Bridge critics gain momentum, crop prices undermine conservation

Critics: St. Croix bridge a cash hog

$360 million for the span would be better spent on state projects elsewhere that would benefit more people, legislators say (Star Tribune).

Chat: Expanding gambling to fund a new stadium

University of Minnesota to limit transfers, as community and other state colleges swell

A bid to shrink the ranks of transfer students to the University of Minnesota has opened a rift among the state's public higher-education institutions (Pioneer Press).

Agriculture land sales create shift in property tax burden

Record-setting land sales in Rock County and continually climbing land prices in Nobles County will undoubtedly mean an even greater shift in the property tax burden for agricultural land owners in the year ahead (Worthington Daily Globe).

High crop prices a threat to nature?

Grain prices are tempting farmers to plow up protected land, even as conservation subsidies shrink (Star Tribune).

Central Minn. child care providers weigh implications of union

Kelly Martini hopes a union could help bond a group of small businesses she says now lack cohesion: family child care providers.But Linda Christiansen worries she'll have to pay for a cause she doesn't support, or pass higher costs on to her clients (Saint Cloud Times).

Forced to leave, Hibbing man dies waiting for immigration visa

For the past decade, a change in immigration law has sent foreign-born spouses of U.S. citizens back to their home countries to obtain visas (MPR News).

Gun safety education: Caught in the cross hairs

A DNR program that takes the teaching of gun safety online has strong critics who favor traditional methods (Star Tribune).

Martin upstages Hibbert at Duluth National Snocross

Snocross rider Ross Martin spent the past three Thanksgiving Weekends chasing Tucker Hibbert around the track at Spirit Mountain and hearing about how great Hibbert is (Duluth News Tribune).

Black Friday bodes well for Austin retailers

Brenda Brandt, executive team leader for the sales floor at the Austin Target, said this year was comparable to if not better than past years."The day has gone very, very well for us, and we are continuing to be very busy," she said Friday (Austin Daily Herald).

Survey: Midwest shoppers spent the least over Thanksgiving weekend

Midwest shoppers spent less than any other region of the country this holiday weekend, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation (MPR News).

Op-Ed: A Trip to the Heart of America

What does the Mall of America look like at midnight on Thanksgiving? (Atlantic)

Op-Ed: Blue Earth police chief issue needs fixing

Ever since the retirement of former police chief Dean Vereide last April, things have not been handled very smoothly, to say the least (Faribault County Register).

By the numbers

(KAAL)

• Editor’s notebook: Covering the environment in 2014
• Best of Minnesota Scenes from 2014
• 50 years of memory making in the Boundary Waters
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