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Stories from December 27, 2018

Invasive insects hitch a ride to Minnesota, Wisconsin on holiday decorations

Invasive insects hitch a ride to Minnesota, Wisconsin on holiday decorations

Agriculture officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin are working to stop the spread of an invasive evergreen tree-eating insect, after it was discovered in holiday decorations sold at big box stores in both states.
by Dan Kraker

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Oldest WWII vet dies

Richard Overton had a good answer when asked his secret to living to 112. 'Not dying,' he said.
by Bob Collins

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Prosecutors seek to charge teen as adult in East Side shooting

The Ramsey County Attorney's office has filed a petition to request that a teen boy be certified as an adult to face second degree murder charges in the death of a 15-year-old.
by Peter Cox

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Government shutdown likely to stretch into next week

Government shutdown likely to stretch into next week

House lawmakers are being told not to expect further votes this week, all but ensuring the shutdown will enter a second week and stretch toward the new year.
by Associated Press

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New U.S.-Cuban youth orchestra to create diplomatic notes

New U.S.-Cuban youth orchestra to create diplomatic notes

The idea for the ensemble grew out of the Minnesota Orchestra's visit to Cuba in 2015.
by Euan Kerr

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CenturyLink still working to fix phone outages for Minnesota customers

CenturyLink still working to fix phone outages for Minnesota customers

The outage disrupted phone and internet services in multiple states. CenturyLink said it is investigating the cause and does not yet know when the issue will be resolved.
by Martin Moylan

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Photos: Minnesota turns snowy, slushy, wet as winter storm hits

Photos: Minnesota turns snowy, slushy, wet as winter storm hits

A winter storm that arrived Wednesday night has delivered rain and snow in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, coating roads and neighborhoods of the region with mushy snow and sleet.
by MPR News Staff

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Sharply colder temps on Friday; a chilly Saturday

Sharply colder temps on Friday; a chilly Saturday

The winter storm dropped 2.9 inches of snow at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Wednesday evening into Wednesday night. It was rain during the daylight hours of Thursday across most of the Twin Cities metro area, but many locations in northern and central Minnesota saw heavy snow. Moorhead, Minn. had a snowstorm total of 11 inches…
by Ron Trenda

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Acclaimed local artist chosen for official Dayton portrait

Acclaimed local artist chosen for official Dayton portrait

Departing Gov. Mark Dayton, who once regarded the process of having his portrait done to be 'trivial,' has selected a Minnesota-based artist to put his face on canvas.
by Brian Bakst

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2018 in podcasts

It's been a good year if you like to listen to podcasts. MPR News editor Meg Martin has worked on podcasts and is an avid podcast listener. She joined Angela Davis to look back at the year in podcasts.
by Angela Davis

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U.S. stocks shake off slide with late-afternoon rally

U.S. stocks shake off slide with late-afternoon rally

Stocks mounted a swift turnaround on Wall Street Thursday after a late-afternoon rally erased the steep losses from earlier in the day.
by Associated Press

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Despite #MeToo, rape cases still confound police

Despite #MeToo, rape cases still confound police

The #MeToo movement is empowering victims of sexual assault to speak up like never before. But police departments in the U.S. are becoming less and less likely to successfully close rape investigations.
by Associated Press

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Minnesota DNR grants conditional permits for Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion project

Minnesota DNR grants conditional permits for Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion project

The permit has 54 conditions the Fargo Moorhead Diversion Authority must meet in constructing the project, including environmental mitigation, DNR review and approval of all engineering plans prior to construction and approval of the project plan for operation and maintenance.
by Dan Gunderson

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Wisconsin wreaths carry invasive insects from eastern states

Wisconsin residents are being asked to burn or bag some Christmas decorations after an infestation of highly invasive tree-eating insects were found on wreaths, swags and other holiday items made with real evergreen boughs.

