Sept. 18, 2020
Summer lingers in September Highs will stay mostly in the 60s over the weekend, then climb into the 70s and 80s by next week. It should remain mostly dry across the state this weekend but it will be windy. More on the Updraft weather blog.
With Trump-Biden dueling visits, it's a busy day for politics in Minnesota. Former Vice President Joe Biden appeared in Duluth, while President Trump was scheduled to arrive in Bemidji later Friday evening.
Trump is vying to become the first Republican to carry Minnesota since Richard Nixon. Trump will be in Bemidji for a campaign event around 6 p.m., but supporters and protesters were already making their presence felt hours before the event.
Meanwhile, Trump's Democratic opponent Joe Biden had his first campaign visit in Minnesota. During his low-key stop at a union building in Duluth, he said Trump has sowed division and discord that will make it hard to rebound from the pandemic and talked about what he would do as president to support workers and other Americans during an economically difficult time. Early voting begins, with more than 1 million Minnesotans requesting absentee ballots. Today was the first day Minnesotans were able to vote for the November general election. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon predicts one-third or more of Minnesota voters — at least a million of us — are expected to vote ahead of Nov. 3. As of Friday morning, 1,070,486 voters have requested an absentee ballot this year. To put it in context, just shy of 680,000 voters cast absentee ballots in 2016 out of about 3 million total votes. We 'may not even be halfway through pandemic': Nearly 1,100 new COVID-19 cases reported today. The uptick in new cases comes a day after officials unveiled their upcoming month long push to boost testing in some regions around the state. The number of people currently hospitalized and those needing intensive care are still trending down during September compared to August. State Health officials say Minnesota may not even be halfway through the pandemic.
You can get more of the latest news, in just a few minutes, via the Minnesota Today podcast.
-- Nina Moini | MPR News | 
