UPDATE: U.S. Judge Susan Bolton issued a partial injunction against elements of SB 1070 until the full case can be heard. Proponents of the law are disappointed, but the group PuenteAZ says the ruling is "NOT a victory."

St. Paul Demonstration on Thursday, July 29

Minneapolis is one of four cities in the running for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, just one cycle after the metro-wide suspension of civil liberties that accompanied the Republicans' national party in 2008.  This time around, local organizers are mobilizing in an effort to sabotage the bid before a decision is even made.

Tom Emmer, the endorsed Republican candidate for MN Governor made a stab a damage control Wednesday. Last weekend Emmer emerged from a restaurant in St. Paul with tales of restaurant servers making $100,000 a year while the owners scrape by on leftovers. The problem he pointed to on Saturday was minimum wage laws. While he didn’t actually say the words: “ I want to cut minimum wages for servers”, he argued that minimum wages interfere with the “market” and presumably make things harder for owners who are the gooses with the golden eggs. (You can see the video here.)

Two Fur Protesters Found Guilty of "disorderly conduct" for protesting outside fur shop in busy downtown area - Sentencing and Solidarity Rally this Wednesday, July 14th.

In a case involving the First Amendment and free speech, anti-fur trade protesters Isaac Peter and Michael Lawson were found guilty last week by a Hennepin County jury. The charges were "disorderly conduct," a misdemeanor under MN law. The incident occurred on March 4 2010 when officers arrested Isaac and Michael after alleging that they were creating an annoyance by shouting a political message on a public sidewalk in a busy and regularly noisy area of the city.