Minnesota
This Valentine’s Day, name a bug at the Minnesota Zoo after someone who bugs you
Need a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift for a friend or a foe? The Minnesota Zoo Foundation has you covered. You can make a $15 donation to the zoo and in return get to name a bug that will be fed to an animal.
It is the first time in about a decade the zoo has done a campaign of this sort. Naming bugs, feces or other parts of everyday zoo life after someone you love or hate is a popular fundraising tool used across the country. The Fort Worth Zoo has let people name a pound of animal poop, while the San Antonio Zoo and Brookfield Zoo Chicago offered naming rights for cockroaches.
Sarah Lennander, the senior marketing communications manager with the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, said on Tuesday donations were already triple the amount of the last campaign, with donations coming from 49 states, Washington, D.C., and 15 countries.
“We wanted a playful approach. That’s why we used the word bugs,” Lennander said. “Name a bug after someone who bugs you — we wanted to offer people the opportunity to kind of poke fun at one another, but keep it lighthearted and fun.”
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
While Lennander said you are encouraged to name the bug after anyone in your life, she said the vast majority of this year’s donations have been for loved ones, like parents naming bugs after their kids who “bug them” or women buying their friends a bug and naming it after their friend’s ex-partner.
With each donation, the zoo will send an e-card with your personalized message to the recipient.
Rest assured: Lennander said if you choose to name the bug after an ex-partner, they won’t ever know — unless you want them to, of course. If that is the case, the zoo is not responsible for any messiness that arises.
“You can name the bug after your friend’s ex, but then you can send that notification email to your friend so that they won’t ever see it, but your friend will hopefully get a giggle out of it,” Lennander explained.
She is sure they will do the fundraiser again next year, and even explore ways to upgrade the gifts. This year, for example, a husband called asking if he could name a piece of meat that would be fed to a komodo dragon, his wife’s favorite animal.
“It has been more popular than we ever imagined,” Lennander said. “It’s been a very fun couple of weeks.”
The bugs, which include mostly crickets and mealworms, will feed are variety of animals at the zoo including a tamandua (a type of anteater), golden lion tamarins, panther chameleons, poison-dart frogs, turtles, opossums and hedgehogs.
Donations must be made before the end of Friday, Feb. 14.
Minnesota
Minnesota weather: Single digit highs Wednesday through Friday, milder next week
MN weather: Cold and sunny Wednesday
It’s a sunny but cold Wednesday with highs in the single digits and subzero wind chills. FOX 9 meteorologist Jared Piepenburg has the forecast.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – It’s a cold and sunny Wednesday in Minnesota with single digit highs and subzero wind chills.
Wednesday’s forecast in Minnesota
The forecast:
Wednesday will be cold and sunny with northwest winds between 5–15 mph, making it feel below zero throughout the day.
Temperatures remain below average, with central Minnesota seeing highs in the single digits, far northern Minnesota experiencing subzero highs, and double-digit highs in the southwest. The Twin Cities metro will top out at around 8 degrees.
Wednesday night remains mostly clear but cold as temperatures drop below zero with wind chills in the negative teens.
Extended Minnesota weather forecast
What’s next:
Thursday stays cold with a mix of sun and clouds. Highs remain in the single digits, accompanied by subzero wind chills.
Frigid conditions continue into Friday before temperatures gradually warm over the weekend. Saturday brings highs in the teens, followed by warming into the mid-20s by Sunday. A weak system may bring a few snowflakes Sunday afternoon.
Here’s a look at the seven-day forecast:
The Source: This forecast uses information from FOX 9 meteorologists.
Minnesota
Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar attacked during town hall meeting
BREAKINGBREAKING,
Omar was sprayed with an unknown substance during the attack by a man, who was then tackled to the ground.
Published On 28 Jan 2026
Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar has been attacked by a man while hosting a town hall meeting in Minneapolis.
Omar was sprayed with an unknown substance by the man before he was tackled to the ground on Tuesday.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The Reuters news agency said that Omar was not injured in the attack, and authorities have not said what substance was sprayed or whether charges have been filed against the assailant.
The audience cheered as the man was pinned down and his arms were tied behind his back. In a video clip of the incident, someone in the crowd can be heard saying, “Oh my god, he sprayed something on her”, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Omar continued the town hall after the man was ushered out of the room.
Just before the attack, she had called for the abolishment of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign.
“ICE cannot be reformed,” Omar said.
Minneapolis police did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident and whether anyone was arrested.
The White House did not immediately respond to a message from the AP seeking comment.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow soon…
Minnesota
Trump makes changes on the ground in Minnesota and doctors break with the CDC: Morning Rundown
In today’s newsletter: Some Trump administration advisers and allies say the optics of the immigration operation in Minneapolis have led Trump to make some changes. An influential group of doctors has split with the CDC over shot recommendations for children. And the downfall of China’s top general could have implications for Taiwan.
Here’s what to know today.
Trump reshuffles his Minnesota operation after backlash from second fatal shooting
President Donald Trump has made significant changes of leadership in the Minnesota immigration operations after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, according to administration officials and allies.
“The visuals were not playing well. He understands TV. … He saw it for himself,” said a Republican lawmaker who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.
Saturday’s shooting has prompted a leadership shakeup, a reduction of agents in the city, a reset with key Democratic officials in the state, and an attempt to distance the president from some of the more extreme comments from some of his top advisers.
