Does anybody care that the Minnesota Senate is going to vote on a bonding bill today?

The bill is supposed to be the main work of the Legislature this session. The senate version has a price tag of $990 million. Of course, everything is being overshadowed this week by the debate over gay marriage. And the bonding bill, which funds building projects around the state, has a long way to go before it actually becomes law.

There is another rally set for today on the gay marriage issue. This time is the opponents of putting the ban on the ballot will gather. Like the supporters of the ban who rallied the other day, the opponents will argue that God is on their side.

Meanwhile, former Vice President Walter Mondale and former Gov. Arne Carlson have sent the governor and legislative leaders a letter urging them to focus on issues that are key to Minnesota's future. They don't come right out and say it, but presumably the gay marriage ban would not be on their list of such issues.

If most voters agree with the former officeholders, it's sure hard to tell by what's going on in the senate. You've probably heard by now that Republicans have filed an ethics complaint against DFL Majority Leader Dean Johnson. MPR's Tom Scheck had the story:

Republican senators Mike McGinn and Claire Robling delivered the complaint to the President of the Senate. The complaint said Republicans were troubled about Johnson's comments about same-sex marriage and the state Supreme Court. McGinn, of Eagan, says he's also troubled that Johnson's story has been constantly evolving over the past week.

"We were very slow to file this ethics complaint because we didn't want it to appear like it was a totally partisan attack. That's not what we're about. We're about taking care of the Senate's credibility," McGinn said.

The delay in filing the complaint also gives the story another day of life. Other Republicans say Johnson could end the whole controversy simply by allowing the Senate to vote on the proposed amendment.

Johnson was supposed to be on Midday yesterday, but he bailed out a half hour before airtime. Mr. Eichten and the Midday crew recovered quite well with the help of the aforementioned Mr. Scheck. The highlight of the program for me was Tom reading the ethics complaint seconds after it was slipped under the door while he was on the air. I'm not sure if that counts as talent or good luck, but it made for a pretty good news broadcast.

Finally, Kerri Miller asked me yesterday if I thought the Star Tribune had a lot of egg on its face Wednesday for reporting (wrongly) that Gopher basketball coach Dan Monson was not expected to keep his job. What do you think? The subhead on Thursday's story about Monson keeping his job says "athletic director quells rumors after a day of conflicting reports." When the state's major daily prints the rumors on the front page it certainly gives those rumors an air of credibility.

I'll tell you what I told Kerri. I spend too much time trying to keep eggs off MPR's face to worry too much about what the Star Tribune does. And if we're egg-free today I'll be happy.