For years, the sight of a dark streetlight was all too common in the city. Thieves stole the copper wire inside them for scrap metal money.

"It's crazy. It just blows my mind," Minneapolis resident Amanda Olson said.

Scrappers, at one point, took out lights near Olson's south Minneapolis home. She said the theft happened nearly six times.

Olson added that when the lights were out, cars on the street would be broken into. She said the safety concerns are why neighbors pushed for the lights to be turned back on as soon as possible.

City officials said, in total, they've swapped 700 lights from copper wiring to aluminum. Olson said she isn't sold on the effort.

"If someone's going to steal something, they're going to steal it regardless of what kind of material it is. That's just how I feel about it anyways," she said.

Minneapolis leaders say most of the lights that have been replaced across the city are along parkways and that a small number still need to be fixed.

In a six-minute livestreamed statement from the White House, the first lady for the first time following the Justice Department's release of troves of Epstein records publicly and directly addressed the Epstein matter. The first lady said "now is the time for Congress to act."

"I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors," the first lady told a group of gathered reporters at the White House. "Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony. Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public, if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the congressional record. Then and only then, we will have the truth. Thank you."

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, called the first lady's remarks "pretty stunning," and said her call for a hearing with the testimony of Epstein survivors is something "that we have been asking for for months and have been told every time that it wasn't possible."

"We certainly welcome and agree with her call to hear directly from the survivors," he told MS NOW shortly after the first lady's remarks. He added, "I think what is important about what the first lady said is that she is being clear that there are still powerful men out there. There are still stories to be told."

President Trump told MS NOW he didn't "know anything about" the first lady's statement before she made it. The first lady's spokesperson told CBS News that the West Wing was aware she was going to be making a statement, but would not confirm whether anyone was aware of what the topic or contents of the statement would be. 

It's unclear why the first lady delivered her statement on Thursday, instead of immediately following the release of specific records. Old photos of the Trumps with Epstein and Maxwell have been publicly available, and the Justice Department emails revealed the first lady and Maxwell corresponded at least once over email. 

Asked why Melania Trump decided to make this statement now and whether she was referring to any particular report or allegations, or whether there was some forthcoming story, her spokesperson pointed CBS News to a statement that the first lady's senior adviser, Marc Beckman, gave directly to the New York Post. 

"First Lady Melania Trump spoke out now because enough is enough," Beckman said. "The lies must stop. It is time for the public and media to focus on her incredible achievements as First Lady, the lives she has positively impacted, and her commitment to our nation."

Melania Trump said Epstein did not introduce her to Donald Trump, and the brief email exchange released in the DOJ records between her and Maxwell was merely a "polite," "casual" reply. 

"I am not Epstein's victim," the first lady said. "Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance at a New York City party in 1998. This initial encounter with my husband is documented in detail in my book Melania. The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000 at an event Donald and I attended together. At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings. Numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been circulating on social media for years now. Be cautious about what you believe. These images and stories are completely false."

"I have never had any knowledge of Epstein's abuse of his victims," she added. "I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant. Was never on Epstein's plane. And never visited his private island."

More than a dozen Epstein survivors released a statement Thursday following the first lady's remarks, saying they "have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony." 

"Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice," the statement said, which also accused the first lady of "shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power." 

Jane Chick and Sara Cook contributed to this report.

"We did it. It's what was required," a Twin Cities husband told WCCO. He didn't want to share his name because he says what he and his friends did wasn't about them.

WCCO decided to refer to him as Joe.

"It was me and two other drivers," he said. "We flew to Texas first and then drove up from there."

It was a nearly 24-hour journey to bring back a Venezuelan woman and her mom, who entered the U.S. legally as refugees in 2023. The two were detained for over a week this past winter.

"They took us to Houston handcuffed at the hands, waists and feet," the woman told the Associated Press.

"These folks did everything right. Did everything by the book," Joe said.

Driven by the sentiment, Joe, who is bilingual himself, and his friends felt like they should help when hearing about their case from a mutual friend.

