The system, known as cloud computing, involves storing information and software applications on remote servers that are accessed through a secure Internet connection.

In health care, this means a doctor does not have to go to a particular computer for patient information or care updates. He or she can use portable devices like smart phones or tablet computers.

Insurers and providers have been pushing to improve coordination to reduce wasteful spending and make care better. Experts say cloud computing has become more common in health care the past couple years.

UnitedHealth is the largest U.S. health insurer. Its Optum business provides technology outsourcing, among other services.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Our lack of snow could be a good thing if you’re looking for some cool winter deals.

In fact, some businesses are having “No Snow” sales. They’re hoping to lure customers into the store with some rock bottom prices. And if that doesn’t work, they can only hope Mother Nature does her thing and brings on the snow.

By this day last year, more than 60 inches of snow had fallen in the metro. There was an average 10 to 20 inches of snow on the ground. Today, there’s nothing in the metro. And as a result, snowblowers sit in garages collecting dust — as do the sets of skiis and skates. With ‘no snow sales’, local businesses are attempting to encourage and re-direct sales in a lackluster snow season.

Things are pretty slow at Gear West, in Long Lake, but they do have a sale, according to the Jan Guenther, the store’s co-owner.

“We have everything that has to do with snow sale,” Guenther said.

She said that selling winter sports gear has been difficult this year and that retailers are going to have to think differently when ordering stock next year.

The folks at Beisswenger’s in New Brighton, Minn., are hoping customers see their big red sale sign.

“We need snow in order to bring customers into the store to purchase snow blowers, snow shovels, roof rakes,” said Beisswenger’s Bob Tack.

Both retailers are giving up on this winter. Instead they’re looking to the future.

“It’s had a definite impact on the business. Business is down: There’s no two ways about it,” Tack said.

With these wimpy winter sales, you could pick up some winter gear at a great price, and though our snowiest months in the Twin Cities are December and January, the third snowiest is March — so that snowblower may get some use yet.

On Monday, firefighters in south Minneapolis ventilated a seven-unit apartment building, and one person was taken to the hospital to check for CO levels. CenterPoint says a boiler in the mechanical room was producing dangerous levels of the odorless, colorless, tasteless gas.

In Eden Prairie, a house had to be aerated and a person taken to the hospital. CenterPoint says a town house garage next door had high levels of carbon monoxide after a car was left running in the garage. The CO traveled to the neighbor’s home.

CenterPoint recommends installing CO detection devices, having fuel-burning equipment regularly checked, and never operating engines or grills in enclosed areas.

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

ANOKA, Minn. (WCCO) – At a dealership lined by rows of flashy new cars and trucks, the sales staff at Main Motor in Anoka is good at answering questions about flex fuel vehicles and burning E85.

Jeremy McFarland, the dealership’s sales manager, says people ask him about E85 because at the pumps it’s marked anywhere from 20 to 60 cents less.

Since the alternative fuel was introduced in 1997, Minnesotan’s appetite for E85 has grown steadily. In 2008 it hit a peak when more than 22.5 million gallons were pumped into cars and trucks.

Sales slipped during the recession years of 2009-10, but they appear to be coming back.

The commerce department just released sales for 2011, which show that we burned another 19.8 million gallons of E85. Some of that went into Sandra Kilby’s Chevy Tahoe, and she feels pretty good about saving on money.

“Yes, anything I can save I feel better about,” she said. “Nowadays with the economy the way it is.”

But as government subsidies for ethanol production dry up, the savings advantage over regular gasoline is shrinking. What had long been a 60-cent spread was more like 30-cents recently at a Bobby and Steve’s filling station in Minneapolis.

That savings may no longer offset E85′s inefficiencies. It’s no mystery that ethanol delivers less energy per gallon than burning the same gallon of gasoline. Fuel mileage is noticeably less, anywhere from 15 to 20 percent.

Even at that, the American Lung Association of Minnesota, a major proponent of E85, says the decision to burn the fuel comes down to more than just cost.

