Minnesota
Minnesotans band together to get through March blizzard
The word of the day Sunday in southern Minnesota was “challenging,” with snow conditions making roads difficult to navigate.
In the early morning hours, when the snow was falling the fastest, Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesperson Mike Dougherty said that up to four plows ended up in temporary trouble, requiring help from other trucks to get back on the road.
“There were times there with the snow rate and snow visibility that it was really challenging,” Dougherty said.
By about 3 p.m., MnDOT closed Interstate 35 south of Albert Lea in coordination with the State of Iowa, which shut down its portion of the interstate starting at the Minnesota border.
Beyond that closure, as of Sunday evening, other highways remained open. Dougherty said that this is subject to change based on variables related to strong winds, which could reduce visibility or otherwise complicate highway travel.
In Owatonna, the local roads weren’t much easier to navigate on Sunday after sunrise. WCCO was there to capture total strangers helping each other after a sedan got stuck on the I-35 off-ramp into town. Two truckers who said they were from Ukraine were the first to stop, shoveling snow in front of the car and giving a much-needed push.
When that wasn’t enough, Owatonna neighbor Michael Falvey had just the fix. He arrived with the know-how and equipment to tow the sedan clear of the heavy snow that had accumulated on the ramp.
“That took five minutes,” Falvey said. “I made their day, hopefully.”
It was clear he did, with the drivers telling him they had first gotten stuck at about 5 a.m. The rescuers didn’t arrive until about 9 a.m.
Steele County activated members of the Minnesota National Guard brought in to the Owatonna Armory at about that same time. Guard members hit the road in what’s known as a Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV), designed to easily navigate snow and ice. With about a foot on the ground in some spots, that kind of gear was a necessity, launching to at least one rescue mission Sunday morning.
By mid-day, Steele County had tracked at least 10 reports of stalled cars, according to Kristen Sailer, director of the Steele County Emergency Management. According to the county’s highway department, their crews were responsible for the mileage equivalent of a drive from Owatonna to Chicago and back.
“It’s a mess out there,” Sailer said.
In Allendale, about 25 people were already making use of the local shelter.
But on a day of extremes, others found a way to maintain their original plans. That includes bowlers in Owatonna Sunday for the state bowling tournament, which went on as planned.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has signed goaltender Calvin Pickard to a one-year, $1,000,000 contract for the 2026-27 season.
Pickard, 34 (4/15/92), has appeared in 191 career games (157 starts) over parts of 11 NHL seasons with the Colorado Avalanche (2014-17), Toronto Maple Leafs (2017-18), Philadelphia Flyers (2018), Arizona Coyotes (2018-19), Detroit Red Wings (2019-22) and Edmonton Oilers (2023-26), owning a 74-77-14 record with a 2.96 goals-against average (GAA), .901 save percentage (SV%), and five shutouts. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound native of Moncton, New Brunswick, has also played in 13 career Stanley Cup Playoff games (nine starts) across two postseason appearances with Edmonton (2024, 2025), posting an 8-2 record with a 2.72 GAA and .892 SV%.
Pickard tallied a 5-6-2 record with a 3.68 GAA and .871 SV% in 16 games (13 starts) with Edmonton in 2025-26 while also appearing in eight games for the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (AHL), where he recorded a 4-3-1 record with a 3.26 GAA, .886 SV% and one shutout. He has posted a 161-117-61 record, 2.66 GAA, .913 SV% and 21 shutouts in 329 career AHL games across 13 seasons with Lake Erie (2011-15), San Antonio (2015-16), Toronto (2017-18), Tucson (2018-19), Grand Rapids (2019-22) and Bakersfield (2022-26). He owns a 1-2 record, 2.01 GAA and .925 SV% five career Calder Cup Playoff Games and helped the Toronto Marlies win the Calder Cup in 2018.
Pickard represented Canada at the 2010 IIHF Under-18 World Championship and the 2016 and 2017 IIHF World Championships, winning a silver medal in 2017. He was originally selected by Colorado in the second round (No. 49 overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft.
Flex, 11-Game, half and full season memberships are available for purchase. Please visit tickets.wild.com or contact a Wild Ticket Sales Representative by calling or texting (651) 222-WILD (9453) for more information. Group reservations of eight or more tickets can place a deposit now, contact [email protected] for more information. Deposits are now accepted for single game suite rentals, contact [email protected] for more information. Pricing and on-sale dates for Minnesota Wild 2026-27 preseason and regular-season single-game tickets will be announced later this summer.
