SHAKOPEE, Minn. — Several local Minnesota newspapers will publish their last editions this week.Southwest News Media announced earlier this month it's ending the publication of nine papers by month's end:Chaska HeraldChanhassen VillagerHutchinson LeaderJordan IndependentLitchfield Independent ReviewPrior Lake AmericanSavage PacerShakopee Valley NewsSouthwest SaturdayTwo of those papers, the Hutchinson Leader and the Litchfield Independent Review, were printed by Hutchinson's Crow River Press, which Southwest News Media says it will stop using.Three of the papers have deep histories in their communities. The Chaska Herald was founded in the late 1850s; the Shakopee Valley News in 1861; and the Jordan Independent in 1885.Southwest News Media says the move was made largely due to dwindling advertising revenue as readers now largely obtain their news digitally.Denver-based MediaNewsGroup, which owns the St. Paul Pioneer Press, acquired Southwest News Media and Crow River Press in 2020.CBS News' "60 Minutes" reported in 2022 about MediaNewsGroup's owner, the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which lawmakers have accused of using a "newspaper-killing business model" of acquiring local papers and decimating budgets and newsroom staff.Alden is the second-largest owner of newspapers in the United States with 200 papers in its portfolio, including the Boston Herald, Chicago Tribune and Denver Post.

ELY, Minn. — Minnesota's International Wolf Center is mourning the loss of one of its ambassadors.On Friday, the center announced the death of Axel, an 8-year-old Arctic wolf.Axel was euthanized on Sunday after suffering a seizure two days earlier, leading to a diagnosis of severe kidney failure.  Officials at the center, located in Ely, say Axel died "surrounded by his wolf care team.""Axel is already greatly missed by our care team and everyone who knew him, but we are certain that we made the right decision for him," said Wolf Curator Giselle Narváez Rivera. "We also made sure that his...

EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings made a big splash in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, picking two players at arguably the most important positions on the team: passer and pass rusher. So, who did the Vikings select in this year's draft? Look below for a rundown for each day of the draft. Thursday: First round No. 10 pick: After moving up one spot in a trade with the New York Jets, the Vikings selected former Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy to be their franchise quarterback of the future. McCarthy, 21, is coming off a national championship win, but he didn't have to...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Police are asking for the public's help to find two suspects who violently stole a dog from its owner Wednesday on St. Paul's east side.The dognapping happened just before 4 p.m. near North Arkwright Street and York Avenue in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood.The victim told police she was walking her French Bulldog/Boston Terrier mix named Clementine, or Tiny, when two young men knocked her down and took the pet. The woman wasn't hurt.Tiny was last seen wearing a black harness. Anyone with information on this case is asked to call police at 651-266-5650.

