Portions of the East Hillside and Endion neighborhoods have the highest childhood elevated blood lead level rates in the state, at 9.1% and 9.2%, respectively. Produced as part of the @chjreportinghealth.bsky.social 2025 Data fellowship. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/d...

On Monday, some employees at the freshwater lab received reassignments to other offices within the agency and relocation was not required. But others have not, sparking fear of looming layoffs.

The EPA placed several of its Duluth laboratory employees on leave for signing a letter criticizing the Trump administration’s politicization of the agency, a move the union and Democratic politicians said violates federal workers’ free speech. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/e...

Over 10 years, the bill will increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion, cut Medicaid spending by $1 trillion and lead to 11.8 million more uninsured people, the Congressional Budget Office said.

Chris Dunham, The Nature Conservancy’s associate director of resilience forestry in Northeastern Minnesota, said a post-fire landscape provides “a restoration opportunity” amid climate change and biodiversity loss. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/a...

A wildfire is burning near Brimson in eastern St. Louis County, about 20 miles northwest of Two Harbors www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/2...

Last year, there were 14,500 AmeriCorps members in Minnesota and 8,400 in Wisconsin, but it is unclear how many in each state were affected by the $400 million in cuts on April 25. The cuts hit several Northland organizations that rely on AmeriCorps members www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/a...

Republican Keri Heintzeman and DFLer Denise Slipy face off for the seat vacated by Sen. Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, who resigned and was charged with attempting to solicit a minor.

And now, a note on Bill Owens who, until this past week, was the executive producer of 60 Minutes. We’ll be back next week with another edition of 60 Minutes.

The fees would have had a significant effect on shipping in the Port of Duluth-Superior, as two-thirds of the port calls made by oceangoing cargo ships — salties — last year were made by ships built in China. Additionally, Canada has 17 lakers built in China, some of which regularly stop here.

As the federal government shrinks to “essential functions,” @kayleefabulous.bsky.social is about to lose her job as a park ranger supporting public safety and maritime education.

Sea Grant programs, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System and Coastal Zone Management Grants would not be not funded under the White House's passback budget. All of those conduct work in Lake Superior, along its north and south shores, and in the estuary.

The order to boost logging on national forest land included a map that made no distinction between wilderness areas, where logging is banned, and non-wilderness The USDA later clarified that it would reduce the BWCAW's high-risk wildfire areas with prescribed burns and other methods, not logging

The number of homes in the wildland-urban interface, or WUI — where development and vegetation meet and where wildfires present an increased risk to people and property — is growing throughout the Northland. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/n...

U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Hermantown, who has supported President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's cuts, said he would stick to telephone town halls.

While they support bolstering the U.S. shipbuilding industry, officials warned millions of dollars in fees each time a Chinese-built ship stops at a U.S. port would threaten Great Lakes shipping.

Protesters urged the federal government to keep the facility open and offered support for its nearly 150 employees whose future was thrown into uncertainty last week when reports surfaced that the agency would cut its science and research arm.

Trump has entertained the privatization of the USPS, while Postmaster General DeJoy has signed an agreement with Elon Musk's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency to find "efficiencies."

Cleveland-Cliffs said it would temporarily idle two of its Iron Range mines and pellet plants and lay off 630 workers. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/c...

The EPA has drafted plans to "eliminate" the Office of Research and Development and up to 75% of its staff. The ORD includes the EPA's Duluth lab and its 136 employees. The lab develops scientific protocols used worldwide to measure how toxic chemicals affect the environment.

The mercury limits, finalized a year ago under the Biden administration but in the works for several decades, were included in a list of regulations targeted by the EPA as part of what it called "the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in the history of the United States."

Ontario's 25% charge on electricity exports to three states, including MN, would have little effect on Minnesota Power. The utility bought just under $310,000 of electricity from Ontario's system in 2024 But the company spent $108 million on electricity from Manitoba, Ontario’s provincial neighbor

Northeastern Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin has more than 2,300 federal employees as the Trump administration makes reductions in the workforce.

A couple dozen probationary federal employees at the region's national parks and forests lost their jobs in the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.” Deeper cuts across federal agencies are expected.