“Don’t let the perfect get in the way of better. There’s no doubt E85 is better than gasoline when it comes to tailpipe emissions,” says the Lung Association’s Bob Moffitt.

With America’s big three automakers offering 51 models of flex fuel vehicles this year, there are sure to be more of them rolling down the highways. Consumers who are motivated both by trimming pollution and cutting cost likely be behind the wheels.

“It’s going to be here. The future of E85 is here to stay, I know that much,” McFarland said.

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — State lawmakers say they’ve found a way to create thousands of jobs and help small business owners.

Sen. Chris Gerlach, R-Apple Valley, and Rep. Keith Downey, R-Edina, plan to introduce a bill that would loosen restrictions on state licensing requirements.

Lawmakers said this could create 15,000 jobs in Minnesota by opening up the market place. They said it would also increase competition between businesses, benefiting consumers.

The bill would allow an entrepreneur to pursue a job or career without getting licensed by the state as long as they aren’t posing a threat to public health or safety. The examples they gave include a barber, masseuse, or tree trimmer.

Jim Dolphy owned a tree trimming business in Inver Grove Heights, Minn. He stood with lawmakers during their announcement at the Capitol Monday and shared his experience with licensing requirements.

Dolphy said he had his business for five years. When a tornado hit Minneapolis in 2009, he got a lot of job calls. But because of city rules, he wasn’t allowed to work, he was forced to leave.

“The cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul and others have created a licensing law that requires a certified arborist to be on staff to be able to do business in those cities. This licensing law is ridiculous,” said Dolphy. ” A certified arborist is not required in my company for us to safely and effectively do our jobs operations.”

Lawmakers said the current regulations for licensing in state and local governments can make it difficult for would be entrepreneurs to get started because of the cost and time commitment for the requirements.

Lawmakers want the state to rely more heavily on certifications and inspections instead of licensing. If local or state government questions a business owners practice, they could take their case to court where a judge would determine whether or not they could continue.

CEO John Gainor says China offers a tremendous opportunity to Dairy Queen because it has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

China has been the strongest international growth market for the company. Minneapolis-based Dairy Queen plans to open 100 more restaurants in China during 2012 after opening 131 stores there last year.

Gainor attended the grand opening of the 500th store in the Hu Dong district of Shanghai this week. The first Chinese Dairy Queen opened in Beijing in 1991.

Dairy Queen is owned by Warren Buffett’s Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

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

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says there have been 140 reports of problems with the Tassimo single-cup brewers dousing people, including 37 cases involving second-degree burns. In one incident, a 10-year-old girl from Minnesota was hospitalized with second-degree burns to her face and neck.

The coffee maker’s “T-disc,” the plastic disc that holds the coffee or tea, can burst while brewing, according to the commission. It also announced the recall Thursday of some 4 million packages of Tassimo espresso T-discs.

About 835,000 Tassimo coffee makers are on recall in the United States; another 900,000 are being recalled in Canada. The recall involves brewers made by California-based BSH Home Appliances Corp. that carry the Bosch and Tassimo Professional brand names.

The 4 million packages of Tassimo espresso T-discs, manufactured by Kraft Foods Global Inc., in Illinois, were recalled after 21 reports of problems.

CPSC says the plastic discs of coffee can become clogged, rupture and spray hot liquid. In Canada, a 2-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns to her face.

About 2 million of the recalled disc packages were distributed in the U.S.; the rest were in Canada.

Consumers can contact the company at 866-918-8763 for more information or visit its website.

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

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Light rail construction along University Avenue is on schedule, but the work has come at a cost. It’s taken a toll on many of the businesses along that street.

Around Valentine’s Day, Chocolat Celeste in St. Paul is approaching what should be one of its busiest times of year.

“Chocolate is a happy business. People come here to be happy. I want to be happy,” said owner Mary Leonard.

She is hoping she’ll feel the love from her customers this Valentine’s Day. The last year and a half has left her with a lot of heartache.

“It really is almost like starting over,” said Leonard.

She moved her shop off University Ave. and Highway 280 when light rail construction got underway because she lost customer parking. The move cost her a lot of business.

“A lot of people thought we closed permanently,” she said.

