Minnesota

With Walz officially the VP now, what things do we need to explain to those who only see MN as a flyover state? The DFL party? Duck, Duck, Grey Duck? Our pride in our confederate flag? Lutheran sushi? Hotdish? Talking about the ‘91 Halloween blizzard? Ice fishing?

A Eurasian eagle owl at the Minnesota Zoo flew away from its handler during a training exercise and landed in the tiger habitat, where it was killed by one of the big cats.

“Before staff could intervene, the tiger within that habitat preyed upon the owl,” said Zach Nugent, a Minnesota Zoo spokesman, in an email.

Officials at the zoo in Apple Valley confirmed that the death happened in April. It was written up in a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report in early July during a routine inspection.

After more than a quarter century of effort, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has protected a rare wetland with unusual geologic features as part of the state’s newest nature preserve.

The 25-acre Icelandite Coastal Fen Scientific and Natural Area, located 11 miles northeast of Grand Marais, preserves one of only two known fens on Lake Superior’s North Shore. A fen is a rare wetland fed by slow-moving groundwater, made up of a thick layer of peat.

“We don’t have anything like it protected in the state,” said Judy Elbert, SNA program supervisor for the Minnesota DNR. “The SNA is truly unique, for both its ecological and geological features.”

The site features a volcanic lava rock called icelandite, which is rare in the Midwest. It’s a lighter gray than the dark basalt more typically found on the North Shore. Both kinds of rock are about 1.1 billion years old.

Some of White Bear Lake’s history is at the bottom of the lake. Two underwater archaeologists are working to document it.

One of the nation’s strictest abortion laws will take effect in Iowa on Monday. Abortion care providers in Minnesota expect an increase in patients as another border state limits abortion access.

The Iowa law prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, when fetal cardiac activity can be detected but before many know they are pregnant. The only exceptions to the ban are in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the patient.

Previously, Iowa had permitted abortions until 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Heard what sounded like a massive flushing sound from the sky, turns out I was right.

When most immigrants arrived 120 years ago they rode a train from Duluth that crossed a wasteland of clear-cut hills, muskeg swamp, and logging slash. A millennial forest of white pines had just been felled and hauled away, leaving a complex system of undergrowth to scorch and rot in the blistering sun. Invasive whitetail deer foraged in the ruins, lucky heirs to the displaced elk, moose, bears and wolves.

Half those immigrants came from southern Europe, places like Italy and the Slavic regions of the Austrian Empire. Upon arrival, they experienced the coldest winters of their lives.

Settling in towns like Eveleth, Virginia, Chisholm and Hibbing, these immigrants went into the open pits and underground mines, probing their vocabularies for better words to describe desolation. At first, they were too broke to go home. Some did well and returned to the old country. Some did well and stayed. Many more stayed broke or died prematurely.

Reposting this image from r/Minnesota:.

A vote for Trump is a vote for the end of the BWCA as we know it; tailings and copper pollution from the mining would ruin the environment and be a drag on tourism.

https://canvas.fediverse.events/

Second flag:

Protest organizers say 11 people were arrested Monday outside UnitedHealthcare's headquarters in Minnetonka during an event spotlighting what critics say is a pattern of improper coverage denials by the nation's largest health insurer.

Protestors blocking a road were arrested by the Minnetonka Police Department, according to a news release from People's Action Institute, a consumer group that protested at UnitedHealth Group's Optum headquarters in Eden Prairie in April.

The link has a template and coordinates, if this is something that interests you!

A helium reservoir in northern Minnesota is likely to be "expansive both laterally and at depth," a new survey shows.

Seismic data from a 0.7-mile-long (1.1 kilometers) sweep just outside of Babbitt suggest the recently discovered reservoir is larger than initial estimates indicated, which has resource exploration company Pulsar Helium and its potential clients jumping for joy.

Recent tests also revealed helium concentrations underground are even higher than the "mind-boggling" results obtained in March, firmly establishing the project in Minnesota as a major player in the global helium market.

cross-posted from: https://fanaticus.social/post/3449848

Several laws passed in the 2024 legislative session took effect Monday, establishing new policies and funding sources for education, economic development and the environment.

The law, which took effect last year, says people with felony convictions regain the right to vote after they have completed any prison term.

Quinn ruled the law was unconstitutional in a pair of orders in which he sentenced two offenders to probation, but warned them they were not eligible to vote or to register to vote — even though the law says they were. It was an unusual step because nobody involved in those cases ever asked him to rule on the constitutionality of the law.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16997964

[PSA] Minnesota workers: there have been worker-friendly updates to Earned Sick and Safe Time

The new bill primarily clarifies rules that were a bit vague, but it also has new changes that will substantially improve life-work balance.

• ESST can be used in at least 15 minute increments and cannot be required to use more than four-hour increments
• Qualifying workers were expanded to people hired with an expectation of working 80 hours in a year, rather than actual hours worked. Some jobs still exempted
• ESST usage has expanded to bereavement
• ESST rules for use are expanded to all paid time off
• Employers that do not provide ESST must pay the worker for twice the amount they were supposed to get in ESST

Yes, she's the Republican candidate for this position.

A host of Minnesota environmental groups are calling out state agencies tasked with protecting public health and natural resources, alleging that regulators consistently cater to industrial interests.

People Not Polluters, a 16-member coalition, issued a June 11 declaration taking on Minnesota agencies. Citing examples from the Line 3 oil pipeline in northern Minnesota, to agriculture feedlots in the southeast and industrial sites like Smith Foundry in Minneapolis, People Not Polluters makes the case that Governor Tim Walz’s administration favors industry over the public.

“We see a pattern of polluting industries having undue influence over state agencies that are charged with protecting human health and the environment,” said Margaret Levin, state director of the Sierra Club’s North Star Chapter.

Many rural pride events in Minnesota have at some point faced pushback, or even threats. Over the weekend Cook County Pride in Grand Marais received a bomb threat.

Meanwhile, Itasca Pride in Grand Rapids is also facing pushback as they get ready for their first ever celebration this weekend. But despite that, rural pride events are still successful in Minnesota.

East Central Pride in Pine City, claims to be the first rural pride in the country, and celebrated with its 19th annual event at the beginning of June.

For the first two years of East Central Pride, chair Aaron Bombard said they more or less flew under the radar. Then in the third year, the community realized it was here to stay and there was some opposition.

“They had a pro-family picnic where they had Christian music groups kind of trying to oppose us,” Bombard said. “I kind of laugh at the idea — as if LGBT pride is not pro-family.”

On Tuesday evening Royce White, the Minnesota GOP-endorsed candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, posted a map to Twitter, now X, with the following caption: “Crime in Minneapolis…Out of control. Come on now. Refund the police! #Godspeed”

The sentiment was standard fare for a political party that often seeks to make crime a centerpiece of its election campaigns.

The map, on the other hand, didn’t show crime at all, but rather the locations of 195 public drinking fountains in the city.

It’s the latest in a long line of embarrassments for a candidate who has himself pled guilty to theft and disorderly conduct, endorsed conspiracy theories, denigrated women and LGBTQ people, described himself as an “antisemite,” fallen behind on child support, and played fast-and-loose with campaign finance laws.