All right, it is time to expand my RSS Reader again with local blogs I haven't read before. If you kow of or have a local blog that produces local content (and it doesn't need to all be local content; just occasional), go ahead and pimp it here.

WCCO has a list of where to see Independence Day fireworks; what are your July 4 plans?

An interesting discussion broke on on Twitter today when it came out that Baja Sol's CEO is also the chair of the Republican Party in Minneapolis, prompting some to decide not to eat there (summary and links to the conversation courtesy of Heavy Table). DeRusha opens the discussion on his blog, var my_tooltip = new Tooltip('dr2', 'tooltip_dr2')

From the Health Insurance Resouce Center: Interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio, Kline says as far as he's concerned, a health reform bill with a public option is a no-go. His reasoning is that ...

Another Sunday strip, and I apologize for not cleaning it up as much as usual. You will admire the frank, shameful penitence of the last panel, though. 

Solution posted early this evening.  Good luck!

Your host is bedeviled by meetings and video shoots and column work today, so no time for Miscreant Roundup. Seems a good time to introduce a new feature, though: name that Minnesota Town! This feature ran in the Sunday color ...

This week we head off to Dodge County - first up, it’s Dodge Center in Dodge County. So even when you get out of Dodge, you’re still in Dodge.

Logo? No. Slogan? Two: “A Solid Foundation,� and my favorite, “Stepping Toward the Future.� Sounds rather tentative. Picture of downtown: yes, and it’ ...

The anniversary was yesterday,  and yes, we talked about this last year, or the year before. But now we have so many more details, and the story’s even better. From the Book of Days:

“1880: Dr. H. S. Tanner of Minneapolis begins a forty-day fast in New York in an effort to prove his theory ...

They could really pad out a Sunday strip when they had to, but this one profits from the extended format.  "Now go in an act like a newspaperman!" Note how the newsroom has a helpful sign on the door for those who might be confused. Big honking Sunday strip is here. Good luck solving ...

Due to production difficulties, Lance Lawson will appear on Friday this week. This message will self-destruct in 24 hours; good luck,  Mr. Phelps. 

Our weekly roundup of police-blotter highlights, compiled by Susan Hilliard and Tim Labatt. The first one requires a loud communal HA-ha, and pointing:

“Burglary. Near the 1400 block of Kingswood Lane, officers responded to a report that somebody had entered an unlocked vehicle in the driveway and used the garage remote to open the garage door. Once inside the garage they stole a cell phone out of another ...

This week we head to Otter Tail County. Why it’s not Otter County, I don’t know. Perhaps early settlers used the tails for stew, and Tail Stew County sounded too . . . rustic. Perhaps the remains of an enormous, T-Rex-sized Otter were found in an adjacent county, but the tail went into a county yet unnamed. Or there’s var my_tooltip = new Tooltip('ds7', 'tooltip_ds7')

A few notes:

Your host will be burning off some vacation days this week, which means the full schedule of updates. If that makes no sense, I understand, but the updates have been hit-and/or-miss the last few weeks because of an excess of work, so it’s only fair to go the extra mile when the pressures slacken. History today, Small Town Website tomorrow, ...

The almost-sort-of fortnight of extra-secret work, topped off with a rich non-dairy dessert topping of vacation, concludes with another Sunday Lance. This one's easier than yesterday's example.

All I can say is this: when you're poisoning your husband, it has to be utterly dismaying to go next door to announce he's died of a stroke, and not only is a party ...

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) (WDCpix)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s stamp is all over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s announcement today that she will leave office at ...

Photo: whitehouse.gov

Vice President Joe Biden has been booked for Al Franken’s swearing-in as a U.S. Senator, and Franken says he will be accompanied at the ceremony by former Vice President Walter Mondale and ...

A Democratic opposition-research firm has taken up the challenge of answering the 2010 U.S. Census questions that Rep. Michele Bachmann has vowed to leave blank: everything except the number of people living at her house. ...

