Dunning, at center, flanked by supporters on Monday.

On Monday afternoon, about 25 of Dorothy Dunning's supporters gathered in the atrium of the Hennepin County Government Center. At one point, the crowd launched into a modified version of the spiritual, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around."

"I'm not going to let foster care turn me around," they sang. "I'm not going to let child protection turn me around... Keep marching up to freedom land."

On March 27, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that two young girls should be adopted by the foster parents they have lived with all their life, and not by Dunning, their biological grandmother. But despite the verdict against her -- and her dwindling options -- Dunning continues to fight for full custody of the girls, now ages two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half.

See Also:
- Cover: Split the baby: The fight over two baby girls could change how Minnesota considers relatives and race in adoption cases
- MN Supreme Court issues close decision in Dunning-Grosser adoption case

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Gruenhagen: "We tell men that they can impregnate as many women as they want and the government will pick up the tab."

During a debate earlier this week about the proposed Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange, Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, steered the discussion in a very different and racially charged direction.

SEE ALSO: Bachmann pledge: Black families were better off during slavery than they are under Obama

Gruenhagen -- the same meathead who made headlines last week for characterizing homosexuality as a mental illness -- went into a rant about "the black family" and the alleged subsidies government provides for promiscuous minorities to have children out of wedlock.

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Gassman wants to make Iowa the only state to prohibit no-fault divorce in hopes it'll help his granddaughter keep her pants on.

Iowa Rep. Tedd Gassman, R-Scarville -- a town that borders Minnesota -- wants to ban no-fault divorce. The reason? He's concerned divorce results in children who live with single parents sleeping around.

SEE ALSO: In Iowa, women can be lawfully fired for being so sexy, they make their boss contemplate an affair

As hard to fathom as that logic is, it's the argument he made on behalf of his bill during a news conference Monday. Even harder to believe? With the support of six other Republicans, Gassman's bill was approved by a House Subcommittee and may get another hearing.

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Pictured: Moscow Orphanage

Children are getting caught up in political tensions between Russia and the U.S.

Minnesota parents could be hit hard by a new law in Russia banning American adoptions.

SEE ALSO:
-- Al Franken doesn't want mobile app companies to sell your location data without permission
-- Chuck Grassley, Iowa Senator, compares smoking pot to murder, rape, and child abuse

The Land of 10,000 Lakes is the leading state for Russian adoptions, WCCO reports, with more than 60,000 Russian children adopted into Minnesota in the past two decades.

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Submitted to WCCO (left); Fox screengrab (right)

Greg Danner outside his home in a string bikini (left); walking to his car earlier this week (right).

Greg and Angela Danner allegedly made life a living hell for their 15-year-old son -- forcing him to live in a basement with no light, taking his bed and leaving him with just a pillow and blanket, feeding him nothing but peanut butter sandwiches, and making him run numerous miles and do hundreds of pushups everyday, among other punishments.

SEE ALSO: 600-pound couple starved daughter, made her eat human waste

The reason? "He didn't want to do anything around the house. He didn't want to do his chores," Greg Danner told the Star Tribune.

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This couple confiscated their daughter's phone and punished her by posting pics of this sort on her Facebook page.

Parenting in the social media age: When your daughter "gets fresh," you don't ground her. Instead, you punish her by posting embarrassing photos of yourself and your spouse on her Facebook page.

SEE ALSO: 350-pound Wisconsin man picketing restaurant after he's cut off during all-you-can-eat fish fry

Or at least, that's the strategy employed by one Wisconsin couple.

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kellyv via Flickr Creative Commons

Seems Zillow's rankings should also, somehow, factor in the rate of adorable Halloween-ed out houses, like this one.

Every good Halloween requires some geographic strategizing, whether over the rough course of the pub crawl or the blocks to hit for the biggest candy haul. This year, real estate website Zillow has again combed its databases to give enterprising trick-or-treaters a leg up on the latter, and released a list of not only the best cities to go grubbing for sweets, but, for those who aren't hopping on a plane this Halloween, the best neighborhoods. So how do we stack up?

See Also:
- Minneapolis ranked 11th best trick-or-treating city in U.S.
- Halloween costumes that will make you go 'WTF?' 2012 edition

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Last night, DOC officials found out the hard way that Gregory Ward isn't welcome in Kasota.

Take it from us -- it's usually no fun to read live-tweet streams about official city meetings. But the Mankato Free Press' coverage of a sex offender notification meeting last night in Kasota provides an exception.

SEE ALSO: Mankato Free Press: On the side of naked bean-baggers

The meeting was about Gregory Ward. Ward, 47, has a history of sex offenses dating back to the 1980s, including a conviction for fondling kids he knew, and was on the lam for 14 years before finally being arrested in 2010. He's being released from prison next week and planned to move to an apartment building in rural Kasota next to some young families... until last night.

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Instead of looking at the numbers, Quist alleged that the food stamp program is discriminatory.

SEE ALSO:
-- Allen Quist flip-flops about his research in a Mankato "anonymous sodomy" adult bookstore
-- Allen Quist under renewed fire for 'men are genetically predisposed to lead family' remark

With his gaffe-fest primary against Mike Parry in the rear-view mirror, you might've expected Republican U.S. House candidate Allen Quist to move from the ridiculous right to the reasoned center.

Think again. During a press conference yesterday, Quist dropped a doozy of misinformation about the food stamp program.

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Looking for an affair? Look no further than Woodbury.

SEE ALSO:
-- When dating prospects look bleak, women focus on their careers, new U of M study finds
-- Strangers at the Twins game: A blind date in their own tweets
-- Minneapolis is a great city for bald single men, study says

Married and looking to hook up? If you live in Woodbury and Edina, you're more likely to be in luck.

Or so says the results of a new AshleyMadison.com study looking at the 10 most adulterous cities in the Twin Cities metro.


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