Minnesota
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Minnesota
Behold the beaver! Drive is on to make prehistoric giant Minnesota’s official fossil
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Paleontologist Alex Hastings held up a fossilized animal skull and showed it off to a couple of Girl Scouts who passed through Bad Weather Brewing on a cookie sales mission to the taproom’s patrons on a sunny weekend day.
The giant beaver skull is several times larger than the beavers that roam Minnesota today. Hastings told the curious onlookers that the prehistoric creature was the size of a black bear and tapped in at 200 pounds.
“So the giant beaver lived about 12,000 years ago here in the cities to about 10,000 years ago, and it is a good choice for our state. Of course, beavers, the modern beaver is still very widespread across the state. It’s an important part of our ecology here,” Hastings said.
A fossilized skull of a giant beaver found in Minnesota was on display in St. Paul as part of an effort to raise awareness about a bill that would make it Minnesota’s state fossil.
Dana Ferguson | MPR News
Hastings and others from the Minnesota Science Museum are working to raise awareness about the giant beaver and about their effort to make it the state’s official fossil. While Minnesota has a variety of state symbols, ranging from a bird to a flag to a muffin to a state beverage, it’s among a handful of states that hasn’t adopted an official state fossil.
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The giant beaver fossils are part of the science museum’s collection and they were discovered in Minnesota. Hastings said that makes them a good fit.
“What’s really fun about the giant beaver is that it would have actually been around when the first people were settling into Minnesota,” Hastings said. “So the first inhabitants in this land would have been encountering the giant beaver.”
A few years ago, the Minnesota Science Museum asked people to vote on which fossil should be the official one. Hastings proudly notes the giant beaver was the overwhelming winner.
The bill to designate the giant beaver as the official fossil isn’t even the only one about beavers this session. There’s also legislation to permit human consumption of beavers of the non-giant variety. The two proposals are unrelated.
Unfortunately for University of Minnesota fans, Hastings said gophers don’t date back far enough to meet the criteria for a fossil, so another giant rodent should fit the bill.
“I don’t know of any dated gophers that go back that far, but we do have dated beavers that go back that far,” he said. “And why can’t we get love for all rodents here in Minnesota and not just gophers?”
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Bad Weather Brewing co-owner Joe Giambruno displays a special beer he brewed to raise awareness about a bill that would make the giant beaver Minnesota’s state fossil.
Dana Ferguson | MPR News
Joseph Giambruno, who co-owns Bad Weather Brewing, said he heard about the museum’s effort to recognize the giant beaver as the state fossil and wanted to do something to help. So he brewed a beer in collaboration with the museum.
“It’s a black IPA, it has some roasted chocolate malt characteristics. The hops we chose are more on the piney side, so kind of like you’re chewing on a pine tree, like a beaver would do,” Giambruno said.
Hastings said the name — Epoch Beaver — also has deeper meaning.
“It’s spelled E, P, O, C, H, that’s epoch, as in, like the Pleistocene, the Ice Age, epoch. And it’s a really nice new black IPA,” he said.
Giambruno said it’s his first foray trying to sway policymakers with his brews.
“We’ve had folks out for different charity events and certain things,” Giambruno said. “But this is the first time we’re working with someone to lobby lawmakers.”
Kelsea Gilliland, of Minneapolis, said she was sold on the new beer and the policy proposal. She sent an email to her legislator to encourage them to pass it.
“I think it would be fun if I could be a part of it, and I don’t want to get left out,” she said. “I think our state should have a state fossil.”
Rep. Andrew Myers, R-Tonka Bay, will take all the help he can get making it law.
“Maybe it’s not something that’s a high priority for a lot of people, but if we can get enough support, maybe we can, you know, get it across the line,” Myers said.
While the bill has a ways to go, he’s hopeful the nod to Minnesota’s prehistoric past will bring legislators together.
Minnesota
1,100 Macalester student workers unionize in first for Minnesota
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Minnesota
DOJ threatens to sue Minnesota over noncompliance with Trump’s transgender athlete ban
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The U.S. Justice Department says it “stands ready to sue” Minnesota and two other states that are defying President Trump’s executive order earlier this month banning transgender girls and women from competing in sports consistent with their gender identity.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters on Tuesday to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Erich Martens, director of the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), warning them “Minnesota should be on notice,” and her department “will hold accountable states and state entities that violate federal law.”
Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Ron Nocetti, executive director of the California Interscholastic Federation, also received similar warnings.
“This Department of Justice will defend women and does not tolerate state officials who ignore federal law,” Bondi said in a release. “We will leverage every legal option necessary to ensure state compliance with federal law and President Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports.”
On Friday, Mr. Trump met with members of the National Governors Association, including Mills, who told the president “see you in court” following statements he made the previous day about denying her state federal funding over his executive order, entitled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
On Thursday, Ellison announced the president’s ban was in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act after the MSHSL turned to his office for legal opinion following its announcement on Feb. 7 that it wouldn’t comply with the order, citing the state law.
Days after the MSHSL’s announcement, the U.S. Department of Education announced it had launched a Title IX investigation into the league, as well as its California counterpart.
Ellison wrote in his opinion that “Title IX does not authorize the President to issue directives with the force of law” and therefore “does not supersede Minnesota law.”
Minnesota House Republicans, including Speaker Lisa Demuth, have since urged Martens to comply.
“This executive order intends to uphold fairness and maintain competitive integrity in school-based athletics, including those in Minnesota,” Demuth said in a letter to the league. “By refusing to comply, we believe the MSHSL is jeopardizing equal opportunities for all athletes, particularly female athletes.”
Late last year, Charlie Baker, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), said he knew of “less than 10” transgender student-athletes within his organization. Earlier this month, the association announced it would “take necessary steps to align” its policy with the order.
The athlete ban is one of several transgender-related executive orders Mr. Trump has signed in his first weeks in office, including an order aiming to restrict transgender people from serving in the military and one that mandates the federal government to recognize only two genders.
Minnesota lawmakers passed a law in 2023 establishing the state as a “trans refuge.”
On Tuesday, the White House also took aim at Ellison and leaders in other states who are also in defiance of his immigration enforcement measures, calling them “sick politicians who want killers, rapists roaming our streets.”
In response, Ellison accused Trump of “trying to rule this country via executive order.”
There are several free, anonymous support resources for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, including:
NOTE: The original airdate of the video attached to this article is Feb. 12, 2025.
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