The Minneapolis School District is cutting almost ten percent of its operations budget.  It’s closing schools, trimming salaries and laying people off, including janitors. Part of the plan includes shortening the hours of the schools’ janitors from 8 hours to 7 1/2 hours per day.

A school district spokesman says given the current budget problems and projected shortfalls at the state level, this likely isn’t the last of cuts in Minneapolis schools.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device maker, said Tuesday it will lay off up to 2,000 workers as part of a restructuring effort to make up for anemic sales of its implants.

The company said the cuts are aimed at achieving “long-term sustainable growth” and will reduce its 41,000-person work force by 4 to 5 percent. The company did not offer specifics on where the cuts would be made, but said a charge is expected in the fourth quarter.

“We’re looking at the infrastructure across the organization to see where we can be more productive,” said Chief Financial Officer Gary Ellis, in an interview with the Associated Press. Medtronic’s last layoffs were in 2009, when it eliminated more than 1,500 positions.

Medtronic shares fell 95 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $40.32 in morning trading.

Outgoing Chief Executive Bill Hawkins explained that growth in the device sector has fallen from 10-15 percent a decade ago, to low-single digits.

“I strongly believe the demand is there to see this industry reaccelerate, largely driven by the success of innovation coming out of our pipeline and the demand from emerging markets,” said Hawkins.

In late December, Medtronic announced that Hawkins will step down in April after three years leading the company. During his tenure the company has faced weakening sales of its products, due to safety recalls and recession-linked job losses that have reduced the number of insured Americans able to receive its devices.

The Minneapolis-based device maker has scaled back its earnings estimates twice in the past year and forecast an anemic 2 to 3 percent growth in the global market for devices.

The layoffs announcement came as Medtronic reported third-quarter net income rose 11 percent to $924 million, or 86 cents per share. Adjusted earnings totaled $922 million, or 86 cents per share, which was slightly better than Wall Street estimates.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings per share of 84 cents on sales of $3.97 billion.

Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen attributed the better-than-expected performance to a lower tax rate, which was aided by research and development credits and other one-time benefits.

Sales of defibrillators and pacemakers combined fell 2 to $1.22 billion for the quarter, while sales of stents, heart valves and other heart implants grew 7 percent to $774 million, helped by sales in China, Latin America and other emerging markets. Defibrillators, the company’s best-selling product, use electrical jolts to correct heart attack and other life-threatening heart rhythms. They differ from pacemakers, which use low-voltage currents to keep hearts beating steadily.

Sales of restorative therapies, which include spinal, diabetes and other products, rose 4 percent to $1.86 billion. Within that group, spinal sales increased 2 percent to $861 million, which was ahead of analyst estimates for $850 million. Executives attributed the performance to the launch of its Solera spinal system, a smaller, next-generation device for patients undergoing spinal fusion.

Spinal procedures tend to be expensive and highly invasive and the rate of procedures has not kept pace with company estimates.

Despite improved performance, the company again lowered the range of its full-year fiscal 2011 earnings estimate.

The company expects earnings between $3.38 and $3.40, including the cost of a recent acquisition. That’s down from $3.38 to $3.44 previously. Analysts expect earnings per share of $3.40.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Steve Murphy Reports

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — With their Senate colleagues still in hiding, Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly began introducing a barrage of 100 amendments Tuesday to try to stymie the Republican governor’s plan to strip unionized public employees of most of their bargaining rights.

Both houses of the GOP-controlled Legislature convened shortly before noon amid noisy protests outside the state Capitol that began more than a week ago in an epic showdown that is being watched nervously by organized labor across the country.

The Senate was unable to take up the union measure because its 14 Democrats skipped town last week, denying the chamber a quorum. But Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald pledged that his chamber would approve the bill this week, despite the blizzard of Democratic amendments.

Turning up the pressure on the Democrats, Gov. Scott Walker warned that state employees could start receiving layoff notices as early as next week if the bill isn’t passed soon. The layoffs couldn’t take effect immediately — existing union contracts could forestall them for weeks or months — and Walker wouldn’t say which jobs he would go after first.

