Ladies and gentlemen, the Minnesota Vikings stadium is back in business. As we noted earlier, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came to Minnesota last Friday and put some much needed wind in the sails of the stadium bill.

And that wind has turned into a full force gale, apparently.

The quest for a new stadium passed two significant milestones today. In the Senate, the Local Government and Elections Committee passed the bill along, but took out a key provision--funding of the Target Center that was crucial to the support of Minneapolis. That still needs to be ironed out, but it's progress.

In the House Ways and Means Committee, which adjourned just a little while ago, the bill passed on a voice vote, and according to Rep. John Kriesel, one of the big stadium backers in the House, he tweeted this:

@espn_nfcnblog I was told the next step is the house floor — John Kriesel (@johnkriesel) April 24, 2012

So, we might have a vote on this by Friday. I don't know whether it will pass, but By God, we're making progress.

Keep the faith, Vikes fans. Keep the faith.

SKOL!