ST. PAUL — You're Welcome, Don'tcha Snow and Skol Plow are among the newest named snowplows set to deploy in Northern Minnesota as part of the Minnesota Department of Transportation fleet.
State officials announced the latest round of winning names on Thursday, Feb. 13, in MnDOT's Name a Snowplow contest.
The winning names, in order of vote totals, and their future homes are:
- We’re Off To See The Blizzard – District 8 (Southwest Minnesota)
- Snowtorious B.I.G. – District 4 (West Central Minnesota)
- Plowabunga! – District 6 (Southeast Minnesota)
- Anthony Sledwards – Metro District (Twin Cities)
- You’re Welcome – District 2 (Northwest Minnesota)
- Don’tcha Snow – District 3 (Central Minnesota)
- Skol Plow – District 1 (Northeast Minnesota)
- I Came, I Thaw, I Conquered – District 7 (South Central Minnesota)
Nearly 23,500 voters cast ballots in this year’s contest. The order of all 50 finalists can be found on MnDOT’s Name a Snowplow website.
“Each season we have so much fun selecting new and creative snowplow names, but this contest is also a great way to highlight the hard work of our snowplow drivers and keep them safe,” stated MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger in the announcement. “Please slow down and give our snowplow drivers plenty of space to clear roads safely every time it snows.”
MnDOT invited people to submit creative snowplow name ideas in December 2024 and received more than 7,300 submissions. Most suggestions were submitted multiple times by multiple people. Agency staff narrowed the list to 50 finalists for the public to vote on. This is the fifth year that MnDOT has hosted the Name a Snowplow contest.
Statewide, MnDOT now has 44 named snowplows, including Plowy McPlowFace, Betty Whiteout and Taylor Drift. In addition to the 40 named snowplows selected through the annual Name a Snowplow contests, MnDOT staff have also helped to name four additional snowplows statewide in acknowledgement of highways the state plows adjacent to tribal lands. They are Giiwedin-The North Wind; Goonodaabaan-Snow Vehicle (both Ojibwe); and Icamna-Blizzard and Wakta!-Watch Out! (both Dakota).
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Plus: Minnesota State's board of trustees names new interim president for Central Lakes College; Gov. Tim Walz appoints Theodora Gaitas as next Supreme Court Chief Justice; and the U of M Extension is offering free well test kits in the Brainerd area. -
This is the Up North Lookback, where we’re digging into the local news archives from 50 years ago — the year KAXE was born. It’s the week of May 25.
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Contributed/Penguin Random House, Hachette, and Abrams BooksChildren’s librarian Tracy Kampa reviews books by Maya Myers, Richard "Bugman" Jones, Huda Al-Marashi, Matthew Swanson and N. West Moss. -
The tick biodiversity project is driven by citizen scientists' reports of all tick species. Similar research hasn't been done since the 1940s.
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Plus: An Orr man was charged with two felonies for shooting a firefighting plane; and the Bemidji Chamber of Commerce recognized area businesses at its annual luncheon almost a year after the derecho.
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Events this week include "The Sound of Music" in Mountain Iron, the grand opening of a Deer River dog park and a mural unveiling in Bemidji. -
Contributed/Canva Pro graphicMark Smith, 66, died Thursday, May 21, 2026, after hitting a deer near Hill City in southern Itasca County while riding a dirt bike. -
Charlie Mitchell/KAXECo-hosts Heidi Holtan and Charlie Mitchell ponder the advisability of Charlie waylaying wildlife.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe! -
Plus: Red Lake Nation residents cast ballots for the tribal council election; and bipartisan housing legislation made it across the finish line in the divided Legislature.
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Contributed/Max Nesterak / Minnesota ReformerFifteen people are charged with targeting over $90M across Medicaid programs aimed at helping the most vulnerable, including homeless people, children with autism and disabled people.
