Norm Coleman's ballot universe has shrunk to 1,359 votes, even as Al Franken's lead has swelled to 272, the PiPress' Rachel Stassen-Berger reports. The Strib's Pat Doyle and Kevin Duchschere calculate that even if all Coleman's absentee suggestions are valid (unlikely) and match their counties' voting pattern, he gains a piddling 57 votes. That number could be larger, considering Coleman cherry-picked the red parts of some counties. However, there are 800 Franken-suggested votes that could be included.

Related: Anguished Coleman donors learned Wednesday that their credit card information was compromised, Minnesota Independent's Chris Steller reports. Coleman's camp calls it hacking, but MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports that the woman who unearthed the info didn't breach security; the data sat in an unsecured folder. Still, a mysterious organization emailed donors with the bad news. The Secret Service is investigating, but local webbies say the Coleman campaign deserves censure for not notifying donors promptly when the news broke weeks ago.

Enjoy two newspapers while you have them: Slightly different framing on the donor story. PiPress: "Former Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign didn't do enough to protect donors' confidential information..." Strib: "Coleman, who said campaign officials found out about the hacking late Tuesday ..." The PiPress' Dave Orrick notes no unauthorized purchases have been made, and experts rip Coleman's data handling, including a lack of encryption. Could the candidate have delayed notification to keep his recount donations flowing?

The FBI told a U.S. Senate committee that an al-Qaida offshoot may have recruited 20 Twin Cities Somali men, the Strib's Kevin Diaz reports. Though the locals returned to Somali as "cannon fodder," the testimony raised the potential threat of U.S. sleeper cells, given the emigres' U.S. passports. The broader Somali community has not been radicalized, officials stress, but one local testifies that a "minority group" at a Minneapolis mosque is brainwashing kids. Congressman Keith Ellison defends the mosque. AP quotes Joe Lieberman saying the United States may arrest anyone who radicalizes the men.

More on the testimony: MPR's Sasha Aslanian concentrates on the Somali community backstory, emphasizing the testimony about living conditions and stresses in the West Bank community. One witness told the senators that the area may have the highest concentration of poor kids in the Midwest.

The Strib's Rochelle Olson says a Goodhue/Dakota County judge could get six unpaid months off for tossing his divorce lawyer court work in exchange for a fee break. Timothy Blakely would be the first judge suspended in 16 years, and only the fourth overall, if the Supreme Court accepts a panel's recommendation. Blakely's term is up in 2010.

Today's talker: A Rosemount 16-year-old was king for a day as he handed out $11,000 in $100 bills at school, the PiPress' Frederick Melo writes. Turns out the exceedingly generous youth found a Cub Foods cash bag in a ditch; four pounds of pot and measuring scales were nearby. Good thing the kid didn't hand out the pot. Authorities broadly hint they were tracking a drug suspect who tossed the stuff. Touching: The unnamed student gave $1,200 to a school aide because he thought she needed it. The donor and recipients won't be charged.

Local home prices fell again, to a bargain-basement median of $150,000, the PiPress' Christopher Snowbeck reports. That's 23 percent lower than last February's $195,000. Again, foreclosures accounted for most of the market; their median was around $125,000. Meanwhile "traditional" sales hovered around the $190,000 price point. Unsold inventory dropped, as did new listings. That may indicate a market bottom.

The Strib's Chen May Yee notes that even Mayo Clinic is being battered by the deepcession; it barely broke even last year. Patient care income fell from $293 million in 2007 to $203 million in '08. (Eerily, that almost mirrors the Star Tribune's revenue decline.) More Medicare patients and lower reimbursement rates explain much of the drop. The clinic's investment portfolio also fell 18 percent, though that's better than a lot of other institutions did.

MPR's Tom Scheck compiles a laundry list of costly state mandates that cash-starved local officials want overturned. Among them: a requirement that indigents be buried, rather than cremated; Hennepin County spends $1 million on that each year. Also: requiring that counties hold short-term offenders in their jails. And just in time for the Ad Depression, there's another move to get rid of the public-notice requirement that sustains many local newspapers. The industry's lobbyist makes a novel argument: This is an old mandate; get rid of newer ones first.

The Strib's Randy Furst chronicles an anti-foreclosure sit-in at the Hennepin County Sheriff's office. There are hints the 60-person outcry could be the start of mass protests that sprang up during the Depression ... or it could just be the usual suspects. In any case, the point was to add a little street muscle to a push for a federal three-month foreclosure moratorium. County officials say they can't stop doing what they do, but they'll meet activists two weeks hence.

Minneapolis is passively-aggressively shaming "johns." The Strib's Abby Simons says an electronic 35W billboard seemingly threatens to flash the prostitution picker-uppers' faces but instead directs folks to a website where the actual images live. (Remember, it's illegal to surf and drive.) Lame!

The Strib's Curt Brown notes that the St. Paul Police union wants Sarah Jane Olson to stay in California for her supervised parole. Tough noogies, say all the authorities — Olson gets to return to her home after seven years in prison.

Nort spews: Huh? The Wolves won? By 25? True; Jeffersonless Minnesota beat O.J. Mayo's Memphis squad 104-79; Britt Robson's debrief here. Needing a win to have an NCAA Tournament shot, the Gopher men basketballers play Northwestern tonight in the conference bracket; the Strib's Dennis Brackin has a sweet Tubby Smith profile here.