“Hopefully we don’t get to that point,” the governor said in a statement.

Borrowing the strategy pioneered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walker planned to take his case straight to the voters Tuesday evening with a fireside chat. In excerpts released in advance by Walker’s office, the governor said his bill is about balancing the budget now and into the future and nothing else. He commended Wisconsin for “showing the rest of the country how to have a passionate yet civil debate about our finances.”

Walker also praised public employees — thousands of whom have been calling for his resignation for more than a week — saying he has a “great respect for those who have chosen a career in government.”

While Wisconsin remained the main front in the national debate over union rights, similar battles were taking shape in other states. In Indiana, House Democrats walked out of the Statehouse on Tuesday, blocking a GOP-backed bill against mandatory union dues. Only three of the 40 Democratic members of the chamber were present, depriving it of a quorum.

A similar debate in Ohio drew thousands of union protesters Tuesday, prompting officials there to lock the doors to the Statehouse.

In Wisconsin, if lawmakers take no action on the union bill by the end of the week, the state will not be able to refinance debt that Walker had counted on for $165 million worth of savings under the legislation. The governor warned that not doing that would force even deeper cuts and possibly lead to 1,500 layoffs by July.

Republican leaders in both the Senate and Assembly said they have the votes to pass the bill.

Fitzgerald said the bill was a key part of the Republican agenda to cut government spending that won the GOP majorities in the Legislature in November.

“When you talk about a compromise, no. We’re going to make a reform,” the Assembly speaker said.

Debate began in the Assembly with the Democrats introducing amendments that would do such things as restore public employees’ right to strike and submit the bill to a referendum before it could take effect. Given the number of amendments Democrats were proposing, an actual vote on the measure may not happen until Wednesday or later.

“It’s going to be a long day,” Democratic Minority Leader Peter Barca said at the start of debate. “Tempers are going to flare.”

He was right. Two Democrats lashed out at Republican lawmakers and aides for laughing at them during the debate.

“This is not a game! We’re dealing with people’s lives! This isn’t funny!” Rep. Andy Jorgensen shouted in the chamber, his face red. “I haven’t laughed in a long time, especially not on a day like this!”

Rep. Cory Mason, a former organizer for the American Federation of Teachers, said Wisconsin has enjoyed more than 50 years of labor peace between state and local public employees and their bosses after passing collective bargaining rights in 1959.

“What the governor is proposing and what the majority is proposing today is to break that labor peace,” he said.

The roar of protesters in the Capitol rotunda, many of whom were banging on drums and chanting through megaphones, could be heard while both the Senate and Assembly met.

The Wisconsin bill would force state and local public workers to contribute more toward their pensions and health care and would strip them of the right to negotiate benefits and working conditions. They would largely be limited to negotiating pay raises no greater than the inflation rate.

The proposal, designed to help Wisconsin plug a projected $3.6 billion hole in the budget, has led to eight straight days of monumental protests that grew as large as 68,000 people on Saturday.

Democrats railed against the bill during early debate of amendments that proposed doing everything from restoring public workers’ right to strike and requiring approval in a public referendum before the law could take effect.

The Senate was stymied for a second time in its attempts to take up the bill after none of the 14 Democrats who skipped town on Thursday showed up. Under Senate rules, 20 lawmakers must be present to take up a budget bill. There are only 19 Republicans.

Unable to act on Walker’s proposal, the remaining Republicans instead took up some non-controversial measures, voting to extend tax breaks to dairy farmers and unanimously commending the Green Bay Packers on winning the Super Bowl. The Senate does not need a quorum to deal with non-budget matters.

Unlike last Thursday, when the Senate galleries were filled with protesters who disrupted action by shouting, only about a dozen people showed up under heavier security to watch the action on Tuesday.

In the Assembly, the gallery was packed with hundreds of spectators who watched the debate without causing any disruption. Democrats wore orange shirts to show solidarity with protesters that read, “Fighting for working families.” Thousands more people watched the debate on TV monitors inside the rotunda.

Walker and Republican leaders have repeatedly called on the Senate Democrats, who fled to Illinois, to return and get back to work. Democrats have said they won’t come back until Walker is willing to negotiate.