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Heaviest snow western, central and northern Minn. into tonight; Metro rain to change to snow

Heaviest snow western, central and northern Minn. into tonight; Metro rain to change to snow

This winter storm dropped 2.9 inches of snow at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Wednesday evening into Wednesday night. It’s been raining during the daylight hours across most of the Twin Cities metro area, but there’s snow in parts of the far north metro. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory that includes…
by Ron Trenda

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50 years since Led Zeppelin kicked off their first U.S. tour

The band opened for Vanilla Fudge and Spirit in Denver. Concert promoter Barry Fey wrote in his autobiography that the next morning, a local radio station was flooded with calls from listeners who wanted to hear more of Led Zeppelin's music.
by Cathy Wurzer

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Ron Gjerde retires as president of historic Lakewood Cemetery

Nearly 50 years ago, Ron Gjerde answered a newspaper ad looking for someone to work in an office near Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street in Minneapolis. That office turned out to be at Lakewood Cemetery, the final resting place of some of Minnesota's most prominent figures.
by Cathy Wurzer

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Obamas are 2018’s most admired

People change. Politics changes. Times change. But the one thing that seldom changes is the annual Gallup poll of most admired people. That changed this year somewhat.
by Bob Collins

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Boy, 12, survives avalanche that buried him for 40 minutes

Rescue workers described the operation as "miraculous" because they said chances of survival are minuscule after 15 minutes under the snow. Police said among the reasons the boy survived is that his airways were not blocked by snow.
by The Associated Press

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Some Japanese-Americans wrongfully imprisoned during WWII oppose census question

Some Japanese-Americans wrongfully imprisoned during WWII oppose census question

In the 1940s, the U.S. government used census data to locate and wrongfully incarcerate Japanese-Americans. Some are now speaking out against plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

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Indonesia extends exclusion zone around volcano that caused tsunami

Indonesia extends exclusion zone around volcano that caused tsunami

Anak Krakatau, whose partial collapse is blamed for triggering Saturday's tsunami that killed at least 430 people, remains active -- spewing ash over a large area around the Sunda Strait.
by Scott Neuman

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After fake story, Fergus Falls gets its do-over

It's funny how things work out sometimes. Getting trashed by a reporter for Der Spiegel in a now-discredited profile of a city that -- accurately -- went big for Donald Trump in 2016, might be the best thing that ever happened to Fergus Falls.
by Bob Collins

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Animal transports bring thousands of rescues to homes in Minnesota

Animal transports bring thousands of rescues to homes in Minnesota

The number of animals arriving at the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley continues to rise. The adoption rate is impressive at over 95 percent. Still, the shelter had to euthanize more than 1,000 animals this year.
by Tony Saunders

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Heavy snow across western,central and northern Minn.; Rain for the Twin Cities today, changes to light snow overnight

Heavy snow across western,central and northern Minn.; Rain for the Twin Cities today, changes to light snow overnight

This winter storm has dropped 2.9 inches of snow at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The snow total is through 6 a.m., and 2.3 inches of that total was tallied by midnight Wednesday. Here are some other amounts: Snowfall totals as of 6 AM: MSP Airport: 2.9"Chanhassen NWS: 3.6"St. Cloud: 2.5"Eau Claire: 2.7"#mnwx #wiwx pic.twitter.com/n2k8gADUQ0 —…
by Ron Trenda

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When believing in Santa isn’t ‘marginal’

Can you stand one more warm Christmas story before we get back to the national pastime in a dog-eat-dog world? Good.
by Bob Collins

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The art of the obituary: Opal Olson was a teacher

The art of the obituary: Opal Olson was a teacher

Opal Olson, 94, of Ortonville, died last Thursday. Her departure might have gone unnoticed, but for the fact she changed the world, or at least the piece of it that she could.
by Bob Collins

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NewsCut Flashback: The family who brought gymnastics to Hendricks

NewsCut Flashback: The family who brought gymnastics to Hendricks

Stop me if you've heard this before. A farm couple builds a sports complex in the belief that people will come. And they do. In Hendricks, MN., however, it's not baseball and corn. It's a farm shed and gymnastics that's gotten people to sit up and take notice.
by Bob Collins

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Rain in metro area today, heavy snow continues in western, central and northern Minn.

Rain in metro area today, heavy snow continues in western, central and northern Minn.

The Wednesday evening snowfall total reached 2.3 inches at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by midnight. They might have seen a bit of additional snow before it changed to rain around 1 a.m. Thursday. Many roads and sidewalks will be slushy this morning. We’ll have periods of rain in the metro area today, then rain becomes…
by Ron Trenda

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What’s on MPR News – 12/27/18

Here are the stories, topics, and guests you'll hear today by listening to MPR News.
by Bob Collins

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APM Marketplace special: Divided Decade

APM Marketplace special: Divided Decade

2018 marks the 10-year anniversary of the financial crisis, and Marketplace spent the year exploring how it changed America.
by MPR News Staff

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