Minneapolis, MN
Record-breaking warmth cost the Minneapolis Park Board $750,000 — for just one week of skating
Record-breaking warmth this winter melted Minneapolis’ outdoor ice rink traditions — and cost the park system $750,000 for just a single week of skate-worthy ice.
For almost two months, park workers got up before dawn to flood the 45 ice rinks in parks throughout Minneapolis, only to see their work melt away in the daytime. A proper freeze finally arrived near the end of January.
Lyndale Farmstead in south Minneapolis opened on Jan. 17, followed by every other rink within the next three days. But the cold didn’t last. Almost as soon as skaters laced up, the ice started to melt again. Within a week, all rinks were slush.
The cost for eight days of outdoor skating, hockey and broomball: $750,187, or about $94,000 per day. Now, some parks leaders are pondering the future of the city’s much-loved outdoor rink system in a warming climate.
“I think it’s a wake up call,” said Park Commissioner Becky Alper. “If you look at the long-range forecasts, I think we can expect more variability in temperatures … Let’s plan for that so we’re better serving the public with the resources that we have.”
Alper, an ice skater, has asked the board’s recreation committee to gather data including how much the system spends on ice rinks annually for how many days of use, what planning is done for unseasonable weather and whether climate experts are ever consulted.
This winter’s record-breaking temperatures — caused by the combination of climate change and El Niño — shouldn’t be the benchmark for any kind of year-to-year prediction, said assistant state climatologist Pete Boulay. But the state is steadily warming, with climate patterns morphing to resemble Iowa’s. In recent years, winter overnight lows have seen the biggest upswing, which is particularly detrimental to ice-building.
“Over time, we’ve had definitely warmer winters. We’ve seen that through the years, the shortening of the coldest part of the season,” Boulay said. “In a cost-benefit ratio, what would be the tipping point of do you do outdoor rinks or not? That’s up to the bean counters to figure out.”
Cities can use refrigerated rinks, like the Roseville Skating Center, to hedge their bets on outdoor ice in an uncertain climate, Boulay said. But they’ll have to decide if it’s worth the cost.
Alper and Commissioner Billy Menz have also suggested that park staff consider the feasibility of incorporating refrigerated rinks into new park plans.
“I’ve been really pushing the board that if we’re going to act boldly for climate change, we also have to act boldly in the area of recreation, and this is a place where we could do that,” said Menz. “Because without acting boldly we’re going to have no ice to skate on.”
Refrigerated rinks are part of the long-range plans of Columbia Park in Northeast Minneapolis and North Commons Park in north Minneapolis, which is slated to receive a $35 million makeover in the next few years. Billed as the biggest neighborhood park construction project in the Park Board’s history and already running over budget, North Commons’ schematics include a placeholder for an unfunded refrigerated rink. Northside skaters would need to raise private funds to make that a reality.
Park staff estimate a refrigerated rink at North Commons would cost $6 million to $8 million, including a canopy to provide ice-extending shade.
New Directions Youth Ministry, a nonprofit that runs a low-cost hockey and figure skating program at North Commons, hopes to build it for less. The organization is getting ready to launch a capital campaign that describes bringing a refrigerated rink to north Minneapolis as an equity issue: kids skating in defiance of the racial stereotypes and financial barriers that have traditionally kept low-income people of color out of hockey.
Kids whose families can afford to participate in club sports and rent indoor ice typically skate five to six days a week, but lower-income kids can develop the same skills on an outdoor rink for free, said Dale Hulme, executive director of New Directions. This winter’s late freeze and early ice-out meant the hockey program’s 70 kids got to hit the rink at North Commons just twice. They made up some of their missed park league games indoors at Parade Ice Gardens, but with no practice in between, it was virtually impossible to compete.
If they could raise the money for an outdoor refrigerated rink at North Commons, it would help level the playing field between Northside players and their more privileged peers when the weather doesn’t cooperate, said Chris Williams, North Commons hockey coach. He used to live in a working-class Hispanic neighborhood of southwest Detroit, where an artificially cooled rink was a neighborhood centerpiece. He’d love to see that at North Commons.
“We played a game on Saturday, and our goalie had played like two other times before. … If he’d had the practices, he would have been that much farther along,” Williams said. “So our mission is to provide this low-cost opportunity to get involved in hockey because hockey is just one of these things, a Minnesota thing … and I think it’s important for the kids to have this.”
The Minneapolis Park Board’s first maintained outdoor rink was Loring Pond in 1884. It has been providing free skating for 140 years.
Minneapolis, MN
Truck driver dead after crash sends Metro Transit bus into home in south Minneapolis
It happened early Monday morning in Minneapolis.
