Greater Minnesota

Duluth's city-run Spirit Mountain ski area at financial crossroads
Spirit Mountain is at a financial crossroads. Over the past few years, Duluth’s City Council has had to bail out the ski area twice in order to keep it afloat. Now a task force is coming up with recommendations for how to make the ski hill sustainable moving forward.
Spruce top thieves: How demand for a north woods cash crop is sparking an illicit trade
A lot of the raw material that’s used to make holiday decorations — from Christmas wreaths and garlands to potted evergreen arrangements — comes from Minnesota’s north woods, where there's a thriving cottage industry of harvesters and distributors. But as the market has grown, so has the opportunity for spruce thieves looking to make a quick buck. 
CentraCare to make Sauk Centre a COVID-19 hospital
Central Minnesota’s largest health care provider announced Thursday it will designate its hospital in Sauk Centre to care exclusively for patients with COVID-19.
Majority of MPCA advisory group resigns in protest of agency’s Line 3 decision
Twelve out of 17 members of an environmental justice group that advises the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency have resigned in protest of the agency’s decision last week to grant a key water quality permit to the controversial Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project. 
9 injured in fiery pileup crash during snow squall on Interstate 94
A fiery pileup crash involving nearly 30 vehicles along Interstate 94 in central Minnesota on Thursday morning sent nine people to local hospitals and closed a stretch of the freeway for hours.
CentraCare hospitals feeling strain of COVID-19 surge in central Minn.
Almost a quarter of the patients at St. Cloud Hospital have COVID-19, and the intensive care units at CentraCare hospitals are nearly full, with more than half of those cases related to the virus.
How a backyard chicken flock and a wild turkey taught a family about unity during a week of division
This year’s tumultuous election and the country’s growing division have led some people to worry that their relationships with friends and family members on opposite sides of partisan lines may never recover. One Minnesota family thinks the country could learn an important lesson from their backyard chicken flock.
COVID-19 forces some poll workers home during Election Day, as others take their place
The COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on almost every aspect of this year’s election — including who’s staffing polling places. Across the state, younger people are filling in for older election workers who are staying home because of the coronavirus.
Biden, Trump hold dueling rallies in Minnesota
Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump breezed through Minnesota, speaking to rallies capped by coronavirus restrictions before heading to their next stops. Neither is due back before Tuesday’s election.