Minnesota
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There could still be one more football game played in Arizona this season. On Wednesday, the NFL announced that it has a contingency plan to potentially move Monday night’s wild-card game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams to State Farm Stadium due to ongoing wildfires raging across Southern California.
For now, the league is preparing for the game to take place at SoFi Stadium, the Rams’ home in Inglewood. But if a change of location is deemed necessary, the Cardinals’ stadium in Glendale would play host, giving Arizona its first playoff game — excluding Super Bowls — since the 2015 divisional round.
It would, however, not be the first time that NFL teams have had to move to Arizona. Here are the other times that similar moves have occurred:
2020: San Francisco 49ers
Due to the spread of COVID-19 in the fall of 2020, Santa Clara County briefly banned all contact sports. That forced the San Francisco 49ers to play three home games at State Farm Stadium. The team used fields near the stadium as its practice facility and stayed at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Spa across the street.
2007: San Diego Chargers
It would not be unprecedented if the Rams had to make Arizona home due to fires. The then-San Diego Chargers practiced at the Cardinals’ Tempe facility for three days in 2007 due to the Witch Creek Fire, which forced 40 members of the organization to evacuate their homes. The team returned to San Diego for their game that Sunday, defeating the Houston Texans.
2003: San Diego Chargers
Four years earlier, the Chargers had a Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins moved to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. Again, the move was due to fires in Southern California, which caused poor air quality. The Chargers’ home field, Qualcomm Stadium, was also used as an evacuation center during the fires. Both teams flew to Arizona on game day for a game Miami won, 26-10. The NFL distributed 73,104 free tickets to the game.
Freckle-like sunspots visible, Northern Lights tonight
Wildfire smoke is acting as a sun filter, making cool and dark regions on the sun’s surface more visible. These freckle-like sunspots are also creating opportunities to view the Northern Lights on Sunday night, but the hazy air could obstruct the view.
(FOX 9) – The Northern Lights are expected to be visible Sunday night, but haze from wildfire smoke might spoil the show for Minnesota.
Northern Lights forecast
What we know:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting a severe (G4) level geomagnetic storm on Sunday evening. Geomagnetic storms are what fuel the aurora and a G4 is the second-strongest level of storm.
The NOAA forecast shows the aurora could be visible as far south as central Iowa.
Northern lights in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, on Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo submitted by Danny) (Supplied)
Best viewing times for the aurora
What’s next:
Typically, the best times to view the aurora are around the midnight hour. It appears that’s about the time the storm will be at its strongest in the overnight hours.
Smoke will likely hamper aurora visibility
The other side:
Unfortunately for Minnesota, smoke from wildfires burning in Canada has made skies hazy across the state, and particularly in areas to the north.
While it might not be impossible to see the aurora, FOX 9 meteorologist Ian Leonard compares it to a foggy morning. He says it is worth taking a look in your area, to see if you can spot anything, but it’s probably not worth traveling a far distance to seek out the aurora.
Much of Minnesota is under an unhealthy air quality alert due to smoke.
Tips for viewing the Northern Lights
What you can do:
The NOAA recommends the following tips for the best chance to see the Northern Lights.
- It’s generally better to go north (but with the smoke, that might not be the case tonight).
- Go to areas with less light pollution. You can use this map to find the best spots near you.
- Spring and fall are often the best times to see the aurora, because “the subtleties in the way the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere” can create larger geomagnetic storms.
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a stabbing that occurred at a Walmart Saturday morning.
According to officials, the stabbing took place at approximately 9 a.m. at a Walmart located at 4611 State Highway 29 South in Alexandria, Minnesota.
Police say they found an individual with stab wounds upon arrival, and transported that individual to a local hospital. The condition of the victim is currently unknown.
Alexandria police say the suspect fled the scene before law enforcement arrived, however the individual was later caught by police and taken into custody.
The details of the suspect’s arrest are unknown at this time.
Minnesota
After years at home, thousands of Minnesota state workers are about to return to the office
While labor unions have opposed the new policy, Walz has argued it still allows for flexibility and hopes it will strengthen workplace culture. The state’s workforce of some 40,000, not including those employed by colleges and universities, makes it the second-largest employer in Minnesota behind the Mayo Clinic.
The return to office push won’t fundamentally change the state’s implementation of that plan, said Wayne Waslaski, an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Administration. Many employees will still work remotely half the time, reducing space needs from pre-pandemic levels.
“From a space standpoint, we’ll still be in a smaller footprint even after accommodating for the updated telework policy,” Waslaski said.
Wayne Waslask shows off a conference room, which will be used for a new hybrid work schedule, at the State Administration Building. Waslask is the state’s Assistant Commissioner of Property and Risk Services. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Key to that strategy is the state’s embrace of shared workstations. At the Administration Building on the State Capitol campus in St. Paul, teams will work on-site together on the same days. Cubicles are smaller than they used to be — just 6 by 8 feet — and are to be cleaned and empty at the end of each day. Photos, spare ties and other personal effects are to be stored in nearby locker rooms.
Even the entire senior leadership team at the Department of Administration gave up their offices in favor of shared spaces, Waslaski said.
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