“We’d love to come back today,” said Sen. Jon Erpenbach. “We could be up there this afternoon and pass this if he would agree to removing the language that has absolutely nothing to do with balancing the budget.”

Packers star Charles Woodson and two other players, along with five former team members, have come out against the bill.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is laying off nurses. While the hospitals say the cuts are necessary, the nurses worry patient safety will be jeopardized.

The hospitals’ representative says it hasn’t been decided on how many layoffs there will be. Nurses say about 70-75 nurses could be given pink slips.

Cari Trousdale works in the Med-Surgery Department as a nurse at the Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. She says she worries about what the cuts will do to the patients.

“Safety is no longer the benchmark,” said Trousdale, who has been a nurse for 23 years. “We are running so profoundly short-staffed that safety is significantly compromised.”

Nurses expect most of the cuts will come from the neo-natal, specialty care nursery, med-surgery and float team departments.

According to the hospitals, the cuts are coming because of fewer patients due to a variety of factors, most notably a decline in the birth rate.

Right now, however, the hospitals are seeing more patients than usual.

“Our surge on the Minneapolis campus, and I’m sure St. Paul as well, has gone on now for a good two months and we are in the thick of it,” said Trousdale.

Sources told WCCO-TV that things got so bad a couple of weeks ago that secretaries and house keepers were asked to help watch patients.

According to the hospitals, this isn’t true and they released a statement saying, “At no point have we, or would we, place a sick child under the supervision of any employee who is not trained as a health care provider. Any reports suggesting that we have done this are inaccurate.

“If we were talking normal average daily census right now, we still wouldn’t have the staff that we needed to take care of kids,” said Trousdale.

The hospitals’ representative says that patient safety is always the number one concern for every single employee at Children’s.

Sonya Goins, Producer
Contact Sonya

HUTCHINSON, Minn. (WCCO) – Hutchinson Technology Inc. broke the news to its workers Tuesday morning that a number of them will not have jobs.

The company is a major employer in the town of Hutchinson, west of the Twin Cities.

A company statement released this morning says Hutchinson is reducing its U.S. workforce of 2,275 employees by 30 to 40 percent, eliminating as many as 900 jobs.

This will happen over the next 12 months, and the company says it will save between $40 million to $60 million a year.

Jill Jacobson is an employee and said this news will have a major impact on their community.

“This is going to be extremely painful, I think, because of the multiple layoffs, it’s reduced a lot of jobs in the area.”

Hutchinson Mayor Steve Cook received a phonce call Tuesday morning from a HTI spokesman.

“Obviously it’s a concern and it will be a challenge. We’ve been through it before with some of the other reductions that have happened,” he said.

In 2009, HTI cut about 1,000 jobs.

Cook says he’s been working to attract new businesses to the area and believes there still could be a future with HTI.

“They felt it was the best business decision to stabilize the company — which then in the long run will provide some future growth and opportunities that can have a positive impact on Hutchinson,” said Cook.

The company will move its operations to its facility in Eau Claire, Wis. Headquarters and research and development will remain in the town of Hutchinson.

NewsRadio 830 WCCO Interviews Employee, Mayor

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Mark Dayton says he wants to meet with the chief executive of the Hutchinson company that’s cutting hundreds of jobs in the coming months.

Hutchinson Technology Inc., which makes disk drive components, announced plans this week to consolidate some of its manufacturing operations at a new plant in Eau Claire, Wis. The company says about 600 of its 1,125 Hutchinson employees will be affected though it will keep its corporate headquarters and some operations in the central Minnesota town of about 12,000 people.

Dayton says Wednesday he knows few details about the decision but wants to meet with the company’s CEO as soon as possible to discuss the move. He says he wants to find out if the state can do anything to address the company’s problems or concerns.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

NEW YORK (AP) – Medtronic said Tuesday its profit dropped 19 percent in the fourth-quarter and the device maker predicted lower-than-expected growth for the year ahead due to a continuing slump in sales of its implants.

The Minneapolis company’s quarterly profit fell short of Wall Street estimates, as did its outlook for the new fiscal year. Its shares lost $1.01, or 2.5 percent, to fall to $40.13 in morning trading.

Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device maker, has struggled to maintain earnings growth amid sluggish sales of its two leading products: heart defibrillators and spinal implants. In February the company announced 2,000 layoffs to bolster its financial position.

Analysts hoped the restructuring and improving market trends would result in higher earnings expectations for the coming year, but company management said sales would continue to be pressured by headwinds. In particular, the company’s heart-pacing defibrillators have been hurt by a medical paper suggesting the devices are overused and a federal investigation into doctors who implant the devices.

Medtronic said it earned $776 million, or 72 cents per share, in the fourth quarter. That was down from $954 million, or 86 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding $198 million in charges relayed to employee terminations, asset write-downs, and other costs, the company earned 90 cents per share.

Sales rose 2 percent to $4.3 billion from $4.2 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 93 cents per share for the quarter on sales of $4.29 billion, on average.

Medtronic forecast revenue growth of 1 to 3 percent for the next fiscal year, or $16.1 billion to $16.41 billion. The company expects to earn $3.43 to $3.50 per share. That includes 4 to 6 cents per share in costs related to its acquisition of blood pressure treatment maker Ardian.

Both earnings and revenue projections fell below analysts’ profit expectations of $3.62 per share and $16.7 billion in revenue.

The company’s performance and projections underscore the challenges that Medtronic’s incoming chief executive will inherit. Earlier this month the company announced it had selected Omar Ishrak, the head of General Electric’s Healthcare unit, to serve as its new chairman and CEO. The company spent a half-year searching for a new chief executive after announcing in December that Chairman and CEO Bill Hawkins planned to retire. Ishrak will take the CEO title on June 13.

Medtronic and other device makers face a combination of factors that have curbed performance: sluggish sales due to safety concerns, reduced reimbursement from insurers and tighter regulation by the federal government.

For the fourth quarter, sales of implantable heart rhythm products fell 7 percent to $1.32 billion as fewer surgeons implanted the heart-pacing devices. Sales of the company’s biggest business, called implantable cardioverter defibrillators, fell 16 percent to $760 million as U.S. sales continued to slump. Sales of stents and other cardiovascular devices grew 16 percent to $879 million.

The company’s spinal revenue fell 1 percent to $875 million. However, sales of diabetes treatments, surgical technology, and neuromodulation devices, which to treat pain and other conditions by stimulating the nervous system, all improved.

Medtronic said its international sales rose 12 percent on better sales in emerging markets like China, Latin America, India, and the Middle East and Africa.

Medtronic’s annual profit was nearly unchanged at $3.1 billion in the year ended April 29. A lower share count meant Medtronic earned $2.86 per share, up from $2.79 per share. Revenue edged up 1 percent to $15.93 billion from $15.82 billion.

Medtronic acquired Ardian in January for $800 million. The company makes a catheter system that is designed to treat high blood pressure by deactivating nerves around the kidneys, a therapy called renal denervation. Its Symplicity Catheter System has been approved in Australia and Europe, but is not yet cleared for sale in the U.S.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — We are exactly one month away from a state government shutdown if Gov. Mark Dayton and state lawmakers can’t agree on a budget.

About 800 state employees were supposed to start getting layoff notices on Wednesday as the government prepares for a July 1 shutdown, but that didn’t happen. They, along with about 35,000 other employees, will get notices on June 10.

The workers getting notices are state troopers, conservation officers with the Department of Natural Resources and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension officers. All are in a union that requires layoff notices by certain dates, even if the shutdown doesn’t happen.

They would be out of a job temporarily, but employees deemed crucial — like state patrol officers — could be kept on during a shutdown.

Ted Bowl is a physical therapist at the Veterans home in Minneapolis, and said they have a lot of expenses this summer, and he’s not sure how they will make it.

“We have the added expense of two weddings to take care of this summer for a son and a daughter, so we are looking for opportunities to save wherever we can,” He said.

Jan Thomas and her husband both work for the state, and they’re both very concerned.

“Very apprehensive. Both my husband and I work for the state, so it’s affected us twice as much,” she said.

