Doubling cig taxes may reduce smoking, but it won't necessarily produce a cash infusion for the state.

​In a commentary published in the Star Tribune today, economist Patrick Fleenor of Fiscal Economics Inc. makes a persuasive case that the state stands to gain less than lawmakers think from a GOP-proposed cigarette tax hike.

Minnesota's cigarette tax is currently near the national average, but the GOP proposal would raise the per-pack tax from $1.23 to more $2.52 per pack. That could amount to as much as $320 million annually for the state -- if people buy cigarettes legally.

And therein lies the problem, Fleenor argues. History shows that when Minnesota's cigarette taxes get out of whack with the rest of the country, people start smuggling cigarettes. And when people start smuggling cigarettes, taxed sales drop.

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Macalester College

Santorum appalls Macalester President Brian Rosenberg

​Macalester President Brian Rosenberg is appalled by Rick Santorum.

The liberal arts college bigwig has come out against the Republican presidential candidate despite the potential for alienating his conservative alumni. Rosenberg spends part of a recently-published essay ruminating on the responsibilities of a university president, and says it's generally a bad idea for university presidents to get involved in politics.

But Rosenberg concludes that Santorum threatens the fundamental educational mission of Macalester, so he's speaking out.

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Today's projection is the second positive one in a row following years of doom and gloom.

​The state's budget for the 2012-13 budget cycle continues to pleasantly outpace expectations.

Later today, state officials will announce that the current two-year budget has a $323 million surplus. That good news comes on the heels of a surprising November projection that showed the state $876 million richer than expected.

The November surplus was used to fill the budget reserve and the state's cash flow account. This time around, the $323 million will be used to further replenish reserves and begin restoring the $2.7 billion lawmakers borrowed from public schools -- in other words, don't expect lawmakers to use the dough for additional spending or tax relief.
 
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@mndotnews

A jack-knifed semi in northwestern Minnesota this morning.

​Everyone knew this was going to get ugly.

Since the frigid rainy-slushy-whatever-it-was started pouring down on our fair state last night, there have been about 367 crashes, spin-outs or vehicles flying off the road, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

Old Man Winter, it appears, didn't appreciate everyone using air quotes around the word "winter" lately.

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Spirit Airlines.

Spirit is trying to corner the market from Minneapolis to Chicago and Vegas.

​Spirit Airlines, a discount carrier based out of Florida, announced this morning that it will be the newest addition to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.

Effective this summer, Spirit will begin offering daily flights from MSP to Las Vegas and Chicago. Today and tomorrow, tickets will go for $28.79 each way for a round trip, plus fees (which they've been known to pile on).

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Are you a hot female U of M student with little to no modesty? If so, Playboy wants to meet you.

​Playboy's search for the hottest Big Ten babes comes to Minneapolis March 4 and 5.

As the classy-dirty mag's website notes, "there are some all-time classic rivalries in the Big Ten, but nothing is more hotly debated than which school has the hottest women." (Really?)

Interested in participating? All you have to have is a full-figure photo, nice breasts, curves, a good-looking face, and little to no modesty. If you meet those criteria, send an e-mail to bigten2012@playboy.com to schedule an "appointment."

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"Tune in next time as B-Easy and Urkel take a bowl cruise and talk about their favorite Skittles flavors."

​Right now is a great time to be a Minnesota Timberwolves fan.

Last night, the Wolves pulled off what may be their most impressive win of the season, a 109-97 triumph over the Clippers in Los Angeles. Rookie Derrick Williams had the best game of his young career with 27 points, and Michael Beasley was unstoppable down the stretch as the Wolves made their first 10 shots during the decisive fourth quarter. For the second time this season, the T-Pups are now above .500, with an 18-17 record heading into tonight's game against the Lakers.

And oh yeah, the always-entertaining Minnesota Timbertrolls continue to do their side-splitting thing. Here's their latest creation, "Minnesota Matters," a Family Matters-spoof (complete with an Urkel appearance) that makes you hungry for the pilot episode -- or, at the very least, eager for the next Wolves game.

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Braun's suspension was overturned even though the sample collector insists the NL MVP's urine was handled properly.

​Last week, reigning National League MVP Ryan Braun's 50-game steroid suspension was surprisingly overturned by an arbitration panel.

The key vote on the three-arbitrator panel ruled Braun's October 2011 pee sample was unreliable because it was stored for two days in the sample collector's home before being shipped to MLB's lab. During a news conference last week, the Milwaukee Brewers star said there were "a lot of things that we learned about the collector" that "made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened" before the sample was shipped.

Yesterday, sample collector Dino Laurenzi Jr. struck back, insisting in a statement that he didn't tamper with the sample and "followed the same procedure in collecting Mr. Braun's sample as I did in the hundreds of other samples I collected under the [drug-testing] Program."

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And you thought Michele Bachmann was extreme...

​A man who proclaimed his desire on Twitter to sodomize Michele Bachmann with a machete will have his identity revealed to federal investigators, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., has ruled.

The man -- who for now remains anonymous in public court filings, and is referred to in Chief Judge Royce Lamberth's ruling as "Mr. X" -- wrote a tweet in August 2011 stating, "I want to fuck Michelle [sic] Bachmann in the ass with a Vietnam era machete."

Arguing that the tweet was clearly meant in jest, Mr. X filed a motion to quash a subpoena filed by a federal grand jury against Twitter for records pertaining to his identity. Lamberth, however, denied the motion, reasoning that Mr. X's identity could help prosecutors determine whether the tweet really constituted a threat against Bachmann.

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Where the jobs at? According to DEED, in health care, retail, food service, and manufacturing.

​In another indication the economy continues to recover, new data shows that Minnesota's job market at the end of 2011 was a helluva lot stronger than it was a year prior.

According to the Department of Employment and Economic Development, job vacancies in the state climbed 47.6 percent during the fourth quarter compared to 2010. There were 3.2 job seekers for every vacancy, down from 5.8 one year earlier.

The improving job market, combined with an unemployment rate that has fallen to 5.7 percent from a height of 8.5 percent in May 2009, serves as strong evidence that the worst of this recession may be in the past.

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