Gun group sues to carry weapons into State Fair

Great Minnesota get shot together? KARE’s Jeremiah Jacobsen reports: “A Minnesota group that advocates for the rights of gun owners is suing the organizers of the Minnesota State Fair for its policy banning gun owners with valid permits from carrying their firearms during the fair. … The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus filed suit in Ramsey County court on Tuesday, seeking an injunction against the fair’s gun policy. … The lawsuit names the defendants as the State Agricultural Society, which is in charge of the Minnesota State Fair, as well as Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, after the county agreed to provide security at the fair in 2021.”

Major leak. The Duluth News Tribune’s MPR’s Kirsti Marohn reports (via the Duluth News Tribune): “The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) now says there have been more releases of drilling fluid along the Line 3 oil pipeline project than previously reported. … Between June 8 and Aug. 5, there were 28 releases at 12 river crossing locations, the agency said. In one of those cases, on July 6, about 80 gallons of fluid entered the Willow River in Aitkin County. … The MPCA says there were 13 spills into wetlands and 14 accidental releases in upland areas, although one of those flowed into a wetland.”

Wooly good news. A press release from the U says: “U of M researchers have developed a candidate drug that was effective in both preventing and quelling SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals, signaling potential in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic if it can be validated in human trials. … The candidate drug, called Nanosota-1, came from a unique, tiny antibody, called a nanobody, that is derived from llamas. Unlike conventional antibody drugs under development, Nanosota-1 can be produced at high yields and remains stable across wide temperature ranges—making it cost-effective to manufacture, transport and store, according to lead researcher Fang Li, Ph.D., in the University’s Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.”

Capital investments. The Pioneer Press’ Frederick Melo reports: “[Jim] Eischens, who is in the process of appealing the latest de-listing to the U, now appears to have set his sights on a new frontier — the Hamline-Midway neighborhood of St. Paul. In the past three years, the Minneapolis landlord has added at least 13 properties in and around the 1400-1700 blocks of Hewitt Avenue — a straight shot down the road from Hamline University — to his real estate holdings in the capital city. … It’s not a new phenomenon to have a corporate ownership group convert single-family homes into low- to moderate-income rentals, especially near a college campus, but some housing advocates have chronicled an uptick in that trend in both Minneapolis and St. Paul.”