A couple months after calling Leinenkugel's "bathwater," Zellers has changed his tune.

Over the weekend, Rep. Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, traveled to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, to share a toast with Leinenkugel's president Jake Leinenkugel.

SEE ALSO: Zellers confuses everyone with 'correction' of 'for it and against it' stance on Vikings stadium

The trip was partly intended to make amends for an anti-Leinenkugel's remark Zellers made on the House floor in April during debate about a possible increase in Minnesota's alcohol tax.

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Hann thinks gay marriage "will have far-reaching effects on our culture," and he doesn't think the impact will be positive.

In a story in the Morrison County Record, Senate Minority Leader David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, says he thinks the Legislature should have spent more time talking about gay marriage.

SEE ALSO: "Draft David Hann for Governor" movement marred by conflict-of-interest controversy

Maybe we're jaded by how much we covered "conversations" surrounding the marriage amendment and then the marriage equality bill, but it seems to us that Minnesota needs more discussion about gay marriage about as badly as one of our beloved bikes needs a third wheel.

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Whatever Michele Bachmann has, it's apparently spreading.

SEE ALSO: Power Line on Mark Ritchie: "He takes the late German Führer as his forensic model" [VIDEO]

Today, Mark Ritchie announced he won't seek a third term as Minnesota's Secretary of State.

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Less than two months after saying he was in for another congressional run, Graves reconsidered.

:::: UPDATE :::: Jim Graves pulls out: Top 10 tweets

In the wake of Michele Bachmann announcing that she won't run for a fifth term representing Minnesota's Sixth District, her expected 2014 challenger, Jim Graves, has also reportedly pulled out of the race.

SEE ALSO: Michele Bachmann announces she will not seek reelection next year [VIDEO]

The story was broken by MinnPost's Eric Black, who reports that Graves "is dropping out of politics to concentrate on his family and his business."

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The DFL remains more popular than the MNGOP, but that isn't saying much.

Today, Public Policy Polling released its end-of-session snapshot of the popularity of Minnesota's elected officials.

SEE ALSO: Conservatives upset Mark Dayton missed speech for birth of first grandchild

And this probably won't surprise you, but it turns out buying a cold beer on a Sunday is way more popular than any of them.

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Some MNGOPers are concerned stronger anti-bullying policies "would put students at risk of being labeled bullies for expressing religious views," the AP reports.

Salon's headline says the "GOP actually bullies an anti-bullying bill." We wouldn't go that far, but however you want to describe it, MNGOP senators did whatever it took to prevent an anti-bullying bill from coming up for a vote.

OUR COVER FEATURE: Gay bullying: In wake of suicides, schools face federal scrutiny

As the last day of this year's legislative session began earlier today, Sen. Scott Dibble, D-Minneapolis, decided to pull the plug on his anti-bullying bill after MNGOP senators promised to force 10 more hours of debate on it. It was approved by the House earlier this month in a 72-57 vote.

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If love is love, then what's wrong with Big Love?

One of the arguments used by marriage equality opponents is that gay marriage leads down a slippery slope to people marrying animals, adults marrying children, polygamy, and other unsavory arrangements.

SEE ALSO: Mary Franson co-authors civil unions bill months after saying being gay isn't "normal"

Well, according to Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, our state is already slip slidin' down that path.

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Pratt says the move to lock the Senate doors was political, not personal.

Just as Tuesday's marriage equality bill-signing ceremony was about to begin, a group of MNGOP senators invoked an obscure rule to lock the Senate doors. The upshot was that some gay marriage-supporting senators weren't able to be in attendance for the historic occasion on the Capitol steps.

THE BACKSTORY: MNGOPers blocked some senators from attending marriage equality bill signing [VIDEOS]

But reached for comment today, the MNGOP senator who first proposed locking the doors, Eric Pratt of Prior Lake, said the ceremony had nothing to do it.

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Andy Mannix

Some marriage equality-supporting senators couldn't be there to take in this scene.

Yesterday, Sen. Scott Dibble, D-Minneapolis and chief sponsor of the gay marriage bill signed into law by Governor Dayton on Tuesday, criticized his Republican colleagues for using an esoteric procedural rule to prevent some of his colleagues from attending the bill-signing ceremony.

:::: UPDATE :::: MNGOP Sen. Pratt: Gay marriage ceremony had nothing to do with move to lock Senate doors

At the time Tuesday's bill-signing ceremony began, the Senate was in the midst of what turned out to be a 17-hour debate about a bill to "allow union organizing votes by in-home child care workers who receive government subsidies, and by in-home attendants who care for the elderly and disabled." The Senate could've temporarily adjourned to let everyone who wanted to attend be there for the historic signing ceremony, but instead, Prior Lake MNGOP Sen. Eric Pratt and other Republicans invoked an obscure rule requiring Senate doors to be locked while debate was ongoing.

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Bakk (left) and Thissen

One-party rule doesn't amount to much if you can't agree among yourselves.

A minimum-wage hike that once looked like a sure deal is no longer likely to happen this session because DFLers in the House and Senate can't agree on how much to raise it.

THE BACKSTORY: House, Senate approve minimum wage increase, but disagree on how much is too much

The bill passed by the House would've ultimately raised the rate to $9.50, while the Senate's would've more modestly pegged it at $7.75 per hour. But today, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, D-Cook, said it appears that gulf will be unbridgeable.

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