AN INSTRUCTIVE STORY. The taxpayers of St. Cloud, Minnesota offer inducements to airlines that fly away. The story prompts King Banaian to gripe.

In a related story, Rep. Jim Oberstar promises stimulus dollars to extend the Lake Wobegon bike trail to Eagan. /sarc

I once read that the Great Northern Railway paid about as much in property taxes on one station, at one of the major cities in Montana or North Dakota, as the local airport authority lost in a year. Apparently nothing has changed in forty years: puddle-jumper air service to small towns requires subsidy.

Perhaps the citizens of St. Cloud might give some thought to the near-corridor service they once enjoyed on the Great Northern and Northern Pacific to the Cities in the east and to Fargo and Grand Forks on the west. See If You Build It, Will They Come? and Frequency Matters for suggestions.