"Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak has rolled out the most extensive plan to date for keeping the Minnesota Vikings in his city.

It looks a lot like the plan he and city council president Barb Johnson rolled out in May, with a key difference: Rybak tacked a Block E casino onto the idea.

He says he wants a .35 percent sales tax and a one percent hotel tax for a contribution up to $300 million for a Vikings stadium, and another $150 million for the city-owned Target Center.

But he'd also like to take a 5 percent cut of the Hennepin Avenue casino proposed by developer Bob Lux. (That percent would drop to 3 in 2020, after some of Minneapolis' other debt is retired.)

Rybak talked like a reluctant convert to gambling expansion, but a convert he appears to be, if this account of a 2009 legislative fundraiser during his erstwhile gubernatorial campaign is accurate. "

Get the Story:
Capitol View: Betting on the Vikings (Minnesota Public Radio 10/28)

Blog Post:
Rybak on Indian issues, Vikings stadium (Northwood Politics January 1, 2010)

Related Stories:
MPR: Minnesota tribes face another threat to casino empire (10/19)