I had an Obama/Biden yard sign up in my “yard” for just a few days before it was removed. I thought at first that our homeowner’s association may have had something to do with it, but I’m not so sure that’s the case anymore. I don’t know what happened to it and it doesn’t really matter at this point.

So when you have a complaint, the first thing you do is you blog about it, right? My friend KathyHowe kindly pointed me towards the state law on campaign yard signs.

Some municipalities have ordinances restricting the placement of lawn signs. In a state general election year (even years), these ordinances are overruled by Minnesota Statutes 211B.045 from August 1st until 10 days after the general election, and campaign signs may be posted in any size and number. In municipalities which have no sign ordinance, campaign signs may be posted in any size and number throughout the year.

Additional information on the legal placement of signs may be found in the DOT Letter to Candidates (pdf).

211B.045 NONCOMMERCIAL SIGNS EXEMPTION

In any municipality, whether or not the municipality has an ordinance that regulates the size or number of noncommercial signs, all noncommercial signs of any size may be posted in any number from August 1 in a state general election year until ten days following the state general election.

So display your yard sign proudly. Even though you might not catch the bastard thieves, you can feel whatever you need to feel knowing your display was not illegal.

Peter Fleck got his Unconvention yard sign today.

Originally uploaded by pfhyper.

If you like that, you can order the same one Peter has or any number of other options. Then put yourself on the map. My favorites are that one and also this one by local designer Justin Heideman.

For ease of reading, I think I might put the </thewar> in my yard. I’d love to put that Burn Fat Not Oil up outside my cube, so all my co-workers who can’t understand how anything smaller than a large sedan could possibly be safe can see it.

• June 1: The Minnesota Historical Society is holding a state-wide open house (i.e., free admission) at all of their parks and historic sites. There are eight such sites in the metro: Mill City Museum, the State Capitol, Fort Snelling, Sibley House, Minnehaha Depot, Alexander Ramsey House, Minnesota History Center, James J. Hill House.
• Starting in November, Alaska Airlines will offer roundtrip service from MSP to Seattle. That’s a new carrier at MSP. They’re offering a special introductory rate of $139 (one-way) between MSP and SEA so if you wanted to do that fly out, drive back (or vice versa) thing, here’s a good chance.
• Chuck Olsen has Atmosphere on Conan.
• “Sharp increase in anti-LGBT violence in Minnesota.”
• “Minnesota Nice? Fuck That.” Verbal assault at the Holiday Station. What a douche!
• The University of Minnesota has entered their solar-powered vehicle, Centaurus, in the 2008 North American Solar Challenge. (And I’ll just point out that my alma mater, the University of Michigan, has won four of the eight races.)
• MinnPost has video of the Minneapolis Art on Wheels project. Super cool! Commenter suggests projecting on the side of the Xcel Energy Center during the RNC.
• “Good to the last drip: Minneapolis to spend $180,000 to market its (wait for this) tap water.”
• The Walker, mnartists.org, and The Unconvention are sponsoring a competition for artist-designed political yard signs called My Yard Our Message.
• Memorial Day Weekend is the time for the Northstar Classic Softball Tournament. There are all sorts of activities surrounding this giant gay softball tournament.
• That Lunds that has been under construction for three years at 12th & Hennepin could end up two blocks up the road, and bigger.

Lastly, because I can’t let it go, you need to look directly at the Taylor Carik = Bon Iver photo.

Image courtesy of mthomps00. Okay, I’m done with that.