Around MN: Guard aides Afghan ag, fire complicates moose hunt

BWCA fire adds complexity to moose hunt, permit refunds available

"It's a game-changer," said Steve Merchant, wildlife program manager for the state Department of Natural Resources. "If you went up on a trip or scouted an area and thought you had a pattern figured out, those moose are somewhere else now" (Pioneer Press).

Also on MN Today

Ramsey County taxpayers hammer Vikings stadium deal

The Vikings are having a hard time on the field this season, and they took a beating in New Brighton last night, too. Hundreds of people packed a Ramsey County hearing to weigh in on whether taxpayers should be able to vote on a new stadium tax.

The Vikings say they don't want their stadium plan on a ballot, and the meeting offered a clue as to why: It was a two and a half hour marathon of almost unbroken objection to the team's plans to pay for the facility on the former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site along Interstate 35W (MPR News).

No new deadline for plan to replace St. Croix bridge

According to an inspection report, four locations on the existing bridge showed signs of advanced corrosion and deterioration that were inadequate for the posted load of 40 tons for large trucks (MPR News).

Minnesota Guard ag specialists headed for Afghanistan

A team of 22 Minnesota agriculture specialists-turned-soldiers will deploy soon to Afghanistan with the goal of helping Afghanis boost the country's food production, a key building block of political stability (Pioneer Press).

Drivers license backlog frustrating teenagers

It's partially due to the backlog left over after the shutdown, but there's another reason. Within the past couple months 10 license examiners have either retired or been promoted. That's 20 percent of the 50 examiners who work in the Twin Cities. They conduct about 77,000 tests every year, or nearly 1,500 every week (KSTP).

Local food good for health, economy

The Cass Clay Food Initiative aims to strengthen all aspects of the local food system as a way to create healthier options for consumers and expand economic opportunities for producers (Forum of Fargo-Moorhead).

18 JM students suspended for hazing

Eighteen John Marshall High School students have been suspended from school for a hazing incident that took place last week, a district official said today (Rochester Post Bulletin).

Post Bulletin's Mike Dougherty adds this via Twitter "Some of the kids say w/ their parents' consent it was getting frosh out of bed early, having them parade around."

Minnehaha Creek will be getting big improvements

$15 million deal will improve 1,000 feet of degraded shoreline and redevelop an old industrial site (Star Tribune).

Tax talk

Seven area Willmar schools will present levy questions in November

Some districts, like Willmar, are asking to renew expiring operating levies. Others are asking to increase existing levies (West Central Tribune).

Discussion

Folks on Perfect Duluth Day have an interesting thread going on about the cost of food and how people approach their grocery budget.

Op-Ed

Our view: National praise keeps pouring on St. Scholastica

The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth has been spotlighted by the magazine at least 12 times since 1996, often alongside the University of Minnesota Duluth. The impressive trail of tributes continued this month (Duluth News Tribune).

• Editor’s notebook: Covering the environment in 2014
• Best of Minnesota Scenes from 2014
• 50 years of memory making in the Boundary Waters
• ‘Fargo’ takes home two Emmys