In what Superintendent Jeff Elstad called a "historic event for our community," a more than century-old time capsule has been discovered in the demolition of an old high school Owatonna, Minnesota. The contents of the capsule were unveiled for the first time during a press conference this week. Bob Olson, director of facilities, infrastructure and security at Owatonna Public Schools, said at the event that the capsule was discovered while an old school was being taken down. According to the Owatonna People's Press, it was the former Owatonna High School that had been erected in 1921. Olson said he had instructed construction crew...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — In honor of Earth Week, some University of Minnesota students will spend their Friday afternoon cleaning up one of the Twin Cities' most popular lakes.Members of the university's Marine Biology Club, in collaboration with Women in Ocean Science and the Midwest School of Diving, are teaming up for an Earth Day SCUBA and shoreline cleanup of St. Paul's Lake Phalen.The public is invited to come out for the event at 3 p.m. to help clean up the shoreline.  The event aims to raise awareness about conservation and the cleanliness and health of Lake Phalen. Participants will engage in underwater and shoreline cleanup activities, fostering a deeper connection to our natural surroundings.The Midwest School of Diving has previously conducted trash cleanups at lakes Harriett, Peltier, White Bear, Centerville, Green and Wirt.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twin Cities are about to be treated to some proper April showers.The forecast high Friday is 55 degrees. The first storm system rolls into the metro in the morning, bringing showers and wind gusts up to 40 mph. There will be a break in the rain in the afternoon before it resumes during the evening commute.There could be some thunder and a strong storm Friday evening across southern Minnesota, but the greatest severe chances in Iowa and southward.Most of the rain lifts north of the metro by sunrise Saturday, with all of Minnesota dry in the afternoon. A peek or two of sunshine and west-by-southwest winds will warm us into the mid-60s. The second storm system arrives Sunday morning with more rain and wind before wrapping up into Monday morning.Both systems combined could bring us 1 to 2 inches of beneficial rain. The threat of severe weather remains low with stronger storms staying south.Temps stay in the 50s Sunday through Monday before warming closer to 70 midweek.Next week is now looking more unsettled with additional rain chances on Tuesday and Thursday, with a brief break Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesotans love to get outside no matter the season. Something about being in nature always seems to leave us feeling better.So why does it feel good to get outdoors? Good Question.In the land of the 10,000 lakes, nature is calling and our bodies are listening."You can smell, feel, use all your senses out here. It just makes you feel more alive," said Zach Ojeda, of St. Paul."The outdoors have so many amazing benefits for us," said Dr. Vanessa Slots, a general pediatrician at M Health Fairview.Slots says there are both physical and mental benefits to being outdoors."There are a...

BECKER, Minn. — In a new rule, the EPA says coal plants need to start capturing their smokestack emissions or shut down. It's a move to curb planet-warming emissions — something Minnesota wants to do by going carbon-free with our electricity by 2040.Utilities are doing so by shifting to more renewables.Xcel Energy's Sherco coal plant in Becker is a mammoth maze of massive machinery."What you see on the ground is about 2 million tons of coal which equates to two months of burning if both are operating at 100% power," said Plant Director Michelle Neal.That coal is loaded into a 21-story 3,000-degree...

MINNEAPOLIS — Those closest to Jon Seas admire his drive to help others on and off the field."Jon really showed no fear," said Pete HerylaIt's been a tough road to recovery for Seas after losing his friend, Cole Thompson, in a horrific crash in Minneapolis.According to investigators, Thompson and Seas were drinking at a party and decided not to drink and drive. They instead got into 19-year-old Mackenzie Lene's car. What they thought was a safe ride home ended in a fiery wreck. The driver ran away, leaving the two young men to fend for themselves."He obviously had enough fight in...

The Chicago White Sox dropped to 3-22, wasting a two-run lead and stretching their losing streak to a season-high seven with a 6-3 defeat to Minnesota on Thursday as Edouard Julien hit two of the Twins' five solo home runs.Chicago matched Cincinnati in 2022, Detroit in 2003 and Washington in 1894 as teams that opened 3-22. Baltimore began 2-23 in 1988.Julien and Ryan Jeffers homered off Michael Soroka in a three-run sixth inning, Julien homered again off John Brebbia in the seventh and Carlos Santana and Jose Miranda went deep against Steven Wilson in the eighth.Chicago, off to the worst...

DETROIT — The Minnesota Vikings have chosen JJ McCarthy to be their franchise quarterback of the future.The Vikings took McCarthy with the 10th pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft Thursday. McCarthy's coming off a national championship win with Michigan, but he didn't have to do much as a passer to get there. He threw for just 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions all season.His NFL.com scouting profile notes a lot of intangibles — "He is confident and seems to have the ability to take slights and digest it as competitive fuel" — but does highlight concerns...

The worst kept secret in the NFL finally came to fruition Thursday as the Chicago Bears selected highly-touted USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.But the theme of the first round was the run on quarterbacks. An unprecedented six of the first 12 picks were quarterbacks, an NFL Draft record. The first 14 selections were offensive players, also a draft record, with no defensive players being taken until the Indianapolis Colts selected UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu at No. 15.  The Bears and their long-suffering fans hope Williams, the 22-year-old phenom, will...