According to a union official, eight Superior National Forest employees and 11 Chippewa National Forest employees lost their jobs earlier this month, but several had roles tied to timber and their firings were now being reversed. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/n...

There are more than $6 million active National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health research grants in the Twin Ports and Fond du Lac Reservation.

Current or former federal worker in the Northland? Work with federal grants? The Duluth News Tribune wants your tips: Email: [email protected] Call or text: 218-461-9718 Signal: jimmylovrien.90 Postal mail: Duluth News Tribune, c/o Jimmy Lovrien, P.O. Box 16046, Duluth, MN 55816

If you currently work in the federal government, have recently lost your federal job or work with federally funded grants or research, reach out to the Duluth News Tribune with information on how changes at the federal level are affecting Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin.

The court said the state agency must determine, again, whether the planned expansion of a basin holding back mine waste near Lake Superior requires an environmental impact statement.

We've placed all these stories outside the paywall. This is some of our best stuff. Check it out!

Canadian oil, natural gas and electricity all flow into region and face a 10% levy in 30 days.

Last update from the Arrowhead 135. Hermantown’s Michael Koppy, 74, dropped out just 6.5 miles from the finish of the 135-mile race www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/i...

Some think they’re hallucinating when they see signs of foxes with stanzas of Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” as they approach the final checkpoint A previous sponsor would put mannequins in the trees and signs telling racers the checkpoint was a lot closer than it really was

The 135-mile endurance race, which takes snowmobile trails from International Falls to Tower, has "on foot," bike, ski and kicksled categories.

Kristoffer Jonson wanted to finish his race from International Falls to Fortune Bay Resort Casino before 9 p.m. Tuesday. After all, that's when the restaurant at Fortune Bay closes. He had more than two hours to spare, finishing in 35 hours 47 minute www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/s...

“You know when you have to open your car window to stay awake? It’s like the worst version of that,” Rachel Utecht said. “And then you kind of stumble, and that’s what wakes you up.” www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/c...

The scene at the first checkpoint — just 98 miles to the finish. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/1...

Steve Tannen, of Minneapolis, 1 of 2 kick sledders in the race. Expects 1/3 of 135-mile race to be kicking behind the sled, 1/3 pulling the kick sled behind him and 1/3 riding it down hills

The 135-mile foot, bike, ski, or kicksled race from International Falls to Tower starts Monday at 7 a.m. when temperatures are forecasted to be 20 degrees. The race director wishes it had started a week earlier when it was 42 below zero. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/n...

In a recent journal article about the "1679 DU LUTH" stone, @archaeomather.bsky.social, the National Register archaeologist for the Minnesota State Historic Preservation wrote, "there is a greater likelihood of the inscription being authentic than not.” www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/n...

The notice came after the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency denied U.S. Steel's request allowing downstream Hay Lake to have sulfate levels nearly 8 times higher than the state wild rice standard.

“It is a little easier to break records than it used to be, because our baseline conditions are warmer now,” said Kenny Blumenfeld, senior climatologist at the DNR. “We have more heat available, there’s generally less cold air available and so it is easier to break those warm records in particular.”

President Joe Biden has decided to officially block Nippon Steel’s proposed purchase of U.S. Steel, a once-iconic American company whose sale to a foreign buyer he publicly opposed for months.

Another fascinating read from our Northlandia series and reporter @jimmylovrien.bsky.social !

Come work with us! We're looking for a reporter to cover K-12 and higher education in Duluth. This is a union position with health benefits, retirement plan, PTO, parental leave and more. Details here: tinyurl.com/dntedjob

But the world's FIRST monument to McKinley is in Tower, Minn. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/n...

Out of curiosity, I looked up the first time the Last Place on Earth was ever mentioned in the DNT. Here you go: Dec. 19, 1981.

A White House fact sheet said those receiving a commutation had been serving sentences at home "for at least one year." #duluth #duluthmn #duluthnews

The increase in cash-only home purchases comes as the median home price increases, mortgage interest rates remain high and the city — like much of the country — faces a housing shortage. www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/1...

ICYMI: Minnesota winters are warming quickly. But the effects of shorter lake ice duration? That hasn’t been studied as much. Reporter @jimmylovrien.bsky.social digs in.