Star Tribune
West. St. Paul adds high school student McKinley Cherrier as its first junior city council member
West St. Paul has added a junior City Council member in an effort to better consider youth voices when making decisions that affect the city.
The council swore in McKinley Cherrier, a junior at Two Rivers High School, at its first meeting in 2024. The high school’s speech and debate coach recommended Cherrier for the role. CQ
The youth council member can participate in council discussions and events but cannot vote.
Council Member Wendy Berry,cqeg who first proposed having a young person as a council member, said she heard about the success the Centerville City Council has had with its youth member and wanted to bring that to West St. Paul.
“As we continue planning for the future, it’s good to have that perspective,” Berry said, adding that Cherrier recently jumped in and made a helpful comment after a city resident spoke at a meeting.
Berry said the initiative will hopefully foster young people’s interest in city government.
In 2023, Centerville received the League of Minnesota Cities’ “City of Excellence” award for cities with populations under 5,000 for its junior council member program.
Twin Cities, get ready to potentially spot an ex on the Minneapolis season of Love Is Blind, which was officially announced Wednesday night.
The anticipated reunion episode that closed out season 7, set in Washington, D.C., included the surprise announcement. The eighth season will launch on Valentine’s Day.
“This Valentine’s Day 2025 will mark the five-year anniversary of the premiere of Love Is Blind, and it is going to be the launch of season 8, which takes place in Minneapolis,” host Vanessa Lachey said in a moment also posted to social media.
Three of the incoming Minneapolis singles were introduced in the reunion episode. When asked about the challenges of the dating scene in Minneapolis, one contestant shared a sentiment many Minnesotans will be familiar with.
“It’s such a small community, it’s not like a major city but it’s also not a small town. So you kind of see the same people over and over, and it’s a small bar scene,” he said.
Star Tribune
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
LONG PRAIRIE, MINN. — The school district superintendent dressed up as the school mascot, Thor, on football nights. He read the graduation address in both English and Spanish. He even set up office hours in the cafeteria, granting easier approachability to students.
But now, two months into the school year, Daniel Ludvigson is gone. Or, rather, “on special assignment,” according to the terminology of the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School Board, which voted 4-3 earlier this month to remove him as superintendent. The move came weeks after voting to not renew his contract, which expires at the end of the school year in June.
Four board members — two of whom voted to oust Ludvigson, including Board Chair Kelly Lemke — are up for re-election next week.
The dismissal is the latest blow in this central Minnesota community on the edge of the prairie. Over the last nine months, the town of 3,400 residents and seat of Todd County has lost its mayor, a city manager, two school board members, and now its superintendent.
Students walked out earlier this month in support of Ludvigson. Signs in support of Ludvigson can be seen across town on the lawns of apparent Democrats and Republicans alike. And last week, hundreds packed the American Legion off Hwy. 71 to eat beef sandwiches and sign support letters for Ludvigson, who only swung by to pick up his child for hockey practice.
In a time of great divide in America, this fight has nothing to do with politics.
“You’ve got Harris buttons and Trump hats side-by-side, arm-in-arm,” said Amanda Hinson, a former local newspaper reporter who is concerned the board is not being upfront about why they placed Ludvigson on special assignment. “We want transparency in our government.”
Lawn signs around Long Prairie, Minn., now include people weighing in on the dismissal of Superintendent Daniel Ludvigson by the school board. (Christopher Vondracek)
School board members say Ludvigson has repeatedly shown he is not ready for the prime time of a school district bigger than the one in central North Dakota he arrived from two years ago. They have twice disciplined Ludvigson, but did not state the reason for placing him on “special assignment,” beyond insinuating that staff are fearful to raise official complaints.
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
