Judge: Rest stops to stay closed

Minnesota's state-run rest stops will remain closed.A judge agreed Monday that the state-run highway rest stops, which were closed as part of the July 1 state shutdown, were not critical core functions of government and should remained closed. Ramsey County Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin agreed with Kathleen Blatz, a special master appointed to review requests for funding related to the shutdown.The judge's ruling Monday followed a request made by the Minnesota Trucking Association, which said truckers needed the state's rest stops to be open in order to meet their legally-required rest requirements."The failure to fund the continued operation of rest stops along Minnesota's highways is no doubt adversely impacting the ability of commercial truck drivers within Minnesota to adhere to their federally mandated rest requirements and will likely result in increased costs to drivers and trucking firms," Blatz wrote."[But] the continued operation of rest stops during the government shutdown does not fall within the strict limits of what is properly considered a critical core function," she added.