An unusually large number of legislators and prominent Minnesota politicos are opting to run in county commissioner races across the state.

The four remaining members of the so-called RNC 8 pleaded guilty this morning to gross misdemeanor charges that will not result in any jail time. Defendants Rob Czernick and Max Spektor pleaded to one count each of conspiracy to commit riot, while Garrett Fitzgerald and Nathanael Secor pleaded to one count each of conspiracy to destroy property.

Ramsey County Sheriff challenger Matt Bostrom is calling on cities to remove illegal campaign signs. He has sent a letter to the public works departments of all cities located within Ramsey County requesting that they take action against illicit signs. Bostrom is trying to unseat four-term incumbent Bob Fletcher.

South-Central Los Angeles was hell in the late 1980s. Poverty was rampant, housing deplorable, and graffiti scarred almost every edifice. Drugs and gangs begot drive-by shootings and daylight robberies. Yet for some in that topsy-turvy world, the criminals were heroes, and cops were the enemy.

Sen. Mee Moua has dropped her proposal to prohibit law enforcement agencies from maintaining electronic databases of gang members. The proposed ban -- designed to protect privacy and civil liberties -- had drawn pointed criticism from some law enforcement officials.

Sen. Mee Moua's controversial proposal to prohibit law-enforcement agencies from maintaining gang databases came before the Senate's State and Local Government Operation and Oversight Committee on Friday afternoon. Supporters and detractors of the measure were primed for a debate. Deputies from the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office and community activists concerned about police misconduct filled the committee room.

But Fletcher insists that all those advances would be threatened if a bill put forth by state Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, becomes law.

A number of key legislative Democrats have complained repeatedly about the mounting cost of so-called "interagency agreements" between the governor's office and other state agencies during the Pawlenty years, casting those budget-sharing agreements as a means for the governor's office to augment its budget without the blessing of the Legislature.