Here's the latest news from across the state to start your day. ☕
WEATHER
🌧️ There is a slight chance of light freezing drizzle and a dusting of snow early Monday morning. Fog is possible Monday night into Tuesday morning.
⛄ A white Christmas is still on track, despite the melting that will take place before Wednesday. Areas that received more than a couple of inches from last Thursday's system will still have snow on the ground by Christmas morning.
A bare, even temporary, Minnesota House majority would give Republicans power to do a lot. They could investigate the administration of Gov. Tim Walz, move bills to the floor to put squeamish rivals on the record and start to set the session agenda in a budget year. It's all a possibility because a judge ruled Friday that a DFL candidate elected in November is ineligible to take the oath.
In early 2005, when PolyMet Mining first submitted its plans to the state to build what would be Minnesota’s first mine for copper and nickel, company officials were optimistic it could be built quickly. Now, 20 years later, the controversial mine in northeast Minnesota still hasn’t opened. It hasn’t even begun construction, because three key permits it needs to advance — approvals state and federal agencies granted more than five years ago — have since been revoked or suspended.
What do state flags, an heirloom rifle and Dragon Divas have in common? They’re all in stories our reporters recommend you revisit in a review of the news from 2024. We asked MPR News reporters what stories they consider their most memorable and worth listening to and reading about as we close out 2024.
NEWS ROUNDUP
🚙 Cars covered in Christmas lights are fun, but police say please don’t drive them. Elaborate car-light displays have turned up on busy avenues, parking lots and rural highways across Minnesota this season. While it can be a visual treat, police say it’s a safety hazard if you’re driving with them on.
👩🏻⚖️ Minneapolis softens law on obstructing abortion clinics in response to free-speech lawsuit. The City Council this month quietly amended the ordinance to exclude constitutionally protected activities and agreed to pay the plaintiffs' legal fees. Minneapolis was the only city the state with such a rule.
🎧Expert calls spread of bird flu to Midwest a ‘wait-and-see’ situation. A farm worker in Barron, Wis., is recovering after being infected with bird flu. The woman is the first person identified with the illness in that state, and Wisconsin public health officials are monitoring another 17 people who have been exposed. Minnesota epidemiologist Michael Osterholm called it a “wait-and-see situation.”
🎧 For a Wiccan reverend, celebrating winter solstice is about reflection and light. This yearly phenomenon isn’t just one of scientific marvel; it’s religious for many, too. Wiccan Rev. Penny Mixhau observes the day by finding ways to celebrate the light.
