If you’ve got a hot hand at Super Mario Galaxy, it may be more than the excitement of the game. Minneapolis-based Griffin International Co. is recalling 220,000 recharge stations made for Nintendo Wii gaming controllers, sold under the Psyclone Essentials and React brands. The Chinese-made units developed a bad habit of overheating. Two users have gotten minor burns on their hands, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reports, although the company claims “no injuries have been reported.” The units sold for about $50 at Target, Best Buy and other retailers nationwide from January 2008 through last month. “Brand names are on the front of the packaging and the model numbers, Psyclone (PSE6501) and React (RT530), can be found on the bottom side of the product,” the CPSC reports. Consumers can call Griffin International (888-344-4702) about how they can turn in the defective units and get a free replacement.

My Sunday column explored the ordeal of Denise Martineau and Mark Bufkin, a couple who gave up on their condo in the Villa on Bassett Creek after a tussle with their homeowner’s association. It will be interesting to see whether the new owner, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (a state agency), does any mold remediation before putting it on the market again.

Tom Campbell, 57, is a retired bus mechanic who lives in Minneapolis. To get control of his spending, Campbell decided to put away the credit card and take out his long-neglected checkbook. He recently paid a visit to Southtown Center in Bloomington to buy a wedding present, an $80 place setting. When he wrote out his check at a prominent retailer, the clerk put it through the little scanning device linked to the vast computers of a company called Certegy. The machine spit the check out. Rejected.

Situations like that always make me feel nervous. The few times in my life that a clerk has rejected my method of payment, I expected to leave the store in handcuffs.

Campbell knew he had enough money in the bank. So he went to another retailer where the bride and groom were also registered. Once again, the machine refused his check. He tried to get the clerk to explain what was going on, but it was clear she didn’t know. He talked to someone on the phone at Certegy, who said he could fill out an application. Finally he paid by credit card, and called Whistleblower.

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My colleague Chris Serres, one of the authors of the “Lenders Gone Wild” series that has stirred up state lawmakers, alerted me this week to the demise of JetAmerica, a startup airline he reported on, with a dose of skepticism, in May. Back then, it intended to offer flights between Minneapolis and Toledo starting Aug. 14, even though it hadn’t even cleared that plan with the Metropolitan Airports Commission. So Chris wasn’t shocked when the company made this announcement, less than two months later:

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