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News update
Cody Nelson

MPR News AM Update: Mayo shutters rural birth center

Plus more fallout from the Water Gremlin closure and college athletes getting paid.

Annie Mattson attends a county commissioners meeting in Albert Lea.
Annie Mattson attends a county commissioners meeting in Albert Lea to address Mayo’s decision to discontinue some services at the hospital there on July 18, 2017.
Catharine Richert | MPR News

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Good morning, it’s Wednesday. Here’s 328 words to start your day informed.

Cloudy and highs in the mid 30s. That’s the statewide forecast, except for some areas in the north where there will be upper 20s highs and a chance of flurries. Overnight lows will be in the lower teens in some areas. More on Updraft. | Forecast

Albert Lea is losing several major health care services. Mayo Clinic has cut labor and delivery services as well as inpatient and intensive care at its Albert Lea facility as of today. As MPR News’ Catharine Richert reports, the closure exemplifies financial, demographic and staffing challenges facing many rural hospitals.

Minneapolis reconsiders five-cent feed on plastic bags. The city “was one day away from banning plastic shopping bags when the Legislature blocked it two years ago. Then, it sought and failed to set a five-cent fee on bags. Now they’re trying again,” reports the Star Tribune.

College athletes will soon be entitled to some of the money they make for their schools. Via the AP: “The NCAA Board of Governors took the first step Tuesday toward allowing athletes to cash in on their fame, voting unanimously to clear the way for the amateur athletes to "benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness."

After lead poisonings, Water Gremlin workers want to return to their jobs. Dozens of employees protested the state’s shuttering of the fishing tackle and battery component plant. They say hundreds of families depend on the company, despite blood tests of at least two plant workers’ children showing dangerously high lead levels due to their parents inadvertently bringing lead from work into their homes.

Remember: scrape your windshields. The case of a driver who skipped this critical safety practice drove into oncoming traffic just across the border in Menomonie, Wis., as Fox 9 reports.

Curious about an aspect of life in Minnesota? Pitch your question and we’ll answer the best ones in our “Ask a ‘sotan” feature.

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