RICHFIELD, Minn. — A group of parents and students from Richfield Middle School say they were shocked to learn the school would cut ties with its theater course after a student survey. According to the Richfield School District, 6th and 7th grade students were given an in-school questionnaire form, asking them to rank elective classes by interest. Of 570 completed surveys, the district says theater and movement courses were the two lowest ranking – with two new options, woodworking and photography showing more interest. The school's theater teacher, who also leads the after-school theater program, confirmed to WCCO they were informed...

MINNEAPOLIS — For the third day, students at the University of Minnesota joined other colleges across the country lifting their voices, asking for an end to the bloodshed in Gaza.They marched with a list of demands to the alumni center and gave them to the Board of Regents — the school's top financial decision-makers.The group is asking for the university to divest from companies such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing and Honeywell, as well as ban them from recruiting on campus. They also are demanding the university divest "militarized Israeli institutions that are currently aiding the ongoing genocide in Gaza"...

OAKDALE, Minn. — City leaders said a coyote is on the prowl in the east metro, warning it's already attacked at least one dog.That's why officials want pet owners to avoid walks at Oakdale Nature Preserve.The preserve is typically a peaceful east metro escape to nature, but that peace was broken for one dog owner early Monday evening, when Oakdale police said an 8-pound Pomeranian was attacked by a coyote."A coyote came up from the side and back area and bit the dog in kind of the backside, legs area," Oakdale Police Chief Nick Newton said. "We understand the dog was...

MINNEAPOLIS — The ongoing drought across most of Minnesota continues to improve slowly.This week's drought update shows improvement for central and southern Minnesota as well as central Wisconsin. However, there are a few pockets where it's still abnormally dry from Marshall southward and south of Eau Claire. Moderate drought continues east of Austin too.Unfortunately, the moderate and severe drought grew a little bit across northern Minnesota — mainly from Brainerd northwest to Bemidji and beyond.The storm on April 16 brought more than 2 inches of rain west of the metro and north of Winona. The half-inch or so that fell farther north wasn't enough to help. The NEXT Weather forecast is calling for plenty more rain, certainly in the next few days. By next Tuesday, most of us will see another 1-2 inches of rain in the gauges, allowing for even more improvements.Even beyond that, there is more good news. The Climate Prediction Center outlook into early May is also calling for wetter than average conditions. 

MINNEAPOLIS — After the Twins got their win over the White Sox on Thursday afternoon, high school teams took to the field for a rare treat they won't forget.Rivals Prior Lake and Shakopee got all the pomp and circumstance of a major league game. They are two of 12 teams selected to play games at Target Field this spring. That means they get a public address announcer, names on the videoboards, and they get to play on major league grass."Just stepping into that batter's box and seeing the whole Target Field in the background. The batter's eye, just super excited. I...

MINNEAPOLIS — A new partnership in the Twin Cities is helping single moms who are struggling to make ends meet carve out a career path to change their lives.It starts at Dunwoody College of Technology, which is now collaborating with Raise the Barr, a nonprofit with a leader who has navigated similar challenges of going to school while raising a child alone.Together, they've created a support system ready to help moms better their family's lives.Working with your hands, heavy machinery and emerging technologies are what lure students to Dunwoody College. It has more than 45 programs focused on technical education,...

A fun way to get the most out of your backyard is to set up an outdoor projector and host a movie night. An outdoor projector, combined with wireless speakers, a popcorn machine and a few comfy lounge chairs (or portable hammocks) are all you need to enjoy your favorite Hollywood blockbusters, TV shows or live sporting events under the stars.The best outdoor projectors offer a large and vibrant picture, with accurate colors and smooth action. And while there are a few outdoor projectors that are water resistant, any portable projector will work great outside, as long as it doesn't...