ST. PAUL — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced state Sen. Keri Heintzeman as one of his appointments to the Advisory Task Force on Future of Minnesota’s Water.
Heintzeman, from Nisswa, was elected April 30 in a special election to replace former-Sen. Justin Eichorn and represent District 6 in the state senate. She is one of two Republicans out of the four lawmakers on the task force.
The task force’s first meeting is 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, at the state Capitol. The task force will have five more meetings over the next year, all of which will be livestreamed and open to the public.
Ellison formed the task force on March 31 to study and report on the problems affecting the stewardship of the state’s water resources as well as explore and recommend the best practices for addressing these problems.
“Our focus is not regulation, it’s imagination,” Ellison said in a news release. “The goal is not to point fingers or assign blame, but to collect and explore the best thinking around what’s possible for us as stewards of Minnesota’s water.”
The task force includes state lawmakers from both sides of the aisle as well as representatives from state agencies and water quality and conservation advocates and experts. Ellison’s appointees also include members of the public representing agriculture, tribal communities and businesses.
-
Contributed/briandjan607 via FlickrPositions include the 7th and 8th congressional districts in Northern MN. The board provides leadership and coordination on environmental issues, and chances for public engagement. -
Contributed/University of MinnesotaResearchers tested 10 fungi from MN to assess for their ability to kill the pests when used in traps. The method may be useful in hard-to-access forests in Northern Minnesota. -
Lorie Shaull/KAXEThe findings offer some hope that the decades-long decline of teen mental health, especially worsened in the 2022 survey amid the COVID-19 pandemic, could be turning around. -
Contributed/Google MapsMnDOT bridge engineers are making this temporary change to safely accommodate heavy timber truck traffic during the winter months. -
Contributed/Minnesota Pollution Control AgencySome areas are facing emerging risks for nutrient levels and E. coli in the Mississippi River basin watershed encompassing parts of Becker, Otter Tail, Todd and Wadena counties. -
Contributed/Michelle Griffith via Minnesota ReformerMike Lindell enters a crowded field of GOP candidates who believe they’re best able to beat Gov. Tim Walz, who is running for a third term next year. -
Contributed/Minnesota Department of Natural ResourcesInvestigators from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency found sediment from a filled wetland discharged into nearby Trout Lake in Itasca County. -
Contributed/Thor Edvardsen via FlickrOf the $12 billion announced by the USDA for a new relief package for farmers, $11 billion will go to commodity crop producers, and $1 billion will go to fruit and vegetable producers. -
Heidi Holtan/KAXEThe pause comes as the state grapples with what prosecutors call the largest public services scandal in history, with $218 million in fraud uncovered to date. -
Contributed/Adobe Stock via Minnesota News ConnectionAccording to 2024 data, about 1.34 million women worked in the construction industry. Advocates say while that's an improvement over past decades, women still face barriers in this field, including harassing behavior.
