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Northern Lights visible from Minnesota Thursday night
With an 80%- to 90%-chance the skies will stay clear overnight, KARE Meteorologist John Zeigler said Minnesotans should get a glimpse of the aurora after 11 p.m.
MINNEAPOLIS — What better way to ring in the holiday season than with a festival of Northern Lights?
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, the sky-high spectacle should be visible in Minnesota Thursday night and could extend as far south as parts of Iowa and Illinois.
With an 80%- to 90%-chance the skies will stay clear overnight, KARE 11 Meteorologist John Zeigler said Minnesotans should get a good glimpse of the Aurora after 11 p.m.
Thursday’s light show comes after several notable Northern Lights displays this year, the last of which dazzled onlookers in September. KARE 11 Meteorologist Jamie Kagol explained the phenomenon as a consequence of activity relating to the sun.
“The Sun’s solar activity will strengthen this year, so we can look forward to more sunspots, flares and coronal mass ejections which means we are likely to see even more Northern Lights displays going forward,” he said.
Love the chase? NOAA says your best chance to catch the aurora is during its average peak from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. local time. Zeigler added that the lights become more visible the further north you go, especially when heading away from urban light pollution.
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Officers say they found the man in the rear of an apartment building suffering from gunshot wounds.
ST PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul Police are investigating after finding a man dead following a shooting early Tuesday morning.
Squads were called to the 1200 block of University Ave. W around 12:30 a.m. after a 911 caller reported hearing gunshots and seeing a person lying on the ground. Upon arrival, officers found a man with apparent gunshot wounds lying in the rear of an apartment building, according to a press conference.
St. Paul Fire medics pronounced the man dead on the scene, according to police spokesman Sgt. Mike Ernster.
The SPPD homicide team is investigating the events that led up to the man’s death and trying to identify potential suspects. If you have any information on this incident, call 651-266-5650.
Case updates and the victim’s name will be released on St. Paul Police social media channels.
A ceremony was help honoring the Minnesota Supreme Court’s newest member.
ST PAUL, Minn. — A vast array of judges, lawyers, family and friends gathered at the Minnesota History Center in Saint Paul to honor the newest member of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Natalie Hudson administered the oath of office to Associate Justice Theodora Gaitas, who was appointed last spring to replace retiring Associate Justice Margaret Chutich.
“A strong judiciary guards against tyranny, against oppression, against injustice. But a strong judiciary also serves the people,” Gaitas told the crowd.
Gaitas, who spent her childhood in Greece, quoted Greek philosopher Aristotle several times in her speech.
“Aristotle wrote law is order and good law is good order,” she said. “Here in Minnesota, we have good order. Good order relies on a strong judiciary.”
Gaitas has spent the past four years as a jurist on the Minnesota Court of Appeals and before that spent two years as a Ramsey County District Court Judge. She took the legal oath previously before joining the Supreme Court in August, so Monday’s event was purely ceremonial.
Gov. Walz appointed Gaitas and Judge Sarah Hennesy last April to fill two vacancies that were expected on the high court in the months ahead. Justice Hennesy joined the Supreme Court on May 13, replacing the retiring Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson.
Walz took a break from the vice-presidential campaign trail Monday afternoon to attend the ceremony and thank Gaitas for accepting the new role.
“One of the questions we asked is what life experiences shaped who you are,” Walz said. “Justice Gaitas’ personal journey, her personal heartaches, as well as her commitment to others shined through in so many ways. Putting others in front of herself, and her work as a public defender doing it with every ounce of her intellect, but with the compassion that needed to be there too, shined through.”
The heartache he referenced was the sudden death in 2023 of Justice Gaitas’s husband R. Christopher Sur. He died while cross-country skiing in Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis with a friend. Their daughter Clea performed with a musical combo at the ceremony and held a copy of the US and Minnesota Constitutions as Gaitas took the oath.
Lt. Gov. Flanagan praised Gaitas for her breadth of experience and connection to those who use the court system.
“Justice Gaitas has excelled at every level of the legal profession and the judiciary. Her extensive experience as an appellate public defender and judge in the district court and court of appeals instilled a deep understanding of how our justice system can and should treat real people.”
