Just three weeks into the start of the academic year, COVID-19 is already changing learning scenarios for Minnesota students, teachers and schools. District administrators say further changes are not a matter of “if,” but “when.”

The legislative contests in many parts of Minnesota have a familiar ring this year. There are dozens of rematches for House and Senate seats across the state, with undeterred challengers seeking a different outcome from the last time they ran.

The sudden death of the Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate means voters in Minnesota’s south-suburban 2nd Congressional District won’t elect a new member of Congress on Nov. 3 as scheduled. Instead, the seat will be filled in a Feb. 9 special election.

An invasive vine not reported in North America for more than 60 years turned up this summer in a small central Minnesota city — a discovery that has local and state officials puzzled as they work to eradicate the plants.