Minnesota
Minnesota DNR plans spring webinars
Minnesota’s wildlife management areas — there are more than 1,500 public WMAs in the state — are celebrating 75 years this year. Individuals can learn more about their history in a webinar recorded on March 25 and archived on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website. It’s one webinar of many on outdoor topics the DNR produces every quarter.
The department has been hosting webinars for several years now, and they continue to remain popular, according to Benjamin Kohn, DNR volunteer mentor program coordinator.
“We started these right after COVID as a way to share information and encourage people to get outdoors, to share with them some of the work that DNR is doing and some of the great opportunities we have in Minnesota,” he told the Grand Forks Herald. “It’s gone really well.”
After starting them during the coronavirus pandemic, it slowly grew from there due to people’s interest. “We did an 11-part series on deer hunting — we still use that for our Learn to Hunt programs — and it just kind of built off of that,” he said.
Most of the presenters are from the DNR but sometimes an expert from another organization is invited to present on a topic, such as one in May about yellow bass by a DNR staffer and Jon Lore, an avid yellow bass angler. The two will discuss the fish’s population status, biology, fishing challenges and angling opportunities in the state.
Some of the topics are repeated every year, such as webinars about the state’s fishing or hunting openers, but there also are a mix of issues that have not been covered or that take a new approach to a previously presented topic.
“We typically do one around turkey season about turkeys, we always do one around deer season highlighting regulations for deer and CWD (chronic wasting disease),” Kohn said. “There are some standard ones we always throw in to get the word out to a large number of people.”
The webinars have received a lot of participation with many thousands of views every year.
“There’s a good chunk of people who turn in and watch them,” Kohn said, but noting if someone cannot join during the live session — although that is preferred since participants can ask questions — the webinars are recorded and saved in an archive on the DNR website. People can then review what sessions they missed or are most interested in watching.
Topics cover a gamut of outdoor activities and topics under the generic subheads of fishing, hunting, nature, outdoors, etc. One of the more popular videos is one about micro-fishing, a sport that started in Japan and in recent years came to the United States.
“Microfishing is the practice of catching the smallest fish,” Kohn said. “There’s a more active and larger niche audience in Minnesota that loves to microfish. We’ve had a lot of views on that one.”
Most of the videos are roughly an hour, with some variations. Typically, the speaker will present for 30 minutes or so, followed by a question-and-answer period. Length of the Q&A, of course, depends on audience participation.
All of the webinars are captioned and free to watch, but pre-registration is required to participate in the live events. Registration is not required to view recordings. Kohn said the webinars and archive are a bit unique for a natural resources department.
“Two or three years ago, we went to a Fish and Wildlife conference in South Dakota where they did a presentation on how virtual learning is adding to what DNRs can offer,” he said. “As far as I know, we’re the only agency in the country that is still doing and maintaining some of these videos.”
Watch a webinar
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has several upcoming webinars planned on outdoor topics in the state. Participants can pre-register at dnr.state.mn.us/fishwildlife/outreach/index.html , where visitors can also find the archived videos.
April 8: Turkeys – Greg Henderson, wildlife specialist and avid hunter, will talk about turkey populations across the state, different hunting opportunities and some tips for bagging a gobbler.
April 22: Native fish – Shannon Fisher, fisheries populations and regulations manager, will discuss native species, their importance to Minnesota and related regulation and legislative updates.
May 6: Walleye – DNR fisheries staff will discuss the walleye forecast for this year, a behind-the-scenes look at how the department manages the species and some tips for catching one.
May 20: Yellow bass – Jon Lore, an avid yellow bass angler, will discuss the species biology, population’s status, fishing challenges and angling opportunities in the state.
(FOX 9) – Families and service providers across Minnesota are facing uncertainty after the state’s Medicaid revalidation process left thousands without funding.
Longtime provider cut off after decades of service
What we know:
Options Inc. in Sherburne County supports nearly 200 people with developmental disabilities, helping some find work and others live more independently.
The organization has existed since 1979, and relies heavily on Medicaid funding, which was recently cut off due to the state’s effort to revalidate providers and prevent fraud.
Colene and Dan Verdick, whose 29-year-old daughter Hannah attends Options, said the loss of services is taking a toll.
“It’s very stressful,” said Colene Verdick, a parent of an Options Inc. participant.
“We don’t know what life without it would be like. I mean, we had a small taste of it during COVID, and it was not good,” said Colene Verdick.
“Nope, she was miserable,” said Dan Verdick.
Options Inc. is one of about 3,400 providers statewide that lost Medicaid funding in the process.
Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar said, “to just shut off the spigot and terminate everybody, that means you put all the good providers in the bad apple bag, and that’s wrong.”
Medicaid service providers looking for answers
Throughout Minnesota roughly 3,400 Medicaid service providers are trying to prove the legitimacy of their services after the state disenrolled roughly 60% of its providers. FOX 9’s Corin Hoggard has the details.
The revalidation process and provider appeals
Timeline:
Options Inc. began the revalidation process in May 2025, received a response in April 2026, and submitted all required documents by May 20.
The Department of Human Services (DHS) said this did not give them enough time to finish the revalidation review, including a site visit.
“We should have had this revalidation done in June of 2025. I hate to have to put families and providers through all of this stress and heartache,” said Brenda Geldert, executive director of Options Inc
The state revalidated about 37% of providers, referred 1% for inspector general’s investigations, and allowed most others to appeal their disenrollment.
