Star Tribune
Loons are Minnesota’s new icon, but they’re wintering in Florida
As the common loon is immortalized as the new emblem of Minnesota, the roughly 12,000 birds counted in the state’s population aren’t here to celebrate. They’ve gone fishing in the bath tub-warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The icons of the North Woods spend about half their lives in the Deep South, but there are reasons why they are more beloved here than down off the Florida coasts.
To start, the birds change their colors so much during their southern months they can be hard to recognize. They lose their striking black-on-white plumage, which turns into more of a dull gray in the winter. Their deep red eyes turn brown. Even their beaks change from a midnight black to light gray.
Loons can also be difficult to spot during their migration. In the fall they start to mass up on some of Minnesota’s deepest and clearest lakes, rafting together by the hundreds to chase cisco and other fatty fish. Then they tend to fly to the middle of Lake Michigan, far out of sight, where they spend a few weeks packing on energy by hunting feeder fish and invasive round gobies, according to studies the U.S. Geological Survey.
Once in Florida, they stay mostly quiet with no need to call for mates or fight for nesting territory. There are no young for the parents to carry on their backs. There are no small lakes that they have made their own. And even though they can dot Florida’s shorelines and bays by the thousands, without their colors or distinctive calls, they can be hard to differentiate from the millions of other birds that shelter and winter in the south.
Loons have been relatively successful finding a mate and rearing their young in Minnesota since the 1990s. Annual surveys show that the population has stayed right around 12,000 over that time. But there are warning signs, said Krista Larson, a nongame research biologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
The surveys show about 0.5% drop each year in the number of chicks seen over the last 30 years, Larson said.
“That’s a small decline — there are no alarm bells yet,” she said. “But it’s still a decline. We have to stay tuned to see if that juvenile recruitment piece might be dipping.”
Come March and April, adult loons will get their colors back. The radar in their brains will kick on and the individual birds, which can live for 30 years, will find their home lake in Minnesota, returning to the same one out of 10,000-plus year after year. There, after six months of silence, they will let out their ancient mournful call.
“The basic rule in Minnesota is you cannot preemptively post law enforcement at a polling place,” he said. “A city can’t say, ‘Wow, Precinct Two, there’s a lot of intensity there, let’s just put a cop at the door.’”
Simon doesn’t go deep into the details on security, though. “I don’t want to give a total road map to the bad guys,” he said.
But testimony at the Capitol last year on behalf of the new law bolstering protections for election and polling place workers indicated there’s room for concern. One election worker was followed to her car by an angry voter; the head of elections in another county was called repeatedly on her home phone during off hours, and an official was lunged at by an aggrieved voter, forcing her to call the local sheriff.
Those who violate the law could now face civil damages and penalties of up to $1,000 for each violation.
The Brennan Center survey indicated more than four in 10 election leaders were concerned about recruiting enough poll workers due to threats of harassment and intimidation. This includes doxing — publishing a person’s personal information online in a threatening manner — and swatting, fake emergency calls that result in an armed response being sent to someone’s home.
“Election officials are working to prepare for everything right now,” said Liz Howard, director of partnership engagement at the Brennan Center. “More than 90% of election officials have made improvements to election security since 2020.”
Star Tribune
Daylight saving time ends next weekend. This is how to prepare for the potential health effects
The good news: You will get a glorious extra hour of sleep. The bad: It’ll be dark as a pocket by late afternoon for the next few months in the U.S.
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time next Sunday, Nov. 3, which means you should set your clock back an hour before you go to bed. Standard time will last until March 9 when we will again ”spring forward” with the return of daylight saving time.
That spring time change can be tougher on your body. Darker mornings and lighter evenings can knock your internal body clock out of whack, making it harder to fall asleep on time for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.
”Fall back” should be easier. But it still may take a while to adjust your sleep habits, not to mention the downsides of leaving work in the dark or trying exercise while there’s still enough light. Some people with seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression usually linked to the shorter days and less sunlight of fall and winter, may struggle, too.
Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun — and human biology.
Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do — mostly in Europe and North America — the date that clocks are changed varies.
Two states — Arizona and Hawaii — don’t change and stay on standard time.
Here’s what to know about the twice yearly ritual.
Star Tribune
Harris and Walz will visit all the battleground states in the campaign’s closing stretch
WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will crisscross the United States to visit all seven battleground states in the coming days, part of a final blitz before the Nov. 5 election.
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, will spend Sunday in Philadelphia, attending church services in the morning and visiting a barbershop. The vice president also plans to stop at a Puerto Rican restaurant and a youth basketball facility.
On Monday, Walz, the Minnesota’s governor who is Harris’ running mate, will campaign in Manitowoc and Waukesha, Wisconsin, before a joining Harris for a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the singer Maggie Rogers is scheduled to perform.
Harris will be in the nation’s capital on Tuesday to deliver what her campaign calls her ”closing argument” in a speech from the Ellipse, a grassy space adjacent to the National Mall. It’s the same place where then-President Donald Trump spoke on Jan. 6, 2021, when the Republican called on his supporters to march on the Capitol.
Walz is scheduled to campaign Tuesday in Savannah and Columbus in Georgia.
Harris plans to visit North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Wednesday. The event in Madison, Wisconsin, is expected to feature musical performances by Mumford & Sons and others.
Walz willbe in Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina, that day.
On Thursday, Harris will be in Nevada for rallies in Reno and Las Vegas, and in Phoenix. The band Maná will perform in Las Vegas and Los Tigres del Norte will perform in Phoenix.
Kamala Harris says her first priority as president is to “stop this pain” resulting from abortion bans
CBS News Harris-Trump poll has closer look inside gender gap as Trump, Harris draw even
How Minnesota is recruiting poll workers in a divisive presidential election
Kamala Harris says her first priority as president is to “stop this pain” resulting from abortion bans
CBS News Harris-Trump poll has closer look inside gender gap as Trump, Harris draw even