am.mn logoSomething about St. Cloud draws a Democrat. In March it was Joe Biden, vice president for not quite two months, pitching green industry as a way to build the middle class. Yesterday it was Al Franken, barely a month into his U.S. Senate term, touring the Veterans Administration Medical Center with U.S. Rep. Tim Walz and telling dairy farmers in dire straits, “I want to hear from you what I should be doing.” It’s state Sen. Tarryl Clark’s home turf, and the DFL candidate for Congress squired Franken during what was billed as his first out-state trip as senator — not counting a speech last week in Duluth.

Elsewhere in Minnesota headlines this morning …

ST. PAUL: Nukes now! Three GOP operatives are bankrolling a new nonprofit called Sensible Energy Solutions for Minnesota, promising “an aggressive grassroots campaign” to repeal the state’s ban on building nuclear power plants. [Pioneer Press; ECM Publishers]

MINNEAPOLIS: Al Garcia faces sex charge. An attorney who once ruled the roost at City Hall is laid low by sex-crime allegations. [Star Tribune]

VIRGINIA: Blight fight needs more teeth, officials say. Foreclosures have left the city — population 9,157 — with nearly 30 blighted properties, and current city rules are “too loosey-goosey.” [Mesabi Daily News]

PRINCETON: City annexed manufactured-home park, but who’ll pay for sewer hook-up? Million-dollar pricetag on state-mandated sewage improvements could destroy the 96-unit village in order to save it. [Princeton Union-Eagle]

MINNEAPOLIS: Gophers game-day parking: $1,000. Passes to park next to the new University of Minnesota stadium have already sold out at $2,500 each; what’s left nearby costs $1,000, leaving most prospective student tailgaters aced out. [Minnesota Daily]

WINONA: Just another discussion about “The Wall.” A Saint Mary’s University philosophy professor who as a kid hated Kenny Rogers and Juice Newton leads a public discussion of the 1979 Pink Floyd album. [Winona Daily News]