Articles from the December 28, 2016 edition

The Beltrami County Highway Department will be holding a public informational meeting regarding an upcoming road project along CSAH 14-Division Street. The recent Division Street traffic study will be discussed along with design options and recommendations. The meeting will be held at the Beltrami County Administration Building, 701 Minnesota Ave NW, Bemidji, MN, 56601, Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017 at 5:30pm. For more information please contact the Beltrami County Highway Department at 333-8173....

Dec 28, 2016

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson is pleased to announce the new 13-member roster of the Organic Advisory Task Force. The new members will serve three-year terms, representing organic farmers, retailers, educators, certifiers, consumers and the public. Members of the Task Force will advise the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the University of Minnesota on policies concerning organic production in Minnesota, and weigh in on how to effectively provide outreach, education, research, and t...

Dec 28, 2016

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — Known by many as a "silent killer," carbon monoxide, a tasteless, colorless, odorless gas, tends to strike, poisoning victims before they are even aware of what is happening. "You don't know that you're actually being poisoned with it," says Matthew Massman, a physician assistant with Essentia/St. Mary's-Detroit Lakes. "You just don't know--it overcomes you quickly." And this time of year, when it gets cold and people are cranking up the gas furnace and spending more time indoors, is a peak time for carbon monoxide p...

Dec 28, 2016

ST. PAUL—Billions of dollars in state public works construction projects are on hold, and no one knows if the Minnesota Legislature will make money available for them in 2017. The 2016 Minnesota Legislature failed to fund projects like safer rail crossings, adding to and renovating existing college facilities, improving safety at state mental health hospitals, fixing or removing dangerous dams, constructing flood-prevention structures and hundreds of other projects state and local officials say are needed. Early in 2016, they produced more t...

Dec 28, 2016

A mall near Appleton, Wisconsin, was evacuated on Tuesday, Dec. 26, as a precaution due to "an unsubstantiated threat," a county official said, adding the incident does not appear to be linked to fights that broke out at several U.S. malls a day earlier. There was a heavy police presence at the Fox River Mall in Grand Chute, an official with Outagamie County said. There have been no reports of injuries and further details on the nature of the threat were not immediately available. Fights, disturbances and false reports of gunfire caused...

Dec 28, 2016

ST. PAUL—First Candice Egan was assaulted by a student in a St. Paul public school, then she was allegedly "blacklisted" from continuing to teach in the district. The reason? Egan spoke to the media about what had happened. That's the claim the substitute teacher made in a lawsuit filed against the school district as well as two of its administrators in federal court earlier this past week, according to the complaint. http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/region/4187724-minnesota-teacher-who-was-assaulted-student-and-talked-fil...

Dec 28, 2016

(CNN)- President-elect Donald Trump hasn't been coy about his vision for public schools: He wants them to become more like their private counterparts. Trump proposes spending $20 billion to allow for "school choice" -- the ability for families to use federal dollars in the form of vouchers on their school of choice, be it a charter, a magnet, private or a traditional public school. Trump has not laid out a detailed plan, nor has he specified where the money will come from. He proposes "reprioritizing" existing federal money, a gambit experts...