Everybody breathe: Lindstrom's umlauts are back
A day after Gov. Mark Dayton said the state should restore the umlauts to the city of Lindström's road signs, the dots are back.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation restored the two signature dots to the sign marking the city's limits on U.S. Highway 8 this morning. They were removed when the sign was installed with the population from the 2010 census, prompting a protest from some city residents and officials.
The punctuation marks denote the Swedish pronunciation of Lindström's name, and are widely considered a graphic tie to the Swedish roots of the city and the state.
After a story in last weekend's Star Tribune, Gov. Mark Dayton said he was issuing a special order, and would personally restore the umlauts if necessary. MnDOT spokesman Kevin Gutknecht joked that the agency had a few extra umlauts for the Lindström sign.
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