A magazine group Tom Petters acquired three months ago has been closed and everyone laid off, sources say.
By David Brauer

State's financial f

Coleman caps tough week with surprise announcement in Senate race
By Joe Kimba

NORTHFIELD – The orange, yellow and burgundy colors of autumn leaves around the Carleton College campus dazzle a lot more than the prized object in head football coach Kurt Ramler's office.

The excellent Wisconsin Advertising Project, which monitors political advertising, released a big report this week on spending in the battleground states of the presidential race. It had several big findings of note to the politically obsessed, including the fact that the McCain’s advertising during the week studied (Sept. 28-Oct. 4) was 100 percent negative, compared with 34 percent for the Obama campaign.

As I have for the past decade, I'll take a stab at a forecast for the upcoming winter. Are you ready for the upcoming winter?

The Uptake, a local media organization hoping to provide the only live video of Norm Coleman's morning press conference was excluded from the event, as was Minnesota Independent. What does Norm have to fear?
By David Brauer

How a Duluth bluesman's tribute to his train-hopping father became the soundtrack for a corporate giant
By Jeff Severns Guntzel | Friday, Oct.

The state's budget deficit: How far above $1 billion?
By David Brauer
Friday, Oct. 10, 2008
In Friday's local news roundup, the first post-crash state budget forecast comes out today — how big is the bad number? Also: Pols disgorge Petters cash. And: The marijuana dude abides.

Update: McCain battles supporters’ boos when defending Obama as ‘decent person’
Carlos