Follow @mnwildPR on X and visit www.wild.com/pressbox for the latest news and information from the team including press releases, game notes, player interviews and daily statistics.
What to know about PCBs and their impact on the Great Lakes, Wisconsin
PCBs are a class of more than 200 chemicals that are known to cause cancer.
An invasive shrimp is swimming in Lake Superior. This is the last Great Lake to be invaded — all five Great Lakes now are infested by the crustaceans..
Researchers for the first time have confirmed a breeding population of an invasive Black Sea-native shrimp in Lake Superior.
The number and extent of the shrimp’s spread in Lake Superior is not clear. However, there is a breeding population in the Duluth.
The findings by researchers at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Lake Superior Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin Superior, and the Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research in April, found that the shrimp are now reproducing and surviving year-round in the Duluth-Superior Harbor, the farthest west the European species has been confirmed.
“Samples we collected in 2025 from two locations in the Duluth-Superior Harbor, a major inland shipping port in the Great Lakes, contained juveniles, adult males, and (pregnant or with young) adult females, indicating a self-sustaining population. Additionally, we document earlier evidence from 2018 samples we collected in the harbor that contained two juvenile specimens,” the article in the Journal said.
In an interview on the CBC’s “Superior Morning” show with Mary-Jane Cormier on June 10, lead researcher Donn Branstrator, of the University of Minnesota, said studies in the Duluth-Superior Harbor this spring after ice was off the lake found adult males and females.
“It’s pretty clear evidence of overwintering,” Branstrator told Cormier. “It would be very unlikely for the population to extinguish (at this point).”
Branstrator told Cormier ongoing bi-weekly research in the harbor, and along the Lake Superior shoreline will exam those questions.
According to the research, the non-native shrimp, about a quarter to half inch long, were first detected in the lower Great Lakes in 2006 in lakes Michigan and Ontario. By 2008, they were found in lakes Huron and Erie as well.
“It has also spread to Oneida and Seneca Lakes in New York … as well as the St. Lawrence River and various canals in northern New York State,” the research said.
Branstrator said the Black and Caspian sea region natives, also have spread throughout Europe into areas they were not native. He said they likely hitchhiked with ballast or bilge water, but the exact mechanism will never be known.
What we know about bloody red shrimp.
What is a bloody red shrimp?
Bloody red shrimp are small crustaceans native to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea region of Europe. They are adapted for fresh and brackish water.
This freshwater shrimp can be ivory-yellow in color or translucent, but exhibits pigmented red pigment cells in the carapax and tail, according to the USGS.
The quarter to half inch long shrimp feed on both phytoplankton and zooplankton at various stages of life.
While relatively small, they are among the larger creatures in the Great Lakes feeding on those food sources.
“They are very large bodied, at the upper end of what we consider zooplankton,” Branstrator said.
Branstrator said the shrimp live in near-shore environments and like to hide in crevices during the day, making use of dock pilings, breakwaters and other human-made structures.
They come out at night and “swarm” together in groups of up to 135 per square foot, the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant said.
Bloody red shrimp have a lifespan of about nine months, grow to adults in just 45 days, and an produce up to four generations per year. Females have been documented to carry up to 66 eggs in a clutch. Broods carried by females in the Muskegon population ranged from two to seven.
Where have the shrimp been found?
The shrimp have spread throughout Europe and now have been found in all five Great Lakes, as well as some locations away from the lakes.
The recent study found a breeding population in the Duluth, Minnesota, harbor, the first in Lake Superior.
According to the research, the non-native shrimp, about a quarter to half inch long, were first detected in the lower Great Lakes in 2006 in lakes Michigan (near Muskegon) and Ontario. By 2008, they were found in lakes Huron and Erie as well.
A single specimen was found in Duluth in 2017, and two were found in 2018. It wasn’t until 2025 that the researchers found a sustaining population when they captured 81 individuals.
How did the shrimp arrive in the Great Lakes?
The shrimp likely hitched a ride in the ballast water of ocean-going vessels, although Branstrator noted during an interview on CBC’s “Superior Morning” that we will never know for certain.
He added that the shrimp have multiple opportunities to hitch rides with vessels during the shipping season.
What impact will the shrimp have on Lake Superior and the Great Lakes?
Branstrator said that question hasn’t been answered. They feed on the same sources as other water-dwelling creatures, but they are large enough that small fish may find them to be a new food source.
Are any shrimp native to the Great Lakes?
The opossom shrimp is a Great Lakes native and looks similar to the bloody red shrimp.
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