KTOE Noon News 8-12-25

Top Stories for Noon 8-12-25:

• Air quality alerts for most of the state continue today (TUES) due to heavy, ground-level smoke from wildfires in Canada. Now in effect until 4 p.m. tonight for southeast Minnesota and 11 p.m. Wednesday for northern Minnesota, the affected areas include the Twin Cities metro, Brainerd, Albert Lea, Rochester, Hinckley, Winona, Mankato, Bemidji, East Grand Forks, International Falls, Two Harbors, Hibbing, Ely, Duluth, Roseau, and the Tribal Nations of Mille Lacs, Prairie Island, Leech Lake, White Earth, Red Lake, Grand Portage, and Fond du Lac. At an orange air quality, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) recommends sensitive groups reduce outdoor physical activity, take more breaks, and that people with asthma keep their inhaler with them. Officials say the smoke should disperse on Wednesday night.

• City of St. Peter receives $20,000 grant from Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and Pioneer Bank through the Member Impact Fund

• Camp Sweet Life Adventures, Inc. receives grant from Mankato Clinic Foundation

• Blue Earth County and Mathiowetz Construction Company fined more than $35,000 for stormwater violations from sediment discharge into the Blue Earth River

• Mankato City Council Approves Remodel Recommendations for Council Chambers

• Three candidates are on the ballot in today’s special election to fill the seat of late legislator Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated in June. The DFL hopefuls include Brooklyn Park City Council Member Christian Eriksen, former Brooklyn Park councilman Xp Lee, and Hennepin County Assistant Prosecutor Erickson Sayre. The polls are open to 8 pm. The winner of the primary will likely face the Republican candidate, Ruth Bittner, on September 16th. The new House District 34B representative will be sworn in to serve the rest of Hortman’s term
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns consumers, restaurants, and retailers to avoid eating, serving, and selling an oyster product due to potential norovirus contamination. The Frozen, Raw, Half-shell Oysters from the Republic of Korea were distributed to Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, and Utah. Still, officials say it could have hit more states by this point. The concerned product includes all half-shell and individual quick frozen (IQF) oysters harvested between December 30th, 2024, and February 6th, 2025. The F.D.A. is working to remove the products from the market.