With control of the state Legislature likely coming down to a handful of competitive districts scattered across Minnesota, one race could be the biggest bellwether — the state Senate rematch between incumbent Democrat Grant Hauschild of Hermantown and his Republican challenger, Andrea Zupancich.

Four years ago Hauschild won by only 703 votes in the district that stretches from the townships surrounding Duluth, up the North Shore of Lake Superior, and west along the Canadian border.

“Last time it was a squeaker, and it’s going to be that way again,” said Cindy Rugeley, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth. “I suspect it’s a one percentage point race.”

In a state Senate where Democrats held a one-seat advantage, Hauschild was often a moderate swing vote, including on several gun-related proposals.

He’s also the last Democrat standing in a region that just eight years ago was entirely represented by the DFL. Since then northeast Minnesota, especially the Iron Range, has shifted dramatically toward the GOP.

Even Zupancich, the mayor of Babbitt, said she voted for former Democratic Iron Range legislators Tom Bakk and David Dill. “The people haven’t changed. The party has changed, and I hear that a lot,” Zupancich said last week at the VFW in Hoyt Lakes, where she greeted locals sipping beers before a meeting of the local ATV club.

Dave Ebnet, who described himself as a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment Republican, told Zupancich she had his vote.

"We need a change,” he said. “This fraud thing and everything else, it's like nobody cares."

The retired plumber, 76, worked for decades at LTV, an iron ore mine that closed 25 years ago outside Hoyt Lakes. He's frustrated that the proposed PolyMet copper mine that’s been in the works for years at the old LTV site, now called New Range Copper Nickel, still hasn't been built.

“If you look at the Democrats, Klobuchar right down the line, they talk the story, but they don't walk the walk,” Ebnet said. Democrats say they support mining, “but they will not do anything to help us,” Ebnet added. “And when it comes to a vote, they vote with the environmentalists just to shut us down up here."

‘Bipartisan senator’

But Hauschild says he's not afraid to buck the Democratic party on issues like mining. He spoke out strongly against Gov. Tim Walz's recent move to temporarily block proposed copper mines near the Boundary Waters.

"What I'm really worried about is whether it's at the federal level with President Trump or at the state level with now Governor Walz, using executive orders on these types of projects is really a dangerous precedent,” Hauschild said. “What it does is it really undermines that environmental review process.”

Hauschild worked with Republican legislators from the Iron Range to extend unemployment benefits for workers at two closed taconite mines in the region. He’s received the endorsement of the United Steelworkers union, which represents mineworkers, as well as other major unions across the area.

Last week, at an endorsement event with Teamsters Local 346 in Duluth, Hauschild said Democrats tend to fight for wages and benefits and support the organizing rights of workers, while Republicans typically back the projects where union members work, including sometimes controversial proposals such as mining proposals.

"And what's missing is politicians, frankly, that are with labor on all of the issues that matter to them, and that's where I try to be a champion for the Teamsters and for all of the trades and labor groups that have endorsed me,” Hauschild said.

Hauschild says he puts the interests of his district over politics, and has worked hard to be a “bipartisan senator.” He touts his record working across the aisle to pass business and environmental permitting reform.

“He’s shown us that he'll stand up for working people, not simply toe a party line,” said Hannah Alstead, political director for Teamsters Joint Council 32.

But Zupancich questions how much Hauschild really bucks his party. During a recent debate in Duluth, she said the incumbent voted with Democrats about 95 percent of the time during his first term.

Zupancich runs a real estate business in Babbitt and is wrapping up her tenth, and what she says will be her final year as mayor of the small town near Ely. Her husband is one of the fifth generation owners of the well-known northern Minnesota grocery chain Zup’s.

She said she was motivated to run for the seat again by the state social service fraud scandals.

"It's a matter of representing your people,” she said. In local government “we’re held accountable, and we have much smaller budgets, and we have to account for every penny and watch for every penny, and we're the stewards of the taxpayers' dollars." She said state taxpayer dollars need to be treated with the same care.

Zupancich’s other priorities include lower taxes and creating jobs so people can stay in the region’s small towns. People “want to have their families stay here,” she lamented. “Everyone is leaving.”

Cash flooding in

At the VFW in Hoyt Lakes, Jim Carlson, who works for Canadian National Railway, praised Hauschild for his work on behalf of ATV riders. But he said he's still undecided on the race. He wants politics to be less divisive.

"I'd like to see a little bit more moderate representation,” Carlson said. “So we can pull the state back together.”

Meanwhile a lot of political advertising money is flowing into this year's rematch. More than $1.2 million has already been spent by outside groups. And that figure is sure to grow when the next spending reports are filed next week.

"I think it's stunning,” said Rugeley, the UMD political scientist. "It shows how important this race is to both political parties and how bad both of them want to retain control of the state Senate."

Another race in the region is also garnering a lot of attention. A state House race two years ago centered around the more rural areas surrounding Duluth was even closer than Hauschild’s victory. Republican Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar of Fredenberg Township won by only 159 votes.

This year, Democrat Aaron Schweiger of Hermantown is hoping to flip the seat. Rugeley expects that race to be extremely tight as well. But she said she wouldn’t bet on anything this election cycle.

While there is a lot of anti-Trump sentiment among the electorate, she said, if voters want change, that could also work against Democrats in Minnesota.

“Neither party right now is beloved,” Rugeley emphasized. “I would not go out on a limb for any candidate in any race this year.”

More than 40 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies on Monday announced a collaboration under the Crime Gun Intelligence Center to address what they described as gang and group violence.

Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said in a news conference more information will be shared across the board with all seven counties in the Twin Cities metro area. Evans said the agencies will share intelligence, enhance information sharing and prevent violence through proactive measures.

“We brought together 40-plus different law enforcement agencies to figure out exactly what would be the most beneficial as we work together to help bring safety to our communities across all of Minnesota, but in particular in the Twin Cities metropolitan area,” Evans said.

The announcement comes after three recent non-fatal shootings in Edina, Bloomington and Eden Prairie that law enforcement have characterized as related to gang violence renewed the conversation about gang and group violence. Law enforcement have described it as a result of violence among Somali youth.

The Crime Gun Intelligence Center is spearheaded by the bureau, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The FBI and ATF said they will focus on the most dangerous individuals to take cases federal, including charges under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — commonly known as RICO charges — when appropriate.

ATF Special Agent in Charge Joe Persails said ATF restructured its investigative group so one of its two enforcement groups can exclusively focus on investigating gang-related violence while the other prioritizes shootings.

Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt introduced the Hennepin Enhanced Enforcement Team, which she said will include analysts and deputies from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Minneapolis Police Department, University of Minnesota Police Department, DEA and ATF to focus on the recent violence.

Many law enforcement agencies have called for a regional gang task force. Evans didn’t rule out the idea entirely.

“I'll tell you that going forward, if this is a persistent or maintained issue going forward, that we certainly can look at a specific task force,” Evans said. “But this hits the ground running right now and brings more resources together and builds upon the work that's already been done.”

The state previously had a Metro Gang Strike Force, which was broken up in 2009 after allegations against its officers of improper seizures, stealing evidence and improper investigative techniques.

Evans said the partnership will differ from the strike force, and noted the task forces they already have are under the oversight of the Violent Crime Coordinating Council. Each task force has boards that audit for improper conduct, he said.

“There's a number of different checks and balances that are there in that particular process,” Evans said. “Even for the Crime Gun Intelligence Center, we have an adviser attached to us that we've asked for from the attorney general’s office to ensure that we're meeting all legal criteria and what we're doing.”

Edina Police Chief Todd Milburn, a 29-year veteran, said the difference between now and the past is departments are more collaborative sharing information.

“Now, different than what we had years ago, is more of a robust intelligence unit or several units that are across the metro area, getting them on the same page and providing that intelligence based on those facts right, and those criteria, and feeding it out to officers who are actually in the field doing the important work,” he said.

Law enforcement agencies around the metro area referring to the alleged perpetrators of some of the crimes as “Somali Gangs” have worried some that Somali Americans are being unfairly targeted.

There are 1,000 to 2,000 gang members in the metro area, 300 of whom are Somali Americans, according to Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher. Fletcher said members of the Highs and Lows are still active in Minneapolis and on social media.

Bloomington Police chief Booker Hodges and Witt have both condemned the stereotyping of the Somali community and said the actions of some Somali youth don't define the whole community.

On a corner lot in south Minneapolis, community gardeners celebrated the end of the season Saturday by cooking blue corn tortillas over a fire. Leticia Cordova said they grew the corn a few yards away.

It was “everybody’s work,” she said. Together, the gardeners picked and shucked the corn. Then Cordova used a friend’s grinder to prepare the purplish masa, or dough.

The organization Plant Grow Share, part of the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization, began cultivating the site a few years ago after a lot they were using was set to be developed. Volunteers dug up shrubs, hoisted garden beds and a shed, and moved it all six blocks, said Lane Brown, the group’s co-executive director.

“We’ve kind of had to be nomadic,” Brown said. “Which is odd because we’re a garden.”

They recently learned their lease was renewed, but the sense of stability was short-lived. The funding for a city program that supports their work is at risk due to proposed cuts in Mayor Jacob Frey’s budget for 2027.

The proposal slashes about $4 million from environmental programs within the city’s Climate Legacy Initiative, which is funded by franchise fees paid by utilities.

Supporters of food and home energy services are urging the city to preserve the funding and find a different way to close the city’s $30 million budget gap. They will have an opportunity to speak to city leaders at a public hearing Monday night.

‘We are not on track and probably not close’

During a recent City Council meeting, Patrick Hanlon, deputy commissioner of sustainability, healthy homes and environment in the Minneapolis Health Department, broke down what he called “a significant reduction to climate spending” in 2027.

His presentation showed the loss of three full-time staff positions and $3.6 million in Climate Legacy Initiative contracts related to local food, green workforce training and home energy efficiency.

Hanlon said the city will spend money on climate initiatives in other parts of the budget and prioritize funding that addresses hard-to-reduce emissions and reaches low-income neighborhoods.

Council member Soren Stevenson asked Hanlon about the city’s progress toward its climate goals, which include reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Hanlon said the city needs to do more, noting “we are not on track and probably not close.”

The city’s climate initiatives will soon begin to show results in emissions data, he added, although many of those initiatives face potential cuts under the proposed budget.

Food policy work under the radar

The Homegrown Minneapolis initiative oversees leases for more than 50 community gardens in lots across the city. It also runs compost, farmers market and food waste programs. Brown said the garden lease program is a national model.