One person is dead and another is hospitalized after an early-morning crash in south Minneapolis on Monday that sent a Metro Transit bus into a home.
It happened at around 4 a.m. at 10th Avenue South and East 38th Street, just a few blocks east of George Floyd Square.
A spokesperson for Metro Transit police tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that a truck was speeding down 10th Avenue when it hit the back of the bus, ripping a tire off the bus and sending it into the front of a home.
The driver of that truck died, according to Metro Transit police, while the driver of the bus was taken to a hospital but is expected to be OK.
Officials say nobody besides the driver was on the bus at the time, and the home the bus hit was also empty at the time.
Investigators are still at the scene, working to clean up all of the debris and determine exactly what led up to the crash.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is at the scene and working to learn more. Download the KSTP app and follow 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on social media for the latest updates.
Minneapolis, MN
Atlanta Dream survive thriller in Minneapolis, edge Lynx 91-90 to open 2026 WNBA season
The Atlanta Dream trailed by double digits, fought back twice and still needed Angel Reese’s game-saving block in the final seconds to survive.
Atlanta opened the 2026 WNBA season with a 91-90 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday night, powered by Allisha Gray’s 24 points, Te-Hina Paopao’s pull-up jumper with 12 seconds remaining, and a performance that left little doubt about what this team intends to do this season.
Reese’s block on Emese Hof’s layup attempt in the closing seconds sealed one of the most dramatic opening-night wins before 10,821 fans at Target Center.
When Minnesota pushed its advantage to 13 points in the second quarter and the Dream looked like they were in serious trouble, Allisha Gray took over. The veteran guard finished with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-18 shooting, going a near-perfect 9-of-11 from the free throw line to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Gray’s ability to get to the line and convert kept Atlanta within striking distance throughout a game that could have spiraled out of control multiple times. She scored 11 points in the third quarter alone as the Dream chipped away at Minnesota’s lead.
Rhyne Howard was equally important on both ends, finishing with 15 points, five assists and three steals. Jordin Canada ran the offense efficiently with 12 points and six assists, and Paopao added six points and four assists in a composed performance off the bench.
With Atlanta trailing 85-87 and the clock winding down, Naz Hillmon stepped back and drained a 22-foot three-pointer with 2:44 left to tie the game and silence the fans in the Target Center. It was the shot of the night, and arguably the play that won Atlanta the game.
Hillmon finished with 15 points on an efficient 6-of-10 from the field, adding seven rebounds in 33 minutes. She was the Dream’s most reliable scorer off the bench and delivered her best basketball when Atlanta needed it most.
Rookie Madina Okot also impressed in her WNBA debut, scoring eight points on 3-of-6 shooting with four rebounds in just 10 minutes, showing the poise and physicality that earned her a roster spot out of training camp.
Angel Reese’s first game in a Dream uniform was complicated. She shot 4-of-11 from the field, committed five turnovers and picked up a first-quarter technical foul that gifted Minnesota a free point. At one point in the first half, she missed three consecutive shots on the same possession.
But Reese also grabbed 14 rebounds, nine on the offensive glass, blocked three shots, came up with two steals, and made the most important play of the game when it mattered most. Her block on Hof’s layup in the final seconds was the kind of athletic, instinctive play that changes games and defines seasons.
That is the player Atlanta acquired this offseason. On opening night, in the most pressure-packed moment of the game, she showed exactly why.
Minnesota had every opportunity to win this game and couldn’t finish it. Olivia Miles finished with 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting and eight assists to go along with eight free throws made. Kayla McBride scored 20 points and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:11 left that looked like it might be the dagger.
Courtney Williams added 14 points and six assists, and the Lynx shot 50 percent from the field, a number that should have been good enough to win.
But 15 turnovers and an inability to execute in the game’s final minute proved too costly. Minnesota had chances to put Atlanta away in the fourth quarter and couldn’t. The Dream made them pay every time.
Atlanta continues its opening road trip Tuesday against the Dallas Wings before returning home for the May 17 opener against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces at State Farm Arena. Minnesota hosts Atlanta again on May 27.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A shooting in south Minneapolis left a woman dead Saturday night.
Fatal shooting on Pillsbury Avenue South
What we know:
According to Minneapolis police, officers responded to a report of gunfire near Pillsbury Avenue South and West 25th Street around 5:30 p.m.
A woman was found at the scene with life-threatening gunshot wounds. She was taken to the hospital where she later died.
Police believe that an argument inside an apartment led to gunfire.
The suspected shooter fled the scene before police responded.
What we don’t know:
Police did not say what led up to the shooting or if they made any arrests.
The woman has not yet been identified.
What you can do:
Anyone with information on the shooting can call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or click here to submit a tip.
The Source: A press release from the Minneapolis Police Department.
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