He said they bought their own flights to Texas and rented a car to bring the two back to Minnesota, and that the duo weren't released with their IDs and had fears of coming back via air.

"We just mentioned, 'Hey, we're here. We're the guys you were told about. Come with us,'" Joe said.

The motorists then hit the road, rotating who was behind the wheel as they headed back up north.

"We chatted a bit. They wanted to tell their stories. We didn't want to pressure them," Joe added.

It's an experience both parties say will stick with them forever.

"What we went through is something I wouldn't wish on anyone," the woman told the Associated Press.

"These are small acts of kindness that many people do together, and they come together and accumulate to do good," Joe said.

By the numbers

Economists had predicted inflation would jump nearly an entire percentage point from 2.4% in February to 3.3% in March on an annual basis, according to the average of six separate forecasts reviewed by CBS News. The last time inflation was this high was in May 2024.

The CPI, a basket of goods and services typically bought by consumers, tracks changes in prices over time.

Inflation ran hot in March due to higher energy costs tied to the Iran war, which has constrained the flow of crude through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil supply. The CPI data shows energy prices, driven by a spike in gasoline costs, rose 10.9% from the month prior.

Brent crude, which was trading at $73 a barrel before the war started on Feb. 28, traded at $95.88 as of Friday morning, while the U.S. benchmark hovered around $97.

Consumers got hit with higher prices at the pump last month, with gas prices rising 21.2% from February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The agency said the jump represents the largest monthly increase since 1967.

U.S. gas prices have soared nearly 40% since the conflict erupted, with the national average at $4.15 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. 

A two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran announced on Tuesday could ease gas prices if it holds, but energy experts said it will likely take weeks to recede below $4 a gallon.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and gas prices, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.6% from a year earlier, lower than economists expected. Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management, said in an email that this should "give the economy some room to absorb the higher energy price shock."

The CPI reading follows the release of another key inflation gauge known as the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index on Thursday, which showed costs were elevated even before the war erupted. PCE rose 2.8% on an annual basis in February, the same as January, but stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's 2% annual target.  

What the experts say

Economists told CBS News that higher energy costs could continue to push up other prices this year, such as apparel and food, in part because a sharp spike in diesel prices is raising transportation costs.

"This is only the beginning. Food prices, travel and shipping costs are all going up in April and will exacerbate the pain," said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, in an email.

Airlines are already offsetting higher fuel costs by raising airfares and, in some cases, introducing checked bag fees. Airline fares rose 14.9% on an annual basis in March, according to the CPI data. 

Investors have assumed that geopolitical tensions will eventually fade and markets will rebound. However, Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research warned in a note before the CPI release that inflation was heating up just before the war and could continue to rise through the end of this year.

In an email following the release of the report, Bernard Yaros, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said the April CPI reading will be "uncomfortably strong" as higher gas prices and a statistical quirk from the government shutdown, which disrupted data collection, add upward pressure to inflation.

"A key wildcard in the outlook for both inflation and monetary policy is the duration and intensity of the Iran war, which still hasn't been resolved by the tenuous ceasefire," he said.

While the jump in inflation may be worrisome, Yaros said the U.S. is in a different situation than in 2022, when economic pressures from the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed inflation to a 9.1% peak in June of that year. 

Measures of global supply-chain stress "aren't flashing red," Yaros said, adding that the labor market hasn't created additional inflationary pressure, as was the case in 2022. In the wake of higher gasoline prices, households will eventually have to cut back on non-discretionary expenses, which could be a source of disinflation, he added.

What does this mean for interest rates?

Analysts believe the Federal Reserve will continue to hold rates steady in the near-term as it assesses the inflationary impact of the Iran war. They pointed to the lower-than-expected core inflation reading, which does not reflect energy or food costs, as a sign that higher energy prices have not yet trickled into other categories.

"As long as the increase in gasoline prices is not translating into an increase in the core measures of inflation, then the Fed is probably not going to react to the noise in the headline measures of inflation," Raymond James chief economist Eugenio Aleman said in an email.

