AM.MN: Biden didn’t resign in Edina

In what would otherwise have been his last visit to Minnesota as vice president, Joe Biden did not resign (as Arianna Huffington says he should if President Obama further escalates the Afghan war) during a Thursday sojourn to Edina. There, at a $7,500-per-person fundraiser, Biden spent half his speech expressing gratitude to former vice presidents (and senators) Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, whose 1972 advice against resigning from the Senate Biden followed — until this year. But were Biden now to resign as VP, he could run for his old Senate seat again next year … against his own son, Beau.

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

ST. PAUL: Visiting VIP untouched by Axis bombers. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood got a tour of Union Depot’s long-closed concourse, where skylights are still blacked out to fool WWII-era enemies. [St. Paul Pioneer Press]

SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Republican’s muscle-flex enters second day. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann raised nearly as much money in the last 48 hours as DFL rival Maureen Reed raised last quarter. [Smart Politics]

ST. CLOUD: A DFL Who’s-Who RSVPs for Wellstone Dinner. The annual chow-down this weekend proves to be a don’t-miss for the party’s gubernatorial field — even those who skipped this week’s candidate forum on hunger.  [St. Cloud Times]

STATE CAPITOL: Panel hears local-government aid is at low ebb. So the LGA Study Group is doing what they’re supposed to: study it.  [Sebeka-Menahga Review Messenger; @donreeder]

ST. PAUL: Jobless-rate drop puzzling. State officials are reassuringly concerned about what is actually going on, as the state also lost nearly 8,000 jobs in September. [Minnesota Public Radio]

BLOOMINGTON: In 1969, Minnesota’s “Balloon Boy” actually went up. A Minnesota Vikings halftime stunt turned into the real deal for Rick Snyder, then 11, who recalls crashing his runaway balloon into the Minnesota River before it went aloft again, leading rescuers astray. [KSTP-TV]