Good morning, Minnesota. Happy Thursday!

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

WEATHER

❄️ A clipper system could bring slippery roads Thursday, especially in central and northern Minnesota. Temperatures will also be milder Thursday. Highs will be mostly in the 20s across the state.

☃️ Bands of light snow will likely reach the Twin Cities by midafternoon Thursday. The snow looks fairly light and shouldn't dramatically impact the Twin Cities evening commute.

Get the latest weather news on Updraft.

Unfinished Democratic priorities dim along with the party’s hold on power in St. Paul

As the new session begins, Republicans will hold at least shared power in the Minnesota House and possess a slight edge at the outset. They’ll also have a tied Senate for part of the session. While lawmakers are due to debate a long list of topics well into May and adopt a new two-year budget, the opening days could be filled with fights over who is in charge.

Minnesota regulators require studies along possible routes before pipeline construction near sacred site

Regulators moved the process forward by requiring Magellan Pipeline Company to coordinate with tribal nations on completing an archaeological study along two possible, separate routes that put distance between the pipeline and the pipestone quarries.

NEWS ROUNDUP

🌎 Can Minnesota lawmakers find common ground on energy issues? Some think so. The balance of power remains uncertain, and it’s not clear how those climate actions will fare under a divided state government. But some legislators think the two parties may be able to find common ground on some energy issues.

🏛️ Nicole Mitchell's attorneys push back on effort to bar ‘senator’ mentions at burglary trial. Attorneys filed a motion late Tuesday that challenges an earlier request from a Becker County prosecutor to restrict lawyers from mentioning Mitchell is a senator during a felony trial set to start on Jan. 27.

✈️ President Carter’s legacy includes policies which helped bring more Hmong people to Minnesota. As president, Jimmy Carter helped make it easier for Hmong refugees to come to the United States. Minnesota became a key destination for Hmong refugees and Carter-era policies made a difference.

🧑‍⚖️ Second trial starts in suit over St. Paul police killing. The mother of a man killed by St. Paul police in 2017 returned to federal court on Wednesday for a second trial in her lawsuit against the city. The new jury is tasked only with determining compensatory damages.

🦌 Minnesota DNR halts targeted deer culling as chronic wasting disease spreads. The DNR is ending targeted culling in the southeastern part of the state. It said continuing to cull such a broad area would be ineffective as 5 percent or more of wild deer there are now infected with chronic wasting disease.

⚖️ State Supreme Court tosses suit tied to Minneapolis teachers of color, layoffs. At issue in the case was a measure in the 2022 Minneapolis teachers union contract that upended decades of last-in, first-out employment practice by promising to protect teachers who are part of “underrepresented populations” from district layoffs.

🎨 Art Hounds recommend still lives, stained glass and live jazz. With dispatches this week from Little Falls, Faribault and St. Cloud, art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art.

👠 Expected guilty plea for man in ‘Wizard of Oz’ ruby slippers case postponed due to hospitalization. A hearing where a Minnesota man was expected to plead guilty to hiding a stolen pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” was postponed indefinitely.

MUST LISTEN

🎧 Minneapolis Police Department welcomes largest class of new hires since George Floyd murder. On Tuesday night, 24 cadets and eight community service officers started on a path to become some the 580 sworn officers for the city.

🎧 How mindfulness can reduce stress. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with Twin Cities rapper and mindfulness instructor Chance York who says yoga saved his life. He wants to help us all understand how mindfulness can reduce stress.

🎧 Hospitality Minnesota will ask lawmakers for restaurant exemption to new junk fee law. Many restaurants and hospitality businesses argue the service fees are transparent to begin with, and simply raising prices of items on a menu will hurt the business.

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

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