Without the traffic she was forced to cut two full-time employees.

“Our revenue is about half of what it was previously, but I haven’t been able to take home a salary,” she said.

Leonard is not alone. According to the University Avenue Business Association, 25 percent of the shops and store fronts along the stretch of road under construction on University Ave. are vacant.

President Jack McCann said for this are it should be around 8 percent.

“Some people took a large hit and they’re still here and they have three more years to stay here to realize the benefit of the rail. And that’s gonna be difficult,” said McCann.

He said a lot of people have avoided the area because it was such a mess. Currently, he said it is easier to maneuver.

“People are rolling through here, this is not a hard place to get around,” said McCann.

He expects people will slowly come back and a new million dollar marketing campaign funded by Corridor Project could give business a boost, too.

Leonard said she’s already changed her strategy and she’s hoping Cupid will help her out.

“We hope customers will start coming back (on Valentine’s Day),” she said.

Leonard has tried some new things to keep her business going. She’s been using social media and she recently did a Groupon to help drive people to her website. She is also doing specialized chocolates for corporations.

One of the difficulties has been letting people know where she’s located; just off Cleveland and University Ave. which turns into Transfer Road, near the Amtrak station.

The new marketing project is expected to start sometime in the next few weeks when construction picks up again. They’ll be spending $1.2 million to help bring people back to the area.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — When most of us book an airline flight, we’re willing to pay extra to make sure it’s nonstop. That’s exactly what Karen Ortt did when she booked a flight for her a niece to fly to Miami.

Back in November when Ortt booked the non-stop round trip flight to Miami in June, she thought her travel plans were set. But then this week came this email saying “we apologize for this change in your travel plans.” The email then details the new flight itinerary which has a layover on both her flight to and from Miami.

Ortt said she thinks she is getting a raw deal because she paid more to go nonstop. Ortt’s new flight has her arriving in Miami 40 minutes later than the old flight. She’s worried because she and her niece are boarding a cruise ship the same day as her flight.

“I was really bummed out because I took it upon myself to book a nonstop flight and it’s amazing to me that the airlines can change it on you in a second,” said Ortt.

Ortt immediately called Delta. She was told there was nothing she could do. Ortt said the agent told her, “‘Unfortunately, we can do that. We can change itineraries. It’s the way it is.’”

At Minnetonka Travel, travel Agent Lori Bednark said airlines can and do change itineraries — even if it means changing a nonstop to a flight with a layover.

“The airlines are looking at it that we are getting you from you point of departure to your arrival point within a 90 minute window. For most people, that is acceptable,” said Bednark.

Bednark said if the change results in more than a 90 minute change in the arrival or departure, airlines will usually offer a full refund. In Karen’s case, the layover does not make that large a time difference so she’s out of luck.

“They have my money and they can make all these changes,” said Ortt. “I don’t think it is right.”

On Wednesday afternoon, a Delta representative said the airline regrets the confusion and would be contacting Karen Ortt to resolve her concerns. They say in these situations they will work with customers to offer them a partial refund or even rebook them on another airline.

Later, Ortt said Delta called and said they will work with her and even are willing to offer her a full refund.

Officials also confirmed that an Edina location is set to open on April 18, 2012.

The downtown Minneapolis location is expected to be about 38,000 square feet and will be at the corner of Hennepin and Washington Avenues. Officials said it will be the ground level store of 222 Hennepin Avenue and will also have a separate liquor store that will sell specialty beers and wines.

Officials said about 150 jobs will be created to meet the stores retail needs. The store is slated to open sometime in 2013.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Taking a nap during the day would be a dream for most of us. But doctors say dozing off can actually improve our health and productivity.

Now some companies are waking up to the idea.

Terrell Brown has the full report, watch the video clip above.

Thulin’s election to the new roles at the St. Paul, Minn., company is effective Feb. 24. Thulin, 58, also joins 3M’s board.

Buckley, who served as president, chairman and chief executive, retires on June 1. He will remain chairman until the company’s annual shareholder meeting in May, when the board plans to elect Thulin as chairman.

