Everyone recaps the U.S. Senate recount oral arguments, and to varying degrees, note Coleman's side got the worst of it. Minnesota Supremes grilled Norm lawyer Joe Friedberg about a basic lack of evidentiary proof, the Strib's Pat Doyle writes. That may offer justices a way out of due process and equal protection claims. The PiPress' Rachel Stassen-Berger notes judges "tend to rule quickly, within days or weeks, on election cases." From your fingers to the Supremes' ears.

More orals: Coleman's forces argued geographic discrimination, Forum's Don Davis writes, claiming big Democratic counties had a looser counting standard. However, Franken's forces argued this is a mere supposition without evidence. MPR says judges didn't seem impressed by arguments that counting standards should be universally relaxed. Minnesota Independent's Paul Demko says judges didn't deal with whether they should order the governor to sign an election certificate. The Uptake offers a 5-minute video distillation. (MinnPost coverage here.)

Minnesota Independent's Andy Birkey notes the feds have cited a bank Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer co-owns for "unsafe and unsound banking practices." Otsego's Riverview Community Bank, which founders say was inspired by the hand of God and has been the site of religious healings, was rung up for lax oversight, lending and collections. Kiffmeyer, an ex-secretary of state who wasn't interviewed for the piece, is also a director according to campaign finance reports. The soul-saving institution has 30 to 60 days to add liquidity and clean up its processes.

Looks like alleged drunks still have to blow into an Intoxilyzer after the state struck a source-code-sharing deal with the manufacturer, the PiPress' Frederick Melo reports. Lawyers for suspected souses who question the machine's veracity protest they have to travel to Kentucky for a working version; otherwise, they get a bound volume of the code. Presumably, this makes it harder to copy, but also harder to review. A judge still has to approve the arrangement.

Irwin Jacobs' boat-building Genmar went bankrupt, the Strib's Susan Feyder writes. Somewhat improbably, Irv the Liquidator says he "never even dreamt [bankruptcy] was a remote possibility" until recently. But Genmar's revenue is off 50 percent this year, financing for the company, its dealers and buyers has tightened dramatically, and its workforce has plunged from 4,500 to 1,500. Jacobs says he hasn't missed loan payments but can't find cash to keep up with tougher lending requirements. Other Jacobs businesses are unaffected.

Meanwhile, Duluth-based jetmaker Cirrus Design has rehired 50 workers laid off earlier this year, AP reports. Most of the 500 workers furloughed in '09 are back. MPR's Bob Kelliher says the company cites strong global demand.

Birkey notes a candlelight vigil tonight for slain abortion provider and obstetrician Dr. George Tiller. It's at 9 p.m. at Loring Park and could be a big one; how many counter-protesters will show? Some activists say they are done with the quiet memorials, and want action; organizers vow "no speaking program, no bullhorns, no chanting and no political rhetoric." Meanwhile, local police and U.S. marshals have stepped up patrols at local clinics, the Strib reports, but how long can that last?

A Minneapolis charter school director allegedly embezzled $1.4 million, according to charges filed Monday. How did ex-Heart of the Earth executive Joel Pouirer swing it? By reimbursing himself for cleaning work, the PiPress Doug Belden notes. Guess this was a dirty school in more ways than one. Pouirer had three houses, an Escalade and big bills at nightclubs. WCCO's Darcy Pohland has more on the alleged trickery.

Former Ramsey County Commissioner Dino Guerin roared back from gambling addiction nine years ago to become a St. Paul fire chief, the Strib's Anthony Lonetree writes. Guerin, who dropped out of politics after kiting $35,000 in checks, overshadows Fawn Hawkinson, the city's first female district chief. Hawkinson, a former Army Reserves intelligence officer, is also fluent in Spanish.

PiPress watchdog Deb O'Connor continues her series on an ill and disabled Eagle Lake couple's descent into medical-insurance hell with a tour of what Gov. Pawlenty blithely refers to as "welfare health care." Basically, you have to choose between work and health, and God forbid your kid tries to help with a job of his own. The family makes some errors, but this will make you fervently wish our system was simpler and more humane.

The PiPress' Jeremy Olson says an innovative Minnesota program has quadrupled the success rate for treating depression. Basically, case managers support harried docs and work with a pool of consulting psychiatrists. Remission rates have soared from 10 percent to 40 percent. The bad news: The 45 clinics who use it are losing money. It's still too soon and too limited to know if it saves insurers dough, and that's the bottom line.

Starbucks settled a federal union-busting complaint, the PiPress Julie Forster notes. The company will post notices and loudly pledge not to mess with union organizers at Twin Cities stores, but did not admit wrongdoing. That last part chapped still-employed union organizers.

MPR's Curtis Gilbert deconstructs "short sales," the real estate fad du jour. The foreclosure alternative works like this: People sell their house for less than they owe and try to get the bank to write off the rest. It helps the seller's credit ratings and theoretically protects the bank's asset from abandonment and legal headaches. But of course, banks do nothing quickly, and Gilbert chronicles the headaches.

Will Minneapolis gain a city administrator and get rid of its Park Board? The Strib's Steve Brandt says voters may get to decide the former but probably not the latter. A judge-appointed Charter Commission decides whether to put the initiatives on the 2009 city ballot, and seem skeptical at best of all the reforms.

Today in pestilence: Dennis Lien chronicles the first buzzsaw of Ashmaggeddon as 59 borer-inflected trees go down in St. Paul. Meanwhile, Minnesota adds the Japanese rock pool mosquito to its blood-sucking collection, the Strib's Mary Jane Smetanka notes. The bug could be a handy carrying device for West Nile and many types of encephalitis, but no one is quite sure of its lethality yet.