Uh-oh: A second Texas executive confirms that a major Norm Coleman donor tried to funnel $100,000 to Laurie Coleman's employer, the Strib's Paul McEnroe and Tony Kennedy report. Under oath, Deep Marine Technology CFO B.J. Thomas said investor Nasser Kazeminy ordered the payments to The Hays Group. Kazeminy's spokesperson stands by denials, and Coleman's lawyer (Tom Petters conservator Doug Kelley) repeats that no money ever hit the family pocketbook.

More Kazeminy: Coleman had alleged the story was Al Franken's doing, but the Strib duo notes Thomas is a former conservative radio talk show host. Thomas does not say Kazeminy or the investor's reps linked the payments to Coleman. They merely insisted companies be switched without providing a clear rationale. However, MinnesotaIndependent's Chris Steller says Thomas explicitly recounted Kazeminy's complaints that "U.S. senators don't make shit."

Profanity and resolve are the only two reactions to the news that the Red River hit record levels this morning; forecasters predict a soul-crushing 43-foot crest, 3 feet above original sandbagging, everyone reports. The Strib reports Fargo and Moorhead evacuations broadened and some dikes breached; KSTP video here. MPR's Bob Collins continues his house-to-house coverage, with video. AP says Fargo may be hurt by not having been hurt worse in 1997. The PiPress' Opinuendo provides some literary insight.

Gov. Pawlenty and DFL legislative leaders met Thursday for the first time in 76 days and basically glared at each other. As this Uptake video from dueling press conferences shows, Pawlenty castigated the DFL for proposing tax increases while they flayed him for borrowing a ton of money and leaving the state bereft in the next biennium. Two months to go until the government shutdown or the DFL caves on tax hikes. By the way, Politics in Minnesota's Steve Perry notes the state will lose $120 million in stimulus-related tax cuts that failed to lure congressional Republicans.

Will he do the same? Pawlenty proposes 30,000 state workers take an unpaid month off in each of the next two years, the PiPress' Rachel Stassen-Berger reports. She notes her own paper requires furloughs, but this is a lot even by private-sector standards. The workers' contract expires this summer, so this baring of teeth is a negotiating ploy, MPR's Tim Post infers. How much would it save? Dunno. Would it forestall layoffs? Can't say. There's also a wage freeze. The Strib's Mary Lynn Smith repeats union complaints that managers could force non-favorites to take more time off.

The legislative auditor again criticized Pawlenty administration fiscal controls, this time in monitoring federal funds flowing through state coffers. The Strib's Mike Kaszuba says there was a "material weakness" that, among other things, enabled a five-year-long, $1 million theft. Poor instructions to counties made it impossible to monitor some spending.

Let's see how long before this becomes a mainstream media story: DFL operative Dustry Trice uncovers a 1995 legislative bill to limit governors to two terms. The author? You guessed it — Tim Pawlenty.

35W suckitude: Beginning tonight, the highway through south Minneapolis will shrink one lane in each direction, the Strib's Jim Foti reports. The nightmare ends in September, hopefully, when a new lane and transit-friendly shoulder reopen. Plan accordingly.

The state unveiled a new public budgeting and spending website, but the PiPress' Stassen-Berger notes it only works for Internet Explorer users. That cuts out 35 percent of the (DFL-leaning?) world that uses Firefox, Safari, or Opera. (Stassen-Berger says the site may work for some Mac users, but not many). State developers shrug at their ineptitude.

The PiPress' Frederick Melo says khat, the narcotic East African plant, has now become a year-round drug locally. Before, its use peaked around Ramadan, when daytime fasts encouraged the amphetamine-like appetite suppressant. Although supplies have skidding since a nationwide ring was busted up in 2006, authorities discovered 100 pounds of the chewables in recent weeks.

Home gas bills fell an average of 10 percent this winter, the PiPress' Leslie Brooks Suzukamo reports via Xcel Energy. The $720 heating season figure was the lowest since 2003. The bad news, of course, is that more government assistance is going to first-time recipients who've had trouble keeping pace in a lousy economy.

No nukes: The hippies in the Minnesota House Energy Committee turned back a plan to undo the state's ban on new nuclear power plants, AP's Elizabeth Dunbar writes. No facilities are proposed, but the greenhouse-gas-free source has sparked renewed interest, and some union types want to jump in the cooling pool. Concerns about localized nuke waste, and stifling alt-energy, prevailed in the 12-9 rejection.

Jailed for free cable: After seven years, a Ramsey couple will spend 36 to 84 months in the pokey for selling illegal descrambler boxes, the Strib's James Walsh reports. The couple scammed cable companies out of up to $7 million in fees. The company, Micro-Star, operated in the area since 1996. Justice's long delay was caused by complex transactions.

Today's (sad) animal story: the tale of a stillborn Minnesota Zoo dolphin calf, from the PiPress' Maricella Miranda.

Nort spews: Not much today, so KSTP decides to stir it up with the St. Paul Saints' quest for a new stadium, likely in Lowertown.