A pair of lawsuits seeking to invalidate legislation that allows in-home child-care providers to join unions were dismissed by a federal judge on Sunday. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Davis determined that the claims were not yet "ripe" because any potential damages have not yet occurred.

A pair of lawsuits seeking to thwart legislation allowing day care providers to unionize will be taken up in U.S. District Court on Thursday morning.

It was just a 176-word campaign email, but Sen. Mike Parry hit all the right notes: attacking Gov. Mark Dayton’s child care unionization order; lambasting labor; providing links to news coverage; and taking aim at the next opponent on his political horizon, DFL U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, whose congressional seat Parry hopes to claim in 2012.