Today in Minot

The Minot City Council will hold its regular meeting on Monday, October 20, 2025, at 5:30 PM in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 10 3rd Ave SW. Residents in need of special accommodations are encouraged to contact the City Clerk’s office at...

Forty years after Purple Rain first electrified audiences, the story is returning to where it began. A new stage adaptation of Prince’s 1984 classic is making its debut in Minneapolis, the city that shaped both the music and the myth. The production, led by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, begins previews this week at the State Theatre—just steps from First Avenue, where the film’s most famous scenes were shot. The performance runs through November 23; Jacob Aloi with MPR has the full story.

I don’t usually get the typical creepy-crawly feeling when it comes to wildlife, excluding snakes and very large spiders. However, a few weeks ago, I stumbled across a creature I had not encountered in person. This small, furry creature was close to making me turn tail...

You’ve heard about the Unsinkable Molly Brown, the brassy, nouveau riche millionaire mine owner’s wife who made it safely off the sinking Titanic. As incredible as that was, she had nothing on a remarkably feisty feline. Because he survived not one, but three separate ship sinkings...

A troubling pattern is repeating itself. Two years after reports exposed a North Dakota political chat filled with slurs and hate speech, similar stories are emerging nationally — this time involving Young Republicans from several states. As columnist Rob Port notes, the problem isn’t confined to one group or ideology. It’s a reflection of a generation shaped by divisive politics, online outrage, and leaders who excuse cruelty as passion. The real question now, he writes, is whether we’ll choose to change it. Read Mr. Port’s full commnenary linked below at Inforum.

A new nonprofit is taking flight along the Central Flyway, blending art and ecology to reconnect people with the prairies. Founded by Park River native Josh Anderson and artist Austen Camille, the Flyway Foundation hopes to “restore and re-story” rural landscapes through creative collaboration. Their work builds on projects like Thinking Like a Prairie, which helped students turn native plants and soils into art. The idea is simple but powerful: use creativity to inspire conservation from the ground up. Brad Dokken with Grand Forks Herald has the full story.

Learn more about the Flyway Foundation here.

Across rural America, younger generations are finding that hard work no longer guarantees stability. For people like Andrew Tait in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, long hours still leave bills unpaid and dreams out of reach. NPR’s report captures the growing frustration among Gen Z and millennials, many of whom feel left behind by both political parties. Rising costs, stagnant wages, and fading faith in the American dream are shaping not just household budgets—but the country’s political future. Elena Moore with NPR has the full story.

At the International Peace Garden, a new project is taking root—one that honors Manitoba horticulturist Frank Skinner, whose cold-resistant plants transformed northern landscapes. The redesign around the Errick Willis Pavilion will feature native seeds, colorful trees, and pathways connecting key parts of the garden. The effort, supported by Skinner’s family and local nurseries, celebrates his legacy of resilience and innovation. As plans grow, so does a vision to restore the garden’s iconic peace towers in time for its 2032 centennial.

For more than a hundred years, the zipper has gone largely unchanged—until now. YKK, the Japanese company behind roughly half the world’s zippers, has introduced the AiryString, a new design that eliminates the fabric tape flanking the teeth. The result is lighter, more flexible, and easier to integrate into modern materials. It’s a small redesign with global implications, reducing waste and energy use in an industry built on tiny details. Sometimes, progress really does come one tooth at a time.

At 4:51 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, Minot Fire Department crews were dispatched to the 600 block of 20th Ave SE for reports of a fire inside a storage unit. Crews arrived on scene just five minutes later, at 4:56 a.m., and found black smoke venting...

At 6:27 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, the Minot Fire Department was dispatched to the 3100 block of 11th Avenue SE for reports of a mobile home on fire. Crews arrived on scene six minutes later, at 6:33 a.m., and found heavy flames coming from the...