The Fed is scheduled to meet from April 28 to 29.

In its last meeting in March, the central bank maintained the federal funds rate at its current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. It also pencilled in one rate cut for 2026. However, minutes released from the Fed's March meeting this week signal that some members of the central bank's 19-member interest-rate setting panel may be open to raising rates "if inflation were to remain at above-target levels," the minutes said.

A 911 call was made and Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Ryan Moeser responded. Dashcam video shows his squad car accelerating to nearly 130 miles an hour. 

"126 miles per hour is excessive speed and look what it caused," said Baylie Lesnick, the victims' sister. 

The video then shows Moeser's cruiser reaching that speed just seconds before impact. 

According to court documents, after getting hit by the squad car, the wrong-way driver's vehicle spun around and struck Blayke and Braxton Mostad.

The brothers had been standing outside, near their truck. 

"Just kind of remember hearing metal crunch and then I don't remember too much until seeing Blayke on the side of the road," said Braxton Mostad. 

Blayke Mostad sustained a spinal injury and a significant brain injury. He spent a week and a half in a coma. Since then, he's had 30 surgeries. 

"Long-term outlook, he will probably spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair," said Lesnick. 

Braxton Mostad suffered a right eye injury, which caused temporary blindness. The family is now suing the Minnesota State Patrol, Moeser and the estate of the man who was driving in the wrong direction, which caused the first crash. The driver has since died. Family members said, a year later, they still haven't heard from the state agency.

"My brother is living paralyzed now and there's been zero accountability, and that's hard. There's anger there for sure," said  Lesnick. 

The state agency said Moeser is on leave. In a statement, it called the crash devastating and said its thoughts are with everyone who was impacted. 

"The Jungle," an internationally acclaimed play by Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy, will run April 16 to May 3 at Mixed Blood Theater.

Directed by Mark Valdez, the production is set in Calais, France, known as the Jungle, which existed in real life from 2015 to 2016 during the height of the refugee crisis in Europe. 

The play is a fictionalized depiction of the real refugee camp, focusing on a community of immigrants attempting to build a new life while facing removal from the government. 

"Many people were fleeing their home countries because of war and terrorism," said Valdez. "This play tells the story of these refugees. Stories of how they got there, the community they formed when they got there and some glimpses of what happened afterwards."

Valdez said the story invites people to have a conversation about the cost of displacement.

"The play invites us to think about immigration. For us in the United States, we often think about immigration and we think about Latinos. We think about Latin America and South America, and what this play does is remind us that this is a global topic," Valdez said. 

While the story is based on this specific time and place, the theme of displacement remains relevant, especially for people who lived through Operation Metro Surge. 

"Connections between "The Jungle" and our time during Operation Metro Surge is that this is a play about the government deciding it doesn't want people in their communities anymore and the brutal efforts they take to remove them. That is our moment, that is what we've been through," Valdez said.

The production features over 20 actors portraying characters from a wide range of nationalities and backgrounds, reflecting the diversity of the real-life camp.

"There are 21 people in this play and they are people from all over the world. We have some people from Egypt, Algeria, Liberia, Israel," Valdez said. "We wanted the cast to be from all over the world. You feel what is personal and authentic, what is natural and really helps the storytelling."

For some cast members, the story resonates on a personal level. For Sophina Saggau, Operation Metro Surge inspired her to play a role in it.

"This is one where when I read the script before auditioning, I was like, 'I want to be a part of this.' It feels important. It speaks to the moment we're in. "

For Ahmad Maher, his character, Norullah, reflects his own ambitions. 

"My character, being a young man, is someone who has a lot of dreams, hopes and aspirations that he isn't able to accomplish in his own country," said Maher. "I think Norullah is a dreamer at heart. He goes after what he wants and that's something I find in myself as well."

Valdez said he hopes audiences leave with a deeper understanding of the people behind immigration debates.

