Minnesota
St. Cloud Readies for Central Minnesota Farm Show
ST. CLOUD (WJON News) – After more than 50 years in St. Cloud, the Central Minnesota Farm Show is ready to return to the River’s Edge Convention Center.
This year’s show runs February 27th and 28th.
In addition to 200 booths and over 150 vendors, the Chamber’s Emily Bertram says there are a number of keynote speakers set up to discuss topics all farms and agribusinesses need.
(There will be) a panel on estate planning, because that’s such a huge part of farming – figuring out what happens next. Where does it go from generation to generation? We have a panel coming up on cybersecurity, which could be relevant from a farmer’s perspective and from a vendor’s perspective. And the one that I’m super excited – we have (the) co-owner of Redhead Creamery. It’s a creamery in Brooten, Minnesota that does agri-tourism.
Organizers say booths at the show are sold out, and vendors will cover topics of interest to all farmers, from large-scale producers to those interested in smaller projects for farmer’s markets and side businesses.
Alan Brinkman is one of this year’s organizers. He says the farm show has changed to reflect the needs of modern farms.
I think technology is the big word when it comes to farming. You’ve got computers, you’ve got tractors that can almost run themselves. Everything is GPS. It’s not just getting your hands dirty, it’s understanding the electronics behind it, it’s understanding the communication, your soils, and being (able) to have someone come out and test (to) know what you can and can’t do.
The Central Minnesota Farm Show is on February 27th and 28th. For more information on the show, find the Central Minnesota Farm Show website here.
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So Minnesota: Sewing for others and wrapping them in love — Minnesota Quilters, Inc.
There’s one group that helps keep people warm by wrapping them in love.
The mission of the St. Paul nonprofit, formed nearly 50 years ago, is to nurture the art and craft of quilting through inspiration and education.
“There is such joy in seeing someone who appreciates a quilt, and everyone wants to be warm,” Merle Pratt with Minnesota Quilters, Inc. said.
The group’s main service project is called Quilting for Others. The group gives quilts to several different groups.
“There are so many places that want the comfort of a quilt,” Pratt said. “Hospitals, hospice, veterans home, homeless shelters.”
The group also donates chemotherapy port pillows for patients who are going through treatment and makes Christmas stockings for children in shelters.
“We kind of joke about sewing love into it,” Pratt said. “The love is there. The comfort is there.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar: ICE withdrawal “just the beginning”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is running for governor of Minnesota, reacted to Homan’s announcement:
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Walz “cautiously optimistic” about drawdown
In a news conference about the state’s economic recovery from Operation Metro Surge, Walz said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the announcement of its conclusion.
Walz said Operation Metro Surge — which at its peak saw 3,000 federal agents across Minnesota and has led to over 4,000 arrests — was “an unprecedented federal invasion in all aspects of life” and “unlike anything we’ve witnessed.”
“And through that entire time, the dignity, the compassion, the love, the care and the absolute determination to do what is right never wavered amongst Minnesotans,” Walz said. “I think it’s probably safe to say the rest of the country will be forever grateful because we showed what it means to stand up for what’s right.”
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Rep. Tom Emmer: “Job well done, Tom Homan.”
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“Job well done, Tom Homan. Local law enforcement is now cooperating with federal law enforcement in Tim Walz’s Minnesota, thanks to President Trump’s leadership. We are hopeful that this partnership will continue—without local or state interference—to ensure the worst of the worst are being removed from our communities.”
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Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who is running for Senate, also issued a statement Thursday morning.
“I’m relieved that this violent paramilitary force will be removed from our streets, but I won’t believe it until they’re actually gone. Minnesotans stood together against this chaos and cruelty. We never gave up on our neighbors.
“But I will never — EVER — forget nor forgive the fear, violence, and chaos the federal government has laid on our doorstep. ICE has killed two Minnesotans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. and harmed so many more. Our children, like little Liam and Chloe have been targeted and traumatized. I will never forget the terrified looks on their faces. Our schools, our small businesses, and our churches have been targeted, closed, and harmed forever.
“This is the first step in many to truly get justice for Minnesota. We must rip apart this agency that operates outside the law. The government must restore and repair what’s been broken. Minnesotans deserve justice and accountability, and I won’t stop until we get it.”
Full statements from Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey
Walz’s initial response to Homan’s announcement:
“The long road to recovery starts now.
“The impact on our economy, our schools, and people’s lives won’t be reversed overnight. That work starts today.”
Frey’s statement:
“They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation. These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not just about resistance — standing with our neighbors is deeply American.
“This operation has been catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it’s time for a great comeback. We will show the same commitment to our immigrant residents and endurance in this reopening, and I’m hopeful the whole country will stand with us as we move forward together.”
Minnesota
Farmington residents push back against massive data center projected to double city’s water use
A group of Dakota County residents is pushing back on plans for a massive data center, and it’s one of many such campaigns in communities across Minnesota.
In Farmington, developers received local approval for a 2.5 million square foot “hyperscale” data center on land once reserved for a new school, as well as a former golf course.
“If we don’t pay attention to what’s going on and advocate for ourselves, no one else is going to,” said Kathy Johnson, a Farmington resident and founder of the Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development. “I think money is driving this and quality of life is not being considered. We have to do that. Quality of life matters to the people that live here and it matters to me.”
Data centers aren’t new to Minnesota; a 2011 law passed by state lawmakers created incentives for major tech companies to move servers here. Their footprints, however, aren’t nearly as large as what’s being proposed in Farmington.
Even Meta’s $800 million project in Rosemount, at roughly 700,000 square feet, pales in comparison.
Mo Feshami, another Farmington resident who works in tech, said he first supported the idea of bringing a new data center to Dakota County.
“I thought if a data center comes in there won’t be as many houses or cars or strain on the school system – until I realized this is a hyperscale data center,” he lamented. “The data centers I used to work in, at most they used 10 megawatts. This is 708 megawatts. We used to have it in one or two floors of a large commercial building. This has its own 340-plus acres facility.”
Hyperscale data centers are currently on the table in nearly a dozen other sites in Minnesota: Hermantown, Bemidji, Monticello, Lakeville, North Mankato, Faribault and Pine Island.
The group of residents in Farmington have filed suit to block construction, first on technical grounds but later added to the complaint with concerns about the environment.
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy has likewise filed suits on behalf of five other communities, as well as becoming a party to the Farmington case.
“I think there is a place for data centers in Minnesota,” Feshami added. “Putting it in the middle of a residential neighborhood is not the right place for it.”
According to court documents, the City of Farmington’s current water use is around 2.14 million gallons of water a day, and the hyperscale data center would more than double that demand.
The machines, moreover, would need 700 megawatts of energy to keep running, and most power plants in Minnesota don’t even produce that capacity in a day.
“It is going to affect the wells. It’s going to affect the air quality, the sound quality, or our entire end of this community,” Kathy Johnson lamented.
Managers at Tract, the Denver-based land development company pushing the Farmington project, did not return WCCO’s calls or emails. A spokesman for the city said officials can’t comment amid ongoing litigation.
At a city council session last summer, a Tract executive promised the data center could bring up to 300 permanent jobs to Farmington, as well as an extra $16 million in property taxes.
A judge in November denied Farmington’s motion to dismiss the case. There is no timetable yet for the next steps in the process.
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