When DFL state Sen. Ellen Anderson climbed into a blue convertible on July 4th to ride in the St. Anthony Park parade, she didn't know what to expect. (07/05/2005)

The halls of the State Capitol were silent Sunday, until a small group of legislative leaders showed up around 5 p.m. for another round of budget talks. The topic was how to raise the money needed to pay for proposed spending increases. (07/03/2005)

As we kick off the Fourth of July, some people are marking another "fourth" on their calendars. It's the fourth day of Minnesota's partial government shutdown. Last week, Gov. Pawlenty and legislative leaders failed to agree on a new two-year budget. We talked to folks at the Taste of Minnesota to find out what they think. (07/03/2005)

Both the House and the Senate met briefly on Saturday, then went home for the holiday weekend. (07/02/2005)

Gov. Pawlenty and legislative leaders say they're ready to resume budget negotiations so 9,000 furloughed state employees can go back to work. (07/02/2005)

Among the state employees who didn't work Friday are 700 in the Department of Public Safety. That meant offices in charge of giving driving exams were closed. Some people didn't know about the shutdown or had gotten assurances that the services they needed would still be available. (07/01/2005)

The biggest single impact of the partial government shutdown is the 9,000 state workers who didn't go to work Friday morning. State employees and their union representatives are blaming every state lawmaker and Gov. Pawlenty for failing to get every state worker back on the job. (07/01/2005)

The partial state government shutdown is causing Minnesota nonprofits that help battered women, immigrants and others to lay off workers and plan for closing their doors. (07/01/2005)