“It helps decrease blight in neighborhoods. It helps decrease crime. But it also just helps uplift community connectedness and education and food access,” Brown said.

The mayor’s budget proposes cutting all of Homegrown’s contracts to help close the projected 2027 budget gap. In 2026, the city budgeted about $540,000 for the program. Like many Minneapolis Health Department programs, it relies on grants for much of its funding.

This type of work often gets taken for granted, said Jenny Breen, who serves on the city’s food policy council and helped create Homegrown more than a decade ago.

“I don't think most people disagree with the idea that it's important,” she said. “I just think most people don't realize how much it's connected to our daily lives and the quality of life that we have in the city.”

Breen said food policy is inseparable from human health as well as the causes and challenges of climate change.

She doesn’t know what the budget cuts would mean for the leased gardens or Homegrown’s other projects, including a $1.3 million food waste prevention grant she said the initiative has been awarded from the state.

Door-to-door home energy projects

The proposed budget also cuts 32 percent from services that subsidize energy projects in homes and businesses. That includes simple steps like improving insulation or sealing windows as well as more costly ones, like switching to electric appliances or renewable heat or power.

Andres Alvarez Arboleda goes door-to-door in green zones, or areas of the city designated as historically underserved and over-polluted, to spread information about funding available for home energy improvements. He said some residents are uninterested or skeptical but others are excited, even relieved.

He remembers one moment when he knocked on the door of a woman with an unsealed attic and old furnace. “She basically started crying because she was so happy. Earlier that year, maybe it was two years ago, she ended up getting frostbite on her toes because of how cold her house was,” he said.

Alvarez works for Unidos Minnesota, which contracts with the city, but he doesn’t know if his contract will be canceled. As the federal government turns away from climate investments, Alvarez says the city should double down.

"There's not enough funding to help the residents of Minneapolis transition off of relying on carbon, and so the franchise fee is the last line of defense that we have,” he said.

Last year, Unidos and other groups successfully pushed the City Council to raise the franchise fee to generate $4 million in additional funding. It angers Alvarez to see about that same amount in proposed cuts.

“It's almost like a slap in the face because it's like some of these programs, the annual budget is basically the equivalent of three days of overpay for policing,” he said.

Frey wants to hike the police budget by more than $20 million with much of that expected to go toward overtime.

In a speech announcing the budget this summer, Frey said due to staffing limitations, the department needs to use overtime to provide services expected by residents. He said he’s trying to match the budget to what the police department spends each year.

Supporters of the at-risk climate programs plan to speak to council members at Monday’s 6 p.m. meeting at City Hall. It's the final public hearing scheduled before council members present budget amendments next month. They are scheduled to finalize a budget in mid-December.

St. Paul police Chief Axel Henry has filed an amended complaint in his lawsuit against Mayor Kaohly Her, directly accusing the mayor of retaliation and making false statements to investigators.

That brings the total number of counts in Henry’s lawsuit to seven. The suit, originally filed on Sept. 23, already included retaliation claims against the city, and sexual harassment and battery allegations against Her.

In the amended complaint filed last week, Henry alleges that the city would not provide him with unredacted documents from an outside investigation into the mayor’s conduct. That investigation was launched in response to concerns raised by Henry earlier this year.

The outside investigation, by St. Cloud-based Resolute Law, cleared Her of sexual harassment, but found she acted inappropriately.

The amended complaint points to what Henry claims are “myriad” misstatements made by Her to the outside investigators, and included in the report, “none of which the City or Mayor have ever publicly corrected.”

Specifically, the complaint points to comments Her made to investigators about the police department allegedly acting autonomously, without consulting the mayor or the St. Paul City Council, on decisions that affected the city budget. That included a police department contract with Axon, a law enforcement technology company.

“As the Mayor and the City well know, the Axon contract on which the Mayor bases her claim that SPPD acted without her approval was a contract entered into by Mayor (Melvin) Carter before Mayor Her took office,” Henry’s amended lawsuit states.

The lawsuit claims that Her knew the statements were false when she made them to investigators and that city officials knew they were false before issuing the investigation findings.

The count added in the amended complaint claims that after Henry reported his concerns about the mayor’s behavior and actions, Her “intentionally retaliated against Chief Henry because of his opposition to and reporting of the unlawful conduct.”

The lawsuit accuses the mayor of “making misstatements to the City’s investigator that could damage Chief Henry’s professional reputation while knowing the statements to be false,” and “creating needless obstacles to Chief Henry’s performance of his duties.”

Her did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has pointed to the investigation’s findings as clearing her name.

The City Council recently approved hiring a law firm to represent Her, at a rate of up to $500 per hour.

The council also hired another law firm to make a determination on whether the city is required to pay the mayor’s ongoing legal fees stemming from the lawsuit.

The sun rises above a patch of shriveled corn stalks. Some lack ears; others are blackened. Peter Bakken, a Rock County farmer, walks out from between rows of stalks. He holds two ears of corn. One grew just fine while the other was short and barely developed.

“This ear, this plant just ran out of gas, and that's all it produced,” said Bakken. “The corn cannibalized itself.”

When a corn stalk can’t access the nutrients it needs to grow, it starts to feed on the only other source of food it has: itself.

The resulting stalk is limp, with little strength left to stand. It can die in the process, and even if it doesn’t, it becomes vulnerable to the wind that can snap it over. That patch of Bakken’s corn is a casualty of a drought that’s engulfed southwestern Minnesota.

Bakken, who also raises cattle, said the grass his cows fed on ran out. Without rain, the pasture didn’t grow back. He had to feed them with reserves he kept for winter.

“We weren't overgrazing. We weren't undergrazing,” said Bakken. “Absolutely unprecedented. We'd never had to do that in my 40 years of farming.” Other area farmers who submitted condition reports to the U.S. Department of Agriculture similarly said they had never or rarely seen drought this bad.

Rock and Pipestone counties faced dry conditions all summer. In late September, the USDA designated them as natural disaster areas.

For farmers, that meant stressful days and tough decisions. Now, as harvest is underway, producers are making one last push to get the crops out of the ground.

Weather worries

Southwestern Minnesota often gets dry during the summer, according to Ben Cathey, chief meteorologist for MPR News. But the region frequently contends with moist, hot summers.

The area produces a lot of corn. During the summer, the corn’s leaves “sweat” out its water content. That vapor adds to how hot and humid the region feels. That likely affected the region’s heat, Cathey said.

“We're not getting a lot hotter on an average daytime high, but the overnight lows are getting warmer,” said Cathey. “If the moisture stays, the temperature can't cool as easily, and so these overnight warm temperatures with high humidity are definitely an impact.”

Minnesota has seen increasing temperatures throughout the years. The state’s southern region has shown an average annual temperature increase of 2.2 degrees.

Cathey said it's not just the heat that has experts worried.

“The increasing spikes in both drought and flood is definitely concerning because as a farmer you want a reliable source of moisture for your plants, or if you're a rancher, you want a reliable source of water for your animals,” said Cathey.

As much as farmers would like regular rainfall during the summer, once harvest starts, that rain is much less welcome. Especially when it pours.

A race against the clock

Soybeans usually boast a bright yellow color in good seasons. But this summer’s drought, toned some of Murray County farmer Bryan Biegler’s beans purple.

He thought that they’d get to harvest them early, considering how dry the summer has been. But then, downpours made him raincheck harvest. Farm equipment doesn’t work well in muddy terrain, and soybeans need to be harvested when they’re dry. However, the late rain brought its own set of problems.

“When we got that wet weather, and it stayed wet for so long, some of the beans started getting a little mold in them,” Biegler said. “There's not a lot of it around here, but I've seen others.”

Some of his own beans have gotten damaged. But not enough for them to be turned away by the local grain elevator. Now, with the sun finally out on a recent Friday in early October, Biegler watches as his farm help fill up trucks with soybeans.

As soon as they’re done, he makes his way to the truck. They need to quickly move the crop to the local grain elevator to sell.

It’s sunny, warm and nice outside; too nice.

“It's warmer right now than what we're used to, and it's maturing the beans along a little bit faster than I was hoping for,” said Biegler.

If the sun dries out the beans too much, they lose their yield — and their value per acre — so Biegler is working around the clock to avoid losses. He’s also hoping to finish harvesting the beans to get to work on his corn. His stalks suffered during the drought and they are brittle in some areas.

“If you get this big hard wind it could start tipping over, and then it gets to be more of a challenge picking it up and getting it harvested,” said Biegler.

He had a rough summer with only two rainfalls this growing season. Still, he’s thankful for the water.

“If we wouldn't have had those, we would have had a lot of dryness then,” said Biegler. “The yields would have really been crap then.”

He expects to lose out on some crop yields this year, but overall, he still expects to reap a decent haul. And despite the tough conditions, other farmers still have hope for a better season next year.

‘Mentally taxing’

Peter Bakken from Rock County has a sticker placed on the door to his shed. It reads, “A healthy farm is nothing without you.” To him, it’s a reminder to be mindful of one’s mental health. Especially after a year as hard as this one.

“I'll be really glad when this year is done because it's just mentally taxing,” said Bakken.

His cattle ran out of feed during the summer once all the grass had been munched on and it couldn’t grow back due to drought. Some of his cows passed away from heat stress. He had to move the rest to a fenced area with dry ground. He said that’s to prevent overgrazing the pasture in an effort to preserve its quality for next year. When rain fell later in the year, his cows had to live with mud beneath their hooves.

Usually, he would only have to focus on the day-to-day needs of his operation, knowing rain would eventually come.

“But when those things don't happen, then your mind goes to thinking to the future of ‘how am I going to manage this if I don't have water, or if I don't have grass, or if I don't have feed,’” said Bakken.

His animals were Bakken’s top priority. Their care took precedence over taking care of himself. Each day passed with him clinging on to hope that rain would come back or that the heat would relent.

“When we went from 95 degrees down to 80 degrees. It was like a huge blessing because the relief from the heat was like,’ oh, we finally got through it,’” Bakken said. “But every day watching the forecast was disheartening in the fact that ‘man, it's going to be 95 degrees again today.’”

Bakken points to the fields of green surrounding his farm. It’s grass that sprouted after feeding from the rain. The sight fills him back up with optimism.

His gaze falls on the cows he’s taken care of this whole year.

“You can watch the cattle as it cools off and how much happier they are,” Bakken said. “They, like us farmers, are a resilient breed.”

Special thanks to Danger Boat Productions and the Minnesota Humanities Center for their Sketches of Minnesota events around the state that helped inform this report.

