The holiday season is upon us, but The Intelligencer never rests. I'm eyeball-deep in six great crowdsourcing projects. It’s been an exhilarating experiment. Hundreds of people have shared their stories, tips, and analysis on the courts, stimulus spending, census data, the history of the Minnesota Republican Party, and even racial justice struggles in the early days of the Minnesota Twins organization.

You can read a bit of an overview of what I’ve been up to here and here.

Or you can just dive right in. Here are the active projects with a few words about each:

How bad is our underfunded court system?

The answer: pretty bad. MinnPost readers and others from inside the Minnesota courts have written more than 12,000 words of comment on the struggles of working in an underfunded justice system. I've heard from judges, prosecutors, public defenders, court reporters, and even parole officers. Do you have a story you want to tell?

The gutting of the public defender system
Public defenders wrote another 11,000 words of comment and more than 150 of them took the MinnPost survey of public defenders. Are you a public defender? I want to hear from you! If you want to hear a bit more about the public defender system, I joined the hosts of KFAI Weekly News on Dec. 17, 2010 to discuss.

D.I.Y. neighborhood profiles with data from the American Community Survey
I’m just getting started with this one. Want to create a profile of your neighborhood? I’m eager to know what you find.

Do you have 15 minutes to help us cover stimulus spending in Minnesota?
There’s been a great response to this one. It’s simple: follow my step-by-step instructions, see what you can see, and report back. Even 15 minutes helps!

Stories from inside Minnesota’s backlogged immigration court
Minnesota’s immigration judges are inching their way through the largest immigration case backlog in Minnesota's history. Also at a record high is the length of time cases are pending. If you work in the system or if you’ve been through it I want to hear from you.

Telling the story of the Minnesota Republican Party
We’re witnessing a historic power shift in Minnesota. Not just from blue to red in the Legislature, but also within the state’s Republican establishment. I’ve been hearing from all corners of the party — people who have been integral to the last half-century of Republican politics in Minnesota.

If you have crowdsourcing ideas or story tips you can tell me all about it using this simple and secure form.

Happy holidays and don’t be a stranger!