More evidence of the troubling economic times, and possibly a foreshadowing of how dire the state budget forecast will be later this week -- the city of Minneapolis is considering a hiring freeze. Mayor RT Rybak and City Council President Barbara Johnson making a recommendation today that all city departments, including police and fire, stop new hires for an undetermined amount of time. The last time Minneapolis had a hiring freeze was 2003, when the city faced a 35-million dollar cut in local government aid from the state. It expected the proposal to freeze hiring will be voted on the full city council on December 12th.