Thulin has been chief operating officer since May. Before that, he was executive vice president of international operations.

Buckley, 65, was appointed 3M’s chairman, president and chief executive in 2005, coming from Brunswick Corp.

3M makes a wide range of products ranging from Post-it notes and Scotch Tape to mining equipment.

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

The store will sell Scout memorabilia, like patches, t-shirts, mugs, pens and even earrings.

They’ll also be selling Girl Scout Cookies, but not until troops in Minnesota get first dibs at selling cookies door-to-door.

The girls start their cookie sales this weekend. The Mall of America store will start selling cookies on Feb. 20.

The store is a temporary pop-up, open through March 11.

That’s when 50,000 Girl Scouts will invade the Mall of America for the Great Girl Gathering to celebrate the organization’s 100th birthday.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — When you go shopping there are wants and there are needs, but it’s hard to pass up a bargain and February is full of them.

The month is wedged nicely after the holidays and before the spring rush into summer break. WCCO-TV went through dozens of consumer articles and then double checked with local retailers to find the best buys this month.

(credit: CBS)

Digital Cameras

Sales, promotions and trade-ins all come together this month.

“You can get a $230 doll point and shoot camera for 100 bucks,” said Gil Robles of National Camera Exchange. “February is a great month because there’s a lot of transition in the market place, it’s after the holiday season where all the latest products were introduced, but it’s also a time when new technologies and conventions, like CES happened a couple weeks ago.”

Cameras on the shelves six months or longer will get the biggest discounts first.

(credit: CBS)

Luggage

New merchandise is coming in, and that means retailers want to get the old stuff out.

“There’s certain luggage that will be reduced 30 percent, there’s certain luggage that will be down 35 percent and there’s certain luggage that we will want to get out of here to get the new stuff in and that could be at 50 percent as well,” said David Saad of Luggage World.

(credit: CBS)

Bicycles

Discounts on bikes are much like discounts on cars every year. There’s a new model, they want to get the old one off the floor and the new models will come out soon. Cold weather gear will get deeply discounted as summer stuff comes in.

“For enthusiasts, you might save hundreds of dollars or even a thousand dollars,” said Jake Helmbrecht of Freewheel Bike Shop.

(credit: CBS)

Indoor Furniture

First there’s Valentine’s Day, when bedroom furniture is set for sale. Then there’s President’s Day, one of the biggest sales days in the industry.

“You’ll see anything from 25 to 50 percent off during that timeframe,” said Jason Schneiderman of Schneiderman’s Furniture.

Sofas, tables and chairs all get their prices slashed to move in the stuff people want for spring, like outdoor patio sets that arrive in late February or early March, meaning all of this must be sold.

Other deals to keep in mind this month: Chocolate usually goes down in price after Valentine’s Day, and get your gas grills and air Conditioners while they’re out of season. Consumer experts said last summer’s models won’t be that different from this summer’s, but prices will be much better now.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A locally-owned company just made the deal of a lifetime. Brewing giant, MillerCoors, bought Crispin Cider.

In just four short years, Crispin Cider has gone from an unknown to the third largest producer of cider in the United States.

In Christian Schauf’s home, there is rarely ever a shortage of Crispin Cider, but the taste isn’t the only reason his fridge is stocked. Schauf is an investor and former marketing manager of the Minneapolis based company.

“I think more than anything, I’m just really proud to be a part of it,” said Schauf. “There are a lot of people that probably didn’t believe in it and it’s kind of fun to see this happen.”

The deal will provide huge growth opportunities for the young company and its 80 workers. Crispin will now have the marketing power and funding of MillerCoors. The deal also offered a reward for those willing to take the financial risk, but the details of this sale aren’t being released to the public.

“It was a lot bigger return than you can make in the bank — I’ll tell you that. So, it was good, really good,” said Schauf.

Company owner Joe Heron said the majority of the investors come from Minneapolis, but would not go into details on any numbers. Schauf’s brother, Zach Schauf, is one of them.

“There’s always that chance, and probably a good chance, that you’re not going to see a return or that you’ll never see that money again,” said Zach Schauf.