Rep. Zeleznikar is urging Gov. Walz to treat the situation as an emergency and create an incident command center.
DHS response and ongoing issues
The other side:
DHS has responded to FOX 9 about other providers profiled recently, saying most have minor paperwork issues to resolve.
One provider in Rep. Zeleznikar’s district has been revalidated. However, Bella Mente says the state’s system still won’t allow them to submit bills for their services.
Options Inc. and other organizations are waiting for answers, while families like the Verdicks worry about the impact on their loved ones’ daily lives.
(KNSI) — Minnesota has a mix of good news and concerning metrics in the latest Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Economic wellbeing shows strength, but like many other states, fourth grade reading proficiency is down.
The report shows Minnesota ranks fifth nationally in overall child wellbeing, placing it in the top tier of states and making it the highest-ranking state in the Midwest. Despite this high standing, Minnesota is identified as one of the states where children’s overall wellbeing worsened between 2019 and 2024, experiencing the fifth-steepest decline in the country during that period.
Minnesota’s performance is exceptional for economic wellbeing, ranking second nationally, up two spots from 2025.
Children in poverty: 10% (121,000 children)
Parents lacking secure employment: 20% (251,000 children)
High housing cost burden: 20% (257,000 children)
Teens not in school and not working: 4% (14,000 teens)
The state ranks fifth for health, down one spot from last year.
Low birth-weight babies: 7.5%
Children without health insurance: 4%
Child and teen death rate: 24 per 100,000
Overweight or obese children and teens: 25%
Child and teen deaths rose 8% between 2019 and 2024. Low birth-weight babies ticked up slightly. Youth obesity improved slightly after spiking during the pandemic. Health insurance coverage held steady at 94%. On the mental health front, nearly one in five high schoolers experienced major depression in 2023.
The state ranks fourth in family and community, with kids growing up in strong, supportive environments, up from seventh last year.
Children in single-parent families: 28%
Household heads lacking a high school diploma: 6%
Children living in high-poverty areas: 3%
Teen birth rate: 7 per 1,000
The state falters in education, ranking 21st, down from 17th last year.
Young children (ages 3 and 4) not in school: 55%
Fourth graders not proficient in reading: 69%
Eighth graders not proficient in math: 66%
High school students not graduating on time: 16%
Overall, proficiency levels declined dramatically, essentially undoing a decade of progress. Nationally, fourth graders not proficient in reading rose from 66% to 70%, while eighth graders not proficient in math jumped from 67% to 73%. These indicators are closely tied to future workforce readiness and economic success.
Despite significant pandemic disruptions, the national rate of high school students graduating on time was the only education measure that did not lose ground, improving slightly from 86% to 87%.
The Kids Count Data Book ranks Minnesota among the top states for child wellbeing, but education remains an area where the state continues to lose ground.
The full report is available here.
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An insect known for carrying debilitating diseases wasn’t always on Minnesotans’ radar.
In Good Question, Jeff Wagner digs into the history of ticks in our region and why concern has never been higher.
Wagner spends a lot of time walking through woods in Minnesota thanks to disc golf. The hobby made him acutely aware of ticks.
But he’s had older locals tell him they don’t remember ticks being an issue when they were kids playing outside, back in the 1960s.
When did ticks become a problem in Minnesota? Good Question.
The answer starts across the country in Connecticut in a small town named Lyme. People there in the 1970s were getting sick with symptoms like severe fatigue, headaches, skin rashes and swollen knees. Kids were getting diagnosed with what appeared to be arthritis. The mysterious illness would later take on the town’s name, Lyme disease.
In the 1980s, scientists determined it came from a tick bite, specifically a blacklegged tick. They’re commonly called a deer tick. The species is the only one known to carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
That same decade, the Minnesota Department of Health started to identify Lyme disease cases in the state, which started raising public awareness about the dangers of tick bites. Right as people began to take notice, the number of infected deer ticks started to rise.
“It used to be, 20 years ago we saw (deer) ticks maybe in Washington County, a little bit of Anoka County, and then kind of speckled throughout. Now we see deer ticks established pretty much all throughout the state of Minnesota,” said Alex Carlson, public affairs manager with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District.
Why have ticks become such a big concern today? Carlson points to three main factors. The first is reduced natural boundaries due to deforestation and suburbanization.
“We’re living right among animals, both domesticated animals and wildlife, and so we have more interaction with the animals that may be carrying ticks than we would have maybe 100 years ago,” he said.
Ticks contract the bacteria that causes Lyme disease from biting infected rodents like mice. They then latch onto deer, which saw their population explode in the 20th century, spreading the infected ticks across Minnesota.
“We don’t see those natural predators for those types of small mammals like mice and squirrels (like) foxes and predatory birds and things like that. They’re just not as around because of deforestation and the urban-suburban sprawl,” said Carlson.
Another factor in this equation is climate change. Our recent warm winters were great for disc golfing but also for ticks.
“More mild winters means more ticks will survive the winter, and so we’ll have more returning the following spring,” said Carlson.
It’s the reason the lone star tick is gaining ground in Minnesota despite its natural habitat being in the southern U.S. A bite from this bug can give you an allergy to red meat called Alpha-gal Syndrome.
“The fact that when we have these short stretch winters with not a lot of snow cover, more of those lone star ticks will survive,” Carlson said.
The third factor on why ticks are more problematic now is simply public awareness. We’re better educated on the types, where they’re found, the diseases they carry and what to do if we’re bitten. Carlson said hospitalizations are up partly because people are seeking medical help sooner.
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