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Coleman said he issued the order as a protest, following several other cities and organizations that are boycotting Arizona. "This law sets a dangerous example for the rest of the country," Coleman said in a press release. "It will create a culture where racial profiling is acceptable, and will create a dangerous wedge between police officers and the communities they serve."

One of the state's largest unions has reached out to police after getting what it considers threatening voicemails at its main office Tuesday night. The public service employees' union says it doesn't get too many phone calls from the public until it starts airing television ads. It says its latest "Tax the Rich" ad has prompted more than 1,000 phone calls. For every 10 supportive ones, AFSCME says one is negative. They also say one caller crossed the line.

Republicans love to bash Education Minnesota, claiming the statewide teachers union and its powerful lobbying force essentially control the Democratic Party. But this legislative session, the union is alienating even some of its DFL allies. Observers say relationships are strained because of the union's resistance to proposed reforms — particularly bringing in new teachers and stabilizing the statewide pension for educators. "I'm just absolutely frustrated with some of the stances they're taking on the issues," said DFL Rep. Marsha Swails, who is an English teacher at Woodbury High School. "Maybe all those folks in the Education Minnesota building are a...

Two of Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann's Democratic colleagues are rallying with union members as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin arrives to help Bachmann on Wednesday. Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum are appearing in the state Capitol rotunda for a demonstration organized by the Minnesota AFL-CIO. Event organizers are calling on state leaders to raise taxes on the wealthy to help solve the state's budget problems. The union event happens a couple of hours before Palin and Bachmann are slated to lead a rally together at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Palin is also attending a private fundraiser for Bachmann, who is...

Some Minneapolis activists are petitioning for more requirements at the polls. A nonprofit voting group and a Minneapolis advocacy organization are starting a petition to require photo identification for people voting in city elections. Republican Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer of Big Lake will speak today in Minneapolis to kick off the petition drive. She was secretary of state from 1999 until 2006, when she was defeated by now-Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a Democrat. Similar petitions have started in St. Paul and Duluth.

A Minnesota senator has introduced a bill that would require indoor inflatable play centers to get liability insurance and staff a trained supervisor. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Katie Sieben (DFL-Newport), will be heard by a Senate committee Monday. The new law would apply to indoor play centers with bouncy castles, houses and other inflatable equipment. It would not apply to equipment rented for private home parties or at carnivals and other festivals.

Nora Slawik, a DFL representative from Maplewood, is championing a bill that would prohibit drivers from smoking when children are in the car. She probably has the lungs of infants in mind, but the version of the proposal that I read takes it up to age 18, which means that when you return from getting shot at by the Taliban and happen to hitch a ride downtown with Mom, you would be safe from her secondhand smoke. In not necessarily unrelated news, we have learned that the city has closed the ball fields at the Jimmy Lee Recreational Center because...

They are the longest of long shots, the darkest of dark horses. Since 1946, Republicans have lost 31 straight elections for Minnesota's 4th District congressional seat, and Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum has won her last four elections by lopsided margins. Nonetheless, Republicans are fired up about their chances of unseating her this year. Four candidates are competing for the party's endorsement:

On Wednesday, March 3, the House Civil Justice Committee will hold a hearing on House File 1396. This bill includes a provision that would allow a court that issues a domestic abuse protective order to prohibit the respondent from having any contact with a PET OR COMPANION ANIMAL OWNED, POSSESSED, OR KEPT by a party protected in the order. This new provision could have serious consequences for Minnesotans who exercise their right to keep and bear arms.

Rep. Tom Huntley (D-Duluth) will try to mandate that every person's medical record be placed online and made available to state government, researchers, federal government and others. All without your consent.

Theresa Marie Barslou said she voted for the first time in the November 2008 elections. Nearly a year later, her vote has come back to haunt her. Barslou, 29, of St. Paul, illegally voted as a felon on probation, states a Ramsey County criminal complaint charging her with felony voter fraud. Barslou was arrested Monday after she failed to appear last month at a court hearing. She was released the next day on $3,000 bail. Barslou is one of the 23 felons charged with voter fraud in Ramsey County since the 2008 elections, County Attorney Susan Gaertner said. During a...

