Nearly 400 Crashes Reported Across Minnesota During Tuesday’s Snow

A MnDOT video captured the scary moment when a sliding car ran into the driver of a stranded vehicle, launching him airborne. There's a reason law enforcement and safety officials in Minnesota say you should *always* stay in your vehicle if you're involved in a spinout or other crash that leaves you stranded along the side of a highway. Getting out of your car or truck can be dangerous!

Winona, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating an injury crash that occurred on I-90 in Winona County Thursday morning. The state incident report describes the crash as a rollover. It occurred shortly before 8:45 a.m. about two miles west of the Winona exit. Troopers say a pick-up...

Waseca, MN (KROC-AM News) - An early-morning crash left a Waseca man with severe injuries. The State Patrol says the head-on collision occurred around 3:25 AM on Highway 13 just north of Waseca. 28-year-old Sebastian Schumacher was headed north when his car collided with a southbound car driven by another Waeca man.

The finalists have been revealed in the 2023 official 'Name a Snow Plow' Contest here in Minnesota, and here's how you can vote for your favorites. It was a few years ago that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) launched its first-ever Name a Snowplow Contest, where one snowplow in each of MnDOT's 8 districts received its own distinct name, as voted on by Minnesotans all over the state. Over 60,000 votes were cast in last year's contest, which ended in February.

High Forest, MN (KROC-AM News)- An Arkansas man was hospitalized following a rollover crash along I-90 in southeast Minnesota Wednesday evening. State Troopers responded to the wreck at 8:45 p.m. The crash occurred about a mile southwest of the High Forest Interchange. The driver, identified as 26-year-old Jamario Love, was...

Ever since I became aware of this story, I can't help but think of it when the Minnesota weather turns dangerously cold. The outcome for this women was nothing short of a miracle. Here in Minnesota, we are very aware of how dangerously cold it can get in the winter...

#10 - Warba, Minnesota (Population 181) Warba, Minnesota is located in Itasca County, about 15 miles southeast of Grand Rapids. Warba boasts a post office, a store, and great hunting & fishing. #9 - McGrath, Minnesota (Population 78) The town of McGrath is located in Aitkin County, about 30 miles...

A combination of snow and cold affect Minnesotans but those conditions also affect wildlife in the state. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He says the state has something called "Winter Severity Index" which measures how hard the winter is on deer, turkey and wildlife in general. Schmitt indicates the Winter Severity Index is calculated the following way: 1 point is accumulated for each day the temperature is zero degrees or less and another point is added when snow depths are 15 inches or more. This starts November 1st and goes through March 31.

Oronoco, MN (KROC-AM News)- Members of a Rochester-area utility cooperative are being told to brace for higher bills. Rising fuel costs and inflation are being blamed for the rate hike and increased costs for customers to power and heat their southeast Minnesota homes. Dairyland Power, which sells electricity to 24 cooperatives and 15 municipal utility providers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois is budgeted to increase their rates by 7% this year.

UNDATED (WJON News) -- For the first time in a long time the population in greater Minnesota has grown. The Center for Rural Policy and Development has released its annual State of Rural Minnesota Report. They say in 2020 and 2021 the decades-long trend of population loss in rural counties was reversed.

It's time. The nominations are in and now it's time to cast your vote. More than 10,000 name ideas were submitted for the Minnesota Department of Transportation's 2022-2023 Name A Snowplow Contest. Agency officials narrowed those creative nominations down, and they have released the list of 60 finalists. Everyone is...

Popular sandwich chain Erbert & Gerbert's is planning to open eight more Minnesota locations as part of an expansion, with the first opening this week in West St. Paul!. The Eau Claire, Wisconsin-based company currently has around 20 Erbert & Gerbert locations in Minnesota, and about half are in the Twin Cities metro. The newest shop to open is located at 1909 S. Robert Street.

If you are like me you spent a portion of your weekend/evening chiseling down the snowdrifts at the end of your driveway. In some communities, a snowplow will drive around and drop its 'wing' and knock down the tall drifts. But all plow drivers will tell you there is one thing that when they see it, scares them completely. A 'cave' cut into the snow with toys sitting inside. Instant chills as the driver will suddenly wonder where is the child who left their toys here?

It's amazing to me how quickly time seems to go by. It will have been 5 years this March since a Southern Minnesota grandmother killed her husband and then a stranger in Florida. She was dubbed 'Losing Streak Lois' as she was known to lose large amounts of money at casinos, and her luck didn't change after she had committed murder.

At my high school we had a mini TV station where we did a newscast that broadcasted to the high school TVs once per week. Jobs always rotated and when I was assigned co-anchor I remember, during our practice run, my teacher told me I was talking way too fast. I hadn't even noticed! And according to this recent study, it totally makes sense that I wouldn't notice because we Minnesotans are fast talkers.

The 1996 movie Fargo almost was named after a different town entirely. The movie stars Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson, a Minnesota police chief investigating a triple homicide that takes place after a desperate car salesman (William H. Macy) hires two criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife in order to extort a hefty ransom from her wealthy father (Harve Presnell).

Fair State Brewing, Minnesota and the nation's first unionized microbrewery, has launched Minnesota’s first-ever THC drink packaging and distribution center, and it is now open in St. Paul. Chill Collective, a partnership of drink makers is now open. “Named after Fair State’s cannabis beverage line, Chill State Collective offers...

Brooklyn Park, MN (KROC-AM News) - A young child was run over by a school bus in the Twin Cities this afternoon. A preliminary report issued by the Brooklyn Park Police Department says officers responded to a report of a hit and run involving a school bus shortly after 3 PM. When they arrived at the scene, the officers found the lower extremities of a 6-year-old child had been run over by a bus. The victim was transported to a local hospital with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Money magazine has come out with their list of 'Best Places to Live in America,' and a Minnesota town has come in at number one. Woodbury, Minnesota comes it a respectable #29 in the nation, and Rosemount, MN landed at #32 among the fifty best places. including about 1,300 total...

White Bear Lake, MN (KROC-AM News)- A police officer was shot during an arrest in the Twin Cities Tuesday night. A news release from the White Bear Lake Police Department indicates officers attempted to arrest a subject in the area of an apartment complex near Maplewood mall around 10 p.m. Gunfire then rang out during the arrest.