This from Stribber Mike Hughlett, “Xcel Energy is working on a third large data center development in Minnesota, though this one — unlike the other two — wouldn’t necessarily be in Becker. If all three data centers come to fruition, more than $2 billion would be invested in Minnesota and thousands of construction jobs would be created. The latest data center proposal would entail an outlay of at least $700 million by a Fortune 100 company, Xcel said in a filing this week with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The data center would create 1,000 construction jobs and at least 50 full-time jobs.”
For the BBC Heidi Brandes writes, “Did Vikings find their way to a remote part of Oklahoma? Some in a small community believe so, thanks to controversial runic carvings found in the area. ‘[Farley] spent the majority of her adult life researching the stone,’ said Amanda Garcia, Heavener Runestone Park manager. ‘She travelled all around the US, went to Egypt and went to different places looking at different markings.’ Faith Rogers, an environmental-science intern and volunteer at the Heavener Runestone Park, led me down a cobblestone path toward one of the 55-acre woodland’s biggest attractions – which is also one of the US’ biggest historical mysteries. We were deep in the rolling, scrub-forest foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in far eastern Oklahoma, and we were on our way to view a slab of ancient sandstone that still has experts scratching their heads and debating about the eight symbols engraved on its face. Some believe that these cryptic inscriptions are runes (ancient alphabetical characters) carved into the towering stone circa 1000 CE by Norse explorers who traveled up the Arkansas River to this remote part of landlocked America.”
Says Dan Kraker for MPR News, “Researchers studying wolves in far northern Minnesota have released rare footage of a mountain lion recorded last month. The video shows a large cougar walking down a dirt road on state land about 10 miles south of Voyageurs National Park. Tom Gable, who leads the Voyageurs Wolf Project, said crews discovered the footage this week after they swapped out memory cards in trail cameras as part of their work to wrap up their research season.”
Also in the Strib, this from Stephen Montemayor, “A federal takedown of a half-billion-dollar national catalytic converter theft ring included more than a dozen search warrant operations this week in Minnesota, federal authorities confirmed Thursday. Homeland Security Investigations St. Paul said eight of the more than 32 search warrants executed nationwide this week took place in Minnesota. The Justice Department this week announced indictments related to the probe in California and Oklahoma, and said the investigation included coordinated arrests, searches and seizures in Minnesota and eight other states. … None of the 22 people charged so far are from Minnesota, and no federal arrests were made in the state related to the case this week.”
This at ValleyNewsLive.com: “Valley News Live has obtained an incident report about what led Moorhead police to be at Minnesota state Senate candidate Dan Bohmer’s house for over 40 minutes Wednesday night. The police report says officers were called to Bohmer’s Moorhead home during a child exchange with his ex-wife. The woman said her court-ordered parenting time started at 7:00 p.m., but accused Bohmer of trying to convince the child not to go with her. … A political ad was recently released by the Minnesota DFL, and it references Bohmer’s relationship with his ex-wife. Bohmer has said the ad is ‘full of lies.’ To see Bohmer’s response to the ad, click here.”
A KSTP-TV story says, “Respiratory illnesses continue to circulate throughout Minnesota, leading to another increase in hospitalizations over the past week. The Minnesota Department of Health’s latest report shows another increase in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases and hospitalizations, which have already been high for a few weeks. Last week, nearly 160 Minnesotans were hospitalized with RSV cases in the Twin Cities metro area, and around 110 of those were kids 1 year of age and younger. Just over 120 RSV hospitalizations were recorded each of the prior two weeks, per MDH’s report.”
For Patch.com William Bornhoft says, “As the country’s top opponent of gun control, the National Rifle Association is one of the most divisive political organizations in the country. Some candidates for office seek out the NRA’s endorsement, while others wear their ‘F’ rating from the NRA as a badge of honor. The NRA has made a number of endorsements in Minnesota races ahead of Election Day on Tuesday. Below are Minnesota’s NRA-endorsed statewide and congressional candidates: U.S. House Races
- 1st District — Republican Brad Finstad
- 2nd District — Republican Tyler Kistner
- 6th District — Republican Tom Emmer
- 7th District — Republican Michelle Fischbach
- 8th District — Republican Pete Stauber.”
A Bring Me The News story says, “Wright County resident Katrina Frank and her family are mourning their beloved dog Jakey, who Frank alleges was harmed during an Amazon delivery at their home last month. According to Frank, Jakey – a Rottweiler – and the family’s other dogs were outside their home near Buffalo on Oct. 16 when an unexpected Amazon delivery arrived. In a Facebook post, Frank said the dogs ‘went over to say hi’ and a woman who’d exited the passenger seat of the vehicle started screaming, prompting the male driver to get out of the car. Frank alleges the man ‘ran around to the passenger side, started throwing rocks at the dogs, and kicked and attempted to punch Jake,’ she wrote.”