AM.MN: U of M police aim to nip Ohio-style riots in bud when stadium opens

“We can’t let things get out of control from the start,” say University of Minnesota police, who are doubling their ranks for the first football game at new TCF Bank Stadium. They’re modeling methods on what Ohio State University cops did after home games led to mini-riots — a phenomenon the U has seen after hockey wins. State lawmakers refused the school new powers to create special, campus-only criminal ordinances for football season, leaving cops to get creative — for example, readying breathalyzers to keep out repeat drinking-law violators.

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning…

STATEWIDE: Hospitals cry “uncle!” State-funding cuts have inspired health-care institutions to roll up burn units and hire bankruptcy-style auditors; 28 Minnesota hospitals will lose at least $1 million each — and some much more. [Associated Press]

ROCHESTER: Rare city-county meeting held to settle feud. The city council and Olmsted County Board have long been at odds over who pays what for emergency management — and that will continue, for now. [Rochester Post-Bulletin]

OLIVIA: Beet growers co-op can’t cut tax payments, court rules. The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative, which pays $500,000 per year in local levies, is sweet on lowering its processing plant’s assessed value by 75 percent; Renville County has spent $1 million to fight the case. [West Central Tribune]

ST. PAUL: Food co-ops fight off effects of economic slump, competitors. Even as Super Targets hawk organic food and consumers tighten purse strings, some metro co-ops prosper. [St. Paul Pioneer Press]

ALBERT LEA: Media can get victims’ names. Judge Steve Schwab ruled that keeping the identities secret of nursing-home residents who were tormented by four teens would constitute prior restraint. [Albert Lea Tribune]

LITCHFIELD: Teacher seeks District 18B House seat. DFLer Darrin Anderson lost a hand to a caged bear at age 3; he aims to unseat Republican Dean Urdahl, who has written a second novel on the 1862 Dakota Conflict called “Retribution.” [West Central Tribune; Star Tribune]