Minnesota
Seat belt use is at a 10-year high in Minnesota
New child car seat laws go into effect in MN
New car seat rules are going into effect in Minnesota on Aug. 1. The new rules clarify when a child should move from a rear-facing to a front-facing car seat and also lays out a five-step test to make sure a seat belt fits correctly.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced that seat belt use is at a 10-year high.
This news comes ahead of the “Click It or Ticket” campaign that works to support traffic safety and seat belt use.
Seat belt data
According to DPS, an annual seat belt survey showed that more people are buckling up in Minnesota. In 2024, the seat belt use rate is at 94.7%, which is the highest rate recorded since 2013, which had a rate of 94.8%.
The seat belt rate has increased by 0.5% since 2023, which had a rate of 94.2%.
DPS says that this is the fourth consecutive increase since 2021.
Three groups have increased the seat belt use rate; drivers ages 16 to 29, male drivers and front-seat passengers and pickup truck drivers. The seat belt rate for young adults is also at a 10-year high of 93.6%. While male occupants have increased from 92.6% last year to 93.6% this year, and pickup drivers are at an all-time high seat belt use at 91.9%.
Unbelted motorists’ deaths have decreased in the last few years, with DPS saying that 84 motorists without seat belts died in 2023, compared to 87 in 2022 and 110 in 2021.
People who suffered severe injuries in a crash have decreased drastically since 1987, DPS says, with 4,176 severe injuries from crashes then, and 1,285 severe injuries in 2023.
New car seat law and guidelines in Minnesota
READ MORE: New Minnesota child car safety seats law explained
Minnesota’s law on car seats was changed this year, which specifies what ages for car, booster seat positions and seat belts, instead of relying on the child’s size.
According to DPS, these are the age guidelines for car/booster seats:
- Birth to at least 2 years old: Rear-facing in an infant or convertible car seat.
- At least 2 years old and has outgrown the rear-facing seat: Forward-facing with internal harness.
- At least 4 years old and has outgrown a forward-facing seat with an internal harness: A belt-positioned booster seat that uses a lap belt and shoulder belt.
- Nine years old and has outgrown the booster seat and can pass the five-step test that determines if a seat belt fits properly: Lap and shoulder belt that is secured correctly in the vehicle seat.
- Children under 13 years old must sit in the back seat if possible.
What they’re saying
“The increase in Minnesotans buckling up is very encouraging, but until every person wears their seat belt, the deadly risks are all too real,” said DPS Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson. “It’s so simple to take two seconds to buckle up, and you may not get a second chance in a crash. Our law enforcement partners are helping people understand the law and why it’s so important for their safety.”
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.
A St. Cloud Tech ninth-grader won the Minnesota State High School League Clay Shooting championship on Friday.
Allie Lauer won the title with a score of 99 and reverse run of 83, while second-place finisher Isabella Blaz (Rosemount) also scored a 99 but a reverse run of 54. LeRoy-Ostrander’s Kimberly Volkart finished in third place with a score of 98.
MSHSL:
“I was nervous coming in because the other girls are older,” Lauer said. “It was nice weather today and things worked out well. Your average (score) doesn’t really matter. Just keep a good mindset and don’t focus on the scores.”
BOYS CLAY SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP
Proctor sophomore Lane Graves took home the championship after a grueling three-way, two-round shoot-off against Rushford-Peterson’s Colton Ronnenberg (second place) and Prior Lake’s Jack Benedict.
After Benedict was eliminated in the first shoot-off, Graves outlasted Ronnenberg with a 9-7 win in round two.
TEAM CLAY SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP
The Bemidji Lumberjacks took the team title with a total score of 487, one ahead of Lakeville South and five better than both Stewartville and Spring Grove.
St. Cloud’s Stanley Cup Champion Nate Schmidt [GALLERY]
Former St. Cloud Cathedral and University of Minnesota standout Nate Schmidt will bring the Stanley Cup to St. Cloud on August 25th. Here’s a look at his career through photos.
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