Sixty-one percent of Minnesotans heart Big Bird.

By now, you know the backstory. Last Wednesday, during the first presidential debate, Mitt Romney vowed to cut federal funding for PBS, saying "I love Big Bird... But I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it."

SEE ALSO:
-- Obama up 7 in Minnesota, Klobuchar up 19, says new poll
-- Mike Parry polling behind "Neither" two weeks before 1st District GOP primary

Romney's comment -- and Obama's 'you can't be serious?' responses to it -- spawned infinite internet memes and turned the yellow furry fella into a major political player. And as is often the case with major political parties in our two party system, Democrats and Republicans have divergent views about Big Bird's favorability, including right here in Minnesota.

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Vikings punter Chris Kluwe plans to extend a formal invite to Mary Franson.

Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe wants to debate Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, over her opposition to gay marriage.

SEE ALSO:
Rep. Mary Franson: Chris Kluwe wants "to undermine traditional values"
Chris Kluwe playing bass at Music for Marriage Equality benefit tonight

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Jennifer Axelberg's windshield before she drove off to escape her husband

Jennifer Axelberg is fighting the state of Minnesota to get a DWI off her driving record.

In May 2011, Jennifer, 37, was enjoying a weekend in Mora with her husband, Jason Axelberg. The couple went to a bar with friends and got a ride back to their cabin around 2 a.m. The Axelbergs got into an argument and Jason hit Jennifer in the head twice. He had her phone and blocked her from going back into their cabin so she turned around and went into the couple's car to escape.

Jason, 39, climbed onto the hood of the car and began smashing the windshield with his fist until it cracked. Scared, Jennifer put the keys into the ignition and drove to the nearest open business. Jason stayed on the hood while she backed out of the driveway.

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City of Minneapolis

Gary Schiff hopes Bradlee Dean isn't afraid to have dinner with two gay guys

City Councilman Gary Schiff is challenging Bradlee Dean to a debate over Dean's comments disparaging south Minneapolis as a "Third World country."

"You call it the Third World, Bradlee Dean, I call it the Ninth Ward," Schiff posted on Facebook. "When you are ready to crawl out of your cave, I will gladly challenge you to a debate as to who better reflects the American Dream: you, or my constituents and the better world they are creating."

Schiff tells City Pages the challenge comes with a condition: Dean has to visit the Schiff home for dinner and share a meal with Schiff, his partner, David Barela, and Barela's mother. " I would hope he's not afraid to have dinner with two gay guys and their mom," Schiff said.

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Steve Horner: The arch enemy of ladies' night.

Steve Horner's latest battle in the war against Ladies' Night turned out to be a dead end.

Earlier this month, Horner called brimming with optimism to report that the Nevada Equal Rights Commission was going to facilitate mediation between him and several Las Vegas casinos, which he had filed complaints against for their ladies' night specials.

But it sounds like the meetings didn't go so well after all. According to Horner, three of the casinos declined to even show up, and the others didn't have any interest in negotiating. "They told me that I had suffered no damages."

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Steve Horner has been a crusader against drinks specials for decades.

Steve Horner might have finally hit the jackpot in his fight against ladies' night.

Long a crusader against the drink special -- he argues it amounts to discrimination against men -- Horner wired his Yankee's hat for sound and busted up some Las Vegas "pool parties" last summer. To Horner's surprise, the Nevada Equal Rights Commission thinks he might have a case, and will facilitate mediation with several casinos later this month.

It's a big score for justice, says Horner. "Nevada and Las Vegas are the mother lode of ladies' night."

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Players were detained after pulling out tire irons and a screwdriver

A soccer brawl broke out at a Mankato park yesterday evening, leading a fleet of squad cars to restore order.

Players had a disagreement on the field at Land of Memories Park, cops said, so several players stormed off the field to retrieve tire irons and screwdrivers.

"I saw some trunks pop open, bars started getting pulled out and basically I thought there was going to be a big brawl, and the police showed up just in time," Andrew Erickson, a witness, told KEYC news.

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Hennepin County mug shot

Steve Lundeen is not the guy you want defending your case

​Steven P. Lundeen is not the kind of lawyer you want defending your case.

He falls asleep in court. Sometimes, he doesn't show up for trial at all. And then he makes up some outlandish story about why he missed trial -- when really he was asleep in his car, next to a pipe and a bag of cocaine.

"We are asking for his disbarment -- that's obviously as serious as the discipline gets," says Martin Cole, director of the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board.

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John C. Calhoun, senator, statesman, slavery proponent.

The Minneapolis Park Board doesn't have the power to rename Lake Calhoun even if it wants to, according to a letter filed by the agency's attorney, Brian Rice.

In fact, it's not clear that anyone can change the lake's name.

Minnesota's commissioner of natural resources might have been able to do something about the city lake named after an iconic senator, statesman and slavery proponent, but such power expires 40 years after a lake is originally named, Rice advised the board.

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John C. Calhoun, slavery supporter.

A few weeks ago, we asked whether Lake Calhoun was the most racist lake in Minnesota.

It seemed a reasonable question, after Minneapolis resident John Waters started raising a stink about the lake being named after historical figure John Caldwell Calhoun, an unabashed proponent of slavery.

The Minneapolis Park Board evidently thinks the question is worth exploring, too.

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