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  A good article, and thorough. ‘Producteurs et productrices acéricoles du Québec (PPAQ), the group that represents nearly 13,500 maple syrup producers in the province and oversees the reserve, said its stockpile will be "completely depleted" by the end of February.’ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/quebec-maple-syrup-reserve-explainer-9.7389758?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

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  ‘“When humans work with AI systems, they can get so deep into it they give up thinking critically for themselves,” he explained. When AI pretends to be an expert on an unfamiliar topic, “you can’t call BS on that, because you don’t have the expertise.” And once you stop thinking critically, it can be hard to start again, especially in a stressful backcountry situation.’ https://www.hcn.org/articles/ai-gets-people-into-trouble-in-the-backcountry/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypu...

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  Good morning from Minneapolis, where it's another day of mid 70s. Quite early Friday morning it's 59℉; mostly cloudy; a Fair barometer; visibility 10 miles at the airport. 'Warm temperatures today and tomorrow are the last hurrah of this late October "heatwave," as a cold front begins to sweep through the Upper Midwest. … 'Temperatures crash down to near-normal starting Sunday, and another low pressure travels northeast from the Central Plains...

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  Animal spirits. It's office hours in Ann Arbor. How do you do, fellow kids? "Even apart from the instability due to speculation, there is the instability due to the characteristic of human nature that a large proportion of our positive activities depend on spontaneous optimism rather than on a mathematical expectation, whether moral or hedonistic or economic. Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many da...

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  Electricity emissions? "Electricity emissions in Canada are, surprisingly, on the rise, as provinces turn to natural gas to feed rising energy needs." https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate/what-on-earth-indigenous-power-9.7391343

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  “Consumers broadly expect inflation to accelerate, and this year’s increases in inflation expectations are not limited to one part of the political spectrum,” Hsu wrote. “The fact that aggregate consumer spending has been relatively resilient despite negative views of the economy provides another reason for caution. If part of consumption currently reflects precautionary spending to avoid future price hikes, disinflation may be even more difficult to achieve.” https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2...

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  ‘He is noted for having left a lasting impact on the music scene in Ireland and was once described by U2's Bono as the island's "answer to Quincy Jones".‘ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqpvgdjrzx13o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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  “Players attended from across Oceania, many cosplaying their game characters; one arrived in a costume of the series' cute cat-like Moogles, and several wore the green sprout headbands which indicate a new player.“ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-24/final-fantasy-xiv-australian-oceania-server/107301548?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

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  NYT: Noah Adams, a longtime host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” whose quiet baritone and empathetic ear brought listeners stories of back-roads America not often heard on the national airwaves, died on Oct. 16 at his home in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He was 84. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/business/media/noah-adams-dead.html #obituary #PublicRadio

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  "Samuel Allsopp did something hitherto unknown, he upped the alcohol and hop content which both act as preservatives. "It really dialled it up strongly, and it was a really bitter beer. At the time it wouldn't have been drinkable straight out of the brewery, but after the six months at sea going down the Cape of Good Hope, it mellowed and arrived in India in really good condition." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwe8reg5l9r1o

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  They announced it. Minnesota artist wins his fourth U.S. duck stamp competition "Hautman and his brothers James and Joseph are both award-winning wildlife artists. Joseph took third place this year and James won his seventh duck stamp contest in 2025." Celebrated wildlife artist Robert Hautman of Delano won the annual competition. By Christopher Magan The Minnesota Star Tribune https://www.startribune.com/delano-man-wins-fourth-duck-stamp-contest/601894154?utm_source=gift #DuckStam...

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  A hearing this week. Pepper and I see these elaborately-equipped test Waymoes plying the streets more often than we'd think likely. An interesting wrinkle we old-time municipal observers might annoyingly draw to attention is that, if the state legislature doesn't like something Minneapolis does, it simply overrides it. "The proposed ordinance is the latest attempt to regulate autonomous vehicles in the state. As of now, Minnesota does not have any specific rules regulating drive...

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  "Castro already faced state assault charges in Minnesota stemming from the confrontation in which he shot Julio ​Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national, in the leg through the door of the man’s apartment while children were present inside the home. "The state charges also include false reporting of ‌a crime ⁠after Castro allegedly told superiors at the Department of Homeland Security that Sosa-Celis and others attacked him with a snow shovel and broom, which was disproved by video evi...

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  "Mill District" in the news— We got a an email from the Guthrie Theater downtown, warning us that city-owned parking ramp prices would jump to $50 this weekend, owing to a spectacle at nearby Chicago Avenue Taxpayer Stadium. "Please note that the WWE event at U.S. Bank Stadium may lead to increased traffic and parking demand in the Mill District." Fifty bucks parking? For worldly wrestling entertainment? In a football stadium? There's a workaround for early-arriving...

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  Stopped the presses— One cool thing about this former printing plant was that it had its own rail spur that entered the building to deliver newsprint. Those days are long gone. "The media company ceased printing operations at the end of 2025 and outsourced duties to a facility in Iowa, citing declining print subscriptions and cost savings. The site is the last piece of real estate owned by the company, which used to control several blocks in and around downtown Minneapolis." Data ce...

