LaCrosse to AI giants: Slow it down
LACROSSE, Wis. — The La Crosse County Board voted 26-2 to put ice on [...]
Mayor quits as hyper-scale Google project looms
PINE ISLAND, Minn. — Mayor David Friese resigned abruptly amid swelling controversy over a [...]
MiEnergy: No hanky-panky on our data center
RUSHFORD, Minn. — The utility co-op MiEnergy asks people not to confuse its data-center [...]
Pine Island data center: Judge insists on answers
RED WING, Minn. —A Goodhue County judge has temporarily halted construction of a hyperscale [...]
Buffalo County fishkill traced to large farm
WAUMANDEE, Wis. — Storm run-off, heavily laden with manure, killed hundreds of trout and [...]
How they voted: On Superior Forest mining
WASHNGTON — These are breakdowns of how Minnesota and Wisconsin delegates to Congresa voted [...]
Minnesota senators outvoted on new Up North mining
WASHINGTON — President Trump has had his way for industrializing protected lands near Minnesota’s [...]
House moves ahead to ban Big Tech secrecy
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Giant tech companies have suffered a setback in their tactics [...]
U.S. House: Yes to Boundary Waters open-pits
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives voted 214-208 to allow mining near the [...]
Red River drawdown goal: Avert spring floods
MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Army Corps has started its annual drawdown of reservoirs on [...]
Ethanol plant fined for environmental neglect
Southeast Minnesota refinery. Among three largest employers in Dodge County municipality of Claremont, population [...]
LaCrosse bettering waste discharge standards
LACROSSE, Wis. – A 10-year $68 million project for a new LaCrosse wastewater treatment [...]
Army Corps on Bad River pipeline: Go ahead
ASHLAND, Wis. — In a setback for environmentalists and the Bad River band of [...]
Study: Minnesota lakes filling with microplastics
MINNEAPOLIS — Forty Minnesota lakes have worrisome levels of non-biodegradable microplastics, according to a [...]
WSU makes grade as a “green college”
WINONA, Minn. — For the 15th year Winona State has been recognized by Princeton [...]
Fall brilliance: Report Number 5
Southeast counties getting there. Approaching 50% of its peak fall colors is Whitewater [...]
WSU discovery: Dinosaur bones still with skin
WINONA, Minn. — In anticipation of an exceptionally rare “dinosaur mummy” for display at [...]
Fall brilliance: Report Number 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Most of Houston County and a sliver of Fillmore County [...]
They’re loaded for bear in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. — Bear hunters are queued up for hunting licenses in Wisconsin. The [...]
Dorer Hardwood Forest adds acres
RUSHFORD, Minn. — The state Natural Resources Department has expanded the Dorer Hardwood Forest [...]
Heavy rains flood Niagara Cave 60 feet deep
HARMONY, Minn. — Torrential rains seeped quickly through limestone karst and flooded the Niagara [...]
Zumbro Lake fishkill being investigated
ORONOCO, Minn. — What appears to be a minor fishkill was reported on Lake [...]
Zebra mussels invade Mississippi headwaters
BEMIDJI, Minn. — Dreaded zebra mussels, which upset ecological balances, have reached the Turtle [...]
Troubling Minnesota bee decline: Lots less honey
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Honey production in Minnesota continues to drop with a drastically [...]
Canada wildfires degrading Minnesota air
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Smoke from wildfires in western Canada prompted the Minnesota Pollution [...]
First weak Kickapoo dam razed: What of others?
CASHTON, Wis. — The first of 23 at-risk dams in southwest Wisconsin, the 70-year-old [...]
New Niagara Cave claim: Now “zero net”
HARMONY, Minn. – The deep and long Niagara Cave near Harmony is going off [...]
Crews corral nasty Arrowhead wildfires
BRIMSON, Minn. – Despite strong, gusty winds overnight, hotshot crews held lines on the [...]
Chainsaw massacre: Trump undercuts river life
WINONA, Minn. – The Trump budget-slashing, ordered in the name of government efficiency, has [...]
New Iowa fishkill toll estimated at 74,000
FORT DODGE, Iowa – A major kill, estimated at 74,000, was discovered in popular [...]