"Every single one of us, refugee or not, immigrant or not, we have complicated stories and complicated lives. This play reminds us, what if we brought some grace? What if we brought some compassion, some empathy, some understanding and just see each other as humans?" Valdez said.

Reservations for The Jungle are now open.

Things will turn more active on Saturday. Showers will develop, with a few thunderstorms possible, especially later in the day. Temperatures will be in the mid-50s.

Sunday will be warmer and more humid, with highs in the 70s. There will be sunshine and some wind after early morning showers.

The stormy setup will continue into next week, with strong to potentially severe thunderstorms possible on Monday, especially in southern Minnesota.

The unsettled pattern will linger on Tuesday, bringing additional rounds of rain and mild temperatures.

Officers responded to reports of shots fired on the 3200 block of Bloomington Avenue at 10:54 a.m., according to police. They found an unoccupied vehicle with "apparent" damage from the shooting that had crashed into a curb and a tree, officials said.

The officers learned that two people in the vehicle, later identified as the two men, had walked away from the scene, police said. Law enforcement found one of the men on the 3100 block of 15th Street and the other on the 3000 block of 15th Avenue.

According to police, both men were taken to the hospital with "apparent" injuries that were not life-threatening.

Investigators said the vehicle the men were in was traveling when shots were fired, possibly from another vehicle. The driver of the vehicle that was hit then swerved, resulting in the car hitting the curb and tree.

As of Friday afternoon, no arrests have been made, police said.

Investigators are working to learn what led to the shooting.

Magda Mahmoud Elsagher and her husband, Mohamed Metwalli Elshazli, are each charged with one count of wrongfully obtaining assistance and perjury. The criminal complaint said they, along with their four adult children, received public benefits from Anoka County's Department of Human Services in the form of Medical Assistance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from March 23, 2020, through Feb. 28, 2021, and from Sept. 17, 2022, to Oct. 31, 2022.

The court document says their eligibility for public assistance programs was based on statements Elsagher and Elshazli provided to the county agency, which requires people applying to accurately report their household income and assets.

During numerous filings and interviews with the county agency, the two falsely claimed that no one in the household was self-employed and failed to report other income and assets, "Declaring under penalty of perjury" that everything they wrote in their forms was true, according to the court document.

The complaint said a medical assistance renewal form received in October 2020 showed no income for Elshazli, and a personal statement provided in 2020 — signed by the couple — said their only assets were a checking account with $200 and a single vehicle. According to the court document, it was reported during an interview with the county that no one in the Spring Lake Park household was self-employed.

Investigators learned Elshazli was self-employed and the sole owner of a business and obtained bank records that showed a checking account owned by the business had an average cash balance of just over $30,626 between June 2018 and May 2024, per the court document. Numerous deposits into and payments from the account were allegedly noted, including international wire transfers out of it that totaled $2,220,753.13 from September 2021 through July 2025. 

"Due to the false reporting and fraudulent filings, an estimated $861,304.03 of Medical Assistance overpayments were made between August 1, 2018, and November 30, 2025," the complaint said.   

According to the court document, investigators determined Elsagher is the sole owner of the Spring Lake Park home, which was purchased in 2011 for $125,000. They also learned that 17 vehicles were registered in her name and Elshazli's, and most were never disclosed.

Credit card statements obtained by law enforcement showed significant spending activity, including over $54,000 spent at a jewelry store between 2020 and 2024 and over $7,000 on travel to Egypt in 2019, the complaint said.

If convicted, Elsagher and Elshazli each face up to 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $200,000.

Lynette Hooker, who is from Michigan, has been missing since Sunday. Bahamian officials arrested her husband Wednesday night and are holding him for questioning in connection with her case, but he has not been charged with a crime, according to his attorney, Terrel Butler. Hooker can be held for 48 hours until he has to be either charged or released, Butler said, noting that officials can extend the period to 96 hours if deemed necessary.

Brian Hooker denies any wrongdoing. He previously told authorities that his wife fell from their dinghy Saturday night while the couple sailed from Hope Town to Elbow Cay in the Bahamas. He said powerful currents swept her away, along with the keys to their boat, which cut power to its engine and prevented him from reaching her. 

