Sen. John Harrington’s legislative career will come to a close after just two years. In 2010 the former St. Paul police chief easily won an eight-candidate DFL primary to replace retiring Sen. Mee Moua.

Left for dead in April, the Vikings stadium bill sprinted to passage in the session’s closing days. What happened?

After a pair of marathon floor debates, the House and Senate passed legislation this week authorizing construction of a $975 million stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.

Democrats in the Minnesota House and Senate have had two choices regarding their posture heading into the 2012 campaign season: Withhold votes on key bills to set up the claim that Republicans presided over a do-nothing session, or put up the votes to ensure passage of key initiatives and cry “job creation!”

After weeks of committee hearings, each one bearing new amendments and surprises, the already-dramatically divergent House and Senate stadium proposals faced an onslaught of on-the-fly amendments on the floor this week, and some major changes were adopted.A conference committee made up of six legislators is expected to meet sometime on Wednesday.

Next month DFL activists will gather in Duluth to endorse a candidate in the 8th Congressional District. The outcome is in little doubt: Former Congressman Rick Nolan is widely expected to walk away with party backing.

Over the years, DFL campaigns for high-profile offices have had a tendency to blow past party endorsing conventions and end in contested primaries.

A pair of DFL state legislators from northeastern Minnesota, Rep. Carly Melin and Sen. Roger Reinert are supporting Duluth City Councilor Jeff Anderson's bid for Congress. Anderson is running in a contested field to win the nomination to defeat GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack in 2012.

A year ago, the Legislative Audit Commission passed over a proposal to evaluate the way state agencies prepare the fiscal notes that have long served as the basis for doing state budgets. One year later, amid a session punctuated by public disputes about their accuracy, the commission made an investigation of fiscal notes one of the highest priorities for Legislative Auditor James Nobles and his staff.

John Moore doesn't want to move his business to Wisconsin. The owner of Barley John's Brew Pub, which has operated in New Brighton for a dozen years, would prefer to expand in Minnesota.