But knowing the product and its market growth since 2008 gave the two brothers a good idea of the outcome.

“I don’t think we ever really doubted it was going to happen, it was just a matter of when,” said Zach Schauf.

Crispin will run as an independent of MillerCoors. So, the product won’t change and its headquarters will stay in Minneapolis.

Crispin operates a cidery in California where it sells its Fox Barrel Cider, a pear-based cider. That was also purchased in the deal.

But growth hasn’t been without cost. In 2004, several minority employees filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that they were unfairly passed over for promotions.

“Several individuals filed a class action complaint with the EEOC and they claimed they were being held back in attempts for promotion because of their race,” said Attorney Jeffrey Taren.

The initial complaints prompted an investigation by EEOC that lasted until 2010. During that time, federal investigators analyzed the company’s employment and promotion records.  The investigation identified some 700 present and former Menards workers who were also discriminated against. They ranged from assistant department managers to store managers.

The case later went to the American Arbitration Association, which approved a settlement between Menards and the plaintiffs on Jan. 24. In addition to paying the class $1 million in claims, Menards will also change how its present and future employees are promoted.

“African-Americans have the same opportunities of anyone else to go up the ladder to become store managers or above,” Taren said.

It’s not clear how many of the plaintiffs worked at Menards Minnesota locations. But Minnesota’s Commissioner of Human Rights, Kevin Lindsey, said the case shows a continuing battle in the general workplace.

“Discrimination still does occur and it’s still prevalent in the United States and in our state of Minnesota,” said Lindsey.

Under the terms of the settlement, Menards doesn’t have to admit any wrongdoing. Company Spokesperson Jeff Abbott called the settlement with plaintiffs and the government, “a wise business decision.”

The company’s written statement further reads, “To continue is like attempting to wrestle an 850 pound gorilla. You may survive doing so for a while but it generally ends poorly for the poor citizens involved.”

Plaintiffs will each receive letters notifying them of the procedure for filing for their monetary award by Feb. 23.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Flying anywhere these days seems to be more of a headache and it’s not cheap.

We’ve seen fewer flights, baggage fees and now another cost increase — parking.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission raised fees to off-site parking companies and they, in turn, are passing that cost on to us.

“So, we work hard and they take some of our profit and I don’t think that’s right,” says Dan Williamson, manager of Park ‘N Go.

Williamson says new fees from the Metropolitan Airport Commission forced him to raise his rates by 50 cents a day.

He says that’s to maintain his lots and buy new shuttles.
The airport, though, says it has needs, too.

Other businesses, like restaurants and retailers pay a percentage of their profit for things like maintenance and paying airport police.

“We tried to level the playing field, we didn’t charge them the gross revenues we originally intended, we compromised and we just raised the per trip fee,” says Patrick Hogan, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Airport Commission.

The commission raised rates by $1.39 per shuttle trip.

“They were the only concession who didn’t pay to support the operations of the airport while they make their entire customer base off the fact that the airport exists,” Hogan said.

Off-site parking managers see the cost — almost double what they used to pay — as a way to force them out of business.

“Years ago, they depended on our parking when they did not have enough, now when they appear to have too much,” Williamson said, “I guess we’re an unnecessary evil at this point.”

Hogan said it’s just business.

“The airport had to raise its parking cost as well, which also gets passed to the consumer, nobody likes to do that, but it’s a cost of doing business,” he said.
“The airport did just have to increase the rate at its value lot to $14 a day.”

The cheapest option is the one that allows you to park at Terminal 2 and take a tram to Terminal 1.

Otherwise, it’s $20-$22 a day depending on if you use a credit card or not to park at the main terminal.

As for off-site companies raising rates?

Team Parking hasn’t just yet, but said they might have to later this year.

At Park and Go, the rate was increased by 50 cents a day, to $12.

EZ Air Park in Eagan is now charging a $1.75 airport fee on top of $11 a day.

Another way to save money would be for the off-site lots to make less shuttle trips to the airport, but they say that is also bad for the customer who has to wait longer.

