News across Itasca County

The 2026 Student Podcast Challenge Honorable Mentions
Here are the honorable mentions from this year's Student Podcast Challenge, chosen from nearly 1,500 entries.
The moment you've been waiting for: America's best student podcasts
We've listened to nearly 1,500 podcasts from all around the U.S. and narrowed them down to 10 middle school and 10 high school finalists.
Foster care often fails kids with disabilities. Consider these cases
Disabled kids make up the largest group in foster care. They have the worst outcomes. They stay in foster care longest. They're the most likely to die.
Drugs are widely used to sedate dementia patients. Her sons wanted to keep her off them
Potent sedating medications are often used on agitated people with dementia in long-term care facilities despite federal efforts to discourage them. A clash over whether to drug a Michigan woman illuminates the wrenching decisions families and guardians face.
What's behind HHS claims that gender-affirming care 'may' radicalize
The report is the agency's latest effort to chip away at trust in established health care models for transgender people. Critics say it frames transgender identity as illegitimate or even dangerous.
One year after the end of the EV tax credit, is the future still electric?
Congress got rid of a $7,500 federal tax credit for new electric vehicle buyers. One year later, are people still buying EVs?
Montana starts enforcing Medicaid work requirements on Oct 1. Patients are confused
In most states, people with Medicaid coverage will have to prove they're working, volunteering or studying, starting Jan. 1. But Montana is starting that early, and it's sowing confusion and anxiety.
They were promised protection. Instead, these kids with disabilities died in foster care
Disabled kids make up the largest group in foster care. They have the worst outcomes. They stay in foster care longest. They're the most likely to die.
U.S. military withdraws from Iraq two decades after invasion
23 years after the United States military invaded Iraq, sparking an insurgency and a civil war, the U.S. has withdrawn its forces, as the country still tries to combat Iranian influence.

An 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked protests in Spain is returning home
María del Carmen Abascal's case has drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets in recent days and led the Spanish government to present measures to address the country's housing crisis.

Trump says top tech firms have signed accord to 'self-police' AI development
President Trump on Tuesday said that he and a large group of leaders of artificial intelligence companies had signed a voluntary accord that will include internal and external reviews.
Hurricane Polo's remnants bringing more rain to flood-struck U.S. Southwest
The storm's remnants battered the U.S. Southwest, flooding roadways and forcing residents in small New Mexico towns to evacuate over concerns about a dam failing.