roundabout way of spending stimulus

European-style socialism meets Minnesota no-tax mania? The City of St. Cloud will buy two private homes for $250,000 to make way for revamping the intersection of University Drive and Fifth Avenue South into a British-style roundabout. The $4.2 million project will tap a $1.8 million federal-stimulus earmark that was supposed to go towards another project: widening the University Bridge. But the city can’t afford to do that now, even with the federal help. 

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning … 

DULUTH: Elections will set schools’ path. Who wins four open seats on the Duluth School Board will determine the fate of a broad building program that’s already underway. [Duluth News Tribune]

WILLMAR: Immigrant newspaper launches. A new newspaper and website called La Gran América serves Spanish-, Somali- and English-speaking readers in Willmar. [West Central Tribune; La Gran América]

METRO: Clouds sully end of Sun Newspapers’ bankruptcy. Layoffs and even possible newspaper closings follow at the suburban chain. [MinnPost]

LORETTO: Tank explosion hurts three. In an incident that recalls another accident that killed a teen, a tank exploded at a truck-repair shop, sending three people to the hospital. [Sun Newspapers]

STATEWIDE: State pay stands still. A legislative committee put the final ink on contracts to hold State of Minnesota workers to a two-year freeze on pay. [Associated Press]

DULUTH: Drought stunted big lake’s growth. Our dry spring meant Lake Superior only rose one inch when it should have risen three. [Duluth News Tribune]