Swapping erratic outfielder Carlos Gomez for Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy solves the team's outfield logjam, means Orlando Cabrera will be gone and holds out the possibility that the newest Twin could become effective hitting in the No. 2 slot.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Jim Oberstar remains undecided about the health care bill because of a number of separate concerns — including a newly added measure that could hurt Minnesota's paper industry.

Related: Hoyer: 'Delaying tactics' could stall vote on health reform

Nearly $7 million in leftover funds raised by the Minneapolis/St. Paul 2008 Host Committee for last year's national gathering will soon be headed to three local foundations:  the St. Paul Foundation, the Minneapolis Foundation and the Minnesota Community Foundation.

ALSO: Pawlenty ends a bad week by proposing a constitutional amendment; Rybak runs for governor; Ponzi scheme-mania!

While attention has focused on a limited H1N1 flu vaccine supply, a shortage of approved virus-filtering respirators has federal and state public health officials across the country scrambling to ensure numbers. 3M Co. is running manufacturing operations 24/7.

Less than 48 hours after the polls closed in his victorious Minneapolis mayoral race, R.T. Rybak announced to his supporters today that he has filed paperwork with the state to create an R.T. Rybak for Governor Committee.

It was, in effect, a showdown of "charts versus hearts" today. Gov. Tim Pawlenty called for reining in state spending with a constitutional amendment. Sen. Tom Bakk, one of many DFL candidates for governor, emphasized getting Minnesotans back to work.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Days before an expected vote on health care reform in the U.S. House, thousands of protesters descended on the Capitol Thursday to rally around Rep. Michele Bachmann and other GOP lawmakers who have denounced the legislation.

Related: Skip Humphrey, AARP volunteers endorse reform bill

Members of a seven-person Minnesota delegation that recently visited Germany share their insights.

More tape recordings. PLUS: GOP fundraising and soul-searching; second thoughts on a TV interview, and college "bargains."

All 10 of the DFL candidates for governor support the right of gays and lesbians to marry. Not civil unions -- the full Monty. Will Minnesota's 2010 race for governor be the next referendum on gay marriage?

By 7:30 Wednesday morning — just hours after he'd learned he'd lost his bid to become mayor of Minneapolis — there was a message for callers on his home phone. "I'll be running for secretary of state in 2010," the message said.

Steve Knutson, executive director of the Fremont Community Clinics system, says, "We can have providers do wonderful things and intervene early, but if we don't have a willing patient on the other side of the table we're not going to get to an endpoint."

Despite repeated exhortations for reform by editorials over the years, Minneapolis voters seem happy to keep their "crazy quilt" system of municipal government.

Sixty-three percent of the 11,852 jobs created or saved in Minnesota by federal stimulus money are in education, mostly in K-12, which tallies a total of 7,380 jobs. Still, recipients of the federal money can't shake off a scary truth: Now they have it.  All too soon they won't.

Business Agenda: U of M piling up stimulus funds with $211M so far by Brad Allen

Geothermal energy development in Minnesota has received a $7 million-plus boost for projects ranging from an ice sheet in Eagan to carbon sequestration and heat capture at the University of Minnesota.

The hotly contested measure passed 17, 083 to 15,486 — about 52.4 percent support — but the margin is closer than it might seem, because the law requires approval of 51 percent of those voting to pass a charter amendment.

PLUS: Petters mysteries, Hecker finances and a light-rail decision.

On a night when Instant Runoff Voting was the city's big new political development, it's appropriate that being mayor is only R.T. Rybak's second choice of jobs. It's expected that soon he'll go after his first-choice position, governor. Some other city races remain in doubt.

David Brauer: Strib, PiPress political endorsement scorecard

Monday's announcement that the giant Big Stone II plant won't be built as planned near Minnesota's western border makes it unlikely that another coal-fired power plant will be built in the Upper Midwest anytime soon, if ever.

Two mayoral debates on MPR: Papa John Kolstad v. R.T. Rybak and Eva Ng v. Chris Coleman. PLUS: A rift in the Republican Party?

For many months, retail reports, financial statistics and monthly jobless updates have relentlessly driven home to all of us the bleak state of the national and regional economy. In an effort to personalize some of those numbers, we asked MinnPost interns Wilt Hodges, Emily Ness and Joey Peters to profile how several Minnesotans are coping with tough times.

· Weddings still need planners, but couples' budgets have tightened
· In tough times, one-man construction shop find ways to survive
· Marinas are always on Minnesota resort-goers' priority list
· Many new lawyers are finding job search a real trial

Couples are trying to save money these days, but they're still hiring wedding planners to organize their budgets and help them find the most efficient ways to pay for the big day.

Numbers go up and down, and weather always affects business, but boating and fishing lure vacationers even in a recession.

"Yep, looks like you have H1N1," the doctor muttered under her breath, doing her best to stay as far away from me as humanly possible. It took a few seconds for that to sink in, but now my worst fear was confirmed.

Energy is great. Health Care is important. Taxes matter. But the 2010 governor's race has to be about jobs.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Ranked ninth in oil production just three years ago, North Dakota has gushed to fourth, passing traditional oil producers Oklahoma and, earlier this year, Louisiana.

The Environmental Protection Agency reauthorized the use of atrazine three years ago; now a new administration will re-evaluate its safety. Meanwhile, Minnesota prepares to release the results of a yearlong state study.

It's not the NFL, but ex-Viking practice squad player Ryan Hoag made the opening-night roster for New York's new United Football League team. And he's not giving up on getting back to the pros.

DFLers, who thought that their field in the race for governor would have more clarity after the summer, are still without a clear front runner.

More than a dozen Minnesota foundations are collaboratively launching a new website, GiveMN, to encourage individual donors to support their favorite Minnesota nonprofits by contributing online.

Related: MinnPost and Razoo: making it easier to donate

Noting there are no "perfect candidates," Eliot Seide says the former senator has "Minnesota values" and that he supports "working women and men."

Related: GOP appears baffled by AFSCME's Dayton endorsement, by Joe Kimball