A collection of news and stories from around the state of Minnesota.
Among the Walz administration’s efforts, its proposed budget would allow the MPCA to beef up its enforcement of emissions standards – the lack of which, the agency says, often creates inequities.
The chaos in the South that drove up natural gas prices will significantly affect Minnesotans’ heating bills. Here’s what state lawmakers and regulators are looking to do about it.
The plan has the support of several industry groups, notably taconite mining, and some Minnesota cities. Many environmental groups and several tribal governments are lined up against it.
Even after Walz announced a relaxation of limits on in-person learning for middle and high schools in Minnesota, the state Senate moved to make sure he could never again have the ability to close classrooms in the first place.
Even as top lawmakers pledge to negotiate a compromise over funding for extra security for the trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the episode has highlighted the deep divisions between the state’s rural and urban areas.
Though the program — which allows those who invest in early-stage Minnesota businesses to claim a 25 percent tax credit — has been popular, it has come nowhere near its goals for boosting startups by nontraditional owners.
The idea is to entice law enforcement from other parts of Minnesota to help with security around the trial for the ex-Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd. But the plan has already faced opposition from legislative Republicans.
Companies that could quickly build out fiber optic internet have been squeezed out of areas covered by a federal grant to a company with limited resources and experience, something state funders said was necessary to avoid duplicate use of taxpayer money.
Gov. Tim Walz wants to authorize $150 million in bonds to help redevelop parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul. A GOP proposal, meanwhile, would bar any state disaster aid from paying for repairs to public infrastructure damaged in the riots.
Processing plant closures due to coronavirus forced farmers to euthanize hundreds of thousands of animals. Now, many of the biggest players in Minnesota agriculture are debating how to strengthen the food system.
So far, there have been a modest number of cases among the thousands of workers on the pipeline, though the full scope of the project’s impact on disease spread isn’t clear.
A partnership between DHS and the nonprofit Apple Tree Dental, the center’s clinics focus on serving children, families and seniors who cannot afford dental care and people with disabilities who need specialized facilities and expertise.
The President-elect has named Tom Vilsack to be secretary of agriculture and U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland to lead the Interior Department.
Five things that may have escaped your memory during a 2020 full of big things.
Relph in 2020 was named a legislator of the year by the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an award he called “the single-best honor that I’ve received.”
Should the state government subsidize competitors to a controversial winner of a federal broadband grant?
“I do really think it’s based on who we are and our health care culture,” said Rochester Mayor Kim Norton.
LTD Broadband’s CEO was confident the company could deliver on its big promises in Minnesota and other states. Others familiar with the challenges of wiring rural parts of the state were skeptical.
Environmental advocacy groups, health professionals and several tribal governments have asked the Walz administration to halt construction during the pandemic, touching off a debate over the safety of moving ahead with one of the state’s biggest construction projects.
