Happy Wednesday Minnesota!

Here's the latest news from across the state to start your day. ☕

☎️ MPR News host Angela Davis will be talking about the debate on Wednesday at 9 a.m. She wants you to call in with your thoughts: 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828.

WEATHER

🔥 The heat is back. Wednesday will be warm and windy with critical fire weather conditions again.

☀️ Highs will be near 80 in southern Minnesota with cooler readings north. These readings are nearly 15 degrees above normal once again.

Get the latest weather news on Updraft.

What to know on claims made about Minnesota, Walz in VP debate against Vance

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s home state came up early in his debate against fellow vice presidential candidate JD Vance on Tuesday evening. Here are the facts.

In Mille Lacs, divers go deep to uncover lake’s trash problem

On Mille Lacs, Minnesota’s second-largest inland lake and a premier fishing destination, concern has been growing over garbage left behind by ice anglers and other lake users. Divers from a nonprofit group based in Lake Tahoe, Nev., recently spent two weeks taking a closer look at Mille Lacs’ submerged litter to better understand where it’s coming from, and how to prevent it.

NEWS ROUNDUP

🔊 From Walz’s hometown to an American Legion, Minnesotans react to governor in VP debate. Supporters of the Republican and Democratic presidential tickets gathered Tuesday evening for debate watch parties around Minnesota for the likely only debate between Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

📺 Walz’s account of son’s brush with gun violence offers poignant moment in VP debate. A debate-stage disclosure about the gun violence personally affecting the son of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz offered a moment of compassion from Republican nominee JD Vance on Tuesday night.

🤝🏽 U.S. Fish and Wildlife signs Tamarac co-stewardship agreement with White Earth. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the White Earth Nation have signed a co-stewardship agreement for the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Minnesota.

🏀 Lynx top Sun 77-70 in Game 2 to even WNBA semifinals behind Collier’s supporting cast. Connecticut will host Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday. Then Game 5, if necessary, would be in Minnesota on Oct. 8.

🚧 Habitat for Humanity volunteers continue Carter’s legacy on 100th birthday. For 40 years, the project has brought together volunteers, celebrities and elected officials to build homes and highlight the need for affordable housing.

⚽ Minnesota United specialty license plate now available. The Loons unveiled the new plate Tuesday, featuring the team’s logo on a black background. The lettering is white and sky blue.

🔎 In VP debate, Walz acknowledges he wasn’t in China during Tiananmen uprising. APM Reports, the investigations and documentaries unit of MPR News, first reported that Walz’s claim during a 2014 congressional hearing on the 25th anniversary of the massacre didn’t square up with media accounts in 1989.

🏛️ Eagan woman latest to plead guilty in federal Feeding Our Future fraud case. Prosecutors say between June 2020 through 2022 Kaswar Jama of Eagan, submitted at least $4.5 million in fraudulent claims for Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. They say Jama spent some of that money on real estate and new cars.

MUST LISTEN

🎧 The Breakthrough of ’48: When Civil Rights Won the White House. Based on veteran journalist Samuel Freedman’s celebrated new book, “Into the Bright Sunshine,” this documentary uses first-person interviews and compelling archival audio to resurrect a pivotal moment in American history that remains relevant and revealing today.

🎧 Red River Valley man preserves legacy of Hispanic migrant workers who settled there. Ken Mendez works for the University of Minnesota Crookston and is dedicated to preserving the history of his family and of the Hispanic communities in the area.

🎧 Report: 40 people died from domestic violence in Minnesota last year; some were bystanders. A report out today shows there were 40 people killed last year as a result of relationship abuse and violence. This includes 29 victims and another 11 bystanders or intervenors.

🎧 Listen to today's headlines on our Minnesota Today podcast.

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