Fresh from last year's rough weather, State Fair must cope with this year's economic storms

Their national convention officially opens on Labor Day, Sept. 1, so it overlaps one day with the Fair. Last year, State Fair Police Chief Art Blakey — who relies on hundreds of off-duty police officers in the region to take vacation from their departments to supplement his small force —  wondered if St. Paul and Ramsey County would need all of the area's off-duty cops for convention coverage. But on Monday, Blakey said he's now got enough officers to cover the afternoon shifts but could use a few more for the morning shifts.

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