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Agency denies DM&E loan

The news just broke. DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP Sen. Norm Coleman will hold a conference call in a few minutes. DFL Rep. Tim Walz is also holding a news conference this afternoon.

Here's the news from the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the Federal Railroad Administration has denied the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's application for a two-point-three (b) billion-dollar federal loan.

In a release from Washington, Joseph H. Boardman says the loan posed an unacceptably high risk to federal taxpayers.

The Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based railroad wanted the loan to help finance new track to Wyoming coal fields and renovation of 600 miles of existing line so it could haul coal across southern Minnesota to eastern power plants.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-02-26-07 1711EST