It seems that a decades-old battle for the soul of the Democratic Party has reemerged in the Obama administration.  The media likes to talk about splinters and fault lines among the Republicans, but these have a far shorter history than the intra-party war that seems to be fought ever few decades among Democrats because of that party's tendency to drift to the far left.   Ron Radosh notes the interesting background of a group Van Jones founded, The Ella Baker Freedom Center. Most people have referred to the late Baker as simply a civil rights activist.... in my book, Divided They Fell: The Demise of the Democratic...

What was supposed to be a swanky Summit Avenue fundraiser for Sen. Al Franken on Thursday was abruptly canceled when Franken discovered that the host of the event served a year in prison for swindling some northern Minnesotans. Mark Erjavec, who describes himself as an entrepreneur specializing in distressed real estate, may be a newcomer to the political scene but he is well known in the courtroom. Besides the 1997 theft by swindle conviction, the 33-year-old Erjavec has faced over $100,000 in tax liens and civil judgments. General Electric sued him for copyright infringement. His personal website has a link...

In a sarcasm-laced letter, Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday brusquely rebuffed DFL legislative leaders' invitation to a summit meeting that would address the state's ongoing financial crisis. Late last month, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher invited former governors, speakers and majority leaders to a "Minnesota Leadership Summit." In Tuesday's letter to Pogemiller and Kelliher, Pawlenty declined the invitation. "The state already has a 'Minnesota Leadership Summit,'" he wrote. "It's called the legislative session and it lasts approximately five months."

U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson and James Oberstar, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, and the Minnesota Senate Caucus are the only entities paid up through mid-July, according to the spreadsheet attached to Melendez's memo. State officials say the bad economy, changes in the state law reimbursing campaign contributions, and the natural election cycle have forced them to twist arms among contributors -- including their own elected officials. In his memo, Melendez complained to the delinquent officeholders about the need for them to catch up on dues to the UDF, a fund within the party that helps pay for basic party campaigns...

St. Paul, Minn. — President Obama and U.S. Senate Democrats say they're "united" on the goal of overhauling the nation's health insurance system. But when it comes to hammering out the actual legislation, the party has been far from unified. The House adjourned last week after its health reform bill cleared a key committee by a slim, three-vote margin. Five of the Democrats on that committee sided with Republicans and voted "no." The full House is expected to vote on the measure in September. And a key voting bloc will be the "Blue Dog" Democrats -- 52 moderate and conservative...

The party on Thursday recalled a statement criticizing Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty because it mistakenly linked to a profane YouTube video of an elderly Chinese woman repeating obscenities. Andrew O'Leary, executive director of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, as the Democratic Party is known in Minnesota, says the link was provided by an outside researcher.

It took four years of George Bush’s second term to push Republicans to a recent nadir in registration in Minnesota. It only took six months of Barack Obama to push the GOP back into parity with the DFL, the state’s Democratic Party. Eric Ostermeier at Smart Politics looks at the suddenly-stronger Republican Party and draws at least one of the correct conclusions: The SurveyUSA poll finds 34 percent of Minnesotans now identify as Republicans - the largest percentage enjoyed by the GOP in 63 surveys conducted by the organization dating back to its inaugural tracking poll in May 2005, when...

The party on Thursday recalled a statement criticizing Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty because it mistakenly linked to a profane YouTube video of an elderly Chinese woman repeating obscenities.

Uh, never mind. Also: Sorry about that. That essentially was the DFL's red-faced response Thursday when it sent out an electronic news release blasting Gov. Tim Pawlenty that had a profanity-laced video attached to it. The release was designed to respond to Pawlenty's speech before national Republicans in San Diego, attacking his record on job creation, health care and the state budget deficit. One small problem: The link that was supposed to direct reporters to a state economic development report actually sent them to a YouTube video titled "Chinese Grandma Learns English." For four minutes, an elderly Chinese woman repeats...