Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • D1

By CHRISTIAN DAVENPORT Washington Post The largest airplane took a stroll the other day. Under the cloudless skies of the Mojave Desert, it rolled out of its han- gar and powered down the runway. Slowly at first, then faster, 60 mph, then 70, then 80. But it stopped just short of liftoff, like a sprinter pulling up just before taking the long jump. The leap to flight will come soon.

The plane needs a few more test runs down the tarmac. Then it will fly. Paul Allen will never get to see it. The bil- lionaire co-founder of Microsoft, who had quietly been building the monster of an air- craft for years, died this week without ever seeing his creation take to the skies. Which is a shame.

Because Stratolaunch was designed not just to make aviation his- tory, but help Allen, and the many others who grew up wanting to make space more acces- sible to regular people, realize his childhood space dreams. When Stratolaunch flies it will be the larg- est plane, as measured by wingspan, ever to take off, bigger even than Howard famed Spruce Goose, which flew once, in 1947. Often better known for his other pursuits, chief among them bringing personal comput- ing software into homes, Allen was also an aerospace enthusiast. Stratolaunch was to be his crowning achievement, a mas- sive plane of almost incomprehensible size, capable of carrying as many as three rock- ets tethered to its belly, which, once aloft, would drop like sky divers, one by one, before launching to orbit from the air. Christmas is coming early for some cereal lovers.

Golden Valley-based General Mills has brought back its holiday favorite Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch for a lim- ited time. The cookie-flavored cereal described as treat that hits the spot when you have time to was last available during the 2015 holiday season. It will begin to appear on shelves nationwide this month priced at $2.50 for a midsize box and $3.99 for the fam- ily size, according to a General Mills spokesman. The Cerealously blog first reported on the special Crunch relaunch and its cult after an image of the cereal appeared on website. General Mills is known for getting in the holiday and seasonal spirit with limited edition cereals like its Pump- kin Spice Cheerios and its Monster Cereals that are released annually in time for Halloween.

NICOLE NORFLEET Tech sell-offs continue, pulling market down. D3 Facebook on alert for as election nears. D4 BUSINESS TA I I I Winner, Best Business Columnist, Lee Schafer Awarded by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (2018) DOW 25,379.45 327.23 500 2,768.78 40.43 NASDAQ 7,485.14 157.56 10-YR T-NOTE 3.17% GOLD $1,226.50 2.80 EURO in dollars 1.1465 $68.65 1.10 September employment numbers signal a job market near a peak. By EVAN RAMSTAD evan.ramstad@startribune.com A stall in hiring around Minnesota extended to a sec- ond month in September but the unemployment rate dipped another notch anyway. The unemployment rate fell to 2.8 percent last month from 2.9 percent in August, the Min- nesota Department of Employ- ment and Economic Develop- ment (DEED) reported Thurs- day.

Minnesota last had a 2.8 percent unemployment rate in May 1999. The all-time low rate is 2.5 percent, reached in early 1999. But the market of nearly 3 million jobs lost 1,400 last month. And a decline in August, initially measured at 200 jobs, was revised down- ward to a loss of 2,500. Those declines contrib- uted to a slower growth rate of 1.3 percent for the 12 months ended Sept.

30 than the 1.7 per- cent rate seen in the 12 months ended Aug. 31. The job growth rate was 1.9 percent in the year ending in September. For a time earlier this year, job growth mea- sured on that annual basis was faster than the But the ultralow unemployment rate means that the state job market is near its full potential and has difficulty adding more jobs. job declines are disappointing, they are to some extent a consequence of earlier economic DEED Commissioner Shawn- tera Hardy said in a statement.

summer we saw large job gains, particularly in leisure and hospitality. These indus- tries tend to eliminate some of those jobs at the end of the busy summer travel The leisure and hos- pitality employers reported losing 1,700 jobs in September. Manufacturers lost 1,600 jobs 2.70 2.75 2.80 2.85 2.90 2.95 3.00 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Minnesota nonfarm employment, in millions unemployment rate Sept. 2013: 2.79 Sept. 2018: 2.97 Sept.

2013: 4.8% Sept. 2018: 2.8% Source: Minn. Department of Employment and Economic Development Seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted Hiring stalls but jobless rate still falls Medtronic implantable pump dispenses tiny doses of pain medication. By JOE CARLSON joe.carlson@startribune.com Treating pain with opioid pills can work well initially, but many Americans end up on high doses of oral medica- tions for years on end. At some point, they may be doing little more than treating withdrawal that sets in between doses.

Medical device maker Medtronic is rolling out a new system that it said can wean patients entirely off pain pills by gradually transi- tioning them to an implantable medical device called the Syn- chroMed II which dispenses tiny doses of opioids directly into spinal fluid. In recent years the Food and Drug Administration has been encouraging the develop- ment of new therapies to treat pain without using oral opioid drugs, calling opioid addiction immense public health cri- Prescription opioids, such as oxycodone and fentanyl belong to the same class of drugs as heroin and morphine. Medical device companies in Minnesota have responded to the call with many different options, including pacemaker- like that interrupt pain signals and devices that temporarily or permanently disable nerves. Each carries different risks, benefits and costs compared to pain pills. This week Medtronic is emphasizing the potential of its SynchroMed II implant- able drug pump, in combi- nation with a new treatment paradigm called the to combat opioid misuse and overuse.

The SynchroMed II drug Device may wean people off pain pills By DEE DePASS dee.depass@startribune.com A former manager han- dling Target infor- mation technology account filed a whistleblower lawsuit against his former employer, Tata Consultancy Services for allegedly misusing confidential budgeting infor- mation to underbid competi- tors who were also vying for Target contracts. The ongoing federal law- suit accuses Mumbai-based Tata one of the biggest cor- porations in the world and its Tata America International Corp. subsidiary of wrongful termination, whistleblower violations and racketeering. Tata has denied the allega- tions, accused the plaintiff of theft and requested that the court dismiss the case. In the suit, former Tata worker and Twin Cities resi- dent Senthil Kumar Subra- manian 40, accuses Tata of breaching its contract with Suit claims IT contractor misused data SUGAR COOKIE TOAST CRUNCH IS BACK General holiday cereal has been gone since 2015.

ELAINE THOMPSON Associated Press Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died Monday, had a vision: seeing the giant Stratolaunch plane-spaceship lift off. He showed a model in late 2011. His big dream will fly Paul Allen died before his project could make aviation history. Paul Allen shared the cosmic dreams of Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos: spaceflight for the common man. See ALLEN on D6 See JOBS on D6 See MEDTRONIC on D6 See TATA on D6 ZSW D1 Friday, Oct.

19, 2018 I DAY, 1 9 2 0 1 8.