AFTERNOON EDITION

At the risk of grossly overdoing it on this Vikings stadium thing … here is still more reaction, number-crunching and punditry. For example, Kevin Seifert of ESPN held a live chat: “[L]et's review what we learned: ... The Vikings will contribute $407 million to the project, Ramsey County will provide $350 million in taxpayer money and the state of Minnesota will provide $300 million. That adds up to $1.057 million but does not include the costs of any road upgrades. ... the Minnesota Department of Transportation said it would require between $175 million and $240 million to upgrade the surrounding roads to accommodate 65,000 fans at an NFL standard, defined as no more than an hour to access or exit the property. That makes the total cost of this project ... closer to $1.25 billion. ... From this vantage point, there appears to be at least a $175 million gap in the money committed so far and what the state believes is necessary to do this project. Maybe the Vikings and Ramsey County believe they can talk the state into covering the difference under the guise of statewide roadwork. Perhaps they have already agreed privately to covering at the last minute if necessary. Or, in a conspiracy theory I like too much to sit on, maybe they're willing to build the stadium with insufficient roads, live through a year or two of game-day traffic nightmares and then hope that ticket holders pressure the state to address the roads in order to relieve the bottleneck.”

Says Charley “Shooter” Walters in the PiPress: “[A] deal is far from complete. Unless approximately $200 million more for highway and road infrastructure improvements is found, don't be surprised if the Vikings soon end up back in Minneapolis seeking a new stadium built on the Metrodome site. The state is willing to contribute $300 million for an Arden Hills stadium. But the state isn't willing to give some $200 million more for highway and road infrastructure improvements. Ramsey County plans to seek the extra $200 million from the Legislature, but lawmakers aren't likely to be forthcoming with the proposal. Bottom line: Ramsey County and the Vikings basically have agreed to a stadium deal that is still about $200 million short. And that has people in the know scratching their heads because the way it is now, the Ramsey County deal simply won't get done. Hello, Minneapolis."

In the “For what it’s worth department,” count me among the skeptics who doubt Ramsey County will prevail against the slicker forces of Minneapolis. Jerry Zoss of The Journal writes: “Despite the announced partnership between the Vikings and Ramsey County, the Arden Hills stadium site is far from a done deal. State legislators from both parties have decried the plan, and Governor Mark Dayton has reiterated his stance that the required infrastructure upgrades would be too expensive. Mayor RT Rybak has issued a congratulatory statement to Ramsey County, but has also made it clear that Minneapolis has not conceded the project. ‘Both Minneapolis and Ramsey County want the Vikings to stay in Minnesota; congratulations to them for progress,’ Mayor Rybak said in a statement. ‘We will continue to work on our practical, affordable plan for two world-class facilities and $50 million in property tax relief.’ ”

The Strib’s Steve Brandt looks at the political impact on Mayor Rybak, an unlikely guy to be carrying the ball for pro football owners. “Among Rybak's potential problems:
• Shedding the vestiges of his stance against city subsidies to developers in general, and sports facilities in particular, that helped propel him into office in 2001. He supported Hennepin County's proposal for Target Field, but this time he's in the lead.
• Concern that consumers might head to suburbs with lower sales, bar and restaurant taxes if the plan is approved.
• Making the case at the Legislature that Minneapolis can afford new taxes might undercut the portrayal of the city as desperately needing its full share of local government aid and state help on pension funding.
• Promising property tax relief yet still having to increase taxes because of such factors as the threatened elimination of local government aid. Rybak didn't promise taxes would drop; rather, relief might mean holding an increase down.” This one will require some real pro-quality footwork.

Jason Feldman, sports guy with the Rochester Post-Bulletin, throws in, saying: “[T]he Vikings and Ramsey County face a third-and-5 at the state legislature. The bill could pass or it could not. There's no strong sense of what will happen, one way or another, especially with $200 million or more in infrastructure upgrades needed near the stadium site. If the third-and-5 fails, the Vikings may well just back up and punt. That means a move to Los Angeles, which makes for a longer drive on gameday than the extra 10 miles to Arden Hills that many Twin Cities talk radio callers were whimpering about late Tuesday afternoon. As for the site itself, it doesn't take a Toby Gerhart to figure out why the Wilfs are in love with it. It starts and ends with money. The Wilfs could make a lot of it by charging for 21,000 parking spaces, building a team Hall of Fame (I know, I know; they wouldn't need much land for that) and a Vikings pro shop.”

If you need an overhead view of the Arden Hills property as it is today, here’s some chopper footage via KSTP-TV.

Who doesn’t like a good public brawl? Especially if it involves a politician and a priest? Even better is that politician is the rare GOP legislator opposed to the latest ban-gay-marriage frenzy. Andy Birkey of The Minnesota Independent follows the feud that broke out Tuesday: “A feud between Rep. John Kriesel and Rev. John Echert of Holy Trinity/Saint Augustine Parish in South St. Paul erupted on Catholic blogs on Tuesday. Kriesel, a Republican who opposes putting an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot in 2012, received a letter from Echert that said the parish was launching a campaign to ban gay marriage in the Minnesota Constitution. Kriesel’s office warned the parish about violating its tax status by lobbying.”

Wrote the good father: “While we can legitimately debate issues related to finances and politics, those that are grounded upon basic moral principles and family values are rooted in the laws of God. I am commencing this week with a parish campaign to promote support for a Marriage Amendment in Minnesota; I hope that you will be among those elected officials upon whom we can count for your efforts at the leadership level to protect traditional marriage in our state.” To which Rep. Kreisel responded, “I would like to respectfully remind you that the Internal Revenue Service frowns upon churches and religious organizations devoting time to influencing legislation. Your admission of the commencement of a politically involved ‘campaign’ will probably violate several state and federal tax provisions.”  And then it got worse ...

The Post-Bulletin (again) editorializes about the gay marriage amendment, saying: “We have several objections. For starters, we see no reason for our elected officials to spend their time and taxpayer dollars debating a constitutional amendment that restates a law that is functioning well. Same-sex couples aren't getting married here, nor are they lining up to challenge the law. Meanwhile, Minnesota's health care system, public schools and courts are teetering on the edge of economic crisis. Legislators should keep their eyes on the prize. Furthermore, we object on principle to the idea of legislating through the constitution. We elect public officials to run our state government, a job that includes setting taxes, allocating money and creating the laws we live by. Our legislators should do that job themselves, rather than delegating important decisions to the voters — and thus finding a way around the checks and balances that are inherent in our legislative process.” Given what the GOP sees as a groundswell of support for this year’s amendment support, has there been an editorial anywhere supporting their position?

And in the context of avoiding actual public input, you have to like this. Candace Renalls of the Duluth News Tribune reports: “Don’t expect the usual series of public hearings the next time Minnesota Power seeks rate increases. The company will instead use a different approach — seeking temporary ‘rider fees’ that don’t require public comments before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission can approve an increase, Alan Hodnik, CEO of Allete, told the News Tribune after the annual shareholders’ meeting of Minnesota Power’s parent company on Tuesday.”