The Strib's Pat Lopez declares that House Speaker Margaret Kelliher is coming out of her shell! The putative gubernatorial candidate had shed her cagey public demeanor to champion DFL legislators' $1 billion tax hikes, which hit the wealthy, boozers and credit-card userers. While the prospects of any House Republican overriding the guv's Saturday veto seem nil, Kelliher will point to specific hospital cuts in Edina and Rochester to arm-twist recalcitrant legislators. The St. Cloud Times' Lawrence Schumacher goes in-depth on a local hospital's situation.

More DFL tax plan: KSTP's Tim Sherno has the speaker countering the guv's "tax hikes are leeches on Minnesotans" argument with "spending cuts are job leeches." Sherno says Dems will offer a bill with deep health cuts and see what Republicans do. Gulp. Me, I'm not convinced scary cuts will work; we need a feature on possible GOP switchers next. That Edina guy who beat Ron Erhardt; Rep. Keith Downey, is as conservative as they come. And the Winona Daily News' Mark Sommehauser talks to a DFLer who's not on board.

Still more DFL tax plan: Still, Lopez' story notes even the guv admits we need the $1 billion, and no one likes his borrowing plan. Lopez does a good job explaining Kelliher's use of the "obscure" Legislative Committee on Planning and Fiscal Policy to scrutinize Pawlenty's agency heads. Some of those raked over the coals praise her as a "worthy adversary."

Final DFL tax plan: Man, I hope Twitter isn't a new tool for obscuring political attacks. Lopez says Kelliher's use of the legislative commission has "earn[ed] it a withering nickname on Twitter: the Committee on Grandstanding and Waterboarding Tom Hanson," referring to the guv's management and budget commissioner. But near as I can tell, the label came in a tweet from House Republican communications guy Kevin Watterson. If the spin came from a caucus official, just make that clear.

Good news in Iran, where jailed North Dakota journalist Roxana Saberi will be freed to return to the United States, AP reports. Wonder which U.S. media outlet might hire her?

The Strib's Gregory Patterson checks in on Minnesota's first KIPP charter school, where low-income kids are at school 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., some Saturdays, and in the summer. KIPP Stand Academy opened last fall, so it's really too soon to judge effectiveness, though there is the requisite kid who's jumped a couple of grade levels. I have friends behind the KIPP effort, and expect it will succeed, but journalists need to be careful about writing "the early results have been positive" without a more systematic review.

More KIPP: To his credit, Patterson adds, "The KIPP model works for Audriana, but it's unclear how broadly it can be replicated." Check back in two years.

Strib weather reporter Bill McAuliffe notes the average warning time for tornadoes is a mere 13 minutes, and 100 researchers will prowl the Great Plains in the next month trying to tease out more predictive data. Fourteen mobile Dopplers -- 13 more than in a smaller mid-'90s effort -- will try to discern why seemingly identical storms act differently. One tested theory is that twisters form from the bottom up. A similar road trip is planned in 2010.

The alleged perp behind a Minneapolis bicyclist's 2007 killing goes on trial today, the Strib's Rochelle Olson reports; the case led to the high-profile reassignment of a Minneapolis police investigator who successfully sued the city for 85 grand. Olson says defendant Jamaal Freeman has a history of using baseball bats to clock victims, but Mark Loesch was the first who died. The defense says Loesch was trying to buy crack; at the time, police leaders said the same thing, causing investigative officers to protest.

More bicyclist killing: Why does drug-selling matter now? Prosecutors are seeking a longer sentence, and Freeman's side wants to make the victim less sympathetic.

The PiPress' Jason Hoppin details tattoo artists' complaints about proposed state regs. The industry doesn't generate many complaints, mostly about underagers inking up, but the rules regulate things like chair distances, garbage can lids and sink location. Several critics say having a sink near patients is actually unsanitary, which now makes me queasy to go into the bathroom. New licensure standards are problematic because there's no such thing as a tattoo academy. Backers say the state rules are patterned after Hennepin and Anoka county regs.

The Strib's Jim Adams says several suburban and exurban cities hate proposed state limits on Mississippi riverfront development. A 72-mile stretch would tailor land uses to protect "river features such as bluffs, scenic views and wetlands." Cities say they can do just fine in their own backyards, but advocates say the legislative proposal clarifies an existing, complex 1979 gubernatorial order. Gov. Pawlenty's office hasn't taken a stand but has concerns. Would they buck the property-rights crowd?

'Third-ring rage': The PiPress' Bob Shaw chronicles a finger-in-the-dike effort to teach exurban council members not to name-call in their official duties. The Minnesota League of Cities is trying to go Miss Manners on elected obscenity-flingers with voluntary civility codes and legal/ethical guidelines. The problem is most acute in areas facing sudden development pressure; where the Old Guard squares off against the Change is Good insurgents.

Last week, I criticized the Strib's front-page play for a Chaska High fight involving one alleged gang member yet heralded as Gang Ramp-Up in Safety Land. In the Strib's ops section, Chaska schools Supt. David Jennings echoes many of my complaints, noting there's been a Chaska gang unit for nearly a decade and the troubling incident didn't merit banner play. Unlike Jennings, I'm not saying the incident didn't deserve coverage, in that local, local, local way, but it struck me as a harbinger of nothing.

If you loved the U.S. Senate recount, are you ready for hand-counting instant-runoff voting ballots? Minneapolis officials test-drive the method (now called Ranked Choice Voting) today, MPR's Curtis Gilbert writes. Now-famous Minneapolis Elections Director Cindy Reichert says the city will be the first using hand-counts for a more complicated way of filling multimember board elections. Hand-sorting is needed because the feds and private contractors haven't authorized an RCV-able machine.

Rough run: St. Charles, which saw its leading employer, a meatpacking plant, burn down last month, lost a 106-year-old church to flames over the weekend, MPR's Jessica Mador reports. Thankfully, no one was hurt and church officials vow to rebuild, and church mementos were saved. WCCO has video.

Nort spews: Another pitiful Twins bullpen performance, and another home loss as Minnesota falls to Seattle 5-3. Junior Griffey's blast off Jose Minjares undid a strong Nick Blackburn performance. The Twins are a mere 11-9 at home, making the hole deeper when they finally start racking up road trips. (Three 10-gamers and a nine-gamer before the season's out.)