Lead tackle and loons

One of the biggest threats loons face is poisoning from swallowing lead sinkers, lures and jigs. Yet efforts to ban lead tackle in Minnesota have repeatedly failed and convincing anglers to voluntarily switch out their lead tackle for non-toxic alternatives has been a slow process.

In a video that’s gained national attention, a Rochester woman called a Somali American child a racial slur on a playground at a public park. Leaders of the Black and Somali American communities in Rochester are calling for legal action in the wake of the incident.