Minnesota briefs: U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad proposes renaming Blue Earth post office after Jim Hagedorn

Republican Rep. Brad Finstad wants to honor his predecessor, the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn, by renaming the post office in Hagedorn's hometown.

Finstad filed a bill in Congress on Jan. 12 to rename the southern Minnesota facility the Jim Hagedorn Memorial Post Office. A majority of Minnesota's members in the U.S. House have signed on to the bill; Rep. Ilhan Omar is not a cosponsor.

Hagedorn served in Congress from 2019 until his death in February 2022, representing southern Minnesota. Finstad succeeded Hagedorn after besting former Hormel Foods Corp. CEO Jeff Ettinger in a special election in August and again last November.

TREY MEWES

ST. CLOUD

Open houses planned for proposed Mississippi bridge

The public is invited to attend one of two upcoming open houses to learn more about a proposed new crossing of the Mississippi River in St. Cloud.

In recent years, the city and regional planning agencies have resurrected a decades-old plan to implement a highway system around St. Cloud and construct a new bridge crossing the river on the south side of town.

The regional beltline around the metro area would make use of roads west of Waite Park, north through Sartell, east of St. Cloud and south along 33rd Street S. The new bridge crossing is proposed to extend east from 33rd Street S. and connect with Hwy. 10 on the east side of the river.

There are currently six bridges crossing the Mississippi River in the St. Cloud metro, spanning from Sartell to Clearwater. The proposed crossing would provide another crossing and help improve emergency response times in south St. Cloud.

The open houses are from 2-5 p.m. Wednesday at 3031 Roosevelt Rd., St. Cloud, and from 2-5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30, at Haven Town Hall, 4230 45th Av. SE., St. Cloud.

JENNY BERG

DULUTH

WDSE-WRPT rebranded as PBS North

Local PBS affiliate WDSE-WRPT will now be known as PBS North, a name change billed as better reflecting the multiplatform programming offered on the public station.

"Since we are no longer tied exclusively to the television set, we felt it was time to update our brand to better reflect those innovations," president and general manager Patty Mester said in a news release.

The PBS affiliate bought the University of Minnesota Duluth's on-campus radio station, KUMD 103.3 FM, more than a year ago and it, too, is called the North. The student-led radio project formerly known as the Basement recently changed its name to Road Salt Radio. The late-night broadcasts will now be open to DJs from the College of St. Scholastica and Lake Superior College, in addition to those from UMD.

CHRISTA LAWLER