ST. PAUL — State lawmakers may be seemingly deadlocked on the budget, but a bill proclaiming some new official state symbols is on its way to the Governor’s desk.
Minnesota now officially has a state fossil in the giant beaver, which used to live in North American lakes and rivers during the last Ice Age.
Science Museum of Minnesota paleontologist Nicole Dzenowski visited a Bemidji State University Beaver hockey game last year as part of the lobbying effort for the prehistoric rodent.
She said that the push for an official fossil is for the sake of passion in paleontology, especially since giant beaver fossils were discovered in areas of the metro and in Freeborn County.
She said there was also evidence that the Giant Beavers were around, interacting with the First Peoples of Minnesota.
“One of the things we’re trying to put forth is not just the giant beaver or Castoreides [ohioensis], we’ve also got the Dakota name 'Ċapa' and then 'Amik,' the Ojibwe name, for the giant beaver,” she said.
Giant beavers, unlike their small modern cousins, were about the size of bears and didn’t have the same tree-felling incisors we see in modern beavers.
Giant beavers instead fed on aquatic plants, which scientists at the Smithsonian Museum believe left them susceptible to a climate that grew increasingly drier at the end of the last Ice Age.
State lawmakers also agreed upon a new state constellation, Ursa Minor, the little bear and home of Polaris, the North Star — fitting for a state with a motto translating to “Star of the North.”
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Plus: The Minnesota PCA will host an informational meeting on permitting and variance requests from US Steel's Keetac Mine in Virginia on Sept. 3; and Wadena drivers can expect major traffic changes as Highway 10 opens and work starts on Highway 71.
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Experts emphasize that people should learn authentic ways to support school shooting survivors, even after the stories fade from headlines.
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The free event focuses on practical ways to improve woodland habitat for wildlife, while keeping forests healthy and productive for future generations, the SWCD said.
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Drivers in Wadena can expect two-lane traffic on Highway 10 to begin late on August 29, 2025, with Highway 71 closing as construction continues.
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The Miracle-Ear Foundation is partnering with Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Tribal Public Health to offer free hearing screenings and hearing aids for up to 100 people.
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Twelve new automatic license plate readers went up in Bemidji and other MN cities in May 2025. But the Flock Safety cameras raise concerns with privacy advocates.
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Plus: Minneapolis mass shooting spurs talk of advanced, compassionate interventions; and a judge rejects a guilty plea in a Nashwauk voter fraud case.
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Iron Rangers are concerned about the future of the facility because U.S. Steel estimated an $814 million cost to comply with the state's wild rice sulfate standard.
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On Aug. 28, 2025, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call of a shooting incident in the Prescott Housing area in Wilkinson Township, south of Cass Lake.