Minor modes via local variables:

2009-08-17  Chong Yidong  <cyd at stupidchicken.com>

        * files.el (hack-one-local-variable): If the mode function is for
        a minor mode, pass it an argument (Bug#4148).

etc/TODO

@@ -56,9 +56,6 @@ for users to customize.
 ** Make "emacs --daemon" start emacs without showing any frame. 
 Use emacsclient later to open frames.
 
-** Make it possible to reliably turn on minor modes using "mode:" in the local 
-variables section.
-
 ** Compute the list of active keymaps *after* reading the first event.
 
 ** Distribute a bar cursor of width > 1 evenly between the two glyphs