There's more local evidence that today's financial woes are hitting some industries that in the past were generally regarded as recession-proof.

MPR, for example, says even the funeral business is taking a hit in this recession. Cheaper caskets, fewer flowers, shorter visitations. Lots more cremations, which are cheaper. With tax cuts apparently coming from Washington and St. Paul, does that mean the old saying about death and taxes is no longer true? Nope; people are still dying at a good clip and, reporter Tom Robertson notes, as baby boomers age, the death rate is expected to rise considerably over the next few decades.

Another seemingly recession-proof business – Indian casino gambling – also is struggling, says Larry Oakes in the Strib. "People aren't coming as frequently, and when they do come, they're not spending as much," says a gaming official. The 17 tribal casinos in the state are collectively the 12th-largest employer in the state, and in many counties, the largest. The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, which runs casinos in Hinckley and at Mille Lacs, attracted 4.9 million visitors last year, down 2 percent from 2007.  Indian leaders use statistics like this to discourage any thoughts of expanding gambling to help pare the state budget deficit.

Think Lincoln and Washington are ancient history on Presidents Day? A prehistoric moose antler and a skull from a saber-toothed cat found in the Tyson Spring Cave, southeast of Rochester predate them by, oh, maybe 22,000 years, says Dick Meryhew in the Star Tribune. John Ackerman, a furniture restorer, found the antler; he's been searching caves for 25 years. And there are still miles of cave passages still unexplored.

Cat lovers – saber-toothed or tabby – were sad to hear that more than 100 cats found last week in a St. Anthony mobile home were euthanized because they had diseases ranging from feline AIDS and herpes to upper respiratory infections and ringworm. Channel 5  says there were 118; Channel 4 says 130;  AP says 120. Too many, regardless. The cat-hoarding couple may face neglect charges.

Efforts at the Legislature to implement some kind of early voting plan may get a jump, thanks to the Coleman-Franken marathon, says AP writer Elizabeth Dunbar. The story notes that allowing voters to go to the polls for a period leading up to Election Day shortens lines and eliminates the need for many absentee votes, which, as we're learning, can be trouble. Opponents say it might lessen the sense of importance that Election Day brings.

Politico reports that President Obama's success getting the stimulus bill through the Senate with 58 Democratic senators means the national GOP is "more determined than ever" to help Norm Coleman regain his seat. How long should Coleman hold out? “However long it takes,” says Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who chairs the NRSC.

Middle school kids fighting in the bathroom at an unnamed Minneapolis school got a big splash on the Channel 4 news last night, even though it turned out to be a fake fight. It was captured on a cell phone video and put on YouTube (since taken down) so school officials are reportedly rethinking their cell phone rules: they're now allowed in school but not in classrooms.

Can there be any peanut products left on store shelves? More trail mix recalled, this time by Super Valu, say KSTP-TVand Fox 9.

No school today because of the holiday, but at St. Paul's Hazel Park Middle School Academy, there's no homework required, ever, says Emily Johns in the Strib. Instead, teachers use "standards-based grading," which measures whether kids understand Minnesota's education standards, the foundation for Minnesota's state tests. And that means grades are no longer based on homework, tests, extra-credit and participation

Sports time: Gopher women hoopsters eke out a last-two-seconds win over Michigan; no T'Wolves (or defense) at NBA All-Star game and everyone's hopeful that surgery will solve  Joe Mauer's kidney problem.