More than 3,000 federal agents have been sent to Minneapolis, and they currently outnumber the local police force nearly five-to-one. One adviser said that while immigration enforcement will not end, the shooting is forcing the administration to rethink what operations will look like going forward.
Trump said he and Gov. Tim Walz spoke by phone Monday, calling it a “very good call” in a social media post.
Walz said Trump agreed to talk to the Department of Homeland Security about allowing state officials to conduct their own independent shooting investigations and decreasing the number of federal agents in his state.
Read the full story here.
More news out of Minneapolis:
- Democrats are pushing to drastically slash funding for ICE and Border Protection, or totally gut the agencies after the shooting death of Pretti.
- Investigators are reviewing body-camera videos that captured Pretti’s fatal shooting. Analysis shows witness video contradicts the Trump administration’s description of the event.
- A growing number of Senate Republicans are calling for an investigation into the shooting.
- FBI Director Kash Patel says the agency is investigating Minnesota Signal chats that are tracking ICE.
- A Minnesota Republican dropped out of the governor’s race, citing his party’s handling of immigration enforcement in the state.
Doctors break with CDC on vaccine guidance for children
The nation’s leading group of pediatricians released its annual children’s vaccine recommendations — and for the first time in 30 years it significantly broke from the government’s proposed vaccine schedule.
The American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidance largely reflects what has previously been recommended, no longer completely aligning with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recently reduced the number of diseases on the vaccine schedule. The AAP additionally recommends shots against Covid, RSV, the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, and meningitis.
“These recent changes to the CDC schedule are a strong departure from the medical evidence and no longer offer the optimal way to prevent illness in children,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the AAP’s committee on infectious diseases.
Read the full story here.
The downfall of China’s top general
The investigation into China’s top general, once a close ally of President Xi Jinping, has thrown the leadership of the country’s military into turmoil and raised questions about Taiwan’s future.
The Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement that Gen. Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, which controls the armed forces, was under investigation and accused of serious “violations of discipline and law.”
An editorial in the Liberation Army Daily newspaper, the mouthpiece of the country’s armed forces, suggested that Zhang, 75, was accused of corruption and possibly disloyalty to Xi.
Zhang was previously considered “untouchable,” according to Alessandro Arduino, an expert in Chinese security at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “This is a reminder coming directly from President Xi Jinping that political loyalty stands well before combat readiness,” he said. “Political disloyalty is a cardinal sin inside the party. I think the message is extremely clear: No one is safe.”
Of the six generals the president appointed to the commission in 2022, only one is left, allowing Xi to consolidate power but also heightening the risk of a military miscalculation when it comes to Taiwan, according to Steve Tsang, the director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London. “Removing generals like Zhang means that there will not be any general who would dare to advise Xi against a military adventure when the time comes, and this increases the risk of a miscalculation,” he said.
Read All About It
- TikTok says widespread disruptions were caused by a power outage, after users voiced concerns that they were being politically censored under the app’s new U.S. ownership.
- India and the European Union have finalized a landmark trade deal that will represent a quarter of the world’s economy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
- It’s officially tax season, and there are several new deductions going into effect this year that could change how Americans file their returns.
- People are opting for the cheapest available Affordable Care Act plans, but that could lead to higher out-of-pocket costs later.
- The remains of the last hostage held in Gaza were identified by the Israeli military, paving the way for the next phase of the ceasefire.
- Alex Vindman, an Army veteran who was a key witness during Trump’s first impeachment, will run for the Florida Senate as a Democrat.
- Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, apologized for his history of “reckless” antisemitic comments in a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal.
Staff Pick: Some prediction market traders find a lucrative niche: Betting against Elon Musk.
As a tech reporter, I’ve seen Elon Musk fall short on a lot of promises. The Tesla CEO has failed, for example, to deploy fully self-driving cars. And since entering the political world, he has made one pledge after another that haven’t come true, such as his 2024 vow to find $2 trillion in federal budget waste.
Musk is also a master at evading scrutiny. Tesla’s sky-high share price is evidence of that, and he is still the world’s wealthiest person. But now, prediction markets are providing at least a small measure of accountability. These markets are rising in popularity, as people turn to sites such as Kalshi and Polymarket to wager on current events. Recently, I spoke with some users who bet against Musk’s predictions coming true — a strategy that has worked out pretty well for them.
— David Ingram, tech reporter
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Staying hydrated should never fall to the bottom of your to-do list. One easy way to drink more water is to invest in a water pitcher with expert-approved filtration systems. You can also carry around a reusable water bottle to help hit your hydration goals—one of our editor favorites, the Yeti Rambler, is on sale right now for a limited time only.
Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.
Thanks for reading today’s Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Kaylah Jackson, Marissa Martinez and David Hickey. If you’re a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign-up here.
-
Illinois6 days agoIllinois school closings tomorrow: How to check if your school is closed due to extreme cold
-
Pittsburg, PA1 week agoSean McDermott Should Be Steelers Next Head Coach
-
Pennsylvania2 days agoRare ‘avalanche’ blocks Pennsylvania road during major snowstorm
-
Lifestyle1 week agoNick Fuentes & Andrew Tate Party to Kanye’s Banned ‘Heil Hitler’
-
Sports1 week agoMiami star throws punch at Indiana player after national championship loss
-
Cleveland, OH1 week agoNortheast Ohio cities dealing with rock salt shortage during peak of winter season
-
Technology6 days agoRing claims it’s not giving ICE access to its cameras
-
Science1 week agoContributor: New food pyramid is a recipe for health disasters