AM.MN: After forest blows down, new trees. After economy blows up, new businesses?

Death and regeneration are playing out in the forests and towns of Northern Minnesota. It’s been 10 years since winds blew down trees across 250,000 acres in three counties, and recovery is patchy. The same could be said for Ely, where failing businesses are sometimes reborn amid an iffy economy.

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning…  MINNEAPOLIS: New I-35W bridge wins award. And not only for staying up: It snagged one of 19 Public Works Projects of the Year for high-tech innovations and being built fast. [KSTP-TV; Fox 9]

STATEWIDE: Could state renege on IOUs to schools? One superintendent expects his district will never see 17 percent of what the state promised, but a school boards official says the state has always come through before — even if years late. [Timberjay Newspapers]

ALONG THE ASH RIVER: Builders prep North Woods subatomic research lab. Contractors blasting a big hole where scientists will one day study neutrino particles give University of Minnesota regents a progress report this week. [Associated Press]

PRESTON: Grain elevator vying for legacy money. The Minnesota Taxpayers League suspects it’s a boondoggle, but locals want to tap the new state fund for natural and cultural resources to convert the red tower into a tourist attraction. [Rochester Post Bulletin]

MINNESOTA-WISCONSIN BORDER: States’ deal on income taxes at risk. A reciprocity agreement, in place since the 1950s, could fall to current budget woes as Gov. Pawlenty demands to recoup overdue income tax revenues soon. [Rosemount Town Pages]

STATEWIDE: Farmers wary of new federal aid program. However Minnesota farmers spell relief, it’s apparently not ACRE, the name for a new program that makes payments when incomes fall below average. [Minnesota Public Radio]