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MEMORIAL TRAIL: Snowmobilers honor late barkeeper. PAGE 17
Churches partner for MLK Jr. Day breakfast, program
2023 LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW Last week was the opening week of the 94th session of the Minnesota Legislature. Members took oaths of office and elected leaders and officers. Learn about local lawmakers’ priorities in Press Publications’ Legislative Preview inside. NOW IN SESSION, pages 10-11
LOCAL LAWMAKERS SHARE TOP PRIORITIES
BY RANDY PAULSON STAFF WRITER
Rep. Patti Anderson
Sen. Karin Housley
Rep. Matt Norris
Rep. Elliott Engen
Sen. John Marty
Rep. Kelly Moller
Rep. Brion Curran
Nearly 55 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, the civil rights movement leader’s legacy continues to inspire progress toward social justice and equality. Hedy Lemar CONTRIBUTED Walls hopes people Hedy Lemar Walls, keynote will reflect on the speaker at this year’s Dr. Marimportance of finding shared moral tin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast. values with others this Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Lemar Walls — the executive vice president for social responsibility for the YMCA of the North in Minneapolis — will be the keynote speaker at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community
Sen. Heather Gustafson
Sen. Judy Seeberger
SEE COMMUNITY BREAKFAST, PAGE 6
COPYRIGHT MINNESOTA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. PHOTO BY TOM OLMSCHEID.
Chickadees are the champs of winter in annual Christmas Bird Count to climate change. Minnesota has been seeing more and more species from southern regions, such as wild turkeys and red-bellied woodpeckers, and fewer of the northern finches that used to be common in wintertime. Some species are better at rolling with changes than others. The black-capped chickadee is one of the most hardy and versatile species found in Minnesota in winter, and year after year, dominates the top of list by sheer numbers. These birds spend daylight hours feeding as much as possible and building a store of fat—10 percent of which will disappear every night as they fall into a state of torpor and burn as little energy as possible to keep from freezing. Getting through winter is a harsh game, but the chickadee is
BY JACKIE BUSSJAEGER INTERIM EDITOR
They’re tiny, they’re tough, they weigh less than a gram, but this year’s Christmas Bird Count confirmed they are once again the heavyweights of winter: black-capped chickadees. Volunteers in the 122nd annual Audubon Christmas Bird count tallied more than 1,300 of these tiny birds on Dec. 31. This annual survey has taken place across the globe every winter since 1900, amassing a huge quantity of population data that can help scientists observe trends in bird behavior over time. And the changes have been noticeable. Jim Howitz, the coordinator of the Northeast Suburban survey area in Washington County, keeps close track of the numbers. As with many species, birds are reacting
SEE BIRD COUNT, PAGE 2
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Don’t be fooled by the cute appearance: chickadees are one of the best species at toughing out Minnesota winters.
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