In the name of fraud prevention, state legislators last year passed a measure to stop the practice of outpatient treatment providers covering the housing costs of clients recovering from addiction. While it may have kept funds from being misspent, it’s also forcing people out of sober housing and onto the street, where relapse is much more likely.
Residents of East St. Paul have been fighting for years with Northern Iron and Machine, the company that operates a foundry off Phalen Blvd, which in 2024 was the leading industrial source of smog and lead pollution in Ramsey County. At the end of September the foundry shut down, and residents are celebrating, although much work remains to be done.
With midterm elections coming up, some voters are turning to AI to figure out who they should vote for. No word yet on whether AI has figured out how many b’s there are in “blueberry.”
If you were watching the Vikings pound the Dolphins into submission with field goals on Sunday, you might have been surprised to see a cavalcade of political ads for candidates in … Texas? You were not alone. Apparently, (clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas, there are so many media markets that buying local ads is more expensive than simply buying national ads on networks that also broadcast in Texas.
Trump drew the ire of beef ranchers when he announced his plan to import cheaper foreign beef, then tried to mollify them by issuing an executive order removing federal restrictions on wolf hunting. Turns out, though, that where farms overlap with wolf ranges in Minnesota, only 2% experience direct conflict with wolves and when they do, nonlethal measures work best.
We seem to mostly hear about taconite mining in Northern Minnesota, but in Lake County a company has found the motherlode — of helium. Refined helium is used for MRI machines, semiconductors, fiber optics, welding, aerospace and scientific research, and can be mined safely with minimal disruption to the environment. Side effects are limited to birds in the area singing higher.
And finally in your Minnesota news roundup: Police effecting a traffic stop in Meeker County were bamboozled by a suspect who gave a fake name before escaping into a cornfield. Steve Oachs, 52, exited the cornfield and was picked up by a friend. That car was then stopped by police and Oachs fled again into a cornfield. Not entirely clear if it was a different cornfield. Drones and a helicopter were unable to locate Oachs, who’s probably hanging out with Shoeless Joe Jackson.
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