Photos

MPR News photos of the week
Flood preparation and the explosion of a natural gas line caught our attention this week. But we also got a look at bear research in northwest Minnesota and caught up with potential presidential candidates in New Hampshire.
Photos: Gas explosion in south Minneapolis
A natural gas-fueled fire erupted in south Minneapolis on Thursday, March 17, 2011. The fire forced Interstate 35W to close in both directions for a time. There were no reported injuries and the fire was extinguished.
Photos: Bear research in northwestern Minnesota
Minnesota black bears are on the move in northwest Minnesota. Bears are expanding their range out of forested areas, into farmland. Researchers are trying to learn more about how and why these bears are adapting to a new habitat where bears traditionally did not live.
MPR News photos of the week
This week, we brought you stories from the ongoing protests in Wisconsin and endured yet another winter storm in our own state.
MPR News photos of the week
This week, Gov. Dayton released his budget plan, a Minneapolis woman's dog won Best in Show at Westminster and Fargo-Moorhead residents began prepping sandbags for spring flooding.
'Sandbag Central' opens in Fargo
Efforts are underway in Fargo, N.D., to fill 3 million sandbags by mid-March in anticipation of the area's third consecutive major spring flood.
Winter Carnival snow sculptures come crashing down
The last remnants of the 2011 St. Paul Winter Carnival were reduced to large piles of snow Thursday, as heavy equipment demolished the snow sculptures that had been created at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds in St. Paul.
Photos: The Luminary Loppet
Thousands of luminaries marked the course on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis Saturday for the Luminary Loppet, a nighttime ski event that is part of the City of Lakes Loppet ski festival.
MPR News photos of the week
This week, MPR News checked in on crime in Rochester, welcomed a new MnSCU chancellor and visited the creation of Ice Henge in Minneapolis.
Photos: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
The nearly 400-mile race starts in Duluth and winds along the North Shore Trail of Lake Superior. It is the longest, hardest marathon in the lower 48 states and is used as a qualifying event for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska. (Photos submitted by Paul M. Walsh, a freelance photojournalist who lives in the Duluth area)