Obama's education secretary: Chicago school leader

• A $4,000 tuition tax credit to students who perform 100 hours of community service.
• The Pell Grant ceiling be adjusted keeps pace with the rising tuition.
• Replacement of bank-based student loans with direct federal loans.

Thief flees with cognac, vodka

Wabasha bike path passes hurdle

Walz quells talk of gubernatorial bid

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2008 -- Southern Minnesota's representative in Congress, Tim Walz, will not seek the state's governorship in 2010, the Minnesota Post reported. In a telephone interview with reporter Eric Black of the Minnesota Post, Walz was unequivocal: "We were never going to do it." Walz, now in his second term in the U.S. House, has been called a "rising star" among Minnesota Democrats. The governorship will be vacated by Republican Tim Pawlenty, whose second term ends in two years, and who is ineligible for a third term, Walz told Black he has found himself well suited to Congress. "I'm in the right position to help the people in my district in this critical time," he said. MORE Meanwhile, state Democratic leaders are casting around for gubernatorial possibilities. So are Republicans. As a statewide-elected office, the governorship is often a career beacon for members of the U.S. House, who are elected from districts within the state. The 1st Congressional District, from which Walz was re-elected this year, includes Rochester, Mankato and Winona.

TIM WALZ If not him, who?

Assault lead to underage boozing charges

Night Crawler to serve full sentence

ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 9, 2008 -- A Winona State University student who prowled the campus neighborhood for women to rape in the summer of 2004, Jude WIlson Halter, lost an appeal for his 10-year prison sentence to be commuted. The Minnesota Court of Appeals found insufficient evidence for Halter's claim that WInona Judge Larry Collins erred in issuing the sentence. Halter, who called himself the Night Crawler, had sought release after seven years. MORE Halter was arrested near the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in October 2001 after a woman scared him out of her bedroom, waking up and screaming. It was the same pattern as in two confirmed Winona cases, and Wisconsin authorities returned him to Winona for trial. In the Winona cases, Halter entered bedrooms through open windows, In one case he raped at gunpoint and had a knife. MORE In his appeal, Halter claimed that Judge Collins failed to justify q sentence at the upper end of the usual range. The appeals judge disagreed, saying the evidence supported a heavy sentence: • The assault was within the victim's zone of privacy. • The victim was threatened with a gun and a knife. • The crime was committed with particular cruelty. • There were multiple penetrations. • The victim was particularly vulnerable. Halter, who was 27 when the Winona crimes were committed, had been majoring in computer science at Winona State. Background: What will prison do to WSU rapist? Background: Prosecutor: He prowled campuses

HALTER His 10-year rape sentence upheld