Tourism in Rochester generated more than $1.1 billion in economic activity last year, according to a new report from University of Minnesota Extension.

Bill Von Bank, VP of marketing and communications for Experience Rochester, the city’s tourism booster, said he wasn’t surprised that Rochester showed such strong tourism numbers.

Rochester is well known as a destination for Mayo Clinic patients from around the region, state, nation and world. And the city is in the midst of a 20-year, $5.6 billion Destination Medical Center redevelopment project to make Rochester even more attractive to the patients, families and other visitors who come to Mayo Clinic from all over the world.

“Rochester is Minnesota's third largest city,” Von Bank said. “It is an economic hub in southeastern Minnesota. It's home to one of the world's best hospitals. You start to layer on the fact that we're also a convention city. We compete for conventions around the Midwest, including with the Minneapolis Convention Center, in Duluth, and Sioux Falls and Des Moines. And then you stack on top of that that we have a lot of sports tournaments going on in our community. It makes a lot of sense — Rochester is a regional economic hub for Minnesota.”

Olmsted County, home to Rochester, generated more economic impact from tourism than any county in greater Minnesota, according to the state’s 2024 Visitor Economy Report. The only other counties across the state that generated more than $1 billion in economic activity were Hennepin, Ramsey and Dakota counties in the Twin Cities and St. Louis County, home to Duluth.

Von Bank said Experience Rochester commissioned the Rochester economic impact report from the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community and Vitality to examine the economic contributions of tourism-related industries, including restaurants, hotels, recreation, retail, entertainment and cultural attractions.

It’s the first of its kind as far as he can tell, and he hopes to use the report as an economic baseline to guide development decisions down the road.

According to the study, restaurants and bars are Rochester’s largest tourism-related employment sector, with approximately 3,100 jobs supported by visitor spending.

But Von Bank said he was struck by Rochester’s high concentration of hotels and accommodations and the labor that powers it. In 2025, Rochester had 1.17 times as many hotel and lodging workers as the national average.

“We have a lot of hotels,” Von Bank said. “We have a lot of rooms — over 6,200 rooms in Rochester to accommodate the medical visits, the convention visits, the sports visits and leisure travelers. So we punch above our weight there.”

While health care visits drive tourism, Von Bank wants to remind Minnesotans that there are other reasons to visit Rochester.

“Rochester is a great day trip,” Von Bank said. “Our hospitality scene is amazing, and we have some really top rated restaurants in Rochester — a lot of those homegrown. We’re very proud of Rochester.”

Xcel Energy is proposing to keep electricity rates flat for two years as Minnesotans’ complaints about rising utility costs mount.

The state’s largest electric utility says under the plan, filed with the state Public Utilities Commission last week, it would postpone any requests to raise its electricity rates until at least November 2028.

In exchange, Xcel wants permission from state regulators to use federal tax credits from planned battery storage projects sooner than expected.

Xcel expects to receive those credits from the federal Inflation Reduction Act for five battery projects near the retiring Sherco coal plant in Becker, at its Blue Lake facility in Shakopee and in Nobles County.

Xcel says the plan would allow it to continue to invest almost $4.5 billion in Minnesota’s electric system over the next two years, and help offset rising costs.

“This request demonstrates Xcel Energy’s commitment to keeping rates stable today while continuing to deliver safe, reliable electric service and make investments that power tomorrow,” said Bria Shea, president of Xcel in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, in a news release.

The proposal comes as state regulators examine the cost of electricity at a time when many Minnesotans are struggling to pay their utility bills.

Xcel's most recent rate increase, which state regulators approved in June, was 5.8 percent over two years. That proposal generated thousands of comments opposed to the increase.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and consumer advocates asked the Public Utilities Commission to reconsider the decision, but it declined.

Instead, it launched a statewide investigation to examine the affordability of electric and natural gas service provided by regulated utilities, including Xcel.

Most members of the Detroit Lakes school board have been trying to effectively ban rainbow stickers from school grounds since July. But a district policy committee meeting earlier this week added yet another hurdle between them and the end of the rainbow.

The committee is made up of school board members and administrators like school principals. It met Wednesday morning to discuss a policy that overhauls district rules regarding the “distribution of nonschool-sponsored materials.”

It ultimately decided to postpone any policy changes after administrators shared their concerns and confusion about how to enforce the proposed policy.

“We concluded to delay it,” school board member Michael Walther said. “We asked the teachers to actually give us some input of what their actual concerns were.”

The board’s earlier July ban was prompted by stickers that some teachers display to indicate their classroom is a safe space for LGBTQ+ students. That ban is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and two students in the district who said it violated their constitutional rights.

Following the ACLU-MN’s lawsuit, the ban was revoked as the board introduced a general overhaul of the district’s Policy 505, which limits what teachers and students can display on campus. The policy had its first reading at last month’s board meeting.

The policy’s purpose, according to board member Sanford Nelson at an earlier work session, was to enact the earlier ban on rainbow stickers that some teachers display in their classrooms in a way that meets “legal muster.”

But at Wednesday's meeting, Superintendent Mark Jenson indicated that the district’s legal troubles wouldn’t be solved by that pivot. The district met with legal counsel in a closed-door special school board meeting last month to discuss the lawsuit.

“You have been advised by two lawyers now to not go down this road,” Jenson said earlier this week to board members who support the ban and the revised policy.

In earlier statements to MPR News, the ACLU-MN indicated they would continue to pursue legal action even if the board passed a policy that didn’t explicitly mention rainbow stickers.

“Our clients brought their lawsuit because it was clear from the language of the rainbow ban and school board member statements that the school board targeted rainbows based on anti-LGBTQ+ bias and a desire to eliminate expression of LGBTQ+ support and identity,” the ACLU-MN said in a statement. “The rainbow ban has already chilled LGBTQ+ speech and harmed our clients.”

Principals push back on proposed policy

Later in the meeting, school administrators weighed in with practical concerns about the policy’s implementation. For instance, Rossman Elementary Principal Emily Sternberg asked whether the policy, which limits which flags can be flown, would prohibit Gay-Straight Alliance clubs from displaying rainbows.

“That's an approved club,” she said. “That's a group of students that's allowed to meet, so they should be able to, in my interpretation of [the proposed policy], display material that is associated with that club.”

The policy also bans flags that promote or endorse an "ideological" viewpoint, which Sternberg said is a word that means different things to different people.

“For example, a lot of people do not consider anything that has to do with stickers ideological at all,” she said at the meeting. “Rather, it's about human rights. It's a symbol of safety. It's a cue. It's a visibility component for a marginalized group, and that is not categorically ideological.”

Board member Michael Walther then proposed delaying consideration of the policy until more input could be heard from administrators.

“I think Emily (Sternberg) has brought out some really good questions. The stuff that I’ve received, other input, has not been,” he said.

“Rather than hashing over what has been done right or wrong, I would suggest, why don’t we just table this?” he added.

Surprise ban burned trust among board members

Board member Julie Smith-Yliniemi, who opposes the ban, said she hopes this marks a break in this saga. But she’s not sure that it will.

At multiple recent board meetings, including the one in July that originally introduced the ban, she was caught by surprise by last-minute motions made by board member Sanford Nelson and said that could happen again.

“Is that a possibility? Absolutely,” she said. “Am I holding on to hope that that isn't the case, and you move forward with the recommendation of pulling it from the agenda? I hope that does stay.”

Nelson did not respond to MPR’s request for comment.

The board’s next meeting is set for Oct. 26. Smith-Yliniemi said the agenda will include a proposed policy change that asks board members to attempt to notify other board members at least 24 hours in advance before adding an item to the agenda.

Part of the ACLU-MN’s lawsuit alleges that four board members, including Nelson and Walther, broke the Minnesota Open Meeting Law by discussing the rainbow ban privately before introducing it at the July board meeting.

Smith-Yliniemi said the lack of transparency and discussion has altered the board members’ relationships with each other.

“Do I think that the majority of the board is well-intended? Yes,” she said. “Do I think that some of the board members have a hard time looking at the full picture of things and taking in data and research and doing things in a good way that includes our community and our administrators? Yeah, they have a difficult time with that.”

The board’s makeup may soon look different following the Nov. 3 election. Three board seats are on the ballot and two incumbents are running to keep their seats.

“I do hope whoever is on the board and starting their term … that we can really start from scratch, start over and how we are going to build that trust,” Smith-Yliniemi said. “And that trust starts with no surprises like we've been given in July, August and September.”

Demand for food is at an all-time high as Minnesota’s hunger relief network struggles to keep up with the pace amid higher grocery and fuel prices.

Second Harvest Heartland reports that at the end of fiscal year 2026, the regional food bank distributed more than 172 million pounds of food to food shelves statewide in the last year — a record amount. According to Toni Scott, chief supply chain officer at Second Harvest, that’s a 500 percent increase over the last two decades and a 20 percent increase in the last four years.

“What we haven’t seen is a slowdown,” Scott said. “The number of visits is accelerating, and food shelves are opening more hours. They’re doing things to increase access, and we just feel like we are not keeping up.”

Factors driving these numbers include government shutdowns, Operation Metro Surge, inflation and rising fuel costs. Scott said diesel prices have risen 70 percent since March, which added $20,000 in monthly expenses to Second Harvest’s budget. As of Friday, the average diesel fuel price in Minnesota hovered around $6.18, according to AAA.

Minnesota residents made more than 9 million visits to food shelves last year, according to The Food Group, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit that works statewide with food shelves to alleviate hunger and meet residents’ nutritional needs.

Those numbers are increasing due to federal cuts to safety-net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid, Scott said.

“So as we see more financial pressures coming,” she said, “and more families affected by SNAP cuts and other policy changes, we know that we will continue to see those increases and are just doing all we can to try and keep up.”

Food shelves are doing what they can to manage the increased strain on their services. Scott said Second Harvest has looked at other parts of its budget to trim in order to meet the demand, including where to source specific produce as freight has gotten more expensive because of diesel prices.

That meant the food bank had to scale back on the types of food it gets, like citrus from California. Off-season produce might get more difficult to get because of the high gas prices on incoming freight. Scott said other food shelves are struggling with this increased cost burden.

“We have been doing everything we can to optimize our network and find efficiencies, but that increase is so significant that it’s not something we can offset with efficiency,” she said. “So, [we’re] pulling other levers to make sure that we can continue to serve our neighbors.”

Second Harvest, Scott said, continues to advocate for more state and federal money. Last legislative session, The Food Group and Partners to End Hunger Coalition secured $5 million in one-time funding for food shelves — on top of $4.6 million that was already allocated — and $5 million in one-time funding for food banks.

