NewsCut

Hay disaster looms in drought-stricken North Dakota
We suspect that Minnesota and other regional farmers are about to organize a 'hay-lift' to the farmers of North Dakota, because from the sound of things, they're going to need it. A look at this week's U.S. Drought Monitor map reveals why. To the west of us, there's a real problem underway.
Maybe Brandon Rogers would've become a big star. Maybe not. We'll never know. He was trying to win the America's Got Talent competition and had advanced past the auditions, but was killed in a car crash in mid-June.
Video: A tornado up close
As tornadoes go these days, this one in eastern Iowa on Tuesday was comparatively small, but it still provided one of the better tornado videos we've ever seen.
Inside a sports team’s mascot
Of all the secrets that leak out on the planet on a daily basis, none is more well kept than the identity of sports mascots. So who'd like to reveal the true identity of TC Bear?
Dog rescue mission saved by a Stillwater officer with a love for pups
A couple on their way to Wisconsin to rescue dogs from slaughter in Korea ran out of luck when their SUV broke down in Stillwater. But then a community service officer gave them the keys to his vehicle, the Pioneer Press reports.
Politics wins the fight for the soul of the 7th inning stretch.
Baseball has been pushing hard for years to elevate 'God Bless America' to National Anthem status, specifically in a salute to veterans and soldiers. It's a nice sentiment and good business.
Breaking news: A big chunk of ice
A big chunk of ice broke off from Antarctica today and we're running out of ways to tell you how big it is.
Little has so defined the dysfunction of a state government with a budget surplus and its citizens indifference toward people with a mental health crisis, than Minnesota's refusal to fund a suicide hotline that's been operating for nearly 50 years. But the Minnesota Legislature didn't come up with any money, neither did any area foundations, and the stateline hotline will shut down on Friday. A national hotline will continue to be available, and so will some county-operated hotlines.
More than 14,000 people in British Columbia have fled their homes because of wildfires. Sally Aitken and her husband, Jack, of Vancouver, were at their summer home waiting things out when the power went out.