National Geographic Traveler‘s 48-Hour Guide to Minneapolis (July/August 2008 edition) lists local blogs and podcasts to check out, followed by newspapers and magazines, maps, and books and movies. We’re a design mecca on the prairie. (I didn’t know Building Minnesota had a podcast.)

TC Daily Planet: Copper Thieves at Coldwater. Exploring the effects of neglect of the Coldwater/Bureau of Mines land.

I knew there was the Minnesota Thunder, our professional men’s soccer team in the United Soccer Leagues. I didn’t know there was a women’s team, the Minnesota Lightning. They’re clearly affiliated, judging by the look of the websites. And by the extremely confusing navigation of the Lightning website, in which all of the links and even the site name up at the top of the browser point to the Thunder, but with a light blue color scheme instead of a dark blue one and a picture of women playing at the top instead of men. Boo! [twitter: @mnthunder]

Vote Yes MN implores you to protect the Minnesota you love. Everything you need to know about the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, a proposed amendment to the Minnesota state constitution appearing on the ballot this fall. If passed it will dedicate funding to protecting the environment “by increasing the sales and use tax rate beginning July 1, 2009, by three-eighths of one percent on taxable sales until the year 2034.” [web: yesformn.org] [twitter: @yesformn] [facebook: group]

While the Lynx‘s Seimone Augustus is off playing in the Olympics, the team and staff will spend the WNBA league break out in the community, putting on the 33 Days of Augustus.

Common Roots is celebrating its 1st year of operation with a Summer Celebration on Saturday August 9th from 2-9pm. “Featuring grilling on the patio, an heirloom tomato tasting, local beer and wine samples, family activities and live music.” [facebook: profile] [facebook: event] [twitter: @commonroots]

Are y’all checking the late night movie schedule at the Riverview Theater?

FringeFamous is a blog covering the Minneapolis/St.Paul independent theatre scene, written by a group of quasi-anonymous “Twin Cities theater professionals.” They do year-round coverage (as of March of this year, anyway), but you can imagine how frothy they are over the impending Fringe Festival. [twitter: @fringefamous]

Community Design Group is “an urban planning and policy consulting group” touting “a people-centered, asset-based approach to urban planning, policy and design.” (via mediation)

Edina Realty now offers foreclosure searching.

Eat them together: Today’s Midday broadcast on MPR was recorded during the Journalism That Matters conference. “Journalists, citizen journalists and members of the public recently got together at Minnesota Public Radio’s UBS Forum to discuss the evolving role of the public in reporting the news.” MPR/Public Insight Journalism’s Michael Caputo, who moderated the forum, comments on the competitive aspect of news.

Rhubarbarism has the best assessment of yesterday’s meta-story of the dispute between MinnPost‘s David Brauer and the Star Tribune‘s Jill Burcum and the rest of the media’s “coverage” of it. He has all the relevant links and appropriate context so just go there and read. I’ve got nothing to add.

The Saint Paul Saints will take the field wearing Zubaz at next Wednesday’s (7/16) game. So will their piggy mascot Boarak Obama and a monkey who will be performing various tasks around the park such as taking tickets.

Lazy Lightning wants to know why it took south metro cities so freaking long to decide they needed to cut fuel costs.

MPR’s Bleacher Bums blog has been branching out from baseball. (I did not intend for that sentence to be so alliterative.) They’ve profiled a number of Lynx players. Today’s installment is Seimone Augustus: Our Unknown Superstar.