Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.

Trump's "big, beautiful bill" boosts biofuels industry, expands farmer safety net
Farmers are set to see a boost from the so-called "big, beautiful bill" that Congress cleared and President Trump signed into law last week. That tax and spending package includes $66.4 billion in new money for programs assisting farmers,...

Sustainable, second-hand textiles now at The Stashery
By Margie O’Loughlin Textile Center in Southeast Minneapolis is known far and wide as a hub of excellence for all things fiber, and has been for more than 30 years. As of Friday, May 30, 2025, it’s also a place where shoppers can find secondhand...

Colorado water deaths have plummeted this year. Here’s how park rangers are making a difference.
It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day on Rampart Reservoir last weekend — until it wasn’t. A sharp wind picked up, bringing waves that rolled across the reservoir and knocked four paddleboarders into the crisp 50-degree water. Two teens swam to...

Minnesota conservation efforts interrupted by changes to AmeriCorps
MOORHEAD — The future of a statewide conservation organization’s work in Minnesota is uncertain due to changes to federal AmeriCorps programs. Conservation Minnesota, a nonprofit organization that works to protect Minnesota from the effects of...

Green Visions: Minnesota Million Project
At 6pm on Thursday, July 3rd, Dovetail Cafe is the location for an event for the Minnesota Million Project - an effort to reforest one million acres of state land in the next two decades. The free event (hosted by Cafe Sci Twin Ports) will be led...

US Northeast sees record tick season as climate crisis sparks arachnid boom
Ticks have been flourishing recently in the United States. This year, as compared to recent years, there has been an increase in the reported number of blacklegged ticks, the number of such ticks that carry Lyme disease and visits to the emergency...

ICE deports immigrant awaiting prosecution in fatal Minneapolis crash
An undocumented immigrant charged with killing a woman while driving drunk in Minneapolis last year has been deported to his native country before his fate in a Minnesota courtroom could play out. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed...

Talking agricultural research with University of Minnesota
Our state and our world depend on bountiful and safe food sources. At the same time, the nation’s agriculture industry faces unprecedented pressures, from shifting markets to disease concerns for both crops and livestock. Brian Buhr, dean of the...

California misleadingly markets farm-generated methane as environmentally friendly—a falsehood now exported nationwide
Take California’s Highway 5 two hours north of Los Angeles and veer right onto Highway 99. In 50 miles, you’ll reach Pixley, a small town of about 4,000 with one doctor’s office, no grocery store, and nearly 140,000 bovine neighbors. It’s only...

Funding uncertain for electric vehicle charging stations on Minnesota highways
NINA MOINI: There's a special kind of dread that comes from driving a car that's about to run out of gas or power. That may be why electric vehicle advocates say highways need to have more EV charging stations for people who make that switch to...

University of Minnesota places first in two categories in US sustainability rankings
For the first time, the University of Minnesota ranked first among U.S. institutions in two categories in the Times Higher Ed (THE) Impact Rankings: clean water and health and well-being. The University of Minnesota was fifth in the U.S. overall...

National TV news largely failed to connect the record-breaking eastern U.S. heat dome to climate change
Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original episodes of ABC’s Good Morning America and World News Tonight, CBS’ Mornings and Evening News, and NBC’s Today and Nightly News, as well as all original...

June was an active month for tornadoes in Minnesota
July 2, 2025 ST. PAUL, Minn. — June lived up to its reputation as the peak month for tornadoes in Minnesota. Pete Boulay of the State Climatology Office says there more last month than all of 2024. The preliminary count shows 39 tornadoes in June,...

4th Of July 2025 Gas Prices Across Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota
Travelers planning Independence Day road trips across Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota will see some higher gas prices. GasBuddy says the national average for a gallon of gas will be ticking up just a bit to around $3.17 a gallon on July 4....

In Chicago, a Landmark Environmental Justice Bill Inches Toward Passage
CHICAGO—Cheryl Johnson’s perspective on the Hazel Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance is that it’s been a long time coming. It’s not just the two years that community groups collaborated with the city’s revived Department of Environment to craft...

Minnesota lawmakers fund outdoor education grants in bipartisan effort
Fifth grade students from WestWood Elementary in Prior Lake, Minn., participate in an animal signs class at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, Minn. Wolf Ridge and the state's four other outdoor learning schools will get new...

48 tornadoes documented in Minnesota this year
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO) – It has been a busy season for emergency managers and storm chasers so far in Minnesota. The State Climatology Office says the preliminary tornado count through the end of June was 48. That surpassed the average number of...

US north-east sees record tick season as climate crisis sparks arachnid boom
Ticks have been flourishing recently in the United States. This year, as compared to recent years, there has been an increase in the reported number of blacklegged ticks, the number of such ticks that carry Lyme disease and visits to the emergency...

5 things to know for July 2: USAID, Ukraine munitions, Trump megabill, Climate change, Paramount settlement
By Jade Walker, CNN (CNN) — Tennessee teens who pick on their classmates may soon have to walk to school. A new state law that took effect this week will give courts the ability to suspend a minor’s driver’s license for up to a year if found...

Minnesota Master Naturalist Lisa Keitel welcomes communities to birding
“Wow, that’s beautiful.” The fifth-grader’s breathless words hung in the air as he gazed through binoculars at a bald eagle, his first-ever sighting. It’s one of many moments of quiet awe that Lisa Keitel, a Minnesota Master Naturalist, values....