News

A group of local media members, along with an NDSU professor, gathered together on the campus of NDSU Thursday afternoon, April 26, to tackle the subject of "fake news." Ross Torgerson / Forum News Service

ST. PAUL — Safer schools, better protections for vulnerable adults, reining in a flood of opioid prescriptions — these were all big priorities for the Minnesota Legislature when it convened in February. So what do noxious weed inspectors, licensing for hair braiders and...

news 13 min 18 sec ago

Audit finds Minnesota preschool programs ‘complex and fragmented’

ST. PAUL—Minnesota does a lot to prepare children for elementary school, but its often tough for families to find the right program, leaving some children without the head start they need to succeed. Those are the findings of an analysis of Minnesota's early learning programs...

news/education 1 hour 40 min ago

A CRJ-200 lands on the runway at the Bemidji Regional Airport. (Pioneer file photo)

Groups hope Bemidji takes flight: New council forming to promote, develop aviation

BEMIDJI—With the goal of expanding business capabilities, the Bemidji Regional Airport Authority and Greater Bemidji Economic Development...

news 2 hours 4 min ago

Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt said on Wednesday, April 25, 2018, he is" hopeful " a deal can be reached at least to expand background checks before gun purchases. On Thursday, he said that he did not mean gun-control legislation will advance. (Don Davis / Forum News Service)

Daudt said he was misunderstood: Still opposes gun control

ST. PAUL—What we have here is a failure to communicate. That is what Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt said on Thursday, April 26, about...

news 2 hours 27 min ago

Local agencies to participate in Drug Takeback Day

BEMIDJI—Multiple area agencies will take part in National Prescription Drug Takeback Day on Saturday. According to U.S. Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration website, the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force, the Leech Lake Tribal Police Department and the Red Lake...

news 3 hours 33 sec ago

An explosion and fire rocked the Husky Energy refinery and Superior just before 10 a.m. Thursday, April 26, shaking buildings up to a mile away. Photo by Mark Androsky.

Refinery blast injures at least 11; fire still burning as evacuation continues

SUPERIOR, Wis. — A series of explosions and fires rocked the Husky Energy oil refinery in Superior on Thursday, April 26, sending a black plume...

news/fires 3 hours 1 min ago

A close-up photo of police lights by night

3 charged in incident at protest camp near Cloquet

CLOQUET, Minn. — Three people face charges after a disturbance at an anti-pipeline encampment on the Fond du Lac Reservation led to a scuffle...

news 3 hours 2 min ago

Complaint: Minnesota utility worker filmed kids using toilet

ALEXANDRIA, Minn.—Fourth-grade students and adults were filmed using a toilet during the 2016 Douglas County Groundwater Festival, in Alexandria, Minn. Alexandria Light and Power Utilities' former water treatment plant superintendent is facing criminal charges in connection...

news/crime-and-courts 3 hours 58 min ago

$Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, testifies before the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 26, 2018. Pruitt began the first of two appearances before congressional panels on Thursday, in what is expected to be a daylong grilling over recent allegations of ethical infractions and lavish spending. (Pete Marovich/The New York Times/Copyright 2018)$

EPA's Pruitt admits role in aide's pay raise but calls attacks on him politically motivated

WASHINGTON - Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt was unapologetic about his leadership during the first of two Capitol...

news/government-and-politics 5 hours 13 min ago