Minnesota News Network

President Trump visits Bemidji today, and Joe Biden will be in Duluth campaigning. State DFL Party Chair Ken Martins says “Donald Trump will undoubtedly spew dangerous lies about the state of our country to distract from the reality of his failed administration.” GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan counters that Martin “should reverse that statement and put it back on his party. America has seen unprecedented growth, lots of positivity.” As for criticism from Martin about Trump’s handling of COVID-19, Carnahan says Martin “can point his fingers all day long at the president but perhaps he should look at the governor of Minnesota and his handlings of the pandemic and how he has grossly impacted, in a negative way all of our families, all of our businesses.” Martin says Minnesotans are not “fooled” by the president’s claims about his successes with COVID-19 or any number of other issues “from his attacks on social security and medicare to his trade policies that hurt our farmers, we know that Trump is not on the side of hard-working Minnesotans.” Several recent polls show Biden with a slight lead over Trump in Minnesota. Carnahan says the election is the only poll that matters. If Trump wins Minnesota, it will be the first time a Republican presidential candidate has carried the state since 1972.

 

Early voting begins in Minnesota today. Governor Tim Walz joined other state Democratic leaders this morning and said “the presidential election is not in 46 days, it ends in 46 days and it’s just begun about 10 minutes ago. Voting for the next president, for the senators here for control, or I would argue the leadership of Minnesota, has begun and so we’re out here today to celebrate that.” Secretary of State Steve Simon says voting by mail is easy to do and voters can rest assured, “every voter can track their ballot just like you would a package, with certainty for sure when it has arrived, even what date, so it’s not left to chance.” Simon says Minnesota and South Dakota are the two states with the earliest access to absentee mail-in voting. He’s urging voters not to wait until the last minute to send in their ballots–he says the earlier you send it in, the better. Election day is November 3rd.

The American Red Cross is looking for volunteers. Spokeswoman Carrie Carlson-Guest says “just in the last month the Red Cross has helped tens of thousands of people whose lives were uprooted, whether that’s through the midwest Derecho, the relentless wildfires, ongoing hurricanes and more coming.” Carlson-Guest says that’s in addition to dealing with COVID-19. Specifically, Carlson-Guest says “the urgent need we have right now is for people to step up and volunteer to be Red Cross shelter workers and we need them to be able to deploy for two weeks.”  Health professionals are also needed for disaster health services. Anyone interested is urged to go to redcross.org/volunteertoday or send an email to mnrecruit@redcross.org to set up a short phone screening.

 

The Minnesota State Fair is following up its recent popular Food Parade with an encore in October. The parade will once again be a drive-thru experience featuring 16 vendors. Vendors include: Turkey to Go, Fresh French Fries, Mouth Trap Cheese Curds, Pronto Pups, Tom Thumb Donuts, West Indies Soul Food, Minneapple Pie and Sweet Martha’s Cookies. Tickets will be on sale by registering through a lottery process. Lottery registration is open now until noon Thursday, September 17th.

A 15-year-old boy is hospitalized with serious injuries suffered in a farm accident near Hector in southwest Minnesota. The Renville County Sheriff’s Office says the boy was 15 feet off the ground working on a grain dryer Monday when his legs became entangled in an auger. Deputies say he was trapped in the auger and needed to be extricated. The boy was eventually removed from the grain dryer and airlifted to Children’s Hospital for treatment. His current condition is unknown. The incident is still under investigation.