Minneapolis's local NBC led its morning news with this story, but the Star Tribune, which strongly endorsed Senator Mark Dayton last election, buries this story deep within its web site:

An office manager for Sen. Mark Dayton who says he was fired after developing a heart condition was found sleeping on the job and terminated for "exceptionally" poor job performance, according to new court filings.

That account, provided by attorneys for Dayton's office, represents the Minnesota Democrat's most aggressive attempt yet to head off a lawsuit brought by Brad Hanson, his former state office manager.

Hanson, giving his first extensive account of the case Thursday, called Dayton's assertions "blatantly false" and an attempt to smear him in the press.

It would be an attempt to smear him in the press, if the press was interested in reporting bad news about Dayton. The story, which is fair and balanced, cannot be found on the Strib's "front page" of its website, and is listed below the following stories on its Politics page:

* Governor Pawlenty's energetic approach to his job
* Medicare agreement close
* Senate Democrats defeat tort reform effort
* Senate votes for spam restrictions
* Senate confirms "Famous Dave" Anderson to BIA post (in the Twin Cities, anything about Famous Dave is big news)
* When should police tell school officials about molestation accusations against school staff?
* Senate panel is preparing a blistering report on pre-war intelligence
* Farm groups oppose Gov. Pawlenty's land conservation plan

However, at least the Strib carried the story; the other local paper, the Pioneer Press, doesn't have a story on this at all, and a search on "Dayton Hanson heart lawsuit" came up with no matches.

Now, ask yourself this: if Senator Norm Coleman, the Republican senator from Minnesota, was being sued by an old family friend because Coleman fired him a few days after being diagnosed with a disabling heart condition, where do you think that story would play the day after the plaintiff's news conference? Do you think that you would need to do searches on either website to find that story? I'm sitting here watching the 5 AM news, and the story ran at 5:03, and they just announced that they would be revisiting the story at 5:33. It certainly seems to be news to some media outlets here.

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