AM.MN: Space short for homeless, inmates, stray cats

Capacity concerns lead the headlines this morning: Twin Cities area homeless shelters are in “emergency mode” and scrambling to find overflow sites, thanks to the bad economy paired with state cuts to social service agencies. Meanwhile, in Freeborn County the Humane Society reports it’s “full to bursting” with stray kittens, and prison overcrowding in Pennsylvania could bring some inmates to Minnesota.

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

MINNEAPOLIS: After emotional testimony by leaders whose nonprofit social service agencies are facing budget cuts, the Hennepin County Board will consider restoring some funding for domestic violence, sexual abuse and “family focus” programs on Tuesday. [Star Tribune]

DULUTH: Minnesota leads the nation in stimulus loans, with more than 400 approved, but small business owners here are still struggling — a far cry from the optimistic tenor of Saturday Night Live’s 2006 spoof, “Fly High Duluth.” [News Tribune; Perfect Duluth Day]

ST. PAUL: If $20 million in bonding set aside for a long-delayed new state park in Lake Vermilion isn’t used soon, lawmakers might use it elsewhere, imperiling a Pawlenty pet project. [Pioneer Press]

WOODBURY: As Wisconsin’s firearms hunting season begins, ammo remains in short supply at border-area sporting goods stores — thanks, some speculate, to bullet hoarding over fear Obama’s gonna take our guns. [Pioneer Press]

NEMADJI STATE FOREST: One area of abundance: After scouting Minnesota’s 58 state forests, the DNR has found a healthy 44-foot balsam fir to be the Christmas tree at the governor’s mansion in St. Paul. [Litchfield Independent]