Gov. Ventura cancels regional trip

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Gov. Jesse Ventura has canceled a multistate promotional tour due to the death of a relative.

Ventura was to tour Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago and Sioux Falls, S.D., on Wednesday and Thursday in a bid to promote Minnesota tourism.

He will go ahead, however, with a planned public television special on terrorism scheduled for Tuesday.

Spokesman John Wodele said Ventura will not publicly say which relative died.

The trip was to be part of his "Explore Minnesota Now" tourism campaign. The stop in Sioux Falls would have followed a recent bout of ribbing between Ventura and South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow.

Last month, Ventura criticized Janklow for not attending a regional conference, speculating Janklow was too busy trying to lure Minnesota businesses. He went on to suggest that relocating to South Dakota was unattractive.

"The bottom-line problem is you then have to live in Sioux Falls," said Ventura, who later stressed that the remark was meant as a joke. "That's the problem. If that element wasn't in there, you'd be home-free."