“This is not a place where we will pass on costs to our partners or neighbors, and so as we can continue to experience these increases that extend beyond what we had in our budget initially, we absolutely have to find other places to support that,” she said. “We are committed to maintaining service in the community and the amount of food we are getting out.”

Control of the Minnesota Legislature could depend on the outcome of a handful of competitive races in next month's election, including three contested seats in the St. Cloud area.

Many legislative districts in Minnesota are safely Republican or Democrat. But the St. Cloud region’s divided electorate makes it an unpredictable battleground. Voters will decide whether to return an incumbent to the Minnesota Senate and choose two new state representatives.

“This St. Cloud area is most likely going to decide the majority in the Minnesota Legislature,” said Matt Lindstrom, political science professor at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University in central Minnesota.

The mixed politics of St. Cloud-area voters have led to some razor-thin outcomes in past elections, and make the area a target for campaign spending. This year, the race for Senate District 14 has attracted more than $1 million from outside groups, even before the political parties and candidates report their spending.

“They draw a lot of outside money in particular from organizations that are aligned with one party or the other,” Lindstrom said. “That’s the sort of money that’s called dark money, because it’s harder to trace.”

Judging by the amount of campaign money being spent, both sides see opportunities to win the seats, said King Banaian, an economics professor at St. Cloud State University and a former Republican state legislator.

The surrounding central Minnesota region tends to vote Republican, but there is more political diversity within St. Cloud and its surrounding cities, Banaian said. Those districts got more competitive after the legislative boundaries were redrawn through redistricting after the 2010 and 2020 censuses, he said.

“That has meant that we’ve had more focus on the races here than we had 20 to 30 years ago,” Banaian said.

Republicans hoping to flip Senate seat

Aric Putnam, a Democrat, is seeking his third term in the Minnesota Senate. District 14 includes St. Cloud, Waite Park, St. Joseph, St. Augusta and Sauk Rapids.

Putnam is a professor of rhetoric at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. He is being challenged by state Rep. Bernie Perryman, a Republican who has served two terms in the Minnesota House.

This year, Perryman, a businessperson who owns two Batteries Plus stores, decided to run for Senate instead.

“I love this area, and I'm seeing things change that I'm not happy with,” Perryman said. “I think people are kind of saying, ‘We need some common sense back.’”

Putnam is no stranger to close elections. He first won his seat in 2020 by just over 300 votes.

Two years ago, the district backed Donald Trump for president. But Putnam said this year, voters are frustrated by rising costs of food, fuel and other expenses — and he said they blame Trump.

"We're seeing prices going up even more as a direct result of a decision made by our federal government,” Putnam said. “The attack on Iran has made real, real issues for folks in our community. And they don't like Donald Trump anymore."

Trump isn’t on the ballot this year, although he’s told supporters at campaign rallies that they should pretend he is. Perryman is trying to focus her campaign message away from the president.

“(Trump) can say all he wants, but that doesn’t affect the reason and the solutions I’m bringing to help our community,” she said.

Perryman said she's hearing a lot from voters about affordability, but also fraud in state government programs.

"How can we have given out so much money and not seen any results for it, for the whole state?” she asked. “Then (voters) relate it to why their property taxes are going up, and all the other things around them expensewise."

Putnam noted that he helped sponsor a bill creating an independent Office of the Inspector General to combat fraud. And he supported efforts to modernize computer systems that counties use to process claims for public assistance.

ICE enforcement could play a role

The controversy over the federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in Minnesota has divided state and local politics and is influencing the upcoming midterms.

St. Cloud has experienced a demographic shift in recent decades, driven largely by growth in the city's Somali American population. This year, the city was a target of ICE enforcement action, which created a climate of fear and hurt immigrant-owned businesses in the community.

Putnam said there’s been a lot of focus on East African immigrants, “but there are tons of folks from all around the world in St. Cloud.”

“Some of them are engaged politically, and some of them aren't,” he said. “I think one of the things that (Operation) Metro Surge did is some of those other populations are becoming more engaged politically than they have been in the past.”

Perryman said the ICE action hasn’t been a top issue for voters while she’s been knocking on doors.

Two House seats up for grabs

Along with the Senate race, St. Cloud-area voters also will be choosing two new state representatives.

Abdi Daisane, a Somali American business owner, is running as a Democrat for Perryman's District 14A seat. He's facing off against Republican Mike Conway, a St. Cloud City Council member.

In District 14B, Republican Sue Ek is challenging former legislator Zach Dorholt, a Democrat. That seat was left vacant by Rep. Dan Wolgamott, who made an unsuccessful bid for state auditor.

Dorholt is a St. Cloud school board member who served one term in the Minnesota House. Ek is a communications professional who ran unsuccessfully for the House twice, losing to Wolgamott by just 191 votes two years ago.

With three competitive seats on the ballot, St. Cloud-area voters can expect to see plenty more campaign ads before the Nov. 3 election.

The goal is less about changing voters’ minds than it is about getting them to the polls, Lindstrom said.

“It's more about getting you informed about the issues and activated to actually get out there and vote,” he said.

Daren Wysocki received a letter last week from Eagan-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota.

The heading was blunt: “Important notice: Your Medicare plan won't be offered in 2027.”

The letter also outlined his options, including purchasing supplemental insurance or enrolling in another Medicare plan.

Wysocki, 68, lives outside Deerwood in central Minnesota. He spent 36 years working in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ forestry division and said he is in good health, takes medication for blood pressure and cholesterol, and was satisfied with his Medicare Advantage plan.

After reading the letter, he logged onto Medicare.gov and entered the ZIP code for his home in Crow Wing County, and discovered there were no Medicare Advantage plans available for 2027.

“Well, what the hell's going on here?” he said.

Wysocki is among nearly 390,000 Minnesotans who received notices this month that their Medicare Advantage plans would be discontinued next year, leading them to reconsider their coverage.

More than 1 million Minnesotans are enrolled in Medicare, the federal health insurance program primarily for people aged 65 and older, as well as some younger adults with qualifying disabilities.

The latest round of changes marks the second consecutive year in which many beneficiaries have had to reassess their coverage as insurers withdraw from parts of Minnesota’s Medicare Advantage market.

Several companies, including Bloomington-based HealthPartners, Minnetonka-based UnitedHealthcare and Medica, Kentucky-based Humana and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, are ending contracts or altering their participation in the market. While some plans will be discontinued, new ones will be introduced, leaving beneficiaries with fewer choices in certain counties.

Insurers say rising medical and pharmacy costs have contributed to financial losses, prompting them to restructure their Medicare Advantage offerings.

Dana Erickson, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield, announced in a statement that the company is restructuring all its Medicare Advantage plans in response to rising costs.

"In just the past three years, our company has lost more than $500 million on Medicare alone," Erickson said. "While I am reassured that our financial foundation remains strong, that does not mean we can ignore such an unsustainable trend."

Humana will stop selling individual Medicare Advantage plans in Minnesota. A company spokesperson told MPR News that Humana had fewer than 10,000 members in the state last year. The insurer will continue offering Medicare coverage in Minnesota, but only through employer and other group plans.

The open enrollment period for 2027 Medicare coverage began on Oct. 15, and many Minnesotans are scrambling to find new plans after being informed that their current ones are being eliminated. In some regions, this could result in a complete loss of access to Medicare Advantage plans.

Some counties will lose Medicare Advantage plans

For residents like Wysocki, the changes mean losing access to Medicare Advantage altogether.

No insurer is offering a Medicare Advantage plan in Crow Wing County for 2027.

About 70,00 people live in Crow Wing County, where roughly one in four residents is 65 or older, according to census data. The county’s median household income is about $73,000.

Wysocki worries that some residents will struggle to understand their options or find replacement coverage.

“I kind of keep on top of this stuff,” he said. “But the demographics of this county…there's a lot of seniors out there that I'm sure are going to be kind of rudderless and not knowing what to do.”

Understand the options

Medicare beneficiaries receive their coverage through original Medicare, administered by the federal government, or Medicare Advantage, offered by private insurance companies that contract with Medicare.

Both cover hospital and medical care, but differ in costs, provider access and prescription drug coverage.

Original Medicare allows beneficiaries to see any doctor or visit any hospital nationwide that accepts Medicare, without the provider networks typical of Medicare Advantage plans. It generally does not require referrals for covered services, although some services may require prior authorization. Beneficiaries can also purchase a private supplemental insurance policy, known as Medigap, to help cover out-of-pocket costs. Most also need separate prescription drug coverage if they want insurance for medications.

Medicare Advantage plans typically offer lower premiums and may include additional benefits, such as dental, vision and hearing coverage, as well as gym memberships. But they rely on provider networks that can limit patients’ choices of doctors and hospitals. Depending on the plan, beneficiaries may also incur higher monthly out-of-pocket costs and authorization requirements.

Maureen Schneider, chair of the Minnesota Board on Aging, said the changes are creating uncertainty for people who rely on their existing coverage.

“There are really quite a number of serious concerns this year,” she said. “Some people are not sure about whether their providers would be in network any longer, and that includes their preferred drugs or pharmacy suppliers.”

Beneficiaries whose plans are discontinued can review other available Medicare Advantage plans or consider switching to original Medicare. Schneider said comparing the cost of prescriptions, access to preferred doctors and hospitals, and the need for supplemental benefits can all influence what plan makes the most sense.

Finding help before the deadline

Medicare’s annual enrollment period runs from Oct.15 through Dec. 7. During this time, individuals can enroll in Medicare or modify their existing health and prescription drug coverage for the upcoming year. Any changes made during this period take effect on Jan. 1.

People whose Medicare Advantage plans are discontinued may also qualify for a special enrollment period, allowing them additional time to select coverage.

Free enrollment assistance is available through Aging Pathways, a statewide service of the Minnesota Board on Aging. Schneider said demand surged in 2025 as the enrollment deadline approached.

“Last year, our longest wait time, getting towards the deadline, was three hours and 46 minutes, and callers were willing to wait because they were very anxious to make sure that they got everything right before the deadline,” she said.

Wysocki did not wait to call and has already decided what to do. He plans to switch to original Medicare, buy a supplemental Medigap policy, and enroll in a separate prescription drug plan.

The change will cost him at least $150 more per month.

For Wysocki, the decision is straightforward. But he worries that other older Minnesotans might find it harder to navigate their options, particularly in counties where Medicare Advantage plans are disappearing entirely.

