News you can use

Two opportunities to speak out on budgets, local and state:

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As the economy reflects the deep freeze and darkness of December, gift-giving goes beyond family and friends to give back to a hurting community. From the United Way’s Give 5 Now campaign to Second Harvest and foodshelves, there are many ways to give. Here are four smaller places where your dollar can make a big difference. MORE »

Money is tight this holiday season. Whether simply cutting back on gifts or thinking about shaping your dreidel out of those leftover Thanksgiving potatoes, most Twin Cities residents are scoping out ways to save. Fortunately, there are plenty of activities about town that will get you in the spirit of the season without landing you in debt. MORE »

Last month, I wrote an article about volunteering opportunities in the Twin Cities for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I listed several opportunities that I found on volunteering Web sites such as volunteermatch.org for people who wanted to volunteer for Thanksgiving. MORE »

Set your clocks for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 17, 2008. This Wednesday, full-power TV stations in Minnesota and 28 other states will voluntarily participate in a nationwide analog shut-off test. The FCC is organizing the nationwide soft shut-off, which will last for five minutes at 6:30 p.m. local time. MORE »

Although winter is not yet officially here, with snow on the ground and temperatures dipping into the teens, Minnesotans face another season of high heating bills. MORE »

The Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches has a great idea for this holiday gift-giving season that was made all the more important by this past week’s dismal state budget and employment reports. MORE »

For snow emergency information in St. Paul, go to the web site or call 651-266-PLOW. For snow emergency information in Minneapolis, go to the City’s snow Web page or call 612-348-SNOW. For more complete snow information from both cities, read on. MORE »