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Nick Denton tweets that he has six months to rebound before he loses the bet.

​Nick Denton may have just issued a long mea culpa to readers apologizing for problems with Gawker's much-maligned redesign, but that doesn't mean he's ready to give up on it.

I asked rhetorically on Twitter if it was time to pay up on the famous bet with MnSpeak's creator, who wagered $1,000 that Gawker would lose pageviews with the more TV-like design.

I was surprised to get a prompt response from the head of Gawker Media himself.

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The feds are finally coming after fake pot.

​The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has been taking aim at the chemical compounds in synthetic marijuana products for months, and on Tuesday the agency is pulling the trigger.

According to an advance copy of the agency's regulation obtained by City Pages, five of the most commonly used compounds in fake-pot products like K2 and Spice will be added to the list of Schedule-1 drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, effective March 1.

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NASCAR and the Army: Your tax dollars at work.

​Rep. Betty McCollum found herself the target last week of a racist fax message after she tried to defund the U.S. Army's budget for sponsoring a NASCAR car, and Republicans put the kibosh on her effort.

But the St. Paul Democrat has switched gears and hit the gas on a new proposal aimed at accomplishing the same thing, and then going even further: She wants to repeal tax breaks for track owners, as well.

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Herbert Lee House was in "the zone."

​Police say that a 19-year-old woman with Down syndrome who rode the Route 64 bus through downtown St. Paul last Tuesday was totally dependent on others for her well being.

Herbert Lee House took advantage of that vulnerability by persuading her to perform oral sex.

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Dayton gives the rich a much-needed break.

​If you're making more than $500,000 a year, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Mark Dayton says he's not going to make your already tough economic situation any worse by requiring you to pay a little more in taxes.

That bit of relief comes thanks to news from Minnesota's Management and Budget office, which declared today that the projected state deficit had fallen to $5 billion from $6.2 billion.

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Like this Mexican soldier, Bachmann will have deal with real gangstas.

​Rep. Michele Bachmann, who hid in the bushes from gays and lesbians in St. Paul, is now meeting with foreign leaders in the war against narcoterrorism.

She's just back from undisclosed locations in Mexico and Colombia on a junket with the House Intelligence Committee.

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The rally starts at 4 p.m. Monday.

​More than 1,000 people turned out on Saturday in St. Paul to demonstrate solidarity with union workers in Madison, and now a march has been scheduled for 4 p.m. today in downtown Minneapolis.

A rally will begin at 4 p.m. at the Hennepin County Government Center, 300 6th St. S., and be followed by the march to a location that has yet to be announced.

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Matt Visionquest

Tim Pawlenty, tea party hero

​All his threats about pushing gays back into the closet, shutting down the federal government, busting unions, and insulting the president seem to finally be paying off for Tim Pawlenty.

He keynoted a steeped-in-tea confab over the weekend in Arizona called the American Policy Summit, and convention-goers rewarded him with second place in their straw poll.

We like to think his hilariously over-the-top movie trailers played a role, too.

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Devoid of "actual content."

​Glenn Beck has been booted off the air by Madison radio station WTDY-AM because he slagged on the broadcaster's hometown, and because of a "lack of actual content."

Beck usually occupied the 10 a.m. to noon slot at a station that features a lot of business coverage from the Wall Street Journal and the deep thoughts of Dennis Miller, Laura Ingraham, and Phil Hendrie.

You might think that with the union protests in Madison, Beck would have "actual content" that could have dovetailed nicely with the local market. But no.

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​Jeremee Jon Kraskey became the third Minneapolis homicide victim of 2011 when police found his body early Saturday morning in a back yard less than a block from Powderhorn Park.

He died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner.

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