Here's the latest news from across the state to start your day.
WEATHER
☀️ We’ll have sunshine and afternoon highs in the low to mid-70s across the state. Those readings are 5 to 15 degrees cooler than normal for what should be hottest time of year.
🌧️ Clouds increase Friday and temperatures will again be in the 70s. The next disturbance will bring showers to northern Minnesota during the day with showers moving south and east Friday evening into the overnight.
😎 That activity should clear most of the state by Saturday morning. The weekend is looking pretty nice with near-normal temperatures and sunshine Saturday afternoon and Sunday with mainly dry weather.
State Sen. Nicole Mitchell could take the stand in her own defense as her criminal trial continues Thursday. Legal experts say it’s a risk that may be worth taking as she faces two felony charges of burglary for allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home in April of 2024.
The defense lawyer for a man accused of killing the top Democratic leader in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding another lawmaker and his wife, says he plans to plead not guilty.
NEWS ROUNDUP
🔍 FBI raids 5 Twin Cities businesses in Medicaid fraud probe. FBI agents on Wednesday raided five Twin Cities businesses and two homes as part of an investigation into Medicaid housing assistance fraud. “Minnesota has a fraud problem—and not a small one,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said.
🌽 Minnesota Farmfest leader, innovator and founding father dies at 88. Marlyn Buss, considered the founding father of Minnesota Farmfest, restarted and expanded the annual farm exhibition, turning it into a place when rural Minnesotans could come together to make connections and discuss agricultural policy.
🏛️ Senate approves cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid programs. The Senate voted to approve a $9 billion rescission package aimed at clawing back money already allocated for public radio and television. The Senate's approval tees up a final showdown in the House, which approved an earlier version last month.
💰 Gophers will 'pay for play' under new college athlete revenue-sharing settlement. The football program is usually a revenue producer for the university. This year, however, the athletic department is looking at a $8.7 million budget shortfall as colleges start to pay some athletes after a recent settlement with the NCAA.
🚴 National bike race puts Minnesota’s gravel roads on display. The 2025 USA Cycling Gravel National Championships will take place in La Crescent in the southeastern corner of Minnesota on Sept. 20. It will mark the first time the series of races on gravel roads will be held in the state.
MUST LISTEN
🎧Minnesota school districts brace for federal Education Department cuts. Since the U.S. Department of Education was founded in 1979, people have tried to dismantle it. This week, the Trump Administration got the OK to do so from the Supreme Court. What does this mean for Minnesota schools and students?
🎧Remembering Melvin Giles, Rondo's "bubble man." Giles held many titles over the years: Co-leader of the Urban Farm and Garden Alliance, former director of the Catholic Charities Frogtown Center, community faculty member at Bethel University and a respected elder in Rondo’s Black community.
🎧 Art Hounds: Shakespeare, music and pottery — all outdoors. Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. This week they recommend music in a gazebo, Shakespeare in a pub and pottery in Hutchinson.