He shared a similar account of what happened in Facebook messages to Daniel Danforth, a friend of the Hookers since 2023. Danforth told CBS News he met them because of their shared interest in boating.

The messages show that Danforth reached out to Brian on Monday after seeing news coverage of his wife's disappearance.

"The wind blew me away from her and she swam towards the sailboat and we lost sight of each other pretty quickly as it was just about sundown," Brian wrote in reply. "I drifted and tried to paddle with one oar for the next 7 hours until I washed up behind the shore of the next Island over and was able to get some help finally."

Bahamian police have said Brian Hooker arrived at the Marsh Harbor Boat Yard on the island of Abaco at 4 a.m. Sunday morning, after paddling the dinghy to shore. They said he told someone his wife was missing once he made it there, and that person informed authorities.

In the messages, he told Danforth his family was "in hell" as search crews failed to locate his wife. 

When Danforth checked in again the next morning, Hooker said he had moved his boat to Marsh Harbor and had been sleeping there, but planned to relocate "for a night or two" to stay with his sister and brother-in-law, who were flying in to meet him. He told Danforth that he planned "on heading back out to the site" after that "and continuing search."

"I will most likely definitely need help in the future but I just don't know what it is yet I'm trying to take it a day at a time and keep the faith," he told Danforth, before congratulating him on his recent sailboat purchase.

"The stories don't really match up"

Danforth told CBS News that he first met the Hookers three years ago, while sailing in the New Orleans area. A Facebook notification from Brian over the weekend initially reminded him of the couple, before he started seeing headlines about Lynette's disappearance, Danforth said. 

He received the notification because Brian had liked his comment on a post that Danforth's wife had shared about boating. In retrospect, Danforth said the fact that his friend was scrolling social media and liking posts at that time raised some questions for him.

"You know, my wife's missing, Facebook's the last thing I'm worried about. You're going to find me on the water riding around," Danforth told CBS News.

Danforth said he was concerned that Brian moved his boat from Elbow Cay, where it was anchored, shortly after Lynette went missing. He also noted that, in comparing Brian's s retelling of Lynette's disappearance with emerging media reports, "the stories don't really match up."

While police have said Hooker recalled his wife being swept overboard and out to sea, Danforth said his messages reflected "she was casually swimming back toward the sailboat." 

He also said the Hookers "always had their phones with them" and frequently posted videos online, so he wondered why Brian's "phone didn't work or why they didn't have their phones in the boat" the night Lynette went missing.

Danforth said his wife was friends with Lynette and he didn't have concerns about the couple's relationship, although there had been a period where Brian and Lynette "had separated for a while," he said. 

"You know, most of the time people do get back together and you don't want things to be awkward," he said. "So we didn't — I don't really get into a whole lot of personal business because of those reasons." 

Lynette Hooker's daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told CBS News in a separate interview that her mother and Brian Hooker had broken up and gotten back together in recent years. Aylesworth said she is seeking answers about the circumstances surrounding her mother's disappearance and has said she doubts the sequence of events described by Brian Hooker.

"For one, I don't understand how she got the key," Aylesworth said. "Brian's always driving. So he basically is in charge of the key. So the fact that my mom had it doesn't make any sense."

In an earlier statement, Butler, Hooker's attorney, said he denied the allegations made by Aylesworth, and added, "He has been cooperating with the relevant authorities as part of an ongoing investigation."

Butler has spoken to Hooker on the phone and told CBS News that he was focused on continuing the search for his wife.

"That's all he's been talking about," Butler said. "Yesterday… he made arrangements to go back out and search for her."

The whereabouts of the boat key was also an issue for Danforth, who said pictures and videos the Hookers took while on the dinghy never show either of them with the key, which is usually attached to a lanyard. But he said it's possible that Lynette Hooker would "reach out in desperation" to grab hold of something as she fell overboard, and "that's the closest thing."

