Minnesota

Wizard of Oz Festival Gets Underway in Grand Rapids

Festivities began with a tea party and live music inside Judy Garland's historic childhood home

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. – The 42nd annual Wizard of Oz Festival got underway in Grand Rapids on Thursday. Festivities began with a tea party and live music inside Judy Garland’s historic childhood home. Friday night, The Wizard of Oz will play outside on a jumbo screen on the Evergreen Terrace lawn next to the museum. Organizers say this event brings…

Huge Asian Carp Caught in Redwood Falls

FROM FOX 9FROM ALLIE JOHNSON AT FOX 9 IN MINNEAPOLIS REDWOOD FALLS, Minn. (KMSP)- The biggest invasive carp recorded in the state of Minnesota, which measured in at 47.5 inches and weighed 61.7 pounds, was caught Sunday in a gravel pit near Redwood Falls, Minnesota, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The site is part of the Minnesota River floodplain….

Castile Case Coming to Close

ST. PAUL, Minn.-Prosecutors may wrap up their case Thursday against a Minnesota police officer charged with manslaughter in the death of a black motorist. Officer Jeronimo Yanez is accused in the July death of 32-year-old Philando Castile, an elementary school cafeteria worker, during a traffic stop in a St. Paul suburb. Castile was licensed to carry a handgun and told…

Minnesota Power Announces Plans for Natural Gas Plant in Superior

The $700 million plant would be built along the Nemadji River in Superior's industrial corridor

SUPERIOR, Wisc. – Minnesota Power announced some big plans that would bring a $700 million natural gas power plant to Superior. If approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, the proposed Nemadji Trail Energy Center would start construction as early as 2020 and come online in 2025. The project would bring hundreds of construction and industry jobs, 26 full0time plant…

Fisheries Scientists to Review Minnesota Lake’s Fish Count

ONAMIA, Minn. (AP) – A nationwide group of fisheries scientists will review the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s walleye assessment on a popular fishing lake after nearby resort owners questioned the lake’s low population of the fish. The Star Tribune reports that this is the second year anglers have been banned from harvesting walleye at Mille Lacs Lake because the…

Castile Trial Continues Today

ST. PAUL, Minn.-The jury hearing the manslaughter trial of a Minnesota police officer is seeing graphic autopsy photos of a black man who was fatally shot last July. Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker testified Wednesday that Philando Castile was hit by five of seven bullets fired by St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez. Two of the bullets did…

Meeting Held to Address Proposed Minnesota Power Rate Increase

Citizens Utility Board Held Session to Discuss Rate Details

DULUTH, Minn. – Minnesota Power has proposed rate increases that would affect customers across the Northland. The Citizens Utility Board held an information session to let people know what the impact of the rate hike could be, and how customers can voice their concerns. “The rate increases are quite significant, especially, more so on low-income people and it impacts their…

Twin Cities Council to Pay $1M in River Pollution Lawsuits

Chemicals found in the river in 2007

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) – The Metropolitan Council in St. Paul is paying manufacturing firm 3M Co. about $1 million to settle lawsuits over Mississippi River pollution. The Pioneer Press reports the settlement Monday ends the lawsuits between the two entities, which blamed each other for chemicals found in the river in 2007. In 2011, the Metropolitan Council joined the Minnesota…

Justice Department Moves to Dismiss Twin Metals Mineral Rights Lawsuit

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) – The Justice Department has moved to dismiss lawsuit challenging an Obama administration decision against renewing mineral rights leases for the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota. In a motion late Monday, the Justice Department says the federal district court in Minnesota lacks jurisdiction to hear the case, and that it must be brought in…

2 Seriously Injured in Collision with Deer

Headed westbound on Highway 1

BAUDETTE, Minn. (AP) – Two people suffered life-threatening injuries when their motorcycle collided with a deer in northern Minnesota. The State Patrol says the crash happened in Beltrami County Monday afternoon. The two were westbound on Highway 1 when they struck the deer around 3 p.m. south of Lower Red Lake. KFGO radio reports 74-year-old Billy Aery and his passenger,…

6-Year-Old Drowns at Lake Elmo Beach

TED HALLER - FOX 9

LAKE ELMO, Minn. (KMSP) – A 6-year-old girl drowned in a popular artificial swimming pond in Lake Elmo Sunday afternoon. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office identified the girl as Ghia Vue of St. Paul. Another swimmer bumped into the unresponsive girl around 1:00 p.m., according to a Washington County official. The girl was in about three feet of water at…

Jury Seated in Castile Trial

Jury Being Put Together Today

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – A jury has been seated for the trial of a Minnesota police officer charged in the shooting death of a black motorist after defense attorneys unsuccessfully tried to block one of two black jurors in the final group. Defense attorney Earl Gray argued that an Ethiopian-American woman in the jury pool didn’t understand the criminal justice system…

Minnesota Joins U.S. Climate Alliance, Pledging Itself to Paris Accord Targets

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – Minnesota and eight other states, along with Puerto Rico, joined the U.S. Climate Alliance Monday, pledging to uphold targets outlined in the Paris Climate Accord after President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the agreement last week. Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Puerto Rico joined the original three…

Minnesota Health Leaders Ask Imams to Push for Vaccination

Measles outbreak hit the Somali community the hardest in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) – With another three weeks of Ramadan and its gatherings, health care workers in Minnesota are seeking help from religious leaders to control the state’s measles outbreak, which has hit the Muslim Somali community the hardest. Children’s Minnesota’s Elham Ashkar says imams in their position of power can help spread the word that vaccination is in the…