The numbers certainly look dramatic – St. Paul enrollment alone is projected to fall 1,700 students between 2007 (K-12 enrollment 39,550) and 2009, according to the SPPS website – but does the declining enrollment in Minneapolis and St Paul public schools mean charters are winning the battle for “customer choice”? MORE »

A federal judge’s ruling on Wednesday allows the civil rights lawsuit filed by Sgt. Giovanni Veliz against the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) to go to trial, despite the city’s efforts to impede it. MORE »

With the July 15 filing deadline almost at hand, Minnesota’s maverick ex-gov Jesse Ventura is keeping mum about his plans. According to the Minnesota Independent, Ventura told his former press secretary John Wodele last week that it’s still “way too early” to make up his mind. (When he ran for governor, Ventura filed on the last possible day.) The Independence Party formally endorsed southern Minnesota farmer Stephen Williams as its candidate for Senate, but he would probably defer to Ventura, and would certainly be swamped in the September primary, if Jesse chooses to run. MORE »

What is the story behind the Dragon Festival?

Chinese legend is that approximately 2,400 years ago, Qu Yuan, a poet and loyal court advisor in the kingdom of Chu, drowned himself in the Mi Lo river in Hunan province when he could not reverse the corruption in the kingdom. Fishermen rushed to the spot and banged their oars and threw rice into the water to scare away and feed the fish so they would not eat Qu Yuan’s body. MORE »