An NRC report says the plant notified regulators about a spill Monday of 27 gallons of condensate water from a heating steam system that overflowed onto the ground after return pumps failed to operate.

NRC spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng says the tritium concentration was well below the level the Environmental Protection Agency allows for drinking water and did not pose a health risk to workers or the community. She says the utility isn’t required to report such small releases but does so as a courtesy.

Lea Foushee of the North American Water Office, a nuclear watchdog group, says there’s no safe dose of radiation.

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

The company said a majority of these reductions will take place on Feb. 25. That includes current positions and open jobs that will not be filled.

The company said the reduction is part of a strategic plan to reduce expenses and overall operating costs in order to continue offering competitive pricing to its customers.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Minnesota farmer has had a busy week after a thief in the night stole 26 of his cattle and sold them as his own.

The thief took what amounted to more than $40,000 in cattle from Bob Ludvigson, who lives in Madison, Minn., and owns the cattle along with his sons.

Ludvigson’s Holsteins weigh between 1,200 to 1,500 pounds, so it was nearly impossible for him not to notice when they went missing last weekend.

Ludvigson said he figured someone had stolen his cattle after he found tire tracks near the loading area.

The theft likely occurred on Jan. 28. It’s suspected that the thief loaded the cattle on to trailers in the middle of the night and just took off.

With no insurance on the Holsteins, Ludvigson and his sons would have suffered a significant loss. Thankfully, the markings on the cattle helped authorities figure out what happened to them.

Police contacted auction lots, where Holsteins matching the description of Ludvigson’s were found in both Benson and Pipestone. After talking to auction officials, police arrested 40-year-old Richard Nelson, of Montevideo.

Authorities said they found other stolen goods at Nelson’s home, including a skid loaded with more than $20,000.

The Ludvigsons were able to get almost all of their money back from the cattle. But even as their cows came home, they are still hoping justice prevails.

“I’m hoping that [Nelson] gets some serious time out it,” Ludvigson said.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The buzz about the Clint Eastwood Super Bowl ad for Chyrsler has put the issue of buying an American car back in the forefront. But in an age when some American cars are assembled overseas, and some Japanese cars are assembled in the U.S., which cars are the most “American?”

And which car company employs the most Americans?

“It’s really, really messy,” said Carlos Torelli, an assistant professor and global branding expert at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

“The days when things were manufactured in only one place, those are long time gone,” Torelli said.

“You have to look at a global economy,” said Doug Sprinthall, of Walser Auto Group. “Ford is probably the most American of all, but they assemble them all over the world,” he said.

“Toyota is the biggest retailer in the world — builds a ton of cars in the United States,” said Sprinthall.

Toyota builds cars in Kentucky, Indiana and Texas. Honda is in Ohio and Alabama.

“Japanese manufacturers are building cars in the U.S. and shipping them back to Japan,” said Sprinthall, because of the exchange rate.

“Mazda told us that 80 percent of their production is in Japan now. They’re going to try to ship half of it into this country and other countries in the North America,” he said.

Researchers looking into the concept of the “Made In America” automobile look at two different metrics: (1) the number of jobs created in factories for each vehicle sold and (2) the overall number of American jobs.

When you factor in American parts, jobs and sales, Cars.com reports that the most American-made car is the Toyota Camry.

“A Japanese company no one in the U.S. would believe is an American company,” Torelli said.

According to an ABC News analysis, for every 100 Camrys Toyota sells, 20 Americans get assembly line jobs.

The rest of the American-made list reads like this: Honda Accord, Chevy Malibu and Ford Explorer.

“Is it more important that the assembly line is in the U.S. or the corporate headquarters?” asked WCCO-TV’s Jason DeRusha. “That’s an excellent question,” Torelli said.

According to the Level Field Institute, a consortium of retirees from American automakers, at the end of 2009, American automakers had direct employment of 155,500 in 2009. Foreign automakers employed 100,000 Americans.

Of course, “Chrysler hasn’t been a U.S. company for many years,” noted Sprinthall. They were owned by Daimler, and now are part-owned by Italian automaker Fiat.

