Minnesota

An air quality alert for northwest Minnesota has been extended to cover the entire state and run through Monday.

An alert originally set for northwest Minnesota was set to expire at 6 p.m. Friday.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said active wildfires in Canada, which had been relatively quiet due to rainfall in June, have intensified as hotter temperatures begin to dry out fuel sources.

The extended alert runs through 9 a.m. Monday.

“We already have footprints of large wildfires in place before the main wildfire season started, and so that’s given us a little bit of concern, not only for, you know, currently what we’re dealing with now, but through pretty much the rest of the summer,” said Ryan Lueck, an air quality forecaster with the MPCA.

A large portion of the state, from roughly south of Alexandria to the north, west and eastern borders of the state, is listed in the “very unhealthy” air quality index.

In the unhealthy air index, anyone can “experience serious heart and lung effects such as asthma attack, heart attack or stroke,” the MPCA release said. People should avoid prolonged or vigorous outdoor activities.

From south of Alexandria to about Mankato is listed in the “unhealthy” range and farther south is listed as “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” which includes people with chronic pulmonary diseases, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or pregnancy, as well as children and older adults.

— Forum News Service

Ramsey County

Rice St., Arlington Ave. intersection closed

The Arlington Avenue intersection at Rice Street will be closed for utility work until July 21, according to Ramsey County officials. This is part of the Rice Street reconstruction project.

However, businesses can be accessed from Park Street, Albemarle Street, and Cottage Avenue.

For more information go to ramseycounty.us/residents/roads-transportation.

As part of the Rice Street project, work continues from Maryland Avenue to the north side of the bridge at Cottage Avenue, and from Arlington Avenue to Wheelock Parkway. Wheelock Parkway is open to traffic traveling east and west, with no turning on Rice Street.

Meanwhile, work is scheduled to begin the end of July at the Ramsey County Road J and Interstate 35E exchange. The intersection of Centerville Road and County Road J will be fully closed for construction of a roundabout.

Businesses in the area — a gas station, restaurants and shops — can be accessed from the entrance to the south of the intersection and on Ramsey County Road J between Centerville Road and the highway overpasses. Ramps on I-35E will be open.

For more detour information go to ramseycounty.us/residents/roads-transportation.

— Pioneer Press

Stillwater

‘Stuff the Bus’ aims for 775 full backpacks

Officials collecting school supplies for this year’s Stillwater area “Stuff the Bus” campaign want to pack 775 backpacks in the next few weeks.

The campaign will ensure that students who live in the Stillwater Area School District “are equipped with all the essential tools they need to start the year off strong,” officials with the United Way of Washington County-East said.

Families in need can register online through July 24. The registration form — available in English, Spanish and Hmong — will request the name of the school that each child will attend and the grade they are entering, along with their favorite color, character, action figure or animal.

Proof of address is required for registration. A document showing the current address, such as a utility bill, paycheck stub or bank statement, must be dated within 60 days, officials said.

Backpacks will be distributed Aug. 6-8 at Oak Park Elementary in Stillwater and on Aug. 7 at Brookview Elementary in Woodbury.

The cost of school supplies has continued to rise over the years, said Nate Cox, activities director of Stillwater Area Public Schools. “We have many students and parents who need the community to come alongside them to provide the tools needed in the classroom.”

Donations can be dropped through July 23 at different sites throughout the district; volunteers also are needed to help sort supplies, “stuff” the backpacks and help with distribution.

For information on grade-specific school supplies that are needed and to see a map of the local collection sites, go to www.uwwce.org/stuff-the-bus. To volunteer or for more information, contact Erin McQuay at erin.mcquay@uwwce.org.

— Mary Divine

Twin Ports

CHS to close Superior grain elevator

CHS Inc. officials notified local officials and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that the Inver Grove Heights-based company plans to permanently close the largest grain elevator in the Twin Ports.

The facility in Superior will cease operations effective Aug. 31, according to the notice provided to the Department of Workforce Development. CHS has not yet made a public announcement or responded to an inquiry from the Duluth Media Group.

The decision has been decades in the making with the decline in the volume of grain that transits through the Superior terminal, said John Griffith, senior vice president of global grain marketing for CHS.

“It’s not just a CHS decline,” Griffith said. “It’s an entire grain export from the Duluth-Superior port that has declined over the past couple of decades, and it finally reached the point where there wasn’t the critical mass of grain movements through the port anymore.”

He said with the progression of larger unit trains, and new facilities, grain can be moved to deep-water ports and moved on larger ships that have lower costs for transportation to reach the same customers.

The closure will impact 23 union employees.

Exports of grain by ship from the Port of Duluth-Superior have been falling for decades, down from a high of 9.2 million metric tons in 1978 to 645,000 tons in 2022, the lowest since 1890.

The 2023 and 2024 shipping seasons were only slight improvements at 790,000 and 794,000 tons, respectively, according to port statistics.

— Forum News Services