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As Minnesota school absences climb, lawmakers focus on possible policy fixes
Legislators spent months quizzing students, advocates and school leaders on Minnesota’s high rates of absenteeism. They’re eyeing systemic changes to get students back into classrooms. 
Minneapolis poet laureate Heid E. Erdrich presents official poem to the city
Heid E. Erdrich was honored at the Minneapolis American Indian Center on Thursday for her time as poet laureate. She presented her community-inspired poem, “Poem for Minneapolis/Bde Óta Othúŋwe/Gakaabikaang,” to the city at the event. 
Stretches of Interstates 94, 494 to close this weekend in Twin Cities
Drivers traveling on Twin Cities freeways this weekend may encounter detours. Interstate 94 will be closed east of downtown St. Paul so crews can remove a bridge, and sections of Interstate 494 will be closed in Bloomington and Richfield.
Minneapolis City Council fails to override veto on labor standards board
The board would have been made up of equal numbers of representatives for employers, employees and community members and would have advised the council on labor policies. The council’s initial vote on the board had been by a 9 to 3 vote, but it could not get the eight votes needed to override the veto on Thursday.
Photos: For St. Paul’s homeless, 12 hours of emergency warmth at the law enforcement center
As winds howled and temperatures crashed, Ramsey County opened the lobby of its St. Paul law enforcement center overnight Wednesday into Thursday for unsheltered people to escape the bitter cold. MPR News spoke to some of those who needed a warm place to stay.