Lois Quam, the high-profile former UnitedHealth Group exec, is leaving Piper Jaffray to launch a business incubator, says the Star Tribune's Thomas Lee. Her new business will "help develop start-ups in health care and clean energy and strengthen technology transfer between Minnesota and Norway," the paper says. No mention, though, that gubernatorial contender Matt Entenza is her husband, or anything about the millions Quam received from UnitedHealth. Her departure is called a loss for Piper, which recruited her in 2007.

Speaking of health insurance, one in four Minnesotans had none at some point in 2007 and 2008. Can that be true in this great society? Yes, says a national report from the Families USA advocacy group. And four in five Minnesotans lacking insurance were employed, notes Jeremy Olson's Pioneer Press story, indicating employers are either making benefits too pricey or dropping them altogether. Still, Minnesota had the lowest rate of uninsured people among the 49 states studied, continuing its long tradition of extensive private and public coverage, says Dave Hage in the Star Tribune.

Absentee ballots counted in court Tuesday added to Al Franken's slim margin in the U.S. Senate race, but hardly enough to cause Norm Coleman to concede. Now with a 312-vote lead, Franken's lawyer says "more Minnesotans voted for Al Franken than Norm Coleman, and nothing Norm Coleman can do in the courts is going to change that," notes MPR. But Coleman spokesman  Ben Ginsberg says high in the Star Tribune story: "We will be appealing this to the Minnesota Supreme Court." Indeed, a Strib editorial says the courts should examine Coleman's claim that the system failed and votes weren't counted equally. Notes Ginsberg in the Pioneer Press: "When you get an election this close, you can't tell who won." 

The firefighter suspected of starting grass fires in Anoka was cited as a hero, but also someone with financial and legal problems, says the Pioneer Press. John David Berken once helped save a man who fell into the St. Croix River. The former co-owner of a car dealership was also once convicted of threatening to blow up a local airport and has several forgery and theft convictions. His fellow firefighters, who worked to extinguish the blaze, said they were disappointed, and the Forest Lake fire chief shut his door on a reporter and asked to be left alone. KARE 11 found two witnesses, who helped authorities track Berken. The Star Tribune says Berken denies setting the fire.

Dennis Douda at WCCO-TV found Tony and Michelle Houle in North Branch who are behind on their rent but have another big problem: Their landlords don't like them keeping three cows in the garage. "All the work that we've put in to try to maintain the home, and then to have this happen is very frustrating," said landlord Amy Walters. City officials say the cows are a code violation -- their lot is too small for livestock. Not surprisingly, an eviction hearing is set for April 17.

The Pioneer Press finds another twist in the 2006 police shooting of Fong Lee. Adding to the confusion about the gun found by Minneapolis police near the teen's body -- which had led to the belief that the shooting was justified because he'd been about to fire on the officer -- the paper says there's a new dispute about that gun's ownership. At first, police said the gun had been recovered by police following a burglarly. But then it should have been in the police lockup room, not in the hands of the dead youth. Later, police said they'd made a mistake, and the gun by Lee's body actually belonged to another man, Tong Vue. But now, Tong Vue said he never owned the gun. Tom Leyden at Fox 9 tries to make sense of this, too. Lee's family has sued police over the shooting, and it should be an interesting trial, scheduled to start May 1.

New predictions of a slightly lower crest on the Red River in the next week or so are reassuring to Fargo-Moorhead residents, says the Fargo Forum. In technical terms, a forecaster said: “The melt cycle looks a little gentler.” But city officials aren't taking chances, and will fill 1 million more sandbags, "to build up the current dike system and rebuild its sandbag reserve."

They're coming....The emerald ash borer, a metallic green beetle, has been found near LaCrosse, the Star Tribune says. Now state officials are worried the bugs are headed this way to feast on Minnesota's 900 million tasty ash trees, many of which we planted to replace the ravaged elms. The ash borer beetle was brought to the United States in packing crates from China and discovered near Detroit in 2002.

Different takes on a Tuesday night concert at Target Center. Star Tribune headline: "Dude! Nickelback was awesome." Pioneer Press says: "Nickelback doesn't have a dime's worth of subtle." Maybe lack of subtlety can be awesome.

It was a rare trifecta in the local sports world: The Wild stay in contention with a win over Dallas, but need help to make that last playoff spot, says the Strib. The Twins wait 'til the bottom of the ninth to scuttle the Mariners, then celebrate in the infield. The Pioneer quotes Michael Cuddyer: "It's always nice to have a dogpile. Doesn't matter if it's Game 2 or Game 162." Even the Timberwolves grab some glory. Oh wait, it was the Clippers. How does this help the lottery situation?