Flooding swamps Minot, St. Cloud

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Heavy rain near Minot is leading to an expedited evacuation of the area. Rain also flooded streets in St.Cloud last night. Residents in both cities are concerned about additional precipitation in the forecast.

The level of urgency in Minot is heightened as the city prepares for flooding that will dwarf the historic flood of 1969. Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman announced late this afternoon that a 2-inch rain in the area has forced the city to move up its evacuation time. (WDAY)

Minot flooding costs are expected to reach or top $90 million.

Live weather coverage from North Dakota's KX News.

It isn't clear if there will be significant damage related to flooding in St. Cloud.

For a while late Tuesday afternoon, it seemed as though Central Minnesota was either going to sink or float away.

A line of storms dumped more than 2 inches of water on St. Cloud in a couple of hours before the drops finally stopped about 6 p.m. (Saint Cloud Times)

Also clicking on MN Today

Bemidji Faces the Future: Focus on poverty

Many different voices took part in a public conversation about poverty in Bemidji.

"Bemidji Faces the Future" drew about 90 people to the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University Tuesday night. The event was sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio News, Lakeland Public Television and the Bemidji Pioneer, which collaborated to focus on poverty in Bemidji.

"It's a hard story to tell," said Kate Smith, senior editor at MPR News, who led the conversation. "It's a hard story to hear" (Bemidji Pioneer).

Round-up of coverage leading up to the event.

Government Shutdown

The New Ulm Journal has two different takes on the shutdown.

Shutdown effect on county would be limited

Impact of state shutdown could be wide-ranging

As state shutdown nears, county evaluates

Nine days and counting. On July 1, Minnesota's government will shut down -- and many state-funded programs and services will cease to operate -- unless the Legislature can broker an agreement on the state's biennium budget (Faribault.com).

Zebra mussels may benefit from government shutdown

Minnesota Budget problems could mean bad news for those trying to protect their lakes from Aquatic Invasive Species (WDAY).

Winona-area lawmakers diverge on shutdown pay

While many state employees could find themselves out of work next month, state legislators could continue to receive paychecks (Winona Daily News).

Planned Parenthood closures

Planned Parenthood closing local site

After nearly 40 years, the Planned Parenthood clinic in Fairmont is closing (Fairmont Sentinel).

Albert Lea clinic among six closed by Planned Parenthood

Minnesota's largest provider of family planning and abortions says it will close six clinics, including one in Red Wing and another in Albert Lea (Rochester Post Bulletin).

Planned Parenthood to close Aug. 1

Brainerd's Planned Parenthood clinic, a fixture here since 1972, will close Aug. 1.(Brainerd Dispatch)

Outdoors

Sam Cook: Minnesota grouse drumming counts remain high

It looks as if Minnesota grouse hunters will get another year of good hunting near the peak of the ruffed grouse 10-year population cycle.

Music

Booker T Rocks the Garden

Booker T. Jones is a bona fide legend. He brought the crowd to its feet and helped break Rock the Garden's rain clouds with his deep, soulful groove.

Jones grabbed the crowd's attention early on with his long-standing hit "Green Onions" and proceeded to take it from new to classic, with renditions of Lauryn Hill's "Everything is Everything" and Outkast's "Hey Ya" all the way to Otis Redding's standard "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and Sam and Dave's "Hold On." (The Current)

Minnesota Scenes

"Orion" - motion controlled night timelapse from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

Shot in central South Dakota in late march-early april. It was the first time I've had the chance to use, an Orion head mounted on the Dynamic Perception Stage Zero dolly. http://www.dynamicperception.com

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