• “Bullet versus Ballet”: Yesterday, the Minnesota State Senate introduced a constitutional amendment that would hike the state sales tax by 3/8 percent, with proceeds getting divvied up by “water, wildlife preservation, arts and the humanities.” But outdoor and environmental groups are trying to exclude the arts from the measure, fearing it’ll hurt the amendment’s chance when it eventually shows up on voters’ ballots.
• Time launches an art blog. Sort of. Culturegrrl reports that Time magazine is planning a blog for art/architecture critic Richard Lacayo. Quite the scoop, considering that, as of this writing, the blog is nothing more than a few test posts and a linkroll (it doesn’t include the Walker, or any institutional blogs, but features Alec Soth and several Artsjournal blogs).
• Guards Gone Wild: Nearby Stevens Squre Center for the Arts opens a show of art by guards at the Walker, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Weisman Art. Tomorrow night’s opening features music by “guard musicians” Hot Rod Hearse and, formerly of the Walker staff, Ben Glaros.
• Top Tech Towns and other lists: Minneapolis’ Marcy-Holmes is one of America’s Best Eco-Neighborhoods, according to Natural Home magazine. But the Twin Cities didn’t place on Wired’s top-10 tech towns list. While Boston led the list, it’s Washington DC (#10) that earned top distinction in one curious category: compared to the other top cities, it can boast more personal ads per capita on the dating site Geek 2 Geek.