Around MN: Obama comes to Cannon Falls

President Barack Obama has touched down in Minnesota moments ahead of his first address of five in the Midwest that will focus on the economy.

Listen to live coverage of President Obama's visit to Cannon Falls, MN. The White House website will carry live video from the event at noon.

Also on MN Today

Minnesota education law gives home-schoolers more freedom

Minnesota parents who teach their children at home feel like they have received a promotion. Several mandates disappeared under a new law, part of an overall education funding measure passed last month (Duluth News Tribune).

Frontrunner Bachmann faces tougher questions

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, fresh off a strong victory in the Iowa straw poll here, is already taking the tough questions that a long-shot tends to avoid but a front-runner cannot avoid (Wall Street Journal).

After Iowa, Republicans face a new landscape

While Gov. Rick Perry of Texas had hoped to turn the contest into a two-man duel with Mitt Romney, he starts by facing U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, whose weekend victory in the Iowa straw poll reordered the top tier of candidates (New York Times).

Military recruiters to come back on campus at William Mitchell (KSTP)

Cargill blames government hoarding for global food price surge

Cargill chief Greg Page, who runs the largest U.S. agricultural company, has a good idea whom to blame for the global surge in food prices at the end of 2010: governments (Washington Post).

Two boys rescued from water-filled pit

Two boys were rescued and pulled to safety by emergency personnel from the steep sides of the Rouchleau Pit by the Mineview in the Sky by Highway 53 thanks to a boy's quick-thinking, emergency cell phone call (Mesabi Daily News).

24-lake study will track changes that could affect all 10,000

Because many lakes are being studied, changes noticed in one can be quickly compared with others to determine if they are part of a broad event or a local one. Moreover, outside researchers such as universities can review the data, providing their own analyses (Pioneer Press).

Duluth councilor wants to get tough on loiterers

The long arm of the law could soon get a hand in stopping loiterers from hanging around Duluth street corners with the intent of engaging in prostitution or drug-dealing (Duluth News Tribune).

Blog Box

In these lost places we find the holes in our economy

The recent news that the United States Postal Service would be closing scads of post offices around the country, mostly in rural, small towns, has opened a lot of eyes about the true existential danger facing rural America (Minnesota Brown).

OP-ED

The flavor du jour of U.S. politics

he questions about Michele Bachmann abound: Is she merely a pale copy of Sarah Palin? Is she smart? Are her views extreme? The answers are easy: No, yes and yes (New York Times).

Editorial: Pawlenty fails in Bachmann's GOP

Hard-edged Tea Party militancy is bringing intense energy to GOP politics. But rank-and-file Republicans must weigh carefully whether nominating a pure, but polarizing, candidate would best serve the nation -- or best further their heartfelt mission to unseat President Obama next year.

We wish Tim Pawlenty well in the next phase of his career. But we would be surprised if this marks the end of his political life.

Though we often, even usually, disagree with him, he is a man of talent and ambition. We expect to see his name on a prominent ballot again (Star Tribune).

• Editor’s notebook: Covering the environment in 2014
• Best of Minnesota Scenes from 2014
• 50 years of memory making in the Boundary Waters
• ‘Fargo’ takes home two Emmys