An 11-foot-wide metal object found in a Stevens County cornfield Wednesday may be space debris. Authorities in the west-central Minnesota county say it poses no danger to the public, but they are still working to determine what it is and who owns it.

The Stevens County Sheriff’s Office says deputies went to the Scott Township field after receiving a call around 3:30 p.m. The Minnesota Duty Officer was notified, and federal agencies came to the site.

The sheriff’s office is coordinating with state and federal officials to identify the object, contact its owner, and arrange to have it removed.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of regulations on autonomous rideshare vehicles in the city survived an override vote by the City Council on Thursday.

After the vote failed, backers of the rules on robotaxis said they’ll make another attempt to regulate the industry.

The council needed nine votes to override Frey’s veto — but only seven council members supported the attempt.

Among other measures, the proposed regulations would have required human safety monitors inside autonomous rideshare vehicles.

Supporters of the proposal said it’s needed to protect thousands of rideshare jobs. Frey had said what the council passed amounted to a back-door ban on companies like Waymo — and he called for “thoughtful regulation for safety.”

Speaking after the vote, council member Robin Wonsley said she and her fellow supporters of the proposal will “continue the efforts and fight to hold big tech accountable and protect our communities from the economic and physical dangers of autonomous robotaxis.”

“I look forward to continuing the work to pass regulations on big tech robotaxis that put workers and local government in the driver’s seat,” Wonsley said. “We’re not done. We’re going to continue the work.”

Waymo has been test-driving its vehicles in Minneapolis since last winter, with people behind the wheel — but has not yet started taking customers.

In St. Paul, the City Council this week made its own move toward regulations on the industry. The council adopted a resolution directing the city’s planning commission to study autonomous vehicles and suggest potential guardrails around safety, data-sharing and worker protections.

Summit Brewing Company announced Thursday that it reached an agreement with its lender and found a new lender, avoiding a foreclosure risk that was announced a month ago.

In a press release, Summit CEO and President Brandon Bland, said the loan previously held by BMO Bank has been acquired by a new lender. The lender was not identified in the announcement.

Bland said in the press release that the new lender is working with the brewery to execute a “recapitalization and long-term growth strategy aimed at strengthening Summit’s balance sheet and supporting its vision for the future.”

“Today is a day of gratitude and genuine excitement for all of us at Summit,” said Bland, in the press release. “That starts with our employees, who have shown up every day through months of uncertainty. Their professionalism has inspired all of us to keep pushing toward a resolution, and I can’t thank them enough.”

Summit’s brewery, taproom and operations will continue as usual. The company does not anticipate any changes to supply.

BMO Bank filed a lawsuit in September to collect more than $8 million worth of unpaid debt.

In a lawsuit filing, BMO Bank alleged Summit Brewing Company missed a loan payment deadline at the end of last year. The bank then agreed to a forbearance timeframe until July 31. The court filings indicated that Summit informed the bank it didn’t have the ability to repay the loan.

A new report says so-called “forever chemicals” are contaminating rivers, lakes and streams across the U.S., including in Minnesota.

Environment America Research and Policy Center, a national advocacy and research organization, analyzed federal, state and nonprofit testing data from more than 1,600 sites across the U.S.

According to a report released by Minnesota’s chapter, the group found per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, were detected at all 91 testing sites in Minnesota’s waterways. Those included dozens of locations along the Mississippi River.

The report says once in rivers and streams, PFAS pose a risk to drinking water, fish and wildlife.

“Minnesota's waterways should be clean and free of toxic chemicals, yet PFAS contamination of our rivers and lakes is still widespread,” said Dylan Fox-Arnold, a conservation associate with Environment Minnesota, at a press conference Wednesday in St. Cloud. “We shouldn't have to worry about tainted drinking water or catching and eating contaminated fish.”

PFAS are a large class of human-made chemicals found in a variety of consumer and industrial products, including nonstick cookware, water-resistant clothing, carpet and cosmetics.

They’re known for being extremely durable and tend to accumulate in the environment and the human body. Long-term exposure to some PFAS has been linked to negative health effects, including cancer, liver and thyroid disease and fertility problems.

PFAS enter rivers, lakes and streams in several ways, including industrial facilities or wastewater treatment plants that release the chemicals into waterways; water seeping from landfills where consumer products with PFAS often end up; and contaminated sewage sludge that’s applied to farm fields. Firefighting foam containing PFAS also polluted some Minnesota waters near airports and military bases.

“Because they are so widely used in our economy, they wind up in our waterways through an astonishing array of pathways,” Fox-Arnold said.

The report says the findings are likely the tip of the iceberg, because the data does not include all sources of PFAS testing. And many waterways haven’t been tested for PFAS.

Chemicals in the Mississippi

Some of the locations where PFAS were detected weren’t surprising, Fox-Arnold said, such as in the Mississippi River downstream from the Twin Cities.

Minnesota-based 3M manufactured some PFAS at its Cottage Grove facility for decades, beginning in the 1940s until they were discontinued in the early 2000s.

In 2018, the company agreed to pay the state of Minnesota $850 million to settle a lawsuit alleging environmental contamination in the east Twin Cities metro area. 3M stopped producing PFAS at the end of 2025.

The highest concentration of the chemicals was detected near Hastings, which is downriver from the Cottage Grove facility.

But Fox-Arnold noted that PFAS were also detected in the Mississippi upstream from 3M’s plant and at other locations across the state, including Tischer Creek, a coldwater trout stream in Duluth.

“I think the main takeaway from this report about scope and scale is that these chemicals are more pervasive than we previously thought,” he said.

Minnesota passed a law banning intentionally added PFAS in certain products starting in 2025, including cookware, dental floss, menstruation products and ski wax. A complete ban on the sale or distribution of nearly all products containing intentionally added PFAS takes effect in 2032.

Fox-Arnold said other states should follow the state's example by phasing out of the use of the chemicals.

Environment Minnesota also recommends barring industrial facilities from discharging PFAS into rivers or sending them to wastewater treatment plants, and ending the application of sewage containing PFAS on farmland.

Do local businesses still own Main Street in Minnesota’s rural communities? Or are national chains and large corporations changing the fabric of what it means to be a small town?

That’s the question MPR News host Kerri Miller posed during her most recent Rural Voice town hall, held Sept. 28 at The Broadway event center in downtown Albert Lea, Minn.

Business owners and community leaders agreed that keeping local businesses local is key to maintaining small town feel and charm. But doing that is no small feat.

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Business owners say they work long hours, money is always tight and even if the business is a success, figuring out how to grow sustainably is a challenge.

Organizations designed to support local businesses, like the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, say it’s a story they hear a lot. They pointed to the critical role community support and innovative financing models play in sustaining rural businesses.

Most of us think of libraries as a place to peruse and check out books, use a computer, conduct research for a school paper and find resources to help with a job search. But the city of New Ulm is taking the community resource aspect of its public library to a whole new level, providing frozen meals and fresh produce for residents to take home.

The New Ulm Public Library’s new community fridge and freezer were installed last week as a free resource to residents experiencing food insecurity. It’s found on the main level near the Children’s Room. Visitors can take home items such as frozen kale and bananas, fresh cantaloupes and green beans and even some pre-made frozen meals.

It’s funded by the Brown County Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP), developed in partnership with the Food Environment Action Team and the Heart of New Ulm Project, a community-driven public health initiative.

Tom Polich spent Tuesday morning restocking the fridge and freezer with frozen ham stew and honey and lime chicken dinners, bananas, kale, carrots and other foods. Polich is the regional food rescue coordinator of Region Nine Development Commission — a multi-county public planning and regional government agency based in Mankato.

He told MPR News the library’s community freezer and fridge provide another resource to the growing number of residents of the community who don’t have enough to eat.

“They don’t have to make a special trip somewhere,” Polich said. They can still utilize the food shelves in our area, but a lot of them are only allowed to use the food shelf once a month.”

And while New Ulm does already have a food shelf, said April Ide, director of the New Ulm Public Library, adding a community fridge and freezer in a place that’s visited often helps broaden access to those in need.

“We’re all about access to information and resources, and we a lot of times are answering questions from patrons where we’re trying to point them in the direction of our local resources to meet their needs,” Ide said, “It’s great for us to be able to offer one [of those resources] right here at the library.”

The New Ulm Community Fridge and Freezer is open to anyone in the community — no questions asked. There are no forms to fill out; there’s no need to sign-up in advance. People don’t even need a library card; they can just walk in and take out some vegetables, fruits or a ready-to-bake or heat meal from the community fridge and freezer.

“Our food shelf does a great job, but the library is just open [during] a really diverse set of hours,” said Kaitlin Gawrsich, community health improvement coordinator of The Heart of New Ulm, which is a community-driven public health initiative.

“They’re also open on the weekend. They’re also open in the evening. They’re open in the morning. Just kind of works for everyone, and it’s just a really accessible place,” Gawrsich added. “[It’s] a really dignified way to get what you need and meet those needs. There’s no stigma for visiting the library. Anyone can be here. Everyone’s welcome.”

The New Ulm community fridge and freezer also helps fight food waste, by gathering up and then handing out food that otherwise would’ve been tossed away in dumpsters and headed to landfills.

Polich said that the South Central Minnesota Food Recovery Program based in Mankato, Minn. takes surplus food from local restaurants, grocery stores and big chains such as Walmart, and even area farms, and distributes those food items to food shelves and community fridges.

Similar community fridges are found elsewhere around the Mankato area, most often at health and medical clinics. The food recovery program says it has rescued over 10,000 pounds of food from different sites in the past six months.

“Without the food rescue, a lot of this would have ended up in places like landfills which causes environmental issues, it’s just kind of the right thing to do,” Polich said. “The food is good stuff, and we just want to make sure it goes out to feed people. We always say, ‘save the food, feed the people.’”

Overall, there has been a warm reception to the fridge and freezer, Ide said, and she’s glad that the library can be one place where people can get what they need.

The demand for food aid across Minnesota is on the rise. Second Harvest Heartland told MPR News that the regional food bank distributed a record-breaking 172 million pounds of food in the last year. That’s 20 percent more food than the nonprofit distributed four years ago, and a 500 percent increase over what it provided 20 years ago.

“What we’re seeing is that our neighbors are needing more support than ever,” said Toni Scott, chief supply chain officer at Second Harvest Heartland, “and while we are doing all that we can to keep up, we are also struggling to meet the need.”

Correction (Oct. 15, 2026): An earlier version of this story misidentified Kaitlin Gawrsich's title. The story has been updated.

