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Heather Brown

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Good Question: Does Beer Really Create Beer Bellies?

Many viewers of the Vikings game Sunday may have taken in some adult beverages; perhaps a beer or two. So, we thought this would be a good time to answer a question from Bruce in Blaine: How much does beer contribute to a beer belly? Allina Health cardiologist Dr. Courtney Baechler says beer bellies are a bit of a myth. "Culturally speaking, men tend to drink a little more beer than women, and it's the perfect nitus to get fat because it's a lot of carbohydrates," Dr. Baechler said.

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Good Question Bonus: Email(s), Bodies Of Water, Deer Crossings & Men's Coats

Thanks to everyone who sent in Good Question suggestions this week! Please keep them coming! In the meantime, I wanted to answer a few that didn't make air. Rosy has a question I've never thought about before: Why do people put an "s" on the end of email, as in emails? We don't say we are going to pick up our snail mails from the post office. Good point, Rosy. I looked up the definition of email in the dictionary and found three definitions – two for nouns and one for a verb.

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Good Question: Why Are Mortgages Sold?

After mortgage banker Alex Stenback of Alerus Mortgage helps people buy a new home, he sells off the mortgage. "We sell everything that we do here," Stenback said. "When we sell them, it's one by one." About 80 percent of home loans are eligible to be sold. Stenback says it can happen for a couple of reasons. "One is there is $10 trillion in outstanding mortgages right now in the country and there's simply not enough deposits in all the banks to make that many mortgages," he said.

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Good Question: Will We Ever Play Less Than $3 Per Gallon Again?

According to AAA, the average cost of gas has been more than $3 per gallon for 1,000 days straight. It's the longest streak ever for gas prices at this level. Right now, the average in Minnesota is $3.50 per gallon, slightly lower than the national average of $3.54 per gallon. Bob Darbelnet, president and CEO of AAA, says kiss the days of cheaper gas prices goodbye. "Paying less than $3 per gallon for gasoline may be automotive history for most Americans, like using 8-track tapes or going to a drive-in movie," Darbelnet said.

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Good Question: How Does MN Decide Car Tabs Fees?

According to the Federal Highway Administration, the average Minnesota driver pays $125 per year to register his or her car. But some of us pay much more, and some of us pay much less. So, when Joel Tracy of St. Paul found out his daughter paid almost $400 her new minivan's tags, he was surprised. He had only paid $41 for his 2002 Tahoe. "I thought she stuttered," Tracy said. According to Bruce Gordon, the director of communications for the Department of Public Safety, the car tabs fees are set by the state legislature.

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Good Question: Reply All: Speedometers, Red Barns & Onion Tears

Mary from Eagan wants to know: Why do speedometers go so high? Her Honda CRV says 140 mph, but she, like many of us, would never go that fast. According to Larry Dominique, a longtime automotive engineer and current president of ALG, there are two reasons: 1) Consumer research shows that when people are driving on the highway, they like their speedometers to be between 11 and 1, like on a clock. That makes the needle easier to see at highway speeds. 2) Consumers believe that a car that says it can go 140 mph is better than a car that says it can go 120 mph.

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