Governor Mark Dayton and Republican leaders are scheduled to meet Friday morning, for another attempt to resolve the budget stalemate.

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Susie Jones Reports

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Minnesota’s Department of Management and Budget announced Thursday that it sent out 36,000 layoff notices to state employees by U.S. Mail.

Those employees should begin receiving the notices by Friday or Saturday.

It notifies state workers they will be ordered to stay home from work without pay for an indefinite period of time because the state doesn’t have any money.

At the Capitol, lawmakers continued bickering over who’s to blame.

Frustrated republicans hammered Gov. Mark Dayton for proposing huge tax hikes and not saying what he’ll spend it on.

“The rhetoric is unbelievable,” said Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen. “To say that our budget is somehow draconian, horrible and drastic for Minnesota, when just a little more — $1.8 billion — makes all the difference?  Between huge thunderclouds and beautiful rainbows and blue skies? I don’t think so.”

DFL Minority Leader Rep. Paul Thissen said that’s just not the case.

“I don’t think, Sen. Ortmann, that the governor thinks any budget that’s passed by this legislature is gonna be rainbows, happy rainbows and all those things. I think everybody understands that any budget we pass is going to have serious consequences for the state of Minnesota,” he said.

On Wednesday, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities prepared 6,000 layoff notices for its staff.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A potential Minnesota government shutdown took an ominous step forward Friday, with layoff notices going out to thousands of state employees and an immediate hiring freeze.

Ahmad Lewis, a 28-year-old tax specialist for the state, was among those calculating how long he could survive when his paycheck stops coming. The discouraging answer: Little more than a month before he starts worrying.

“I’ve got bills to pay, man,” said Lewis, of Roseville. “There’s never much left in any paycheck after I take care of expenses.”

The notices went out Friday to about 36,000 executive branch employees and another 6,000 workers at Minnesota State College and University campuses. While a court is likely to declare some essential to health and safety during a shutdown, most would stop working July 1 if a new two-year budget is not in place.

The layoff notice to executive branch employees, sent by the Minnesota Management and Budget office, says those workers would get their last paycheck on July 15. The workers are eligible to file for unemployment insurance.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders have made no progress in a dispute over taxes and spending, with Republicans demanding the state not spend above $34 billion in the next two-year budget while Dayton hopes to add another $1.8 billion mostly through a tax increase on the state’s highest earners.

In a statement Friday, Dayton called the layoff notices “a grim reminder of a deadline that is just 20 days away.” He said he was standing up for a budget “that protects students, protects seniors and prevents more than a billion dollars in property tax increases.” Those choices are too important not to take a stand.”

But state Republican Party chairman Tony Sutton placed responsibility for the layoff notices at the governor’s feet.

“Mark Dayton is obsessed with a tax increase, but his actions today demonstrate he has little regard for those most affected by a government shutdown,” Sutton said in his own statement.

Dayton’s budget commissioner and chief of staff met with his cabinet officers Friday afternoon to discuss budget negotiations and planning for the possibility of a shutdown. The administration is still preparing lists of employees it will ask a court to declare essential, but it appears likely that delivery of most state services — from licensing to road construction projects to state park operations — will be interrupted.

Dayton’s budget commissioner, Jim Schowalter, said it’s unfortunate that state workers are caught in the middle.

“The message is pretty simple,” Schowalter said. “We value their service, this is not about what they’re doing, this is about a constitutional issue. Without appropriations, we can’t spend.”

The layoff notices say some workers may still be entitled to receive an employer contribution towards their insurance coverage if there’s a shutdown. Those not eligible for the contribution would be able to continue insurance coverage at their own expense, or could choose to drop it.

Schowalter said it’s too early to say how much a shutdown might cost the state. Eliot Seide, director of the Minnesota chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — which represents 18,000 state workers — said the union’s contract states that all laid-off workers are entitled to severance, accrued vacation and comp time.

“We assert that a shutdown will cost the state more than it saves,” Seide said.

Lewis, the tax specialist, said a big part of his own job is making sure the state collects all the taxes it’s due. “If we’re not working, the state’s not getting that money,” he said.