The Trump administration's top education official defended the massive budget cuts and layoffs she’s made during a visit to Rochester Wednesday.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon toured Rochester Community and Technical College as part of what she calls her “Returning Education to the States Tour” in which she is highlighting her effort to downsize the department of education and give more control to the states.

The former pro wrestling executive has gutted the federal agency, laying off nearly half of its workforce and offloading more than 100 programs and obligations, including special education services and distribution of Title I grants, to other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Labor.

“Other agencies have some of that work already up and running,” McMahon said. “Also [they] have better technology often to distribute the funding for the grant programs. All of that seems to be going incredibly well. But I've called it my proof of concept. Let us finish the job.”

But a recent NPR investigation found otherwise, reporting that many staffers say that during McMahon’s 16-month tenure, the federal agency has become more complex, costly and inefficient. The employees said the mass staffing cuts and redistribution of some remaining employees to other agencies has made it more difficult to serve states and schools who rely on billions of dollars in federal money to educate students who need the most support, including low-income students and those with disabilities.

And, in some cases, McMahon seems to be backtracking. NPR found, for example, that after slicing the department’s student loan office staff in half, the agency needed to go on a hiring spree to bring staff back on board.

McMahon, who gained notoriety for founding World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with her husband Vince McMahon, is nearing the end of her “Returning Education to the States” tour. She has been traveling to all 50 states to hear directly from teachers, parents, students and community leaders about what is working in their communities and to compile a tool kit of best practices to share with states across the nation.

Minnesota is the 44th state McMahon has visited.

McMahon’s visit to Rochester could boost the reelection campaign of Republican Congressman Brad Finstad, who appeared with the member of President Trump’s cabinet. Finstad is in the midst of a heated and tight race for his seat representing Minnesota’s first district, which covers much of the southern portion of the state. According to a recent KAAL TV-Survey USA poll, DFL challenger Jake Johnson has an edge over Finstad.

In Rochester, McMahon toured the technical college to learn more about some of its training programs, including its peace officer simulation, carpentry and automotive programs.

McMahon highlighted the Trump administration's efforts to boost vocational education, saying this sort of training is critical to addressing the nation's shortage of skilled workers.

“For every five that are leaving the workforce now, only two are coming back in,” McMahon said. “If we don't fulfill that gap by 2030, it could have as much as a trillion-dollar impact on our economy. It is really vital that schools like this and other technical institutions, community colleges, continue to work with our high schools, with our private sector to say what they need.”

Earlier that day, she visited Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount and Great Oaks Academy, a charter school in Farmington.

The Minnesota State colleges and universities system’s board of trustees on Wednesday approved a plan to redirect millions of dollars to help struggling universities.

The plan will reallocate up to $25 million each year for the next four years to financially challenged institutions. The majority of that amount — about $15 million a year — will go to St. Cloud State University and Bemidji State University.

Those two schools have faced enrollment declines and budget deficits. Minnesota State officials say they have already undergone budget cuts, including cuts to academic programs and their workforce, but their cash finances have weakened to an unacceptable level.

The officials said the funding shift is needed as a temporary solution while they work on a plan to realign the entire system of colleges and universities. The system has a structural deficit of about $30 million, which is projected to grow to $100 million in two years if no action is taken.

Chancellor Scott Olson said recently the system needs to "right size" itself, and that could mean closing some institutions or campuses.

Minnesota State leaders recently announced they plan to close the community and technical college campus in Detroit Lakes as soon as the summer of 2028.

The funding reallocation proposal was developed with input from Minnesota State leaders and has received a lot of feedback. Some officials at two-year colleges voiced concern about their financial burden.

At Wednesday’s board meeting, trustee Roger Moe said it’s not uncommon in Minnesota State’s history for some institutions to depend on funding from others.

"Sometime over the past 25 years ... practically every campus has had to rely on the collective strength of the system,” Moe said.

The financial challenges aren’t unique to Minnesota State higher education institutions. Colleges and universities across the U.S. are facing declining enrollment due in part to a shrinking number of college-age students, a problem known as the demographic cliff.

Minnesota’s state colleges and universities have faced rising costs and flat state funding that hasn’t kept up. They’ve also faced a decline in international students due to federal immigration policies.

The system plans to ask the Legislature for increased funding next year for the realignment plan, and to help some schools demolish old buildings to save on maintenance costs.

The St. Paul City Council has joined Minneapolis in the push for regulating driverless rideshare vehicles, like Waymo and Tesla Robotaxi, but with a different approach.

The council adopted a resolution Wednesday directing the city’s planning commission to study autonomous vehicles and suggest potential guardrails around safety, data-sharing and worker protections.

It’s a different path than in Minneapolis, where seven out of 13 council members voted for an ordinance requiring human safety monitors in driverless rideshare vehicles. Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed that ordinance, but it’s up for an override vote Thursday.

In St. Paul, council president Rebecca Noecker, who introduced the resolution, said human safety monitors could be a potential answer but it’s too early to say.

“Depending on what our recommendations are, depending on what our community tells us, there may be guardrails that we can put in place that allow for these vehicles to operate safely,” Noecker said. “But we need to do the work first to figure out if that's even possible."

She noted that St. Paul has more “breathing room,” rather than needing to write regulations “at the moment when a company is looking to come in.” But she said it’s imperative the city explores guardrails now, before Waymo is “literally at our door.”

Waymo, which currently operates a fleet of driverless vehicles in 15 cities, has been testing vehicles across Minneapolis for almost a year amid an absence of clear state laws surrounding their use. Though some residents, including council member Hwa Jeong Kim, said they’ve been spotted in St. Paul, too.

Kim said standing with immigrant neighbors — who make up over half of the state’s rideshare drivers — includes standing up to big tech.

”Do we ensure thousands of workers and drivers can afford to put food on their table and support their families,” Kim asked, “Or are we siding with billionaire tech CEOs who think they can ignore our regulations and undercut workers to pad their pockets?”

Kim pointed to a recent study that estimated rideshare drivers generate $561 million in economic output statewide and $43 million in local and state taxes.

Proponents of autonomous vehicles say they would prevent drivers from discriminating against disabled riders, give consumers more options, and point to some studies that indicate autonomous cars are safer than vehicles with drivers.

The resolution in St. Paul asks the planning commission to gather input from stakeholders, including disability advocates and rideshare drivers, before making recommendations.

Abdikani Ali, a community member who spoke at a press conference Wednesday, said he depends on driving to make a living.

“I drive people to work, to medical appointments, to the airport and around the neighborhoods, and the money I earn from that works right back into our community,” he said. “My family spends their money here. I support the local business here.”

Ali said he is opposed to profits going back to big tech CEOs, instead of into the community.

”Technology should not mean that the local workers lost their livelihood,” he said.

Luther Seminary announced Wednesday that its next home will be in downtown Minneapolis.

The seminary had announced last year that it was planning to sell its longtime campus in St. Paul’s St. Anthony Park neighborhood. School officials said that campus no longer served the seminary’s mission, with most students attending online. The school said selling it and moving to a new home would help sustain the seminary over the long term.

That new home will be at River Parkway Place, near Gold Medal Park in Minneapolis. Luther Seminary has signed a long-term lease to house its operations, library and worship space in that building. Student housing will be offered at Augsburg University.

“Today’s announcement represents the culmination of a tremendous amount of discernment,” Luther Seminary President Robin Steinke said in a news release. “None of the decision-making around this beloved campus — our home for more than a century — has been easy. At the same time, it’s clear that the fulfillment of our mission is calling us to a new chapter in a new space.”

Steinke said school officials reviewed dozens of potential properties over the past year.

When they visited River Parkway Place, “and saw the proximity to the river, the nearby green space and access to transit, the walkability of the neighborhood, and our new worship space, we knew we had found Luther Seminary’s next home,” Steinke said.

The new building also offers “the technological infrastructure needed to modernize the learning environment while supporting the seminary’s growing portfolio of digital ministries,” school officials said.

The seminary will move at the end of the 2026-27 academic year.

The 16-acre St. Anthony Park campus was sold last month. The seminary said the new owners plan to continue operating it as an educational institution using the existing buildings.

Some progressive Minneapolis City Council members are pushing to eliminate a public safety department created in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. They argue it doesn’t meaningfully oversee city police — and that any important department responsibilities could be shifted elsewhere.

The Office of Community Safety oversees emergency services departments, including 911, fire and police. It was proposed by Mayor Jacob Frey in 2022 and passed by a majority of the City Council after a progressive proposal to replace the police department with a safety office was rejected by voters.

The office was part of a broader plan to create a new government structure that gave the mayor more control over departmental operations, which Frey at the time called a chance to “make a longstanding, multi-generational impact.”

At a committee meeting Tuesday, which included the whole council, council members voted to hold a public hearing on Oct. 27 about the ordinance that proposes to cut the Office of Community Safety.

The proposal was introduced by progressives Elliott Payne, the council president, and council member Robin Wonsley.

“We have not been able to see over the three years of its existence, again, that measurable benefit to the public,” Wonsley said at Tuesday’s meeting.

Wonsley said the office has added an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy, failed to be an “oversight hawk” to prevent dramatic police overspending and hasn’t meaningfully improved clearance rates or safety outcomes.

However, the proposal would keep the Department of Neighborhood Safety, which is currently under the Office of Community Safety umbrella.

Wonsley said Tuesday that the city must double down on expanding safety programs “beyond policing,” but she said the office isn’t required for that.

“We know a bulk of that work is being championed in the Neighborhood Safety Department, and not necessarily the Office of Community Safety itself,” she said.

Eliminating the office would mean heads of departments like police and fire would report directly to the mayor like they did in the past. The ordinance would also move responsibilities from the Racial, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Department to the Neighborhood and Community Relations Department.

Frey sharply criticized the proposal.

“This wholesale elimination without a plan, combined with other proposed cuts to MPD, is not a serious proposal when it comes to public safety in our city,” Frey said in a statement.

“This office — one that these council members advocated for — manages services like mental health response, violence prevention, and police reform. If council members want these services in jeopardy, that’s on them,” Frey said.

Wonsley and Payne were among four council members who voted against creating the office in 2022.

Council member Elizabeth Shaffer said Tuesday that she looks forward to discussion and collaboration on the latest proposal “so that we do not end up with a veto” from the mayor.

The new proposal is not the first time this year that council members and the mayor have sparred over the Office of Community Safety. In April, the council rejected Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette’s renomination — and he plans to step down in the coming months.

After putting forward a proposal last month to close up to 16 schools in Minneapolis, leaders in the state’s fourth-largest district say they no longer plan to make the closures.

The board had been set to vote on the closures in November. But on Tuesday, board members voted to avoid any school closures next year.