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  'State technology officials say more than 30 Minnesota municipal water systems were targeted in a coordinated cyberattack this week. 'In at least one case, a city’s well and treatment plant were temporarily knocked offline Monday. Other cities reported that the attack targeted communications and automated operations within their water system — forcing a move to manual workarounds. … 'Officials said water in the affected cities remains safe to drink.' Computer network attack ta...

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  'France's fire, one of the nation's biggest since World War II, has caused an unprecedented "pyrocumulonimbus", a giant fire cloud that creates its own winds and packs lightning that causes more blazes, the National Firefighters Federation of France (FNSPF) said.' https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-27/wildfires-threaten-bordeaux-as-france-and-spain-battle-blazes/106960968 #Europe #wildfires #pyrocumulonimbus

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  "Bike racks are designed for regular bikes, not an electric horse." We asked a St. Paul grandpa to try an Urban Arrow cargo bike. Here are some takeaways. The St. Paul Pioneer Press https://www.twincities.com/2026/07/12/urban-arrow-cargo-bike-takeaways/ #ElectricBikes #ElectricHorses #BikeRacks #cycling

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  "Investors are concerned that if people spend less time watching Netflix, it could cause people to cancel their subscriptions and make it more challenging for Netflix to raise prices in markets like the U.S." https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-07-17/netflix-stock-drop-second-quarter-earnings #television

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  Why the hell's it called El Niño? I ask myself after about the hundredth time of reading the term this morning. "El Niño means Little Boy in Spanish. South American fishermen first noticed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s. The full name they used was El Niño de Navidad, because El Niño typically peaks around December." — NOAA National Ocean Service https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html

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  Hazardous for everyone. 'The worst air quality will be across eastern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, where the air quality will be hazardous for everyone, the National Weather Service said.' Wildfire smoke concentration is now record-setting. Air quality alerts cover most of Minnesota. The Twin Cities area also remains under an excessive heat warning Thursday. By Tim Harlow The Minnesota Star Tribune https://www.startribune.com/wildfire-smoke-concentration-is-now-record-setting-ai...

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  Boundary Waters wildfires could smolder until snow falls Fueled by dry fir and spruce trees, the larger forest fires are too intense for firefighters to extinguish without help from the weather. By Dave Orrick and Bob Timmons The Minnesota Star Tribune “It’s way beyond the ability of firefighting crews to suppress,” said Lee Frelich, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Forest Ecology and an expert on the fire ecology of northern Minnesota forests. https://www.startribune.com...

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  Photo: Wisconsin Public Radio on smoke in the Twin Ports of Duluth-Superior. https://www.wpr.org/news/wisconsin-hazardous-levels-pollution-fires-burn-canada-minnesota #Wisconsin #Minnesota #AirQuality #wildfires

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  Good morning from Minneapolis, the City of Lakes, the Mill City, the Heart of Hinterlandia. Quite early Monday morning it's 74℉/23℃; fair skies; light winds; visibility 10 miles at the airport. Heat index values will climb to around 100 degrees this afternoon. The greatest impacts from the heat will be felt in the urban core of the Twin Cities metro where little cooling relief is expected overnight. — Hazardous Weather Outlook, NWS Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 'A new generation of neighb...

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  Minneapolis. City of Drones. 'For City Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, it marked another compelling reason Minneapolis should adopt a “Drone as First Responder” program, like an increasing number of neighboring law enforcement agencies have. That system would enable the deployment of autonomous drones from rooftop docking stations in seconds and provide real time video before officers ever arrive on scene. 'Dozens of concerned citizens flooded the council chambers Wednesday, fiercely op...

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  I quail at the arrival of the Will Bunch Newsletter in my inbox because a constant state of outrage is unpleasant, like inflammation. But what can we do? Read the best political columnist in the U.S. in the hope we don't become inured. We have a long row to hoe, I observe from my figurative garden in Minneapolis. No one likes to hoe. And hoe we must. Will Bunch: "Americans should be alarmed at the bigger picture that’s slowly unfolding before us. After briefly pressing the pause but...

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  BBC Wales' running story on Bonnie Tyler. Recap: Tributes pour in for Bonnie Tyler, a Welsh icon https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c9326rq1509t #obituary #music #Wales

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  Of regional interest in journalism circles: Former Star Tribune columnist and reporter Doug Grow dies at 78 'Grow was well-known and appreciated for his infectious laugh heard in all corners of the newsroom. He often went to the coffee machine just before deadline, returning to his desk, saying: “Just 20 more paragraphs,” colleague Dick Meryhew recalled.' https://www.startribune.com/star-tribune-reporter-columnist-doug-grow/601865711?utm_source=gift #Minneapolis #journalism #obituary

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  Why is everyone saying they talked to Mitch McConnell for 20 minutes? By Melina Khan USA TODAY "Now, the internet is fixating on McConnell's reported conversations and the mystery surrounding his hospitalization, with social media users riffing that they too talked to the senator about dramatized topics." https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/08/mitch-mcconnell-20-minute-talks-hospital/90847222007/ #Kentucky #kypol #newspapers

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  Cantilever? More like CANilever. Forth Bridge cab view with the Hastings DEMU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3kr8EZ9V7Y #Scotland #ForthBridge #trains