Greater Minnesota

Imagine this notice tacked up in Anoka, circa 1970: “Wanted: Future Member of Congress to babysit future Miss America and Fox News host.” That’s just one of the rabbit-holes your mind can wander down if you ponder this fact, that culminates George Will’s column about U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann: she was once Gretchen Carlson’s nanny. [...]

Gov. Pawlenty did Moose Lake’s captive sex offenders a favor by taking away their big TVs Tuesday before his 12-minute appearance on CNBC’s “The Kudlow Report.” They were spared captions dubbing him “‘President’ Pawlenty” and claiming he holds a 56-percent approval rating in Minnesota. (Try 45 percent.) And a majority of Minnesotans’ blood might boil to [...]

A watchdog group, Stimulating Broadband, which keeps tabs on stimulus spending on broadband infrastructure, says Minnesota is the only state holding back details about funding priorities. Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration says it doesn’t have to disclose the information.

Akeley is the latest Minnesota city to consider going without its own police in response to declining local-government aid (LGA) and, in some cases, population.

Minnesota officials succeeded in fighting off the term “swine flu” earlier this year, but three piglets that were displayed at the Minnesota State Fair last month have been confirmed today as the nation’s first porcine victims of the H1N1 virus.

To the victor go the spoils, the saying goes. And so on Tuesday Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak took delivery of 10 pounds of hamburger from Jim Schmitt, mayor of Green Bay, Wisc., in fulfillment of the friendly wager they made on the Vikings-Packers football game. But the Vikings’ win wasn’t the only news since the [...]

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar paid a visit to Darfur Saturday — but not the humanitarian crisis flashpoint in Sudan. Klobuchar met with one-third of the town of Darfur, Minn. (pop. 137), about how to fund a new fire station.

Can the Twins beat the New York Yankees? We’ll know the answer by the time Vice President Biden arrives for an Oct. 15 Democratic Party fundraiser at the Edina home of a member of the Pohlad family that owns the Twins. It’s Biden’s first time back since taking St. Cloud by storm last spring, and [...]

As Minnesota develops a plan to increase high-speed broadband to rural areas, advocates complain that the organization chosen to map the state’s broadband access — and the process the Pawlenty administration used to make the selection — lack sufficient transparency.

When running for statewide office, it’s probably best not to insult a large chunk of the electorate. Rep. Tom Emmer, who hopes to secure the top spot in a crowded field of Republican gubernatorial candidates, has become known at the Capitol for his fiery rhetoric. His latest:
“I don’t think you can call yourself a freedom-loving [...]