Winona

Gov. Tim Pawlenty wants to cut nearly $200 million from the Local Government Aid program as part of his plan to eliminate the state’s $2.7 billion budget deficit. While the fiscal hit to the program is less than feared (Pawlenty had originally proposed whacking $450 million from LGA), it will still present a significant fiscal [...]

Just like in the Atlantic Ocean, where an oil slick came not from a downed Air France jet but from who-knows-what, officials in Minnesota want help explaining how 1,000 gallons of diesel got into the Mississippi River last week and stunk up Winona. Deck-chair detectives set on solving the mystery can take Skipperliner riverboats last [...]

The Highway 43 bridge over the Mississippi River at Winona, Minn., became the latest symbol of Minnesota’s decaying infrastructure June 3 when the state Department of Transportation ordered it closed for at least six weeks due to possibly debilitating rust and corrosion. But the bridge was already a state symbol: Only 18 days before the [...]