Plane crash kills 3; Duluth Metals’ 100 year copper-nickel project; Santorum’s sweater boom

Plane slams into field near Glencoe, killing 3

Star Tribune: "Pilot, his wife and his mother, along with three pets, died in a fiery wreck near Glencoe."

Duluth Metals sets Bechtel parameters for 100 year mine

Mineweb: "Duluth Metals' huge copper-nickel-pgm-gold resource on the Duluth complex in northern Minnesota moves on a stage with top engineering company Bechtel being given the parameters on which to base" a Pre-feasibility Study.

Pequaywan Township resolution cold to copper mining

Duluth News Tribune: "Pequaywan Township north of Duluth has become the third township in the region to pass a resolution asking for a go-slow-or-don't-go approach to copper mining."

Minnesota landowners worried that mining companies will use eminent domain to take their property

Oakdale Patch: "At the request of a constituent who owns land in northern Minnesota, Rep. Nora Slawik sponsored a bill that would eliminate mining companies' ability to take land through eminent domain."

Rukavina amendment sets allocation of copper-nickel mining taxes

Duluth News Tribune: "Rep. Tom Rukavina of Virginia was successful in adding an amendment to the tax bill outlining how copper-nickel mining taxation will be allocated to cities, counties and schools similar to how taconite taxes are distributed."

Lawmakers debate funding for Southwest light rail

MPR News: "Gov. Mark Dayton has made expanding light rail in the southwest metro a top priority this year. But House transportation leaders this week failed to include the light rail line from Eden Prairie to downtown Minneapolis on a list of recommended projects."

Janesville farmstead gets brunt o f tornado damage

Mankato Free Press: "The Martin Sexton farmstead received extensive damage to a large machinery shed, hog building and farm equipment. A grain bin was flung into a wooded area and two large evergreens were plucked from the ground, one falling onto a garage."

Bachmann calls for GOP unity

Michele Bachmann: "At this point, we would be better off if we could unify around a candidate, whoever that candidate may be," she said. "I will back whoever the people choose. But I think it's important for us to unify and unify quickly."

Bomb blasts and nature: Not a good mix along Minnesota Valley State Trail

Star Tribune: "The Air Force Reserve recently told trail supporters that the route needs to be moved because a bomb disposal training site has been added to the reserve's property, making the trail location unsafe because of the potential for flying fragments and unexpected bangs and booms."

Superior view of ice

OPB: "According to a report published last month in the Journal of Climate, the 5 percent of the Great Lakes' surface that froze over this year puts the average amount of ice covering the lakes at a decline of 71 percent over the past 40 winters, with Lake Superior's coverage alone declining a whopping 79 percent."

Republicans want Romney to close the deal

National Journal: "Hoisting his newest trophies -- a landslide win in Illinois and an endorsement from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- Mitt Romney came to this Baltimore suburb on Wednesday for a victory lap aimed at bringing the marathon Republican primary to a close."

Rick Santorum campaign a boon to sweater vest maker

Politico: "Rick Santorum's campaign has been a boon for the sweater vest industry.The presidential hopeful's campaign spent nearly $100,000 in February to buy sweater vests from Bemidji Woolen Mills in Bemidji, Minn., according to campaign finance reports released Tuesday."

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