Former GOP Supreme Court candidate McDonald alleges ‘torture’ at hands of Dakota County

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. 2014’s GOP-endorsed candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court, Michelle MacDonald, is back in the news after filing a suit against Dakota County and others alleging “…torture-like treatment when she was removed and jailed for taking photos in a courtroom in September 2013,” reports Paul Walsh in the Star Tribune. He continues, “MacDonald alleges being handcuffed and brought back into the courtroom in a wheelchair so she could resume representing her client. … She said she was detained for 36 hours, the suit continued, and at one point photographed and ‘improperly’ handled and touched while being referred to as ‘beautiful.’ ”

Psychiatric studies at the University of Minnesota are going to be on hold for a while. On Friday, the U’s Board of Regents endorsed President Eric Kaler’s suspension of psychiatric trials after Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles’ report condemning university research practices leading up to the death of study-participant Dan Markingson, reports the Star Tribune’s Maura Lerner. “Before the regents’ vote, Kaler offered his apology to Markingson’s mother, Mary Weiss, for her son’s death ‘while under our care.’ … He noted, ‘We can’t change the past,’ but vowed to move forward to ensure research is conducted in the ‘safest and most ethical way possible.’ ”

Like all remodeling projects, the cost of renovating the state Capitol is threatening to run over budget — in this case, to the tune of $30 million. The AP gathered the evidence: “Documents released to a commission overseeing the overhaul show the extra costs stem from water damage repairs, security improvements and other costs. Those overruns would increase the total cost by about 10 percent, to more than $300 million.”

A campaign finance mess over in Wisconsin. The New York Times’ Monica Davey takes the Badger State as a prime example of “how a rising tide of money in state judicial races is creating potential conflicts for judges who sit on cases involving donors. Judges in the highest courts in 38 states face some type of election, and in the 2011-12 election cycle, the latest for which data is available, more than $56 million was spent on those races, nearly twice as much as in the 1990s, according to Justice at Stake, a nonpartisan research group.”

In other news…

Love the great outdoors but hate people? Check out Minnesota’s 11 least-visited state parks [Pioneer Press]

“State revokes licenses of foster providers after 6-year-old’s death” [Star Tribune]

Meet Downtown Minneapolis’ future marijuana dispensary [Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal]

“Woman Gives Birth In Car In Carlton Co.” [WCCO]