There is a big advantage to having a headquarters in the United States. General Motors has 77,000 American workers. Ford has 76,000. Chrysler ended 2011 with 52,000. By comparison, Toyota has close to 30,000. The Toyota has fewer than 100 employees in New York City.

“Really the know-how to make the car a better car is most likely to happen here if it’s a company headquartered in the U.S.,” Torelli said.

And that’s why he said Chrysler, despite its partial-ownership by an Italian car company, can authentically claim to be “Imported From Detroit.”

The 40th annual Mora Vasaloppet — which was scheduled to take place this weekend — has been cancelled.

“With the warm temperatures and all that we had moved it to the lake [Knife Lake], and now that isn’t going to work either, so we did have to cancel,” said Laurel Robertson, the coordinator of the popular cross-country ski race.

Robertson said more than 2,000 skiers were expected to take part, some from as far away as Sweden.

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Steve Murphy Reports

It’s only the fifth time the Vasaloppet’s been cancelled due to mild weather.

Skiers who registered for the race will receive a certificate providing a 25 percent discount off the 2013 registration.

A manager at Crave who called herself Kim – she didn’t give a last name – said the restaurant had a lapse in their liquor license. But St. Louis Park officials paint a slightly different story.

According to Jamie Zwilling, a St. Louis Park authority, Crave chose to serve a one-day liquor license suspension on Super Bowl Sunday.

The restaurant had to serve a suspension after it failed an alcohol compliance check late last year.

That failure was the second in three years, and that carried a fine as well as a one-day liquor ban, Zwilling said.

The St. Louis Park Crave plans to serve alcohol on Monday, Kim said.

The Crave location in downtown Minneapolis was not affected.

WCCO-TV called the restaurant’s owner. He did not immediately respond.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – We rarely think about our air conditioners in the middle of winter, but Minneapolis police say we should.

Authorities say they’ve seen a rash of air conditioning unit thefts in the past week, centered in the Fourth Precinct of North Minneapolis.

Last week, Sadedora Rogers let her dogs out, and immediately knew someone had been in her backyard. Her air conditioning unit had been tampered with, and she knew why.

“Because you can get a pretty penny for copper nowadays,” she said.

In five cases since late January, Minneapolis police say thieves stripped copper coils from the inside of the air conditioning units. Typically, the copper is sold at scrap metal recycling businesses. The market price of copper this week was approximately $3.90 a pound. Police say thieves may target air conditioning in the winter, because people don’t normally think to check their units in the winter.

Rogers said the thieves didn’t get all the way into her air conditioner – she thinks her dogs and security lights scared them away.

“Somebody is that close to your house, doing something they know they shouldn’t be doing while you are in the house asleep. It’s very scary,” Rogers said.

Francisco Garcia-James says his family was also victimized by thieves. They found out when his father heard a loud noise overnight.

“In the morning, he checked and said we are not going to have cold air for summer; and summer gets really hot, so that sucks,” Garcia-James said.

His family can’t afford to replace the expensive unit right now, and they will suffer without cooling as summer comes.

It’s not just homes that are being targeted. A business on Broadway put up a sign telling thieves not to bother, that the copper on their street was already stolen.

Police want neighborhoods to be on alert for suspicious activity and say, if possible, cover your unit with wrappings that are specifically for outdoor air conditioning units, available at local hardware stores. Some even come with secure locking devices.

Police also say light up the area around your air conditioning unit from dusk to dawn.

Michael Foods, of Minnetonka, is recalling eggs in brine sold in 10- and 25-pound pails for institutional use in 34 states. The eggs carry six brand names: Columbia Valley Farms, GFS, Glenview Farms, Papetti’s, Silverbrook and Wholesome Farms.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the eggs were produced at Michael Foods’ plant in Wakefield, Neb., and were bought by food distributors and manufacturers. There have been no reports of illness connected to the eggs. But, the company says the eggs have the potential to be contaminated with a strain of listeria that can cause serious infections in those with weaker immune systems.

The 34 states included are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

For more on the egg recall, click here.

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