While the ruling extended funding to two programs already under a broader "essential" designation, it left the question of whether any additional services would be deemed critical unanswered.

Bill Hale has been training horses at Canterbury Park for more than two decades. The West Virginia native runs a modest stable of six thoroughbreds in partnership with his wife, Debra.

In a filing submitted Monday to Special Master Kathleen Blatz, the Dayton administration sought to broaden the definition of critical state services.

Images on the ground at the Capitol on Thursday, as citizens rallied and waited for word of a budget deal.

Dozens of petitions from interest groups around the state will be heard in coming days from beneficiaries of the many state services deemed non-essential earlier this week.

Armed with what they see as a more nuanced argument than Gearin considered in her original shutdown ruling, the two horseracing tracks and the zoo are making a fight to avoid having to close if the budget impasse at the Capitol leads to a shutdown at midnight tonight.

Unlike aid to cities, Ramsey County judge's ruling on essential services didn't mention county program aid.

Citing the potential that the constitutional rights of Minnesotans could be violated if the courts were not operational,a judge the courts will remain funded in a shutdown.

In numerous availabilities to the press, Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders have referred to the "cone of silence"—their agreement to keep the terms and details of budget discussions private. It seems that term entered popular culture via "Get Smart," and it's not exactly the model for productive dialogue

Republican legislators have zero interest in Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal to raise $1.8 billion by increasing income taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents. That much is abundantly clear after months of fruitless debate between the two sides over how to close the state’s $5 billion budget deficit.