River muck dump site proposed in Goodview
WINONA, Minn. – The Army Corps proposed piling tons of river muck on vacant [...]
Feedlot battle: Daley vows to fight on
LEWISTON, Minn. – The patron of the Daley dairy farm family, Ben Daley, says [...]
New setback for Daley dairy feedlot growth
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Supreme Court decided against hearing the latest attempt [...]
Study finds receding nitrate poison in groundwater
ST. PAUL, Minn. – New scholarship has found the nitrate contamination in Winona County [...]
Notable journalism
Jessie Van Berkel and James Walsh (Minnesota Star Tribune, December 14, 2024): “Why Are [...]
Close to home: Avian flu infects Iowa turkeys
NORTHWOOD, Iowa -- The Iowa Department of Agriculture detected a case of highly pathogenic [...]
Albert Lea company late with pollution controls
ST.PAUL, Minn. – An Albert Lea company that operates convenience stores has been slammed [...]
New borealis waves expected Thursday
WINONA, Minn. – Space weather scientists expect solar storms may set off faint but [...]
North Dakota agency OK’s CO2 pipeline
BISMARCK, N.D. – The state Public Service Commission has approved a key element in [...]
Kwik Trip installs dual-style e-charge “pumps”
WEST SALEM, Wis. – After prototype experiments with electric charging stations for new cars, [...]
Bridge update plan riles Trempealeau folks
TREMPEALEAU, Wis. – State transportation planners want to replace three bridges on the heavily [...]
Dairyland plans giant power storage farms
LACROSSE, Wis. – LaCrosse-based Dairyland Power has been awarded a $28 million federal grant [...]
Color almost all Minnesota brown — a very deep brown
Winona hangs on. Aside from heat-generating urban areas, Winona County is among the [...]
Army Corps issues huge forest management plan
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Army Engineers corps has proposed a massive forest stewardship [...]
NextEra finally hauls off dumped turbine blades
GRAND MEDOW, Minn. – Under pressure from state regulators, the giant NextEra wind-energy company [...]
Abnormally dry season persists in Minnesota
Color coding. Yellow abnormal dry. Pink is moderate drought. Image: National Drought Mitigation Center [...]
Drought-struck farmers win sympathetic federal ear
WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service has relaxed the deadline for farmers to qualify [...]
WSU executive lauded for energy savings
WINONA, Minn. – The assistant facilities vice president at Winona State has been recognized [...]
A petro-friendly Trump message
Along U.S. Highway 14. Near the Jones Valley intersection west of Stockton. Oddly this [...]
Jewelweed shows off how it got its name
Rainwater beads. Like little jewels after an early morning rain up East Burns [...]
Flood-ruined Rapidan dam, bridge to be razed
MANKATO, Minn. – The Blue Earth County Board voted to remove the Rapidan Dam [...]
Meteor streaks, booms across morning sky
BLACK RVER FALLS, Wis. – An object n the sky, pprobably a meteor, lit [...]
Wisconsin county agrees that aging dams must go
VIROQUA, Wis. – The Vernon County Board approved a federal plan to tear out [...]
Cheese plant discharges bad chems but all OK
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. – A chemical spill at the Foremost Farms cheese factory entered [...]
Cops: Driver stopped drunk twice in one night
WINONA, Minn. – A Winona driver was arrested with sjgns of impairment about 12 [...]
Mussels invasion looms in Lake Byllesby
CANNON FALLS, Minn. – It was alarming enough for fishing when a zebra mussel [...]
Expect fewer Rochester lawns, more prairie looks
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The Rochester City Council relaxed its limits on weeds to allow [...]
Xcel rate hike possible after nuclear plant failure?
ST.PAUL, Minn. – The state Public Utilities Commission is struggling over who should pay [...]
Belated news: Accident idled Xcel’s nuclear plant
RED WING, Minn. – Both nuclear generators at the Prairie Island nuclear station were [...]
Tornado claims overwhelm insurance companies
ROLLINGTONE, Minn. – Most farmers and others who were hit by a tornado eight [...]