Convention Beat: August 12, 2008 Archive

The Republican National Convention just won't be the same, now that the president's most notorious daughter is all married off. (You might remember, she got cited for underage consumption and having a fake ID with her grandmother's name in 2001).

But the Charlie Daniels Band bowing through "Devil Went Down to Georgia" at the Depot in Minneapolis just can't hold a candle to Jenna and her fraternal twin sister Barbara fist-pumping for Kid Rock at New York's Avalon, the online mag mourns.

But they've got the best rundown of what remains of hot, and what's just not, right here. Haley Barbour at the Guthrie? Play That Funky Music!

Catholic Charities said this summer that the Dorothy Day shelter in downtown St. Paul would remain open during the Republican National Convention.

But it's not going to be business as usual, it looks like.

Workers were putting up this banner on the side of the shelter facing the Xcel Energy Center this morning. It's part of a campaign that Catholic Charities is about to launch, although spokeswoman Rebecca Lentz said today that they were not quite ready to divulge all the details.

But Catholic Charities CEO Fr. John Estrem said, via email, that his organization won't just be watching the RNC from across the street. "Our political agenda--food, shelter, dignity--isn't just an election-year slogan. It's a call to action for all Minnesotans. Campaigns are the vehicle for setting public agendas. And our agenda is to move people out of poverty and uphold their dignity."

(h/t Laura Yuen for spotting the crew hard at work this morning.)

Security is starting to get a little more serious in downtown St. Paul these days. The water utility and St. Paul public works are already welding shut the manhole covers around downtown. This one is in front of the old Lowry Hotel.

Public works spokeswoman Shannon Tyree said she wasn't at liberty to discuss the details of the what the city was doing to button up underground, but confirmed this is just a visible manifestation of what's in the works.