Temperatures hit record highs this weekend, reaching the low 50s in the Twin Cities area Friday and Saturday. At the Landscape Arboretum, staff took advantage of the weather to start tapping maple trees Friday.
Officials at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin say they’re planning to open foot access to the famed ice caves near Cornucopia starting Monday if ice conditions on the lake remain stable.
The U.S. military is reporting a series of strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria. The strikes were carried out in retaliation of the December ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter.
U.S. courts have found at least 4,400 cases since October in which judges ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained people unlawfully, but the administration has largely continued its immigration enforcement and kept many detainees in custody despite those rulings.
Drone strikes killed one person in Ukraine and another in Russia on Saturday ahead of fresh U.S.-brokered peace talks. Ukrainian officials said Saturday a Russian drone hit a residential building in Odesa and killed an older woman.
A shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has gone into effect. That includes the Transportation Security Administration, whose officers are responsible for screening passengers and bags at airports.
Medical providers are increasingly concerned that some of their rural patients who need to drive long distances to see specialists are missing appointments because they fear being picked up by federal immigration agents.
Makkah Abdur Salaam of Black Garnet Books in St. Paul recommends “Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis,” edited by Kelly Hayes.
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