Minnesota Poll: 60% want surplus refunded to taxpayers

So who dares to say, “No”? After the latest Strib/Minnesota Poll, Baird Helgeson writes: “A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll shows that 65 percent of adults say raising income taxes on high earners last year was the right move. But 60 percent also say that if there is a windfall this year it should be returned to taxpayers. About 6 percent think any extra money should be divided between tax rebates and new spending.”

The issue is optimal salting … Tim Krohn at the Mankato Free Press reports: “Besides salt, highway crews also in recent years began using magnesium chloride, a greenish liquid that is sprayed on pavement prior to storms. ‘The liquid is good and it helps. But it can cost up to twice as much and you’re not getting double the melting for the price,’ [Minneosta State associate professor Steve] Druschel said. He said his studies are looking at the price of the product, the number of vehicles needed to apply it and the effectiveness to come up with the most efficient methods.”

Also from Mankato … . I know you’re as shocked as I am that last week’s conservative freak-out over three DFLers “laughing at” the cost of Obamacare required a certain tightly constrained context. Dan Ruiter, the news director at KEYC-TV, Mankato, the station that shot the tape says, “Thursday night, a national television news organization showed a clip from one of our stories that aired on KEYC News 12 Wednesday night. … Thursday evening, national media outlets began running the story. However, they showed only a short clip from that exchange. The story accused all three panel members of laughing at someone else’s suffering. It also accused all three panel members of ducking the question. Anyone in attendance that day, or watching the story in its entirety that evening, knows that nothing could be further from the truth.”

Who knew there was a demand for more supermarkets in the Twin Cities? Mike Hughlett of the Strib writes: “The major Midwestern supermarket chain Hy-Vee is planning its first foray into the Twin Cities with four to six stores, a move that could shake up the grocery market here. The Des Moines-based company said Monday that the expansion will take several years and begin in New Hope, where it is currently working on a site.”

Common sense seems to have prevailed in the Rogers High School tweeting scandal. Stribber Paul Levy reports: “Last week, it was [student Reid] Sagehorn who was stung when Rogers Police Chief Jeff Beahen said he could be charged with a felony for defamation. Beahen later admitted that the most Sagehorn could be charged with was a gross misdemeanor. But the Hennepin County attorney’s office said that after reviewing the police report, Sagehorn had committed no crime.” The story also notes that Sagehorn has changed schools.

More propane assistance for low-income citizens … The AP says: “With Minnesota still in the throes of the coldest winter in 35 years, state lawmakers are seeking solutions for a propane shortage affecting residents who use the fuel for heating. A House commerce committee was considering a proposal on Monday to put $20 million into a heating-assistance program for low-income Minnesotans. It could be fast-tracked when the Legislature convenes on Tuesday. An estimated 250,000 Minnesota households use propane to heat their homes.”

The cops want this guy … John Brewer of the PiPress says: “East metro law enforcement officials are investigating two incidents of women being threatened at gunpoint Sunday by possibly the same suspect. In the first incident, a woman was carjacked in North St. Paul as she drove near Polar Arena at about 7:45 p.m. Sunday. … The woman managed to escape a few blocks away, but the man made off with her car. About fifteen minutes later, a woman was leaving a Maplewood fitness club near White Bear Avenue and County Road D when a man hopped into the passenger seat of her car and threatened to shoot her with the handgun if she tried to escape.”

Posted without additional comment. The latest from Ol’ Sooch in the PiPress: “This time around, it is not a levy, but a contract that the teachers want because now is the time to fight and to seek more funds for more counselors and social workers and nurses and smaller class sizes and librarians and social workers and language specialists and substitute teachers and special-education teachers and more art and more music and more libraries. … Look, I don’t know about you, but if you can’t educate a kid for $17,000 a year, then I think we are being played for saps. These employee additions, should the union get what they want, would certainly swell the ranks of the union.”

Do you really know the details of the best-selling Minnesota musical artists? Andrea Swensson at The Current writes: “Who are the best-selling Minnesota musicians of all time? It’s a big question, and after digging into the sales data for hundreds of Minnesota releases, it’s proven to be quite a complicated answer. … But what was more unexpected is that several artists who may be considered ‘one-hit wonders’ by the industry — Semisonic with their hit ‘Closing Time,’ Soul Asylum with ‘Runaway Train,’ the Rembrandts with ‘I’ll Be There For You,’ Marcy Playground with ‘Sex and Candy,’ etc. — ended up performing well on the album sales chart because their songs came out at a time when people weren’t really buying individual singles.” But yes, Prince and Dylan are the big dogs …