Minnesota’s Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter tells the Pioneer Press a state Supreme Court decision on refinancing bonds "will save Minnesota taxpayers tens of millions of dollars." The justices ruled the state can use future revenue from its 1998 settlement with tobacco companies.

Retiring Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice Helen Meyer already has a new job lined up after her retirement on Friday. The William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul said Wednesday that Meyer, a graduated from the school in 1983, will join the school in the fall as a "distinguished jurist in residence."

The court says the state of Minnesota can seek compensation from a California engineering firm that had tried to block lawsuits stemming from the bridge collapse. A federal investigation found a design flaw was a key factor in the tragedy.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is going to have a busy day July 31. The court Friday scheduled a case that seeks to undo Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's chosen title for the photo ID constitutional amendment the Legislature put on the November ballot. The other, previously scheduled, is for arguments over a nearly identical protest over Ritchie's title for the amendment to ban same sex marriage.

The justices ruled that public officials acted improperly by discouraging expert witnesses from testifying on the mother's behalf. Nicole Beecroft had been serving a life sentence for stabbing her newborn to death in 2007. She'll get a new trial.