Photos: Chris Steller, Andy Birkey/MnIndy

What was that all about? We shook the last two 24-hour news cycles’ worth of media mumbo-jumbo on the Norm Coleman-Al Franken fracas, and this is ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The senators who voted last fall to approve the federal bailout of Wall Street hold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock in the very banks that Washington has rescued in the nine months since.

Of var my_tooltip = new Tooltip('dr4', 'tooltip_dr4')

U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum’s failure to support legislation that would establish a universal, single-payer health-care system has drawn criticism from some liberal activists. In fact, there’s a fledgling campaign to gin up an opponent to run against her in a Democratic ...

Communities around the state are struggling to deal with the budget cuts imposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment authority. Pawlenty signed into law $2.7 billion in cuts to local government aid, human services grants, higher education and medical assistance for the poor. Many parts of the state are bracing for the impact.

Photo: MnIndy

A new poll suggests Sen.-elect Al Franken would have trouble following President Barack Obama’s vault from a single Senate-election victory to the White House. Beyond that, it’s not clear why ...

Reps. Jim Oberstar and Collin Peterson joined 17 other Democrats in threatening to vote against health care reform if ...

Monson Trucking lasted through the Great Depression, but not this one. The business that started when horses’ hooves still trod the highways var my_tooltip = new Tooltip('dr9', 'tooltip_dr9')

Minnesota's newest U.S. Senator, Al Franken, addressed supporters on the heels of the historic Minnesota State Supreme Court ruling declaring him the winner in the hotly-contested November election.<br><br> "We believe that the middle class is the engine of our economy," said Franken. He ...

Written and recorded on the afternoon of the Coleman/Franken Supreme Court announcement. A tune for all the political geeks and Twitter-lovers who used their 140 characters to celebrate. (Note: This is one of those tunes where I'm taking on a persona to poke a little fun. My own personal views? A mystery, ...

A quilt can be something to keep you toasty warm on a chilly night, but it can also be a work of art. Quilts today are often created as serious artistic expression, but quilters of earlier centuries also could focus their work on artistry as much as utility. Textile curator Linda McShannock ...

In the final part of our series into the creative process of Live Action Set, 3-Minute Egg turns its lens on a run-through performance of My Father's Bookshelf, which opened June 18 in the Guthrie's Dowling Studio. Performances continue through June 28.

Added by: var my_tooltip = new Tooltip('ds3', 'tooltip_ds3')

From http://InTheLoopShow.net A song for the non-enemy-combatant former-Guantanamo Uighurs headed to Bermuda and Palau. Welcome home! Jeff Horwich: Lyrics and all instruments

Added by: intheloop
Tags: var my_tooltip = new Tooltip('ds4', 'tooltip_ds4')

A medley of seven tunes, most suggested by In The Loop listeners, on the subject of North Korea. Woot!

Added by: intheloop
Tags: north

The Lowry bridge in Northeast Minneapolis, MN gets blowed-up. <br><br>About the bridge: <em>The first bridge at this location was built in 1887. That bridge was replaced in 1905 using new piers. The current Lowry Avenue Bridge was built in 1958, using the 1905 piers. The piers were ...

KARE-11 interviews The UpTake's Jason Barnett and University of Minnesota Media Ethics professor Jane Kirtley about the crucial role of citizen journalism in Iran.

Added by: MinnesotaStories
Tags: var my_tooltip = new Tooltip('ds7', 'tooltip_ds7')

Veteran dance duo Hijack asked emerging dance trio Mad King Thomas to choreograph pieces on each other for the Red Eye's Isolated Acts series of new work. The results have become Maybe -- on stage this weekend, and on screen here in this experimental Egg from 3-Minute Egg, which interviewed the groups ...

The 2007 McKnight Artist Fellows in Photography are showing off the fruits of their opportunities at Franklin Art Works. 3-Minute Egg met with three of the four artists -- Peter Latner, Paula McCartney and Anthony Marchetti -- at the opening reception. The fourth artist is Tom Wik, who didn't want to be interviewed. ...