This Denny Hecker saga just keeps giving and giving. Dee DePass of the Strib has the story of 95 specific creditors owed money by Hecker. They include his attorneys at Kaplan, Strangis, Kaplan, the city of Aspen, Colorado, the Bellagio and Mirage Hotels in Vegas and on ... and on. Precise amounts owed each, uh, former business associate, are expected in the next download. DePass concludes with this line from a customer whose son and daughter-in-law were left with a car but no title after one Hecker dealership closed, "Everybody is all feeling sorry for this rich guy. But, hey, he just ripped these kids off. If he knew he was going out of business, he should have taken care of business."

The PiPress story, by Nicole Garrison-Sprenger, speculates that Hecker will be dealing with this epic disaster for a long time. She quotes an Atlanta bankruptcy attorney saying, "This is not going to be a case where the debtor walks away scot-free. He will have to litigate or settle for a certain amount of money to these people. It will take a year to 18 months to resolve."

The other half of Minnesota's funky smelling Heckle and Jeckle routine, Tom Petters, gets a new chapter-ette in his story via a piece by the Strib's Dan Browning. Following the convoluted tale of who was zooming who as Petters attorneys worked a North Dakota bank for loans guaranteed by a Minnesota bank takes more powers of attention than I can muster. Suffice it to say, you and I don't get $2 million this easily.

MPR's Madeleine Baran reports that the Lowry Avenue bridge in north Minneapolis will be imploded June 21. So how come the new Lowry bridge looks so much nicer than the new I-35 bridge?

Baran's MPR colleague, Tom Weber, reports that the St. Paul school district will lay off 143 teachers, nearly four times as many as in the past four years.Weber quotes an HR exec saying, "We have a $25 million budget shortfall -- and so to tryto make sure that we can live within that, we had to make some cuts."

Pat Doyle of the Strib reports that the three-judge panel that sat through Norm Coleman's recount case has ordered the former Senator to pay Al Franken $95,000 in court costs, $66,000 less than Franken wanted. Interest accrues until Coleman pays. What do you think?  Re-fi No. 13 on the St. Paul house?

About that green roof on top of the Target Center ... The Strib's Abby Simon reports this morning that workers on the $5 million project are on strike. The part about not getting $20 a day they believe they are entitled to is one thing but, she adds, "Since April, the more than a dozen workers have alleged that Stock Roofing has had them work in the dark without safety equipment."

Silly you. You thought one of these days you'd find an actual empty seat next to you on the plane ride to see Mom. With Harry Weber of the AP reporting that Delta is planning to cut capacity -- bad economy, you know -- this practically assures that the 400-pounder you saw in the gate area will be your seatmate to Houston.