Star Tribune
Minnesota colleges make efforts to drive student voter turnout
She sees much more engagement with the legislative contest than there was in 2022, and more interest in races up and down the ballot.
“I think everything feels really high stakes right now,” she said. “We watched 2016 happen and we watched, even down to the local levels, changes none of us would have expected.”
Now able to participate in a presidential election, many for the first time, Artley said her peers are eager to apply their years of political observation to participation.
Other students who plan to vote in their hometowns are focused on local races. At St. Cloud State, art education major Erika Johnson said her classes have been talking a lot about how school board races will impact their future jobs. Johnson said school funding is one of her top issues this year, and she’s looking forward to voting in a school board race in her hometown of Buffalo.
Chapp said he sees student voters are tuned into politics, but not fans of any politician in the way millennial voters latched onto former President Barack Obama’s candidacy in 2008.
“I think they care deeply and are deeply interested but they’re deeply exhausted,” Chapp said of today’s students. “The attitude among a lot of students is they’re engaged, they’re going to run out to vote,” he said, but they may not be engaged beyond that because they consider politics polarizing and exhausting. “They need to compartmentalize politics.”
Star Tribune
The Great Halloween potential snow accumulation of 2024 is upon us
In Minnesota, the real “October surprise” will always be the weather.
We started the week in shorts, crunching through the last of the autumn leaves, basking in temperatures that soared into the 70s. We knew it wouldn’t last. The forecast told us it wouldn’t last. The storm clouds gathering on the horizon told us it wouldn’t last.
It didn’t last. Wednesday’s chilly rains hint at snow in the forecast for Halloween. Forget the Blizzard of ‘91 and start layering your costumes for the Potential Accumulation of ‘24.
At the National Weather Service’s Twin Cities office, meteorologists have tracked this year’s wild weather gyrations, from weirdly snowless winter to soggy spring to stormy summer to a long, warm autumn drought. Whatever the weather, Minnesota seemed to get too much of it or not enough. Now, surprisingly, central Minnesota is looking at the possibility of this year’s first and last October snowfall.
“We’ll have snow mixed in with rain early Thursday morning,” said meteorologist Jacob Beitlich. “But as you go through the morning, there’s going to be a narrow band of heavy snow that’s going to develop.”
Northeast and central Minnesota into northwest Wisconsin are most likely to see that heavy snow land on their jack-o’-lantern, Beitlich said. Unlike last Halloween’s snowstorm, the ground should be warm enough to keep the snow from turning the Thursday commute into a complete mess.
“Most folks will have a wet driveway in the morning, but there will be some of us that will see snow that will be heavy at times in the morning,” he said.
By the time any trick-or-treaters hit the streets in the evening, the snow will probably be gone, but it will be a raw, damp and blustery night. Temperatures will drop into the 30s, the winds will pick up and plenty of Minnesotans will take a page from the 1991 playbook and layer those costumes. Pirate costume too drafty? Cut some eyeholes in a blanket – boom, you’re a pirate ghost. Already planning to trick-or-treat as a ghost? Throw a parka over your sheet – now you’re the ghost of an arctic explorer.
Star Tribune
How a Wisconsin pizzeria’s error led dozens to eat pizza made with cannabis oil
The total number of people who were hospitalized as a result of the contaminated pizza and the extent of the injuries were not immediately clear. The health department did not immediately respond to a question seeking that information. But the department said it had “received dozens of reports” from people feeling affected and alluded to multiple people having been sent to the hospital.
“Possible THC-related symptoms include dizziness, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia, hallucinations, short term memory impacts, time distortion, and sleepiness,” the department said. “Keep in mind each person’s reaction may be different, and the concentration of THC in the pizza can vary by piece.”
The comments on Famous Yeti’s social media posts were overwhelmingly positive. Many people expressed appreciation for the business’ openness about its mistake and expression of regret. A few customers also — possibly in jest — saw the news as even more reason to patronize the restaurant.
“When i come and I wink twice,” one commenter wrote, “I want that pizza alright lol.”
Star Tribune
Friends testify about Madeline Kingsbury’s abuse in Adam Fravel trial
DuBois also told the court about a talk she had with Kingsbury in mid-March 2023, a few weeks before Kingsbury went missing. Kingsbury had planned to leave Fravel by then, but she told DuBois that Fravel had said “she would not be leaving with his kids,” according to DuBois.
In a meeting at a hotel near Mayo around the same time, DuBois said she noticed a reddish mark around Kingsbury’s neck. DuBois asked Kingsbury if there was anything Kingsbury needed and later provided her with some concealer so others wouldn’t notice.
“(Kingsbury) said she was figuring out a plan so that it didn’t happen again,” DuBois said.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Zach Bauer pointed out that DuBois, Scott and Kolka all became familiar with each other after Kingsbury’s disappearance, implying their conversations about the case may have led them to become biased against Fravel.
Bauer challenged Kolka on how she stored items she took from Kingsbury’s house in April 2023, when Kingsbury was still considered missing. Kolka turned over to law enforcement bedsheets that came from Kingsbury’s house after Kingsbury’s body was found in June 2023, but Bauer pointed out those items, as well as other evidence law enforcement examined at Kolka’s house, wasn’t properly secured.
“Anybody could have come through the house at that time,” he said during questions.