Ultimately, Danforth said he didn't fully believe strong winds and ocean currents could separate Hooker's small dinghy from his wife so rapidly. And, if she were swimming toward the dinghy, as Brian Hooker said in his messages, Danforth asked: "Why didn't he try to go get her?"

Brian Hooker's messages to daughter, stepdaughter

CBS News also obtained text messages Brian Hooker sent to his daughter Rosie and Lynette's daughter Karli (which he misspelled as Carly) earlier this week. In a message Tuesday night, he wrote that he planned on "going out on a boat tomorrow to continue searching" for Lynette. "I'm not giving up and I don't want you to give up either," he wrote, followed by emojis of kisses and hearts.

In another message the next morning, he wrote that he was "hassled at dinner by reporters last night." He said he posted a statement on Facebook and then "locked down" his page. 

"Our family has lots of support from people all over the world but there are of course always some haters," he wrote. "They're saying ridiculous stuff and so I will do some push back on that when I can." He signed off, "I love you and I'm not giving up or stopping."

Brian Hooker told his attorney he fell into the water during his arrest

In their first in-person meeting late Thursday, Brian Hooker told his attorney he almost drowned after falling in the water as police were taking him into custody. 

"He [Brian Hooker] had a really traumatic experience being transported here to Grand Bahama," Butler told CBS News on Thursday. "He was taken to his vessel for a search, and when he went there, he was handcuffed and was told he could have a change of clothes and he was requested to disembark while handcuffed."

According to Butler, that's when his client went overboard. 

"When he fell overboard, he had to be rescued by officers," Butler said.

In a new statement released Friday morning, Butler said he had visited with Hooker at the Central Police Station in Grand Bahama and was requesting immediate medical attention for him. He said the fall had taken place in "choppy and dangerous sea conditions" as Hooker lost his footing on the wet boat flooring while handcuffed. 

A CBS News team saw Hooker being taken to a local hospital to get checked out.

Butler's statement also said, "Brian appears completely heartbroken and deeply distressed. His primary concern and source of intense frustration is his inability to continue the search for his wife of 25 years. The trauma of her disappearance, coupled with his current detention as a suspect, has left him in an extremely fragile state."

Walz said the cyberattack "disrupted critical systems and digital services."

In a statement, the county said affected systems have been taken offline and residents should expect delays, but that emergency services are still operating. This is the second cyberattack on Winona County this year; the first was in January. 

"Based upon our preliminary investigation, this is not the same cybercriminal responsible for the prior attack on Winona County," the county said.

The guard sent 15 experts from its cybersecurity team, Winona County Emergency Management Director Ben Klinger said.

"They're allowing us to do things much faster, much more in-depth and to help us get through this recovery quicker," he said.

Klinger said the county is taking steps to prevent future cyberattacks.

"We're hardening our network, we're adding even more security," he said. "That's another aspect of the National Guard here is them helping us find vulnerabilities."

The Minnesota National Guard faced a cybersecurity attack in St. Paul just last summer. In that case, the group behind the attack claimed to have posted online 43 gigabytes of data stolen from the city's systems. At the time, Mayor Melvin Carter said the group demanded a ransom, which the city did not pay. 

"I think cities and counties don't have as many resources as, say, a large company that's gonna have more money that they can devote to the problem," said Jonathan Wrolstad, professor of cybersecurity at the University of Minnesota. "They can't stop offering those important services to residents because they're vital to our day-to-day lives, so I think that also makes them a lucrative target."

Wrolstad said often these criminals want to deploy ransomware and try to extort money from local governments. 

The Minnesota Cybersecurity Incident Report for 2025, published in January, said "cyberattacks against federal, state and local governments continue to rise in both frequency and sophistication". 

Wrolstad said these reports can vary widely in severity. He sees the value in the state trying to help public entities that often have fewer resources from a technical standpoint. 

The strike is being organized by the Zero Burn Coalition, a group dedicated to shutting down the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, also known as HERC. First built in 1989, the waste-to-energy facility burns garbage and produces enough energy to power about 25,000 homes, according to Hennepin County. 

