Blizzard warnings in Northwest Minnesota, winter weather advisories across the state

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(AP)  CenterPoint Energy planned a big push on
Friday to finish restoring natural gas service to this central
Minnesota town, where residents spent a chilly night without their
main source of heat.
     

 As of 8 a.m. Friday, crews had restored service to about 3,200
of the 5,500 homes and businesses affected by the shutdown in the
town of 15,000 people.

      CenterPoint spokesman Rolf Lund said crews continued to make
progress Friday and hoped to have gas fully restored by the end of
Friday.

      Lund said over 150 workers were restoring service that was shut
off Thursday after a problem developed during maintenance. Work was
progressing faster than officials had originally predicted.

      By Friday morning, all schools, hospitals and nursing homes had
their service restored, CenterPoint said. Schools held classes as
usual on Friday.

      Lows overnight dipped into the mid-30s in Buffalo, but no one
used the shelter that the American Red Cross staffed at the Buffalo
Community Middle School.

      Buffalo Police Chief Mitch Weinzetl said the temperature drops
weren't dramatic enough to force people out of their homes. "Homes
could lose about 20 degrees over the next 24 hours and still be
habitable," he said on Thursday.

      Al Frost had a Thursday afternoon lunch at BJ's Deli before
heading home to his condo for the night. He wasn't too worried
about the prospect of one night without heat.

      "I'll throw extra blankets on the bed and crawl under the
covers, the retired principal said. He also said he has an electric
heater if he needs to use it.

      Many residents said they were just glad that the gas was turned
off on a day in fall instead of two or three months later.

      "If we were dealing with wind chills and the ground was cold,
that would be one thing," said Lee Ann Goerss, after she picked
her 4th grade daughter, Madeline, up from school. "But it's
October."


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Business and Economic News

CenterPoint Energy is working to restore natural gas to thousands of customers near Buffalo, Minn. The utility shut off service yesterday because of a problem with its delivery system.

CenterPoint working to restore heat to homes in Buffalo

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