Law enforcement responded Friday to a report of a suspicious package delivered to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office at the state Capitol complex in St. Paul.

Staff evacuated the office while authorities investigated, according to a news release from the Secretary of State’s office. The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Minnesota State Patrol responded to the incident. No one was injured.

The package was addressed to the office and had the return address of “United States Traitor Elimination Army.”

Similar packages have been delivered to secretaries of state in 15 other states, the Associated Press reported. Some of the packages contained an “unknown substance.”

Last week, offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming received packages.

The Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing state elections, and the scare comes one week into early voting for the 2024 election.

“Threatening election officials is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. Our democracy depends on public servants who must be able to perform their duties free from fear, intimidation, or harassment,” Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a news release.

— Alex Derosier

Little canada

Highway 36 road closures begin Oct. 3

Drivers planning to utilize Highway 36 should expect a section of the highway between Little Canada and Oakdale to close overnight on Oct. 3 to allow workers to relocate a power line pole.

A section of Highway 36 between I-35E and I-694 will be reduced to a single lane starting at 9 p.m. on Oct. 3 and will close in both directions at 1 a.m. on Oct. 4.

All other sections of the highway will remain open.

Drivers who want to bypass the closure are encouraged to use any open section of Highway 36 in addition to Highway 120 and Interstate-694.

— Amirah Razman

Minneapolis

‘Purple Rain’ house is now Airbnb rental

For a short time, up to 100 Prince fans visiting the music superstar’s hometown will have a place to stay when the party’s over that will let them go crazy over his cultural legacy, a home featured in the film “Purple Rain.”

Although the white, two-story home with brown trim in Minneapolis looks unassuming from the outside, there’s plenty inside to make the late icon’s devotees delirious over this new, limited-time Airbnb rental. Upstairs, a big closet with paisley wallpaper and leopard-spotted floor displays iconic outfits worn by Prince behind glass and has other outfits available to make renters the beautiful ones.

“And then what guests will be able to do themselves is actually play around with a selection of really iconic ‘80s outfits and looks and styles that they can kind of engage their inner rock star themselves,” said Ali Killam, an Airbnb spokesperson.

The rentals are within reach for fans who don’t own diamonds and pearls — just $7 a night per person for up to four guests. The price is based on Prince’s favorite number and there will be a total of 25 nightly stays available from Oct. 26 to Dec. 14.

The Airbnb rentals are a sign o’ the times — the 40th anniversary of the movie. It starred Prince as The Kid, a musician and band leader with a rocky life in the home featured on screen.

— Associated Press

Minnesota

Rare human death from rabies reported

A Minnesota resident who came into contact with a bat in July died of rabies, the state’s department of health announced Friday.

The person’s death marks a rare occurrence, as fewer than 10 people in the the U.S. die from rabies each year, according to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The person is over the age of 65 and was exposed to a bat in western Minnesota in July, the Minnesota Department of Health said.

CDC officials confirmed the rabies diagnosis at its lab in Atlanta on Sept. 20. In a news release, the state health department said it was working to evaluate whether more people were exposed to the disease, but said there was no ongoing risk to the public

Officials said the fatal case advised the public to avoid contact with bats, whose teeth are so tiny that a bite may not be felt or even leave a noticeable mark.

Rabies is caused by a virus that invades the central nervous system and is usually fatal in animals and humans. If left untreated, rabies is almost always fatal. But rabies treatment has proven to be nearly highly effective at preventing the disease after an exposure, state health officials said. Treatment must be started before symptoms of rabies appear, they added.

— Associated Press

Candidate hospitalized after being bit by dog

An incumbent Olmsted County, Minnesota, commission candidate remains in the hospital two days after receiving multiple dog bites while he was out campaigning.

Commissioner Gregg Wright said that he was prepared for an afternoon of going door-to-door Wednesday in the Northern Heights neighborhood when two dogs suddenly emerged from the first house that he approached.

“One of the dogs just basically attacked me, knocked me down, and I was on the ground,” he said of the encounter after the resident answered the door in northeast Rochester. “Eventually the woman who owned the dog was able to get the dog off of me.”

Wright said the result was five leg wounds between his knee and ankle, as well as other scrapes from the fall.

He was able to drive himself to Olmsted County urgent care immediately following the incident but was told he needed emergency room treatment.

— Post Bulletin (Rochester, Minn.).

Wisconsin

Court rules Kennedy to stay on ballot

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name will remain on the state’s presidential ballot, upholding a lower court’s ruling that candidates can only be removed from the ballot if they die.

The unanimous decision from the court marks the latest twist in Kennedy’s quest to get his name off ballots in key battleground states where the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is close. Kennedy’s attorney in Wisconsin, Joseph Bugni, declined to comment on the ruling.

The decision came after more than 418,000 absentee ballots have already been sent to voters. As of Thursday, nearly 28,000 had been returned, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump. Earlier this month a divided North Carolina Supreme Court kept him off the ballot there while the Michigan Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision and kept him on.

Kennedy filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin on Sept. 3 seeking a court order removing him from the ballot. He argued that third-party candidates are discriminated against because state law treats them differently than Republicans and Democrats running for president.

He pointed out that Republicans and Democrats have until 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday in September before an election to certify their presidential nominee but that independent candidates like himself can only withdraw before an Aug. 6 deadline for submitting nomination papers.

— Associated Press