But Lewis is more worried about his own bottom line. He supports Dayton in the dispute with Republicans, saying he’d be much more affected by lack of a paycheck than would the wealthiest taxpayers by an income tax increase.

“If this goes on too long, I might have to make a sign and stand on the side of the road: `I’m a state employee, give me a dollar please,”‘ Lewis said. “I know I shouldn’t joke about it — I’m laughing so I don’t cry. This is not a joke by any means.”

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is rescinding layoff notices for about 6,000 employees because officials are now sure MnSCU will operate in a government shutdown.

System officials say they have received word from the state budget office that the office will provide the services MnSCU needs to operate even if there’s a government shutdown July 1.

MnSCU has enough reserves and tuition income to stay open through the fall term, but it needs the state budget office get access to its money.

The layoff notices were issued to certain unionized employees when it was unclear if the system would be able to operate during a shutdown.

The Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton have been unable to agree on a state budget that will keep the government running after July 1.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Business software maker Lawson Software Inc. of St. Paul is laying off employees but won’t say how many or where they are located.

A Lawson spokesman confirmed in an email to Minnesota Public Radio News that layoff notices did go out. The spokesman calls it an “expected outcome” of the company being acquired earlier this year.

An affiliate of private equity firm Golden Gate Capital and business software company Infor said last week they have completed their $2 billion buyout of Lawson

Company spokesman Joe Thornton tells MPR that Lawson is not identifying the size of the reduction. But Thornton says affected employees are receiving severance and outplacement services.

Lawson employees 3,800 workers worldwide, including 800 in St. Paul. The company would only say the reduction will eliminate redundancies.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have laid off at least 11 business side employees as the effects of the NBA lockout start to sink in across the league.

A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press of the moves on Tuesday. The person requested anonymity because the Timberwolves are not discussing personnel matters.

The Wolves are at least the third team in the league to start laying off employees. The Charlotte Bobcats laid off at least seven last week, including radio play-by-play announcer Scott Lauer. The Detroit Pistons fired 15 employees earlier this month.

The layoffs, at least so far, have not affected Minnesota’s basketball operations staff, which is looking for a new head coach. Mike Woodson for the position on Tuesday.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Now that a budget deal has been reached, you might be surprised to find out that reopening after the shutdown is, in some cases, much harder than you might think.

The shutdown, of course, threw 22,000 state workers out of a job, but it also meant layoffs of more than 1,000 workers at Canterbury Park.

Construction projects on state highways came to a halt and state parks have not been open for three weeks.

But when everything will reopen is in some cases still up in the air.

One place that could give a definite reopening timeline is Canterbury Park. Their card room will reopen Thursday morning and the first race is Thursday night.

“We are certainly relieved,” said Canterbury’s CEO Randy Sampson. “This has been incredibly frustrating. I would never have believed we could lose the whole month of July.”

Canterbury lost more than $3 million during the shutdown.

Owners like Mark LaCount said its been hard to foot the bill for caring for his grey mare and another horse he owns without the chance to win prize money.

“It’s been a 20 tough days,” he said.

For some state agencies, it’s not just a matter of unlocking the gates. Take state parks — a combination of bad weather, vandalism and a lack of daily maintenance will lead to delays.

So many trees are down at St. Croix State Park near Taylors Falls that the park won’t reopen for weeks. Afton is also a question mark because vandals trashed cabins during the shutdown.

The DNR said at the earliest, state parks will reopen Friday for day trips, and Saturday for overnight camping. They advise checking the website, staring Thursday.

As for other services like fishing licenses at the Prior Lake bait shop, officials said they weren’t available yet.

But when we tried, WCCO photographer Brad Earley was one of the first to secure a post-shutdown license.

As for those rest stops on highways — MnDOT said it will depend on inspections Thursday to see when they will be reopened.

Road construction projects, including the big ones like Interstate 94, will begin whenever contractors can get their equipment and workers back on the job.

And the lottery will begin selling tickets Thursday morning.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Driver and Vehicle Services division will offer most services beginning Thursday. All people with a road test scheduled for July 21 and beyond will be able to take their test at the scheduled time.

