Elsewhere in Minnesota headlines this morning …

DULUTH: Rally rankles council members. A boxing promoter whose own supporter says is ”very, very agitated” led protesters from the City Hall steps to a council meeting room, demanding several city councilors resign or apologize for various alleged transgressions.  [Fox 21 News]

MINNEAPOLIS: …and He threw the money-collectors out. A federal court case will go nowhere after plaintiffs complaining about a collection agency’s use of the phrase “WWJD?” were revealed to be owners of a rival collection agency. [Associated Press]

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS: School sues ACLU back. The embattled TiZA charter school filed a countersuit against the state civil-liberties group, claiming defamation. [St. Paul Pioneer Press]

DANUBE: Bigger fish to fry? The police chief and his wife are charged with taking $4,650 from the fire department’s smelt-fry fund, although they put the money back. [West Central Tribune]

MINNEAPOLIS: Fine to laugh. Clubs needed a pricey license to stage stand-up comedy acts — until the city council amended its ways. [City Pages]

RED WING: This boot was made for exhibitin’. Parading four blocks to its new museum home was the world’s largest boot — the one Norm Coleman didn’t quite measure up to. At size 638 D, could it be a reincarnated governor? [Associated Press]

According to court documents, Bullseye Collection Agency sent a collection notice to Mark and Sara Neill that had “WWJD” at the top of the notice, which the Neills contend “has the effect of invoking shame or guilt in alleged debtors and ‘portray[s] the debtor as a sinner who is going to hell.’”

The Neills own Bureau of Collection Recovery, a rival collection agency based in Eden Prairie.

Bullseye is being represented by Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal outfit founded in part by the late Jerry Falwell. According to court documents, “Bullseye admits that ‘WWJD’ is a ‘business motto’ that should be interpreted as a reference to Jesus Christ.”

Liberty Counsel moved to have the case dismissed on the grounds that there wasn’t enough factual evidence. Liberty argues that the case is religious harassment brought about by a business competitor.

“WWJD is not illegal,” senior counsel Horatio Mihet said. “The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act forbids only religious slurs and insults, but does not prohibit courteous references to people of historical, philosophical or religious significance. Courts cannot be used to legitimize religious harassment. The big business bully thought it could crush its competition by pouncing on it with a lawsuit. Liberty Counsel will not permit that to happen.”

But Liberty Counsel’s motion to dismiss the case was rejected by Judge Joan Erickson, a Bush appointee. The case will be heard in district court later this summer.