(Bloomington, MN)  --  A North Dakota man is arrested in connection with a kidnapping in Bloomington.  Police say the suspect held a woman hostage in the 13-hundred block of East 78th Street early Thursday morning, leading to an hours-long standoff.  Police eventually rescued the woman and arrested a 37-year-old North Dakota man.  He's facing several charges including kidnapping.

(Woodbury, MN)  --  A Woodbury woman is now charged with murder after one of her children she's accused of beating dies.  Police say the five-year-old died earlier this week.  Sadiyo Mohamed was arrested last month after the girl was found severely beaten in the middle of the street.  She was originally charged with attempted murder and is now charged with second-degree murder.

(Minneapolis, MN)  --  A homicide investigation is underway after several body parts are found on the side of the road in northeast Minneapolis.  Police say the body parts were found near Northeast Main Street and 3rd Avenue Northeast Thursday morning and look to belong to a white man in his 30's.  Police aren't sure how the body parts got there.

Forest Management Officials in Minnesota say they are seeing an uptick in trash dumped on public roads, including along state forest roads. Kirsten Rosenberger works in the Superior National Forest and says the illegal dumping is widespread. "I do get to the woods a lot, I see it, it is not unique to this area. At least my district, I've seen it a lot on forest roads. Its not campers, its not camping, it is people looking for a place to dump." Recently Rosenberger organized a group of forest service workers to remove garbage left along a forest road. They ended [...]

Governor Walz is requesting the Minnesota National Guard to be on standby in the event unrest takes place in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood.  Three people were arrested Tuesday night and 27 others were handed citations.  Demonstrators were originally protesting the federal task force shooting death of Winston Smith.  Crowds increased after a speeding car struck and killed Deona Knajdek, who was with a group of protestors on Sunday.

A new report says jobs are coming back to Minnesota at a positive rate.  Yesterday, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development released data showing the unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percent from April to May.  The labor force participation rate also increased for the first time in three months.  Minnesota gained thousands of jobs in multiple sectors for the fifth consecutive month, providing more growth for the hardest-hit areas of the Twin Cities and Duluth.

More coronavirus cases have been reported in Minnesota.  Yesterday, health officials listed 142 new cases and four additional deaths.  With those numbers introduced, the state's totals show over 604-thousand infections and about 75-hundred-27 deaths overall.  About three-million-10-thousand-116 people have received their first shot of the coronavirus vaccine so far.

 Seventy-five statewide road projects will benefit from $75 million in Local Road Improvement Program funding to help improve or build roads in Minnesota cities, towns and counties. The Minnesota Legislature appropriated an additional $110 million to specific projects, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. In our area, those projects include Nicollet County road 15, in St. Peter work on Broadway Avenue and Sunrise Drive. In Waseca 8th St, in Marshall Channel Parkway, in Mapleton, Borchert St and in Henderson Highway 93 flood mitigation

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is setting up a bicycle and pedestrian demonstration project on Hwy 22 and Hwy 109 in Wells. Over the next few weeks, painted on-street bicycle lanes and signs are being added on Hwy 109, as well as curb extensions at the intersection of Hwy 22 and 3rd Street SW with paint and plastic tubes. The demonstration project will remain in place through Fall 2021. Over the summer, MnDOT will provide opportunities for the community to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the temporary improvements, along with other proposed changes for the project corridor, as MnDOT is [...]

The trail along County Road 16 (Stoltzman Road), between Rasmussen Woods Drive and Pleasant Street, is now open. Installation of a permanent fence along the trail near Pleasant Street has been delayed due to materials availability. In the meantime, a temporary construction fence has been installed at this location until the permanent fence is available. There may also be some maintenance and final clean-up work over the next week.