The much anticipated release of Fargo native Roxana Saberi from Iranian custody is covered by just about everyone. WCCO-TV had video of her first public statement up early this AM. Don't you know the back-channel negotiating on this one was pretty fascinating?

The Star Tribune's Mike Kaszuba delivers a bit of a Debbie Downer piece on the realities of a so-called "high speed rail" link to Chicago. Never mind that almost everybody likes the thought of cruising to Chicago without ever having to lay eyes on either O'Hare or Midway, Kaszuba reports that the trains will probably not bear much resemblance to the 200 mph French TGV, and the muckety-mucks in Illinois are most interested in connecting first with St. Louis. St. Louis? I'd say that'd be the last time I pay $50 for scalpers tickets to Wrigley, but I'd be lying.

The PiPress's Emily Gurnon delivers "Law & Order: S.V.U."-worthy details while covering the trial on the the death of Gabriela Romo last September in St. Paul. Romo's, uh, boyfriend is charged with her murder. Both the PiPress and the Strib had much of this in more clinical language three days ago. The trial is a talker, judging by each paper's "most popular" ticker.

The sad and murky case resulting from the murder of south Minneapolis bicyclist Mark Loesch in 2007 is in trial, and the Strib's Rochelle Olson has drawn the assignment. There's a "Wire"-like quality to this episode of life in the big city. There are serious disagreements over how random this killing really was, and the prosecutors have a problem with evidence. Writes Olson, "In her opening statement Monday, assistant Hennepin County Attorney Therese Galatowitsch said Loesch's killer left no forensic evidence, no fingerprints and no DNA, so the case against Freeman hinges on witness testimony."

You're excused if you've begun confusing the various inappropriate-behavior-with-student stories in the news recently. Fox9's Maury Glover draws the short straw and somehow manages to come up with a 90-second piece on a female staffer and a male student at Cretin-Derham Hall, albeit sans names, any charges and any further statement from school officials. But, oh does Glover set this one up for what it might someday be. "For years," he reports, "Cretin-Derham Hall has been a mainstay in St. Paul's Catholic community, committed to Christian values and academic excellence ... ."

On the other end of the naughty-to-awwwfully nice spectrum, KARE-TV anchor Julie Nelson "delivers" a four-minute "Extra" piece on a young Twin Cities couple who have, for some reason, decided to chronicle every aspect of their pregnancy on a website, doctor's check-ups included. Given that there doesn't appear to be anything unusual about the pregnancy the "why" question might have been more than just passingly germane to this one. But, gosh, the story does give the target demo a warm and maternal feeling.

Three Strib reporters combine for a snapshot of where the Legislature is in the waning days of the official session. Or is that, "where the Legislature is not"? This one has the unmistakable piquant odor of a lo-o-nnng special session. Republican charges that the DFL isn't getting tough enough on welfare benefits -- no one said "chiseling" -- produced this response from Rep. Larry Hosch of St. Joseph, "Welfare spending, he said, was the 'ultimate straw man.' When reviewing the overall legislation, said [Rep. Tony] Sertich, 'think of your grandmother in a nursing home, because that's what it is.' "

Judd Zulgad of the Strib keeps the Brett Favre saga alive for another day with a couple of on-the-run quotes from Vikings co-owner Mark Wilf. Basically, no one is saying anything, and according to the younger Wilf, the Vikings are just a step away from the Super Bowl. Zulgad quotes him saying, "I just want to emphasize that with Sage and Tarvaris and John David, we are pleased with the quarterbacks we have." Right, but get me those X-rays ASAP, will you?