Those that had a test scheduled during the government shutdown should call, beginning Thursday, to reschedule their test. Knowledge tests will be available Thursday.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Ten Minneapolis firefighters could soon be looking for work.

Due to city budget cuts, they’re expected to receive layoff notices on Monday.

“We were woken by a phone call saying, ‘Hey guess what? You don’t have a job today,’” said Firefighter Aaron Banks.

The elimination of these positions would leave Minneapolis with 388 firefighters.

“We came together in the same training class and we all went through this experience together,” said Firefighter Justin Johnson.

For three years, Johnson and the men standing next to him Tuesday afternoon have been Minneapolis firefighters. Johnson has even been recognized for his work. Last winter he used an AED on a high school referee who had a heart attack at a hockey game. He saved the man’s life, but Tuesday morning he learned he may not have a job.

“We got a call from Chief (Alex) Jackson this morning. The city has been threatening us with these layoffs since we showed up in January ’08,” said Johnson. “Who wants to hear they are going to lose their job? A lot of us have families at home and we are trying to figure out what we are going to do now,” said Banks, who has three children.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said the city was hoping to avoid public safety cuts. But Rybak said when the state cut back on local government aid it forced the city to make a tough decision.

“I talked with a number of these guys and told them how much we want them back and if we have retirements that could happen. Public safety is very important, but every part of this city has to make due during a very tough time,” said Rybak.

Rybak said he is asking the city council for contingency money to soften the blow. But Mark Lakosky, president of the Minneapolis Firefighters union, said the city has already taken too much from the fire department over the years. He said the department has lost dozens of positions and he worries in some emergencies, the department could be out-manned and out-matched.

“It’s coming and I don’t want to be out front talking about how that rig didn’t get here for 10 minutes so I couldn’t get up to that fire and pull that family out of that fire because no one was there yet,” said Lakosky.

In addition to the 10 firefighters that will be laid off, three others will be put on mandatory retirement.

Of the 10 firefighters laid-off, they will receive their official notification on Monday and will then be placed in a job bank to see if there is another position for them in the city.

If there isn’t, they will be laid off Sept. 14th, but could be called back if there are retirements.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Capella Education Co., which operates the for-profit college Capella University, said Tuesday it plans to lay off about 65 employees as part of a broad realignment effort.

That’s about 4 percent of its non-faculty workforce. No faculty will be targeted by the cuts.

As a result of the layoffs, the company will take a $1.4 million charge in the current quarter. It expects to save about $5.5 million per year after the reduction is complete.

Last month, the online college operator posted a 26 percent drop in third-quarter profit.

Minneapolis-based Capella said its net income fell to $9.9 million, or 66 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30 compared with $13.5 million, or 80 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Steps that for-profit education companies have taken to improve quality and comply with new, stricter government student-loan rules have curbed enrollments, which drive the companies’ profits.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Minnesota’s 18 Indian casinos employ more than 20,000 people, making it one of the largest industries in the state. But casino operators say expanding non-Indian gaming to help pay for a Minnesota Vikings stadium means casino job cuts of 30 percent.

“7,000 people could lose their jobs over this,” said John McCarthy, the head of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association.

McCarthy says competition from slot machines at horse racing tracks will force casinos to cut workers.

“I think that they have discounted the fact that because it is tribal gaming, they’re not real jobs, but they are real jobs. Just ask the people who work there,” he said.

Lawmakers are debating whether gambling could help pay for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium.

Indian casinos don’t generate tax revenue, but Racino supporters say racetrack slots would, and revive Minnesota’s horse industry.

“Feed, vet work, you name it. It’s money and it’s a lot of money,” said Jeff Hilger, the head of the Equine Development Coalition of Minnesota. “Just that alone at the track would generate millions and millions of dollars to the state.”

Indian casinos are Minnesota’s sixth largest employer. That’s just behind Allina and just ahead of Wal-Mart.

They are the kind of jobs McCarthy says are very hard to get.

“If this was the 3M or Delta Airlines, don’t you think someone would say, ‘Hey, we better take a closer look and see what kind of impact it’s going to have on the existing industry,’” he said.

