Greater Minnesota

The risk of spring flooding in the Red River Valley has been reduced slightly because of limited precipitation in the last few weeks, although National Weather Service forecasters said Thursday there's still a lot of moisture in the system.

For many Minnesotans, winter presents a welcome break from yard work. But for some in Duluth, when the ground freezes, the work begins: on a backyard hockey rink.

“People that work in these buildings are totally devastated. They don't know what to do,” one downtown merchant said. No injuries were reported. The fire remains under investigation.

A city building dubbed Sandbag Central will soon be open for business as Fargo leaders prepare for spring flooding along the Red River.

A pile of junked cars at the metal recycling plant in the central Minnesota city burned for most of last week as more than 100 fire departments helped fight the fire. As of Saturday, it was finally out. But, for the people of Becker and towns downwind from the blaze, questions of air and water safety remain. MPR News reporter Kirsti Marohn, who has been covering the story from the beginning, will join Angela in the studio to talk about the incident and what’s next.

St. Cloud will recover from the loss of an iconic building with a colorful history dating back more than a century, the city’s mayor says.

Heavy snow and thin ice nearly shut down this year’s ice fishing season across much of northern Minnesota. Now, resort owners are hoping for state loans to recover from what they’re calling a natural disaster. Lake Winnibigoshish seemed to get the worst of it.

Young, healthy Amish children were dying unexpectedly across the country. It took Mayo researchers more than a decade to figure out why — and now, they’re trying to find a treatment.

A Duluth-based public television station has agreed to purchase KUMD, the public radio station the University of Minnesota-Duluth has owned and operated for 63 years.

The area has seen below-average precipitation in the last four weeks and the forecast is favorable for at least the next two weeks. However, it has done little to change the rankings for one of the wettest fall and winter seasons on record, National Weather Service officials said.