“Based on what we’ve heard so clearly, so overwhelmingly and from so many people, even with a few days left of the listening period, I must recommend now that the school board not move forward with any school closures at this time,” District Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams said at the start of Tuesday’s regular business meeting — resulting in cheers and applause from the crowd.

Sayles-Adams added that she believed changes still needed to happen, but that the community needed “more time to process something so big.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, board members — in addition to dismissing any school closures before the end of the 2027-28 school year — committed district leaders’ recommendations to discuss enrollment growth strategies, early childhood enrollment, reviewing school start and end times, school choice assignments and the distribution of needs-based government funding.

The district continues to face enrollment challenges, and Sayles-Adams warned the upcoming budget process might be difficult.

“We will do our best that we can during the budget process to minimize impacts to students. However, because we’ve made significant reductions in recent years, we have fewer options than in the past,” Sayles-Adams said.

Many board members said the superintendent’s recommendation was a surprise, but one they welcomed.

“This is a blindside move,” board member Sharon El-Amin said, adding that she was glad the superintendent had recommended not closing schools.

“I want this city to heal. Let’s just take a breath, OK?” said Collin Beachy, the school board chair.

Over the past month, community members and the teachers union had voiced intense scrutiny and opposition to the district’s closure proposals. The district had said it suggested closures as a way to make better use of limited funds and underutilized buildings.

School board member Abdul Abdi said he believed pausing closures was in line with feedback he’d heard from community members.

“I have met 98 different communities in my district, I have listened to them, I consult with them and I attended three school listening sessions. We heard loud and clear — this city and this community went through a lot this year, and we need stability,” Abdi said.

Editor's note: This story contains explicit language.

Michael Che loves Minnesota.

“I love that it’s cold. I love everything about it,” the comedian, “Saturday Night Live” writer and “Weekend Update" anchor told MPR News. “It's such a dope spot to do shows. They receive everything well, and I just think with the political climate of the past five years, so many things happening there that they would probably appreciate it.”

Che released his third Netflix special, “Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota,” Tuesday. It was filmed in August over four shows at First Avenue in Minneapolis. The title is tongue-in-cheek, Che said.

“It is kind of hinting at the subject matter,” Che said. “It felt inclusive. It felt like whether it happens in Minnesota or Missouri or New York or any place that we've been seeing a lot of violence and seeing a lot of tragic sort of rebellions — it could happen to any of us. It could be anybody. It could be me.”

The special opens with black-and-white footage of downtown Minneapolis and the exterior of First Avenue with its wall of painted stars. Over 59 minutes, Che spends about 60 seconds discussing Minnesota.

After an extended opening bit about the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, the mental capacity of President Trump and his continued use of a slur for people with intellectual disabilities, Che mentioned the state for the first time.

“You know what I’m talking about, ‘cause every time I turn on the news, Minnesota is fighting some group of retards,” Che said to cheers from the crowd. “Meaning regressive. Bunch of motherfuckers trying to take all our rights away.”

Many in Minnesota may think a comedy special titled “Shot in Minnesota” would cover the police killings of Daunte Wright and Philando Castile, or the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents earlier this year during Operation Metro Surge.

Che said the title is meant to be taken more universally.

“It's not necessarily about those people individually,” Che said. “You have to be very careful, and making jokes about things like that, and keeping the mood up for a special — you know, it is a comedy special — I didn't want to invoke those names in a joking way and sort of kill what we were trying to do. But it's really more about the frustration of what's happening, as opposed to the nuts and bolts of everything that's ever happened.”

In the special, Che made another Minnesota reference.

“I also do a lot of business in Minnesota. Y’all don’t know this, but I own like three daycares,” Che said, pausing for cheers. “Say what you will, it’s a great no-show job, I promise you.”

The joke referred to allegations of fraud against the childcare centers run by Somali people in the Twin Cities, but Che told MPR News it was more of “a wink at the people in the crowd.”

While the special is meant for the world at large, Che said he wanted to let people know “I am paying attention and I do know where I am, and something to catch them off guard.”

Minneapolis comedian Comrade Tripp watched the special and noted the joke seemed like a throwaway line.

“I’d love more than a wink. A wink is a dog whistle that even less people can understand,” Tripp said. “That stigma of corruption and fraud — propagating that is not helpful.”

Tripp said he views the special as more narrow, an exploration of Che’s own celebrity identity and relationships.

“Any reference to Minnesota is limited. It's more of a personal comedy special. It's not an hourlong ‘Weekend Update’ segment,” Tripp said.

Tripp said he’s also seen how Che has formed a personal connection to Minnesota.

“Whenever he is in town, he does support the local, independently run comedy venues,” said Tripp, pointing to Che’s past stops at Sisyphus Brewing and The Comedy Corner Underground in Minneapolis. “The same can't be said for any other comedian of that caliber.”

Che recalled the time he came to Minnesota in 2022 to do a “college gig” at Winona State University and stayed in Minneapolis, dropping in at local comedy clubs and bar shows.

“It was a really good time. It was sort of the start of this material, a lot of the bones,” Che said. “Feels good to have that full circle.”

Big tech’s giant data center proposals have touched raw nerves in several Minnesota towns, sparking firestorms of criticism aimed at local government leaders, some of whom signed non-disclosure agreements to keep project details secret until after elected officials approved the plans.

Seeing how data centers have churned up local politics and spurred newcomers to run for office, some city administrators came together to seek help. The end result is a new toolkit developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota to help local government officials better understand and weigh the pros and cons of having Google, Meta or some other big tech company build a massive data center in their community.

"The way we've been framing it is how do you proactively address a data center?” said Elise Harrington, a University of Minnesota public affairs professor who is the tool kit project lead. “How do you think about it before you have one?"

It’s the culmination of a year of research by the University of Minnesota and the Freshwater Society, a water conservation nonprofit. It was developed to help city leaders separate facts from fiction and to guide what city codes they can enact to mitigate environmental impacts if big tech pitches in their city next.

Arming local leaders with facts

Harrington and her group of researchers released the tool kit last Friday afternoon in Rochester, where dozens of city planners, administrators and elected officials from cities and towns across southeast Minnesota gathered for a workshop to learn about the tool kit and try it out.

Al Roder, city administrator for the nearby town of Byron, is part of the reason this tool kit exists in the first place.

He and some of his peers in other southeast Minnesota cities had been talking a couple of years ago about how they could prepare for the seemingly inevitable arrival of data center proposals.

“We just started having a conversation about data centers and how do we answer all these questions with facts instead of emotions?” Roder said. “Because so much of what I hear is emotional arguments for or against. Where are the facts?”

He had observed how these emotions had created deep rifts in cities like Pine Island, about 20 minutes away, after Google proposed its Project Skyway data center there, dividing residents into heated factions of those who support the data center and those who vehemently oppose it.

Roder and his counterparts in nearby Stewartville and Lewiston wanted to get ahead of such controversies. If Google or some other big tech company came to Byron, Roder wanted to be armed with facts and have city rules preemptively laid out for prospective data centers.

“These are rules that we decided before we were in the heat of battle,” Roder told MPR News. “These are the conditions that we would find acceptable for our community. It's easier to do that before somebody's knocking on the door.”

So they reached out to the community development folks at the University of Minnesota Extension for help gathering facts they could use to guide these discussions.

What does the tool kit include?

The guide, which will be made available to the public Wednesday, includes sections on how data centers can impact energy and water usage, and how these impacts can be regulated at the local level to manage environmental impacts. It also includes guiding questions for city leaders to ask if they get an inquiry from big tech about a data center proposal as well as examples of how to address data centers in local code.

That’s why Greg Krushke attended the workshop. He's the community development manager for the city of Owatonna, and he’s in the midst of modernizing the city’s zoning and subdivision code that was developed back in the 1980s. He hopes the tool kit will help inform how they write the code and what is included in it.

He said it’s especially helpful to come together with peers at a workshop like this one to talk with one another and share experiences.

"What are they learning from others, and how can we be able to apply some of this and be able to use it to help ourselves and our neighbors?" Krushke said.

A regional approach

Andi Sutton, executive director of the Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership with University of Minnesota Extension, said she was thrilled that so many local government decision makers showed up for Friday’s workshop in Rochester.

Local data center decisions are not made in a vacuum, and she hopes the workshop, which has convened leaders from across the region, will spark these conversations early since the environmental impacts of data centers don’t stop at city borders.

That’s especially true in southeast Minnesota, which has a unique geologic landscape. It’s made of karst, a type of rock that’s very porous.

“It means that the way that water moves through our region is different from other parts of Minnesota,” Sutton explained. “We have sensitive aquifers. We have water that’s in use for agricultural purposes, for ecosystem purposes. So what one community does with the water that they have will very quickly and inevitably have an effect on another community.”

Sutton hopes this workshop jump starts these conversations and leads local planners to ask their neighbors questions as they weigh the pros and cons of data center proposals; questions like, “Who is my neighbor in terms of energy, water, infrastructure or roads?”

“All of these questions get pushed to their limits by data centers as a development opportunity,” Sutton said. “We're so grateful that we're able to help supply information as answers to some of those questions or even recommendations. These are important questions to ask very early and often of your peers, of your neighbors, of your citizens, so that you have all the information you need to move forward with a decision that suits your community as well as the region.”

Officials with the Minnesota State colleges and universities system are expected to vote Wednesday on a proposal to shift funding from some of its smaller colleges to help two universities that are struggling financially.

The plan would reallocate up to $25 million each year for the next four years to "financially challenged" institutions. Most of that amount — a total of up to $15 million each year — would go to two schools: St. Cloud State University and Bemidji State University.

The money would be shifted from the Minnesota State system's other institutions, with the majority coming from two-year colleges.

Leaders say the stopgap measure is needed to financially support St. Cloud State and Bemidji State, which have faced enrollment declines and structural deficits.

Drops in enrollment

At St. Cloud State, for example, the number of students has fallen by 40 percent over the past two decades to just under 10,000 this year. Both universities have already cut academic programs and reduced their workforce.

Minnesota State officials say it’s not unprecedented for the system to financially support its institutions. But it’s the first time the system is proposing to transfer funds from its smaller colleges to some of its largest universities, and at such a large scale.

"We are starting to see individual institutions' financial health weaken beyond an unacceptable point, where serving the students at those individual institutions is at jeopardy,” said Bill Maki, Minnesota State's vice chancellor for finance. “And those institutions have already made significant budget reductions, several rounds of them."

