#minnesota · Cascadity

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TThe Trail #kettle-river #minnesota #overtourism #park-closure #state-parks

Minnesota's Banning State Park, where visits have tripled since 2020, closes most trails from Nov. 9 for nearly a year of upgrades

MPR has what closes when, what stays open and the reopening dates.

Banning State Park, more than 6,000 acres along the Kettle River near Sandstone, Minnesota, is closing most of its grounds for upgrades because annual visits have tripled since 2020, MPR News reports. "Our current park infrastructure is really straining to support those numbers," park supervisor Clarissa Payne said in a release.

The campground closed in September; all parking areas and hiking trails close Nov. 9. Plans include more parking, new restrooms and campground showers, and accessibility upgrades for picnic areas, parking lots, trails and campsites. Day-use areas are set to reopen in October 2027, possibly in part next summer if construction allows, and the campground stays shut until May 2028. Created in 1963, the park includes the ruins of a sandstone quarry and a former town site.

Instead of the closed trails, the snowmobile trail along the park's north and west sides and the Eldon climbing area at the south end stay open.

Read it at the source

MPR NewsUnder stress from more visitors, Minnesota state park to temporarily close for improvements Independent ↗

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Banning State Park

After exploring Under stress from more visitors, Minnesota state park to temporarily close for improvements, for what makes the park special, see Banning State Park.

Wikipedia on the park along 10 miles of the Kettle River, whose 1.5 miles of rapids, up to Class IV, draw kayakers and canoeists each spring.

Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min

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MVMaker Views #civil-liberties #data-brokers #Hacker-News #hsi #ICE #immigration #minnesota #signal #surveillance #undercover

Court records in the 'Minnesota 15' case show ICE investigators infiltrated anti-ICE activist networks, Wired reports

Wired's investigation details the tools used, from undercover agents in Signal chats to Patriot Act financial queries and data-broker records, as described in court filings.

Defense attorneys for 15 Minnesota residents facing federal conspiracy charges have obtained discovery records describing a large surveillance operation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of ICE, Wired's Ali Winston reports. The defendants were part of volunteer networks that tracked federal immigration agents during last winter's Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities; prosecutors allege a conspiracy to impede enforcement and to identify, stalk and assault agents.

According to the records Wired reviewed, about 120 HSI agents, including 11 undercover officers, worked the case under investigations named Project Whipple Shield and Operation Puppet Master, funded through a long-running undercover program, Operation Keyhole. Agents joined trainings and meetings, read about 15 terabytes of infiltrated Signal chats, used Customs and Border Protection Reaper drone footage, ran Patriot Act 314(a) financial queries on 29 subjects, and combined hosting, payment and data-broker records to identify one activist. Defense lawyers and former officials quoted by Wired compare it to the FBI's COINTELPRO; the government's position is set out in its charges.

Hacker News commenters focused on how much of the data was bought from brokers rather than obtained by warrant.

Read it at the source

WIREDICE Is Running One of the Largest Anti-Left Surveillance Operations in US History | WIRED Independent ↗ Hacker NewsDiscussion: Evidence of a spying operation by ICE against left-wing social movements Independent ↗ WTOP (AP)Federal prosecutors charge 15 people with impeding agents during Minnesota immigration crackdown – WTOP News Independent ↗

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COINTELPRO

After exploring ICE Is Running One of the Largest Anti-Left Surveillance Operations in US History | WIRED, for the historical program critics invoke, read COINTELPRO.

The FBI's covert 1956-1971 programs to surveil, infiltrate, discredit and disrupt political groups it considered subversive, the comparison defense lawyers draw.

Wikipedia · Swim · 30 min

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PSPolitical Spectrum #courts #elections #james-okeefe #midterms-2026 #minnesota #voting

James O'Keefe and Cam Higby charged with felonies over hidden-camera polling-place videos in Minnesota

MPR explains how Minnesota's vouching law works and why prosecutors say the case isn't about whether anyone actually voted.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced on October 28 felony charges of unlawful voting and identity theft against conservative activists James O'Keefe and Cameron Higby over videos filmed at Minneapolis polling places during Minnesota's August 11 primary. In the videos, the men, wearing Islamic dress and using accents, ask election workers about vouching, the Minnesota rule letting a registered voter swear to the address of up to eight unregistered voters. Moriarty said they gave names of registered voters, including some who had died and at least one who had voted. "I think it's pretty clear they did not intend to vote. That's not the question here," she said, adding "you cannot give somebody else's name and misrepresent yourself." Neither man signed a vouching oath.

O'Keefe's group said in August its people "did not cast ballots" and were testing the law; Higby denied breaking any law. A first court appearance is set for November 16.

From each bank

Reporting

MPR News ↗
Just The News ↗

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WThe Wild #China #minnesota #reentry #rockets #space-debris #strange-finds

An 11-foot metal ring in a Minnesota cornfield likely fell from a Chinese rocket

Gizmodo connects the Minnesota find to a second piece of Zhuque-2E debris in Indonesia, and to the bigger question of who pays when rocket parts land.

A farmer in Stevens County, Minnesota, found a circular metal object about 11 feet wide in his cornfield, Gizmodo reports, citing the county sheriff's office. It likely lay there for about six weeks and matches the upper stage of a Zhuque-2E rocket built by the Chinese company LandSpace, which launched Sept. 15 and made an uncontrolled reentry over the upper Midwest.

Authorities said the object poses no danger to the public. Separately, Gizmodo says a roughly 30-foot aluminum plate found on a palm oil plantation in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan this week appeared, according to Indonesia's research agency, to come from another Zhuque-2E launched Oct. 14.

Read it at the source

GizmodoA Minnesota Farmer Found an 11-Foot Metal Object in His Cornfield. It Came From Space Independent ↗

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ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | Frequently Asked Questions

After exploring A Minnesota Farmer Found an 11-Foot Metal Object in His Cornfield. It Came From Space, for how often this happens and the real risk, NASA answers in its ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | Frequently Asked Questions.

NASA's FAQ explains what orbital debris is, how it is tracked and what happens on reentry, noting that debris striking an individual is unlikely.

NASA Orbital Debris Program Office · Swim · 30 min

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Zhuque-2

After exploring A Minnesota Farmer Found an 11-Foot Metal Object in His Cornfield. It Came From Space, the rocket family itself is described in Zhuque-2.

Zhuque-2 is a LandSpace medium-class launcher that burns liquid oxygen and methane; it was the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit.

Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min

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