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Government

• Pawlenty signs higher education funding bill
  Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed the $2.8 billion higher education funding bill in Rochester Thursday. The state's college and university leaders say the recent session was much better for higher ed than past efforts. But students and others say the progress isn't enough.May 26, 2005
• Special session gets off to showy start
  Gov. Pawlenty and legislative leaders on Tuesday threw open the doors to their usually private negotiating sessions. But the budget talks showed little momentum.May 24, 2005
• Lawmakers give final approval to tougher crime bill
  The closing hours of the regular legislative session did see agreement on a couple of major bills -- those affecting public safety and state government.May 23, 2005
• One school's view of education funding, budget cuts
  Minnesota lawmakers have yet to hash out how much they'll boost state education spending over the next two years. A look at one school's attempts to deal with tight budgets.May 19, 2005
• New taxes on the way?
  A group of local journalists take a look back at the week in news, from tax proposals at the Capitol to coverage of the mourning of a St. Paul police officer.May 13, 2005
• GOP moderates defy Pawlenty on gas tax
  In open defiance of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's no-new-tax pledge, a group of moderate House Republicans has joined with Democrats to endorse a dime-per-gallon increase in the state gas tax over the next three years.May 12, 2005
• The high cost of smoking
  A new study by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota says smoking was responsible for almost $2 billion in medical costs in 2002. The insurer's Center for Tobacco Reduction and Health Improvement also blames smoking for 5,689 deaths that year.May 11, 2005
• A look at proposed income-tax increase in Minnesota
  As both parties search for ways to make ends meet on a state budget, tax proposals continue to crop up. Midmorning looks at the various options.May 6, 2005
• Uninsured will get hospital discounts under Hatch agreement
  Uninsured patients in Minnesota will have much lower hospitals bills under an agreement announced Thursday by Attorney General Mike Hatch and four large Minnesota hospital systems. The plan offers people without health coverage the same discounts that hospitals give high-volume insurance companies. In addition, the hospitals have agreed to reform their debt collection procedures.May 5, 2005
• MinnesotaCare users say cuts are not worth the pain
  With the legislative session moving into its final weeks, the debate over MinnesotaCare is coming to a head. The Senate is expected to vote on a bill Monday that would restore millions of dollars in funding that was cut from the state's subsidized health insurance program in 2003. The bill is in sharp contrast to proposals by Gov. Pawlenty and House Republicans that would make even deeper cuts in the program.May 1, 2005
• Fargo residents debate the need for a downtown arena
  A multi-purpose arena is at the center of an economic development debate in Fargo. Voters have a chance to weigh in whether a sales tax should go for a new, mid-sized arena.April 29, 2005
• DFL Senate majority puts out spending plan; avoids tax talk
  Senate DFL leaders Wednesday outlined a plan for about $1 billion in new state spending. Most of the money would go to public schools. Senate Democrats did not say where the money would come from, however, and Republican leaders promptly blasted the plan.April 20, 2005
• Leech Lake opposes merging casino and racino plans
  The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe says it will reject any attempt to merge a proposed state-tribal casino with a separate plan to put slot machines at the Canterbury Park race track. A merger is being floated since both gambling initiatives are stalled at the State Capitol.April 19, 2005
• Historic Hennepin theaters go to Clear Channel team
  The Minneapolis City Council didn't spend much time putting the final stamp of approval on a measure to hand over the city's historic theaters. Once city staff drafts the final paperwork, the State, Orpheum and Pantages theaters will be run by a small local nonprofit and a team dominated by entertainment conglomerate Clear Channel Communications.April 15, 2005
• Life inside the CIA
  U.S. intelligence agencies have come under some stiff criticism over the last several years from government investigations and to tell-all books alike. One such insider account, "Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy," paints the picture of an agency often bureaucratic, sometimes comical and utterly unprepared for the challenge of the War on Terrorism.April 7, 2005

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