The city is concerned that a victory could "completely eliminate 'disparate impact' civil rights enforcement, including under the Fair Housing Act." A statement from St. Paul says this unintentional outcome is the main reason why it's dismissing the petition. The case involves a group of 16 landlords that claim the city's housing code enforcement violates the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit will still go to trial in Federal court later this year.

The St. Paul City Council has ordered six families still living in a pair of condemned apartment buildings in the city's Payne-Phalen neighborhood to move out by Monday. The 33-unit Westminster Court apartment complex had hundreds of code violations and was foreclosed on, and the new owners need to vacate the buildings in an effort to bring them up to code.

The Pioneer Press reports city police found an enormous fiberglass cow bolted to a trailer and abandoned in the street, so they hauled it into the impound lot. The owner, whoever that may be, has a right to reclaim it, but the trailer isn't registered. If no one claims the cow, the city will auction it.

Thirty workers have walked off the job to protest a new dress code at Dianne's Fine Desserts. After a worker's long dress was caught in a piece of floor machinery, women were forbidden from wearing dresses that hang below the knee. The workers are Muslim and say dressing modestly is a tenet of their religion.

The city says not more than 30 percent of the homes on a block can be rentals, but some homeowners say that rule is illegal and unconstitutional. They say the city is unfairly restricting what they can do with their property and not giving them equal opportunity to obtain rental licenses.

More than a month after the flood, property owners are still mopping up the damage in Fond Du Lac, one of Duluth's hardest-hit neighborhoods. Now some residents are drowning in paperwork as they struggle to pay fees and meet city codes. The city, too, is scrambling to keep up with building permits.