Greater Minnesota

Art Hounds: North country expressionist landscapes
In this week’s Art Hounds: Art Project 605 showcases Jennie Ward’s abstract landscapes, Maithree performs a blend of Indian and Western classical music and the Minnesota Original Music Festival features the 48-Hour Band Challenge.
Interim president hopes to help St. Cloud State University find path forward
Larry Dietz, former president of Illinois State University, will lead SCSU for the next two years amid budget challenges. He hopes to help stabilize enrollment and draw students back to a more vibrant campus.
After a medical crisis, an Iron Range journalist is speaking out about systemic rural health care issues
Having a health crisis in your family is difficult no matter where you live. But in rural areas far from hospitals, the experience can be especially taxing.
Rapidan Dam partial failure sent more than a century’s worth of sediment pollution downstream
Rapidan Dam’s partial failure sent an estimated 11.6 million cubic yards of sediment downstream. Experts are worried about its ecological impacts and say it could take years to fully understand them.
20-year-old loops Lake Superior solo in 42 days, buoyed by climate change awareness
A triple science major at the College of St. Scholastica may be both the fastest and youngest to circumnavigate Lake Superior in a kayak — and he’s hoping the 1,000-mile trip will draw more attention to climate change’s effects in Minnesota.
25 years after Boundary Waters blowdown, a changed forest and vivid memories
July 4 is the 25th anniversary of the Boundary Waters blowdown, when winds up to 100 miles per hour tore through the canoe wilderness. A quarter century later, the forest is changed and memories of the event remain fresh.
When and where to watch fireworks this holiday weekend across Minnesota
The soggy start to July has put a damper on some Independence Day celebrations and activities, but fireworks will happen as planned in many cities and towns across the state. Here’s a list of events set to light up the sky.
Go with the flow: Minnesota towns see success replacing aging dams with rock rapids
In about 75 Minnesota locations, old dams have been removed and replaced with staircase-like rapids designed to allow the river to flow more freely and to avoid costly dam repairs — or worse, a collapse.