MORNING EDITION

Really? The Metrodome site? A Strib team of reporters covers the latest stadium drama, saying: “Gov. Mark Dayton told the Minnesota Vikings on Monday that the only workable site this year for a new stadium is the Metrodome. ... Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley said the team is upset by the news, which came just as the team appeared to be shifting from its preferred site in Arden Hills to the so-called Linden Avenue location near the Minneapolis' Basilica of St. Mary. ... Ted Mondale, Dayton's chief stadium negotiator, said lawyers were attempting to get around a requirement that nine City Council votes in Minneapolis would be needed to sell city land near the basilica for the project. He said a new legal opinion obtained for the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission argued that only seven votes would be required because the city would be selling the property to another public entity. Mondale is the chair of the commission.”

At the Vikings fan site, the Daily Norseman, Christopher Gates writes: “I really, really don't think I like where this is headed. It certainly didn't take very long to go from "not having enough information to fully recommend a site" to ‘Metrodome site or bust,’ did it? So now, the governor has presented the Vikings with an ultimatum ... either we're going to build on your least favorite site, the site that is going to cost you an extra $70 million between changes/improvements that will have to be made to TCF Bank Stadium to make it NFL-caliber in the interim and the income you're going to lose from playing in a stadium that holds 10,000 fewer people, or pound sand.”

In Doug Belden’s PiPress story, he says: “[T]he team is not happy. ‘We were told by the governor's office that the Linden Avenue site is not viable at least in the short run,’ said team vice president Lester Bagley. ‘Vikings ownership is extremely frustrated with the situation.’ He declined to say what if anything the team intends to do about its displeasure. ... Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett was more than disappointed upon hearing about Dayton's message to the team, noting the county has given two detailed proposals for the Arden Hills plan. ‘We must be second-class citizens on our side of the river,’ Bennett said.” I’m still not following what, if anything, makes any other site more viable ... in the longer term. Is this simply a matter of more time to negotiate?

Father John Bauer of the Basilica writes a commentary for the Strib explaining his position on the so-called Linden Avenue site: “From property line to property line, the Linden Avenue site is just more than 100 yards from the basilica — ironically, the length of a football field. Not only will this location affect the 6,500 households that call the parish their spiritual home, but it will also jeopardize our efforts to bring stability and provide a lifeline to those who are most in need. ... We are concerned with the level of activity this proposed stadium would generate. Currently, there are 300 event days at the Metrodome, including eight to 10 NFL game days that bring 65,000 fans through the neighborhood on a Sunday morning (when nearly 2,000 people also gather for mass at the basilica.) Thousands attend the stadium's other events, including major concerts, high school athletic contests and more. Increased traffic flow would affect access and parking for those trying to come to the basilica for liturgies, concerts, community events and outreach.”

Minnesota Hockey is cracking down on checking. Madeleine Baran of MPR reports: “The organization that governs amateur youth hockey in Minnesota, voted unanimously this weekend to adopt tougher penalties for illegal checking. Players who engage in illegal checking or boarding will now receive a mandatory five-minute major penalty. In the past, referees could opt for a lesser, two-minute minor penalty for an illegal check. The new rule applies to all amateur youth players. The group that oversees high school hockey players recently announced a similar rule change. The changes come in the wake of 16-year-old Jack Jablonski's paralyzing injuries after being checked during a game in December.”

Court documents say Joe Senser’s wife knew she had killed the man she hit on an I-94 off-ramp. Brandt Williams at MPR says: “Amy Senser knew she struck and killed a man by the side of the road before leaving the scene of the incident, according to details revealed in court documents, says Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. The Hennepin County Attorney's office on Monday issued an amended complaint in the criminal vehicular homicide case against Senser. ... Freeman says Senser came back to the scene about 40 minutes after the accident. ‘We believe we have evidence that she came back a second time,’ Freeman said. ‘You see all the flashing lights and if you see that — particularly if you drove through there — I mean, she knew she hit something. The evidence is irrefutable.' "

Dave Hanners’ PiPress story has several fascinating details. Says Hanners: “After striking and killing a Roseville man on a highway exit ramp, Amy Senser sped off and drove around for more than half an hour, yakking on the phone, before she drove back by the scene of the hit-and-run, according to an amended criminal complaint that prosecutors filed today. She never stopped to see the carnage she had wrought, and when her daughters and a friend arrived at the Sensers' Edina home later, they found the wife of former Vikings player Joe Senser ‘asleep on a couch on the porch,’ according to the court document. ... Ten hours after the hit-and-run, Joe Senser called his brother-in-law, a sergeant with the Edina Police Department, and ‘asked him whom he would recommend as an attorney if one were hypothetically involved in an accident,' according to the complaint. Joe Senser, who played tight end for the Minnesota Vikings in the 1980s before going into the restaurant business, placed that call less than half an hour after getting a call from a phone number associated with the Florida Detox & Wellness Institute, located in Palm Harbor, Fla.”

The St. Croix bridge — the big one — passed through the Senate Monday. Brett Neely of MPR writes: “The bill, sponsored by DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar, passed the Senate with no debate under a procedure known as unanimous consent that is used for legislation considered uncontroversial. The legislation grants an exemption to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act that protects the St. Croix. The bill authorizes a four-lane replacement bridge south of Stillwater near the town of Oak Park Heights. ... One of the possible holdups in the House is the opposition of DFL Reps. Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison, who argue the cost of the project is excessive and say a smaller bridge would suffice.”

Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin is raking in serious money fopr his recall fight. Jacob Stein and Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel write: “Gov. Scott Walker is raking in money at a pace not seen before in Wisconsin politics as he prepares to face the state's first-ever gubernatorial recall, taking in more than $4.5 million over five weeks. In just over a year, Walker has raised more than $12 million in campaign donations — more than he spent to win the seat in 2010 — and despite sizable spending in recent weeks still has $2.6 million in cash in the bank, according to figures released Monday by his campaign. The Republican governor has traveled the country to raise money in recent weeks and has benefited from a quirk in the state's election law that allows elected officials facing recalls to raise unlimited amounts. ... The day recall signatures were filed against him, Walker was scheduled to hold a fundraiser in New York City hosted by Maurice Greenberg, the founder of troubled financial services company American International Group. No details had been released before deadline on that fundraising. But among the previously reported donations that Walker received were $250,000 from Bob Perry, owner of Perry Homes in Houston and one of the primary financial forces behind the Swift Boat Veterans ads that attacked U.S. Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign; $205,000 from Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest, Ill., founders of the shipping supply company Uline; $175,075 from the Schuette family, which owns Wausau Homes and supports the state tea party movement; and $20,000 from H. Ross Perot Jr., son of the two-time presidential candidate.”