Sadly for Glean, oral arguments in the U.S. Senate recount will be underway (9 a.m.) or over (10 a.m.) by the time you read this, but the Uptake, PiPress, MPR, KARE, WCCO our own Eric Black and the New York Times have the Minnesota Supreme Court pre-game. Everyone notes Franken can win outright (at least on the state level, federal appeals notwithstanding); meanwhile, Coleman can send counting back to the three-judge panel. The decision likely won't come for weeks.

Eschewing false balance, Strib editorialists blame Gov. Pawlenty and legislative Republicans who insisted on cramming a controversial photo ID requirement into a bipartisan election reform bill from county elections officials. A veto stopped common-sense reform, the editorial board notes. My only quibble is that the headline — "Election bills fell to partisan 'gotcha'" — obfuscates the guilty party. If the partisan hackery belongs to the GOP — or Dems — get that in the hed, at least online.

Related: The PiPress' Bill Salisbury notes that DFLers stripped the election bill of controversial provisions to get the guv's support. They claim 160,000 people without driver's licenses might be disenfranchised by a photo ID requirement. Pawlenty criticized a provision from Republican Laura Brod. Republicans say they preferred to wait until the Franken-Coleman race was over to fully assess lessons. Let's hope that doesn't push us past 2010.

PiPress Watchdog Deb O'Connor's first-rate look at a middle-class Minnesota couple reduced to pauperhood by medical costs continues. It's a modern nightmare, with mis-diagnosis of an "exploded" spine, job loss followed by two cancers, leading to welfare, food stamps, vexing administrative processes, tremendous safety-net backlogs and, finally, a move to South Carolina where, in the absence of public support, living is cheaper.

Related: Otter Tail County assesses the fallout from Gov. Pawlenty's veto of health care for the poorest of the poor. The Fergus Falls Daily Journal's Lisa Kaczke says 200 people are affected, mostly single men and couples without children. Those getting food stamps will receive about $20 more a month thanks to the feds.

The Strib's Jim Foti has an interesting look at MnDOT's first ombudsperson, Deb Ledvina. The designated flak-catcher, a former Minnesota Civil Liberties Union staffer, gets to be a hero when allowed to throw money at folks. However, she's also supposed to reduce costly problems by improving MnDOT's front-end practices. New boss Tom Sorel created the position, and now reaps the publicity rewards. No disappointed customers are heard from.

In Minneapolis, the Strib's Steve Brandt looks at stepped-up enforcement of dangerous dog laws. Following some 2007 maulings, the city slapped higher fees on dogs with rap sheets, in part to finance spot checks on owners. As Brandt details, compliance is mixed -- there's a shivering moment when an owner rung up for having Fang off leash explains the dog keeps chewing through them. Overall, bite reports are falling.

Forum's Don Davis looks at rural Minnesota foreclosure rates, which are slowing at about half the rate of the Twin Cities. At least two Minnesota counties (Clay and Polk) have seen year-over-year increases.

After a parched May, wetlands are so dry they're burning; a 77-acre Andover fire was extinguished before doing real damage, the PiPress' Jason Hoppin reports. DNR "scooper" planes save the day by dropping water from nearby lakes. Video from WCCO, KARE, KSTP and Fox9.

The Strib's Thomas Lee looks at the death of Minnesota's "angel" investor tax credit, which succumbed to the budget stalemate. Both parties supported a $10 million break for ultra-early investors in "medical devices, biotechnology and clean energy," but the provision was part of an omnibus bill that included DFL tax hikes.

More tax credit: Lee notes a U regenerative medicine spinoff might go out of state, and Wisconsin has much more favorable refunds. "We're starting to walk east," one businessperson notes. But no independent analysts are interviewed about the tax credit's long-term effectiveness.

The Strib's Kristin Tillotson profiles Minnesota Lynx guard Candice Wiggins, who fights for AIDS education programs. Wiggins should know — her dad, former baseball star Alan Wiggins, died of the disease. Doing her own educating, Tillotson notes AIDS is now the leading cause of death for black women under 40; in Minnesota, black women make up about one in five new cases.

Nort spews: The Twins actually won one on the road, topping ex-mate Matt Garza and Tampa Bay 3-2; Sore Loser here and here. Minnesota returns home for a series versus Cleveland. The first Minneapolis marathon was not an elite affair, but congrats to Hopkins' Jessica Pink and St. Paul's Tom Tisell.