Maki said the funding shift is a temporary solution and not a perfect one. But he said the board needs to take action now while it works on a larger plan to realign the system.

“It’s intended to be for up to a four-year period, but knowing that Minnesota State is going to need to look different,” Maki said. “Because what we can’t do is create a situation where we’re creating more institutions that are having financial difficulties by supporting the ones that currently are.”

Minnesota State has a structural deficit of about $30 million, which is projected to grow to $100 million in two years if no action is taken. Chancellor Scott Olson said recently the system needs to "right size" itself, and that could mean closing some institutions or campuses.

Minnesota State leaders recently announced they plan to close the community and technical college campus in Detroit Lakes as soon as the summer of 2028.

Objections to the proposal

The proposed funding shift has met with some pushback. Two-year colleges have raised concerns about the impact on their bottom lines.

Kevin Lindstrom, president of the Minnesota State College Faculty, said his organization understands that some institutions occasionally need support from the entire system. But he questioned the amount of the transfer and whether it will be any help.

Lindstrom noted that up to $40 million could be transferred to St. Cloud State over the next four years, which he called “an extraordinary amount” that would have negative consequences for two-year colleges.

“It all seems to be done without the prospect or some sort of clear indication that it’s going to make a difference,’ he said.

Two-year colleges have had to make tough choices in recent years and tend to operate pretty efficiently on lean budgets, Lindstrom said. Some could carry the burden of the financial shift, but for others, it could be a problem, he said.

Lindstrom and others question whether it makes sense to keep supporting struggling universities when there's no sign that the current financial picture will change in the near future.

The financial challenges aren’t limited to Minnesota State higher education institutions. Colleges and universities across the U.S. are facing declining enrollment due in part to a shrinking number of college-age students, a problem known as the demographic cliff.

There’s also been a decline in people’s perceptions about the value of a college degree and whether it’s worth the cost of tuition in a changing job market.

Minnesota’s state colleges and universities have also faced rising costs and flat state funding that hasn’t kept up.

Minnesota State officials plan to continue working on realigning the system of 26 colleges and seven universities, which serves about 270,000 students. They will present options for restructuring to the board of trustees in January.

Maki said they likely will be asking the Legislature for additional one-time funding for the realignment plan, and to help some schools demolish old buildings to save on maintenance costs.

Eden Prairie school officials say additional security measures will be in place for the rest of the high school football season, following the shooting outside the stadium earlier this month that injured two people.

That extra security begins with Wednesday night’s football game against Eastview.

“We have been and will continue working to restore the collective sense of safety taken from us by the violent actions of a few. We are taking immediate, decisive action to ensure our schools and events remain safe spaces,” Eden Prairie Superintendent Josh Swanson said in a message to the school community.

Swanson said more police and security will be on hand, and there will be only two stadium entrances — both with metal detectors. There’s no re-entry, and no admission after halftime.

There’s also a ban on large bags and backpacks. And high school students who want to attend Wednesday’s game will need to show a valid student ID from either Eden Prairie or Eastview.

The school district has posted a complete list of stadium rules and policies on its website.

“By taking these steps and our ongoing attention to safety and security, I believe we can begin to re-establish the excitement and engagement at activities and events for our students, families, staff and community,” Swanson wrote. “When violence disrupts our feelings of safety, we believe it’s important to help our community return to a sense of normalcy — which we do through implementing strong plans, setting clear expectations and having consistent enforcement.”

School officials said the extra security will continue into the upcoming basketball season. The district said it’s prioritizing changes for football and basketball games because they draw the largest crowds — but said it’s also “continuing to review and update procedures for all events and activities.”

The district is also planning a community event to discuss the added safety measures; the date of that meeting has not been announced.

The heightened attention on security comes after the Oct. 2 fight and subsequent shooting outside the stadium that injured two people and prompted the evacuation of Eden Prairie’s homecoming game against Minnetonka.

Five people have been charged in that incident, including the suspected gunman — an 18-year-old Minneapolis man who is facing felony charges. Four other men, ages 18 to 20 and from across the Twin Cities metro area, are charged with third-degree riot — a gross misdemeanor. One of the men charged was one of the two people wounded in the shooting.

President Donald Trump endorsed former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race Monday night.

He voiced his support for Tafoya at a campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio, right after a xenophobic diatribe about Somali immigrants in Minnesota.

“We’re not going to stand for it,” he said. “You have to vote for Michele Tafoya, who's a very respected person.”

For Tafoya, the endorsement comes at a moment when she has aimed to paint herself as an independent voice.

“A senator should work for Minnesota, not party bosses, lobbyists, or even the president,” Tafoya said in a TV ad released last week. “I'm a pro-choice Republican. I'm not afraid to stand up to my party.”

Tafoya was asked Tuesday morning — as she released a plan to bolster public safety in the state — how she felt about Trump’s endorsement.

“I heard about that,” Tafoya said. “Look, this campaign is about bringing all Minnesotans together, whether they voted for President Trump or whether they voted for Kamala Harris, or whether they didn't vote at all.”

She was asked if the endorsement came as a surprise.

“Most of the things that the president says are a surprise to somebody,” she said.

The campaign of Tafoya’s DFL opponent, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, quickly publicized Trump’s endorsement of Tafoya, sending out a response soon after he announced it.

“Michele Tafoya spent all year auditioning for Donald Trump’s endorsement, and yesterday she got it. No wonder he calls her ‘very respected’— she’s in lockstep with him on everything,” Flanagan campaign spokesperson Lexi Byler said.

Tafoya spoke Tuesday about her plan to address crime, speaking alongside members of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.

She pointed to the recent arrest of an 18-year-old on allegations he was planning a mass shooting at the Mall of America and an unrelated shooting at a football game in Eden Prairie, both of which involved Somali teenagers, as she spoke about her public safety plan.

“We cannot live like this, and we don't have to,” she said. “All Minnesotans from all walks of life deserve quiet streets, safe schools and peaceful neighborhoods.”

Tafoya has been pressing the issue of fraud in government programs heavily during the campaign, but added, “Minnesota has a crime crisis as well.”

According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the overall crime rate in 2025 was the lowest in the last eight years. Violent crime has dropped below pre-pandemic levels.

Tafoya then said Flanagan has not done enough to address crime.

“She cannot even use the phrase ‘Somali gang violence’ because she is too extreme and too politically correct,” Tafoya said.

At the same time, Tafoya distanced herself from rhetoric Trump has used about the Somali community in recent weeks, saying it was “not appropriate.”

A day after a three-alarm fire destroyed a south Minneapolis store and damaged a neighboring building owned by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, occupants assessed the damage on Monday.

Abdullahi Omar said he was restocking the shelves of his store at 1300 E. Franklin Ave. on Sunday afternoon and had gone down to the basement when he heard his brother yelling. When he came back upstairs, he saw smoke rising from the north side of the building.

Omar said he grabbed a fire extinguisher, but the flames were already too high. He said that by the time fire crews arrived a short time later, flames had spread through the building. Omar and his brother evacuated the building safely.

“There is nothing I can do,” Omar said at the scene on Monday.

The fire hollowed out Omar’s business, Dollar Plus — and fire officials said the flames also reached the neighboring building. It’s owned by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, the federally recognized tribal entity that provides office space to the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Both offices serve urban tribal members and neighborhood residents needing food support, clothing and other goods. The building also houses archives of historical materials.

Jacque Wilson, the Bois Forte Urban Office coordinator, was inside with a group of elders who gather every Sunday to sew and bead. They were packing up for the day around 4 p.m. when Wilson said she smelled something burning.

“This kid comes banging on the door because the doors are always locked, and said, ‘There's a fire.’ So, we all ran out,” Wilson said.

All five people in the sewing group self-evacuated safely.

Wilson urged people to watch for notices from each office about where services will re-open.

“It’s not clear where any of us are going to be working,” Wilson said.

Amanda Linden has led the Fond du Lac Urban Office for the past 18 years. The office regularly hands out food, diapers, baby formula, socks and shoes to neighborhood residents. Those supplies were spared, but Linden had to turn away people seeking services.

“I’m wondering where I’m going to store that stuff to continue getting it to the people that need it,” Linden said.

With the electricity turned off, staff are planning to cook stored bison, walleye and venison at a community feast Thursday in the building’s parking lot.

Minneapolis fire officials said the investigation is ongoing and that the cause of the fire remained undetermined on Monday. They asked anyone who witnessed the fire to come forward with information.

The Minneapolis Fire Department said Sunday that crews who went inside the store to battle the flames found large amounts of stored items blocking the aisles, making it difficult to reach the fire. Shelving collapsed onto hose lines, and two firefighters were briefly blocked from leaving when more shelving fell. They were treated for minor injuries and were released the same day.

Lapsed insurance

Omar started the business as a dollar store and later renamed it Dollar Plus, selling household goods, beauty supplies and tobacco products. Omar bought the building five years ago. He said he carried insurance for the first three-and-a-half years — but let his insurance lapse after his premiums kept rising, and sales declined.

“My business goes down, down, down, down. Then, for that reason, I cancel my insurance,” Omar said.

Omar said he will likely rely on help from the Somali community and from Minnesotans more broadly, as he begins to recover.

Omar was on scene Monday working alongside a small team he’s hired to begin clearing debris from the sidewalk around the building.

Archives untouched by fire and water

Byron Lumbar, who handles security and building maintenance for the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, said the Fond du Lac side of the building took on heavy water and smoke damage, with parts of the roof still bulging with water from fire hoses, while the Bois Forte offices sustained smoke damage. Lumbar said Monday that the building was not yet safe to re-enter.

Lumbar said curriculum materials and archives of Wicoie Nandagikendan, an urban Indigenous language immersion program that operates out of a separate building on Lake Street, were untouched by fire or water damage.

Lumbar also said he believes the archives of The Circle, a Native American quarterly publication, were spared from water damage in the building’s basement because they were raised off the floor on wooden pallets. Robert Pilot, editor of The Circle, confirmed the archive had not been damaged.

The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay out $2 million to six people who claimed that police officers used excessive force against them in the unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd.

The plaintiffs are friends and family of the owners of a gas station that had been looted by rioters. On the night of May 30, 2020, they were standing watch at the station when they say Minneapolis police officers fired rubber projectiles at them.

The judgments, filed in court Monday, are not an admission of guilt by the city.

One of the officers named in the lawsuit, Justin Stetson, was also involved in another excessive force incident during the unrest. In 2023, Stetson was convicted of assaulting Jaleel Stallings after he surrendered to officers and was complying with officers’ demands.

Stallings later sued the city and received a $1.5 million settlement.