Supervalu is downsizing

​Supervalu announced plans today to cut 800 employee positions across the country, including 200 in Minnesota.

The company, based in Eden Prairie, has been struggling for the past couple of years: In 2010 and 2011, the company cut 650 employee positions either through layoffs or by leaving open positions unfilled.

Supervalu has tried to turn itself around in part by targeting food stamp users with its prices, but that hasn't been enough to save all those jobs.

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Food stamps account for 40 percent of sales at Supervalu's Save-A-Lot stores.

​Eden Prairie-based Supervalu is one of a handful of grocery chains changing the way it operates to accommodate the record number of food stamp recipients.

From opening supermarkets at midnight, when government benefits are loaded onto food-stamp cards, to promoting higher-priced bulk items earlier in the month, the new strategies show that the number of people using EBT cards to feed themselves has grown too large for groceries not to take notice.

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​A Minnesota company with a worldwide profile had a great 2011, and it isn't Target, Best Buy, Ameriprise or any of the usual suspects.

Winona-based Fastenal was one of this year's ten "hot stocks" according to a Slate analysis.

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According to the White House:

The CEA's third quarterly report on the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), released earlier this week, found that the ARRA raised employment as of the first quarter of 2010 by between 2.2 million and 2.8 million jobs over what it would otherwise have been.

Via the White House

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​You know your state's budget is FUBAR when a projected $994 million budget deficit is heralded as an improvement.

State economists today released the forecast deficit number, which is to say they had T-Paw stand before cameras and unapologetically proclaim the degree to which they believe they misspent your money.

They (the economists) put the deficit just shy of $1 billion for the rest of the budget cycle. The good news: that's about $200 million better than expected. The bad news: it's still crazy-high and suggests the state's current economic course is unsustainable. Same economists are publicly predicting the shortfall will be $5.8 billion in the next two-year cycle.

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​Good news for the trendy office folks wandering the Minneapolis skyways: They won't have to scrub their own toilets and they won't have their lunch hours interrupted again by the folks who do -- at least in the next three years or so.

That's because the Service Employees International Union Local 26, which claims more than 4,000 Twin Cities janitors as members, reached agreement over the weekend on the terms of a new contract with the companies they work for.

Rep. Keith Ellison and local Sierra Club representatives joined union members Monday morning at their in Minneapolis City Hall press conference announcing the deal, the Downtown Journal reported.

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Photo by woodleywonderwoks/Flickr

​Seemed like a good idea at the time: Give neighborhood redevelopment plans a boost by putting clusters of city-owned homes on the market for scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel prices.The thinking was that targeted neighborhoods might be revitalized through homeowner sweat equity. All a buyer had to be able to prove is that they can rehab the homes to meet city rules and preservation codes. When St. Paul announced the plans -- for the the Fourth Street Preservation Project in Dayton's Bluff -- there were robust crowds during the open house showings. Some were on the market for as a little as $1.

That was in August. Since then, only three potential buyers eventually stepped forward with any interest in one of the 11 homes. Of those, one may sign a contract, the city's Department of Planning and Economic Development tells the Pioneer Press. The problem basically comes down to this: The homes need huge amounts of work, and they're being offered at a time when potential buyers have lots of choices elsewhere, unrestricted by the city's red tape.

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Photo by Tony Webster

​ If your electricity bill went up, you'd like to assume it is because it costs more to create the same amount of power than it did the year before. Not so. You could have been paying for fancy board retreats in Colorado, trips to London and Paris, or tickets to Beyonce and Rod Stewart concerts. We wish we were kidding.

When Xcel requested a $156 million electricity rate hike for Minnesota customers, that total included those expenses and more. State Attorney General Lori Swanson called them out on the unnecessary expenses, claiming that customers shouldn't be forced to pay a higher price for service just because your top execs want to go wild. More >>

Photo by ishane

​If you made less than $52,300 last year and rented housing in Minnesota, you could get a nice stack of cash back from the Department of Revenue. Same goes for homeowners who made less than $96,940. But the Aug. 17 deadline is quickly approaching, so don't miss out on getting some of your cash back.

Renters receive an average of $585 back and homeowners receive an average of $695. To get the refund, check out the Minnesota Department of Revenue sites for renters and homeowners.

If you have questions, contact the Department of Revnue at 1-800-657-3676.

​ Denny Hecker's wife says their divorce is back on and she's looking for more money out of the split. Hecker, a former auto king in Minnesota, has watched his empire collapse since late last year as his worth continues to tumble with the failing U.S. auto industry.

Tamitha Hecker, 42, said in the divorce petition that it is an "irretrievable breakdown of the marriage," according to the Star Tribune.

The Heckers had previously started divorce proceedings in April 2008, but then stopped them in October. Their 2003 postnuptial agreement gave Tamitha $15 million, but they came to a new agreement of $10 million when they stopped divorce proceedings last year.

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