Greater Minnesota

Winter Play: Dog sledding in southern Minnesota
As part of MPR News’ Winter Play series, reporter Catharine Richert spent the afternoon dog sledding near Cannon Falls. Her best advice? Don’t let go of the sled. 
New Warroad campus teaches robot maintenance as worker shortage continues
Northwestern Minnesota manufacturing companies are struggling with worker shortages. One solution is to invest in more automation technology. To help train the skilled workers needed to run that technology, Minnesota’s newest college campus is now open in Warroad.
Winter Play: Cruising snow-covered trails on a fat tire bike near Brainerd
The sport of winter fat tire biking is booming in popularity. It’s an accessible, low-cost and fun way to get outside in nature during the colder months — and we tried it.
Feds slap 20-year mining ban on land near Boundary Waters
The U.S. Department of the Interior issued a 20-year ban Thursday on new mining projects on 225,000 acres of federal land near the Boundary Waters, dealing a huge blow to the proposed Twin Metals mine near Ely, Minn.
Passerby alerts residents of burning Duluth home, shovels snow to douse flames
The Duluth Fire Department says a passerby who spotted a fire on the outside of a home Monday morning helped the building's residents escape — and then mostly extinguished the blaze by shoveling snow onto it.
Inside the world of cornhole playing with Minnesota's first professional player
Lexi Hugeback is Minnesota's first professional cornhole player, and according to her, cornhole isn't just a game where you throw a beanbag into a hole in a board — it's a game of the mind.
What a hoot! Houston, Minn., is a national hot spot for studying owls
Host Cathy Wurzer talked with Karla Bloem, executive director of the International Owl Center in Houston, Minn., where staff members teach visitors how to identify owls during small-group “owl prowls.”