MORNING EDITION

It’s like the Army … hurry up and wait. With all manner of Viking stadium proposals submitted for Gov. Dayton’s review, the most operative talking point at the Capitol is: “Let’s not rush into things.” Mike Kaszuba and Eric Roper’s Strib story says: “The day's feverish stadium drama was capped by a Vikings spokesman saying the team preferred building in Arden Hills, believed a new Metrodome stadium was "workable" and declined to guarantee whether it would play in Minnesota next season. ... Meanwhile, Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, the chief Senate stadium author, and others indicated Thursday that legislators may now throttle back the stadium's frenzied pace. She said choosing a stadium site and introducing a stadium bill may not happen before the Legislature convenes on Jan. 24. ... ‘I think there may be some more time left,’ before legislators vote on a stadium, said Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove. ‘I'm not so sure that the prospect of pushing a Vikings stadium along at this moment is as critical as proponents would want you to think.’ House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, said Thursday it was "not my job" to secure votes for a new Vikings stadium.”

Tim Nelson at MPR says: “Dayton said it's still up to Republican legislative leaders to decide whether to take up a stadium bill during the 2012 session, and the DFL governor said he's been getting mixed signals recently. ... Ramsey County officials upped their stadium ante Thursday with a new agreement with the Vikings and more local money to help pay for the proposed Arden Hills project. The stadium proposal signed by Ramsey County board chairman Rafael Ortega says the county will commit to a $375 million contribution to a proposed Vikings stadium in Arden Hills. That's a $25 million increase over the deal the county initially reached with the team last May. In addition, the county's bid includes an updated agreement with the team. In it, the Vikings put their proposed contribution at $425 million, up from their initial $407 million offer.” “Theirs” and/or the NFL’s?

There’s a new list out of the state’s biggest gassers. Writes John Myers at the Duluth News Tribune: “Two Northland power plants and two taconite plants are among the state’s 10 largest emitters — Minnesota Power’s Clay Boswell plant in Cohasset and Taconite Harbor plant on the North Shore along with U.S. Steel’s Minntac plant in Mountain Iron and Cliffs Natural Resources’ Northshore Mining in Silver Bay. ... Power plants released 72 percent of all greenhouse gases reported to the EPA for 2010. But across Minnesota, oil refineries, taconite plants, paper mills, ethanol plants and even sugar beet processing also emitted greenhouse gases. Even some landfills, which emit methane as garbage decomposes, made the list. ... In Minnesota, Xcel Energy’s coal burning Sherco plant in central Minnesota was the largest at 13.5 million tons and Minnesota Power’s Clay Boswell was second at nearly 6.7 million.”

Magnetation, the range operation that extracts ore from tailings, has paid off a loan early to the IRRRB. Also in the News Tribune: “Magnetation, Inc. has repaid $5.5 million that it received from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development in 2008 and 2009. The loans, three of which were due for repayment at the end of 2013 with the fourth due by July 2014, were instrumental to the start-up of Magnetation in 2008. The company uses a proprietary process to separate magnetic ore out of old waste sites from past mining operations. The company has several operations planned and has inked a deal with steel-making giant AK Steel to provide the company with ore. Magnetation also is planning to build a pelletizing plant, possibly in Itasca County, to supply AK.”

It was not that a great a year, crop-wise, for Minnesota farmers. Tom Webb’s PiPress story says: “[T]he fall harvest was disappointing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered Minnesota's corn yield, yet again, putting the statewide figure at 156 bushels an acre in the season's final estimate. That's down 4 bushels from USDA's November forecast, and down 9 bushels from USDA's October estimate, reflecting pressures of an early frost, very dry autumn weather and a late start to the crop. It's also 21 bushels an acre lower than the previous year's corn crop, a record 177 bushels an acre. Minnesota's final soybean numbers declined, too. USDA said soybeans yields were 38.5 bushels an acre, down 1.5 bushels from its November estimate. The year earlier, Minnesota's soybean yield was 45 an acre.” There was, though, as predicted, another bumper crop of BS in St. Paul.

Xcel has been told to bury major power lines under Minneapolis’s 28th Street … but not who will pay for it. Steve Brandt of the Strib reports: “The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ordered that the twin 115-kilovolt lines requested by Xcel Energy be deemed necessary but said they should be buried under E. 28th Street. That's a victory for the city and a number of neighborhood representatives. They argued that an alternative route that would run lines overhead or underground along the bike-pedestrian corridor was too disruptive. ‘It's a huge victory, said Soren Jensen, staff chief for the Midtown Greenway Coalition. But the precedent-setting question of who pays will require a separate proceeding that will last several months and determine whether all Xcel customers in Minnesota will help bear the cost of burying the lines or just those in Minneapolis. The city argued that all Xcel customers should pay because the factors arguing for burying the route are so compelling that any other route, including the Greenway, would be unreasonable.”

Saab may be toast, but Ikea still has cash for bright ideas. David Shaffer of the Strib writes about the solar array the company is spreading across its (very large) roof: “A solar array that retailer Ikea says will be installed on the roof of its Bloomington store will be the state's largest generator of electricity from the sun. The project, to be built this summer, is one of five solar power projects in four states that Ikea announced Thursday. The new projects and others now under way will put solar arrays atop 37 of its 44 U.S. locations, Ikea said. The Bloomington store's power output, 1.1 megawatts, will be nearly double that of Minnesota's largest existing solar-electric generator on the Minneapolis Convention Center. Ikea said the Bloomington store will generate enough electricity to power 112 homes, though most of it will be used on site.”

We have a “first.” Up in Duluth, Mark Stodghill of the News Tribune reports: “A 53-year-old man was convicted by a federal jury in Duluth Thursday for the domestic assault of a woman on the Bois Forte Indian Reservation. Chris Neil Ferguson was found guilty of one count of domestic assault by a habitual offender. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said this is the first time it has prosecuted anyone under the federal ‘domestic assault by a habitual offender’ law. Ferguson was indicted for the crime on Sept. 20.”

I keep my eye on these guys so you don’t have to. With chatter about how another “inappropriate relationship” at the Capitol was handled, compared with Amy Koch’s, blogger Andy Apilkowski at “Residual Forces” sees the heavy hand of socialist sympathizing ... at Hubbard Broadcasting: “KSTP reporter Jay Kolls is teasing the notion of more civil warfare in the Republican ranks at the Capital. He’s the loan wolf journo so far on reporting on another “inappropriate relationship” between a Legislator and staffer. You can watch his story here. Rep. Smith is a moderate Republican who has been at odds with many in his party, both elected officials as well as activists. Time will tell if he is seriously thinking of switching parties … so far Kolls & KSTP are the only news outlet actually touching this one. More revenge from Brodkorb/Koch or just more medalling [sic] from DFL leaning individuals who want to see the GOP fail so they can retake the Legislature and help Governor Dayton fulfill his dream of destroying the MN economy with unbridled socialism?
Regardless, such loosey goosey sourcing and reporting is suspect of motives on this one. My guess, the standard is — so long as it makes people hate the GOP, go ahead and runs with it Kolls — is the Editorial discretion at the purported Republican leaning KSTP.” Copy editors everywhere are reaching for the Advil.