It might be brutally cold this weekend in Minnesota, but at least we don't have to deal with an inch of ice?

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino is seen deploying a gas canister at Mueller Park in south Minneapolis this afternoon. Video by Ben Luhmann.

An observer arrested in Suth Minneapolis. Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune

The wrong Senator from Minnesota is retiring...

Minnesota's Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth made a Facebook post critical of an anti-ICE protest at a church, and got ratioed by her own daughter in the comments www.facebook.com/LisaforMN/po...

"Left unplugged, some of these wells leak toxic chemicals hundreds of feet below the surface, potentially contaminating groundwater, and spit climate-warming methane gas into the atmosphere." Jonathan Bullington and @adrianaperez.bsky.social

Long time followers are familiar with the environmental issues of CAFOs. This is a great example "manifesting is a process whereby large factory farms transfer their manure to smaller farms that aren’t subject to manure disposal regulations... sometimes the smaller farms are owned by the CAFO."

Friken Mercator projection... Greenland isn't even THAT big. www.npr.org/2026/01/07/n...

Frey: "You cannot drag pregnant women through the snow. You're not allowed to take teenagers out of their car and detain them when they are in fact American citizens. That is against the law in every state. That is against our US Constitution."

Reporter Louis Krauss saw this. An agent apparently dropped a flash grenade that was left with the pin still in it on Park Avenue after driving away in a squad car.

Video shows a chaotic scene from earlier Tuesday a couple of blocks from where Renee Good was killed. Agents released a high-powered smoke grenade to clear the way through a crowd of protesters at the intersection of Oakland Avenue and 34th Street. Video by Louis Krauss.

Gift link www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/u...

Not a huge surprise, but goodness this is terrible news. It's the Environmental Protection Agency, not the Business Protection Agency

This rescue cat, and former street cat, somehow survived on the streets for a year. Now, full on spoiled.

"around 4,000 gallons of manure spilled from the farm’s manure storage facility. The dairy must pay $90,000 [out of the $120,000 fine] to the agency [WI DNR] to address harm from the fish kill." www.wpr.org/news/monroe-...

"almost 47% of new private wells in the county contain arsenic above two parts per billion, the detection limit for most water testing labs. Roughly 13% of wells had amounts of the element at rates above ten ppb, the maximum contaminant level..." www.startribune.com/arsenic-scot...

If you have found the reporting on this week's events that MPR and the Star Tribune were able to do to be good or useful, then consider becoming a member. They are only able to do their work because of its members and subscribers.

❄️ 75-year annual snowfall trend. Snowfall is decreasing almost everywhere during this period. It's as if something has changed. 😐😢😭

Historical PFAS trends in the Great Lakes using four decades of archived fish. #GreatLakes 🧪 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Five years ago there was an attack at the Capitol. NPR has a visual archive of the events leading up to and including the attack on the Capitol. Worth your time to look at, lest it gets scrubbed away from our collective memory. apps.npr.org/jan-6-archive/

Tires cause up to 90% of road microplastics, with the average tire losing 6- 9 pounds of rubber in a lifetime. Just how bad is the toxicity?

The share of counties where 95% or more of kindergartners were vaccinated against measles has dropped from 50% before the pandemic to 28%, according to our analysis of public records from 44 states and the District of Columbia. At least 19,000 schools are now more vulnerable to outbreaks.

Aimee Bock is the face of the Feeding our Future fraud scheme in Minnesota. www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...

TIL that Winona Ryder is from Winona, Minnesota! ...and that their name actually is Winona. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winona_...

Timeline serendipity

This is crazy! But did you know that Gatorade used glass bottles until 1998?? We don't have to drink microplastic This bit of info was inspired by season 5 of 'Stranger Things', they showed the Gatorade in glass bottles. Some info. on Gatorade bottle evolution: thirstpals.com/when-did-gat...

"The federal RFS [Ethanol mandate] adds about 30 cents per gallon to the wholesale cost of gas, on average. Consumers pay more for each gallon and use more gas because of ethanol’s lower energy content, which leads to about 3% lower fuel efficiency for E10." minnesotareformer.com/2025/12/23/e...

“It's up to the private well owner to take care of their own health,” said Freshwater’s Carrie Jennings. “If you live in a city, your city is regulated and has to do that for you. But if you have your own well, it's up to you... and things can go wrong with wells.” www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...

High temperatures Christmas Day 1922 - the warmest on record (since 1895). Will Christmas 2025 be warmer? 🔥🎅

Get out there and enjoy the longer days, Minnesota! Only 182 days until we start to lose daylight again.

Furgg Glacier and Matterhorn 1905 | 2022 📷 @glacionaut

I am looking forward to the work I will be doing at the Minnesota DNR to better understand and protect Minnesota's water resources! The team I am part of is the Groundwater Atlas Program, which assesses groundwater data for each county in the state of Minnesota. www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/groun...

Ugh, I forgot about Ryan...

Well, it is with mixed emotions that I inform you all that I have once again left academia and have started a new position with the MN DNR to study water quality for the state of Minnesota. I enjoyed my 2.5 years at Metro State University, but it is on to the next adventure!

President Donald Trump’s proposed 2026 budget would eliminate all federal funding for Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center and the other eight regional climate science centers, which Congress began establishing in 2008.

"Derek Vekich of Bovey filled in a wetland with more than 9,000 square feet of unpermitted fill near Trout Lake in Itasca County" But 'We aLl WaNt ClEaN wAtEr' www.pca.state.mn.us/news-and-sto...

I did such a good job clearing snow around the mailboxes this morning the mail delivery person thanked me.

I guess it is time that I stop using Times New Roman as my font of choice...

Students walked out of school at Burnsville High School in Minnesota to protest Trump’s ICE gestapo terrorizing their community….the kids are alright 💪! "NO MORE ICE! NO MORE ICE!"

With today's snow, I think the cross ski trails will be in great condition across central and northern Minnesota!

“The National Wildlife Health Center in Madison is the only center in the country dedicated to preventing and detecting wildlife disease. Research at the facility, which has already lost about 30% of staff, includes bird flu, chronic wasting disease and more.” www.jsonline.com/story/news/2...

Wow! Pretty impressive. Source: Electrek search.app/JKqTf

The 'U' used to be a proper campus...

"Yet the mysterious origin of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in nearly half of Apple Valley’s wells, some 24 miles from the nearest 3M site, doesn’t change the fact that the city faces a $100 million bill to flush them from its system." www.startribune.com/apple-valley...