Most casino employees live outside the Twin Cities, get health care, and 75 percent of casino workers are non-Indian.

In rural counties struggling with a bad economy, layoffs could be devastating.

However, Ron Rosenbaum, spokesman for Canterbury Park’s Racino effort, says allowing slot machines at Minnesota racetracks could create more jobs.

Here’s Rosenbaum’s statement in full:

“As the number of casinos have grown over the past twenty years, the number of jobs in the hospitality industry have grown exponentially as well. With two new Racinos that will continue with the added benefit that increased purses will bring to the agricultural industry. But don’t take our word, look to Pennsylvania where Racinos have created thousands of new jobs.”

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Senate passed a bill Monday that would let schools lay off teachers based on their performance in the classroom rather than by seniority alone.

The bill passed by a 36-26 vote would let schools make layoffs based on evaluations that consider how well a teacher’s students perform. The state currently requires school districts to consider only teacher seniority in deciding layoffs, unless individual districts negotiate their own arrangements to consider other factors.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Pam Wolf, R-Spring Lake Park, said the legislation would allow schools to keep the most effective teachers.

“More matters than just when you sign the contract,” said Wolf, who teaches a range of grades at Pines School at the Anoka County Juvenile Center.

Several Democrats opposed the bill. They said a statewide teacher evaluation system now in the works needs more time to develop before layoff policies are changed. The new system would base about one-third of a teacher evaluation on student test results.

“This challenge that we gave the education community to come up with an evaluation system … it’s one of the most difficult challenges we’ve ever laid on them,” Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, DFL-Plummer, said.

Wolf’s bill would have new evaluations begin by the 2014-15 school year, with the new layoff policies starting for the 2016-17 school year.

Other Democrats were worried that the evaluations could be abused by administrators intent on laying off teachers because of personality or because they are higher-paid.

“Even if the bill says you can’t (lay off) based on their salary, they’ll figure out a way to make senior teachers ‘ineffective’ and lay them off,” said Sen. David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm.

Tom Dooher, president of Education Minnesota, a union of 70,000 public school educators, said there is already a process in place to evaluate teachers and get rid of ineffective ones.

“I think this bill is confusing layoffs with ineffectiveness,” Dooher said. “We shouldn’t have to wait for layoffs to get rid of ineffective teachers. If there are ineffective teachers, they are pathways to get rid of them. This bill is jumbling those two things together and not serving students by doing so.”

According to Education Minnesota, 40 percent of Minnesota’s school districts— accounting for 60 percent of teachers — have negotiated local arrangements that are not based solely on seniority.

The House passed similar legislation earlier this month. The House version would allow for teachers still in a probationary period —usually the first three years — to be laid off first. But the Senate version would consider these teachers with all other teachers in weighted layoff decisions.

The two bills go to a conference committee to have differences worked out. Gov. Mark Dayton, a former teacher, has not said if he would sign or veto the bill.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Senate has passed a bill that would let schools lay off teachers based on performance.

The bill passed in a 36-26 vote. It would let school districts make layoff decisions based on teacher evaluations that consider student performance. Current state law requires that schools only consider teacher seniority, unless individual districts negotiate their own arrangements to consider other factors.

Sen. Pam Wolf, a Republican who sponsored the bill, says it lets schools keep the most effective teachers.

Democrats expressed concern that the right evaluation tools are not in place. They said a state teacher evaluation system being developed needs more time.

The House passed a similar bill earlier this month.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Despite opposition from Gov. Mark Dayton, the Minnesota House has voted to let schools lay off teachers based on their performance in the classroom and look beyond seniority in job-protection decision.

If the Senate passes the legislation as expected, Dayton has said he will veto the bill.

Thursday night’s vote was 70-61.

Current law says that schools must only consider teacher seniority when making layoffs, unless districts negotiate different local policies. Under the bill, schools would be able to weigh teacher evaluations before seniority in layoff decisions.

Supporters argue it aims to preserve the most effective teachers during staff downsizing.

Critics say the performance measurements are too new and too subjective to play such a big role in shaping layoffs. They have also called it an attack on collective bargaining.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)