Paul Tosto is an editor for MPR News.
There’s a stubborn conventional wisdom that Wisconsin’s economy is outgunning Minnesota. Data continue to show that’s not the case. Last year, we pointed out that Minnesota’s done better than the Badger State in keeping people employed and adding jobs in the recovery. Newly released federal data show that when it comes to overall economic growth Read more →
A lot of us will be getting into cars at the end of the day and driving, someplace, in Minnesota for the long weekend. So where are the places with the most injuries or deaths tied to traffic? We have answers thanks to the data wonks at the fine website Minnesota Compass. Here’s a Minnesota Read more →
Forty-five years ago today, Gov. Harold LeVander signed legislation creating the Metropolitan Council to “do a job which has proved too big for any single community.” James Hetland was the first chairman of the council, charged with bridging the long-time divides between Minneapolis and St. Paul. He died Wednesday at 86 years old. The Star Read more →
There are lots of humbling aspects of being a parent of a teenager. Among them, is the uneasy realization that they are getting smarter than you. Proof of that comes to me daily in the SAT Question of the Day. With my son starting to look at schools and getting ready for the ACT, I’ve Read more →
Minnesota is starting to recover from the mortgage crisis — foreclosures are down, as are the number of homes getting pre-foreclosure notices and the number of sheriffs sales, 2011 data released this afternoon by the Minnesota Home Ownership Center show. That’s good news, although it’s still a fact that foreclosure numbers have not returned to Read more →
Gopi Ramanathan of Sartell made it to the finals of the National Geographic Bee, competing this morning with the top 10 finalists left from several million mostly middle-aged middle school-aged kids who competed in local and regional bees across the country for the chance at a $25,000 college scholarship and a trip to the Galápagos Read more →
The National Geographic Bee is hands-down the best of the student academic competitions. The 2012 national finals start today — and our guy is in it. By our guy, I mean Gopi Ramanathan from Sartell. I’ve covered lots of student academic competitions over the years but the state geographic bee was always my favorite. These Read more →
I have lots of sympathy for high school principals this time of year. You know you’re going to have to deal with some kind of senior prank. The only questions are how bad will it be and how do you react? Often, it’s easy. Break the law or damage property and there’s no question teens Read more →
Hope springs eternal. But it shouldn’t — at least when it comes to baseball. Baseball loves statistics and the numbers show that, despite winning four of the last five games, the Twins have almost no chance of making the playoffs. The projections from two baseball data sites bear that out. Coolstandings.com gives the Twins slightly Read more →
I hated disco music as a teenager. Hated it. I played the Eagles and Steve Miller Band. When punk rose up in the late 1970s, I embraced it. Finally, some angry music! I was convinced then that the punks would end disco for good. But the punk era came and flamed out. Now, 35 years Read more →
I don’t usually put a lot of stock in city rankings. But a new look at the Best Cities for Tech Jobs seems to have some good research behind it. And if you’re a tech booster in the Twin Cities, you will not be pleased by the numbers. NewGeography, a site that’s good at telling Read more →
North Dakota’s transformation as an oil producing state is no secret. But when you look at the historical data, it’s breathtaking how rapidly things have changed.“North Dakota passed Alaska in March to become the second-leading state in crude oil production, trailing only Texas, according to officials from Alaska and North Dakota … a dramatic rise Read more →
Stories and commentary in the New York Times this week focusing on student loan defaults paint a grim picture of the fallout from heavy borrowing for school. All true, but what to do about it? Among all the Times commentaries, my favorite came from Kevin Carey, policy director with the research group Education Sector. He Read more →
As someone who used to cover business and the economy, I was impressed by Best Buy’s willingness on Monday to lay its dirty linen out for review. The results of an internal report found ex-CEO Brian Dunn had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate and that company founder and Twin Cities business Read more →
Those dang federal tax breaks! We just know that the super-rich are exploiting the tax code while we’re too dumb to take advantage. Right? Well, no. Turns out some of the biggest tax breaks in the U.S. tax code are distinctly middle class. The non-partisan Congressional Research Service recently put together a handy document that Read more →
Paul Tosto