What $20 million in Minnesota money buys

At the moment, consumers are paying the same price — about $3.50 — for a gallon of milk or a gallon of gasoline. Serendipitous spending happens at the state government level, too. Here’s what the same sum — $20 million — is buying for the state of Minnesota these days:

  * A new hockey arena/event center at Bemidji State University (state’s share).
  * Land for a new, 2,500-acre state park at Lake Vermillion.
  * Early completion of the new I-35W freeway bridge, moving the bridge’s ceremonial finishing touches from Christmas to within a news cycle or two of the closing gavel at the Republican National Convention.