Protesters, however, say that HERC, which neighbors Target Field near the North Loop neighborhood, is responsible for essentially poisoning people who live nearby. Joshua Lewis, one of the people who is participating in the strike that started Friday, explained that the issue is personal to him, losing both of his parents to cancer, which he believes was caused by environmental pollution. 

"Our lungs are not collateral. Our lives are not negotiable," Lewis said. 

The hunger strikers joined dozens of others who entered the Hennepin County Government building in downtown Minneapolis on Friday morning with a demand for county commissioners: Hold a public vote to close HERC by Dec. 31, 2027. 

Natasha Villanueva, who lives in the Jordan neighborhood of Minneapolis, just north of the HERC facility, said that the hunger strike is a necessary step to get commissioners to listen. 

"What is moral does not always correlate to how systems in our society operate," Villanueva said. 

Reaching the top floor of the county office building where commissioners' offices are, Villanueva and others in the group sang "hit the road, HERC" to the tune of Ray Charles' "Hit the Road Jack" and attempted to get in touch directly with them. 

No one was in the office on Friday, but a spokesperson for the county said that commissioners have met "frequently" with hunger strike organizers, stating that officials are open to continued conversations. Hunger strike organizers said prior discussions felt "disingenuous." 

In 2023, Hennepin County approved a resolution that would close HERC sometime between 2028 and 2040. Protesters argue that the measure was misleading without an exact date set; the spokesperson pointed WCCO to several initiatives that the county is working through to repurpose HERC while staying within the bounds of waste management regulations. 

In February, commissioners passed a resolution that states, in part, "The county's position is to accelerate the closure and repurposing of HERC by aggressively pursuing zero-waste policies, programming, and infrastructure because the county's climate and equity commitments mean we cannot depend on landfills to manage our trash so we must reinvent the solid waste system." 

Part of the problem at hand is that closing HERC outright would essentially double the burden on landfills, according to county and state officials. 

Leadership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency took questions from state senators on the topic on Tuesday, explaining that all waste from Hennepin County is split just about evenly between waste-to-energy facilities like HERC and landfills. 

Kirk Koudelka, assistant commissioner for the MPCA, said that closing HERC could have unintended health impacts by shifting pressure to landfills. He said that garbage and unprocessed recycling waste that ends up in landfills would linger for decades or longer, posing a threat to waterways and local residents. 

"What would happen if a waste energy facility were to close is all that waste would go like that to a landfill," Koudelka said. 

Hennepin County conducted a study on HERC's air emissions in 2021 with Barr Engineering. The county concluded at the time that the cancer and noncancer risks associated with HERC emissions were "well below" risk thresholds established by the Minnesota Department of Health. The county also stated that "shutting down HERC will not result in observable health outcome improvements" for people living in the area, arguing that its closure could create further air pollution by way of additional trucks making trips to landfills. 

Nazir Khan, a coleader with the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, said that the data points are misleading. He and others in the group demanding HERC's closure said that neither the state agency nor the county was taking into account long-term impacts on people living close to the trash burner over an extended period of time. 

Tom Johnson, the government relations director for the MPCA, told state senators this week that while the agency always uses risk markers that are consistent with the Environmental Protection Agency and others, cumulative impacts have not traditionally been part of the metrics they track. 

"Those health benchmarks do not necessarily take into account the cumulative effect of various sources of pollution on an individual," Johnson said, "so that is a new approach that we are currently in the process of rule-making for." 

Lewis and his fellow hunger strikers believe that their concerns are ultimately being ignored. 

"This is not just a policy issue; this is a life and death issue," Lewis said. 

As of Friday afternoon, most commissioners have not responded to WCCO's request for comment. District 1 Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde sent an email to WCCO stating that he is not in favor of shutting down HERC "until we have plans for sorting facilities throughout Hennepin." 

"Stuffing more trash into two landfills (Elk River and Burnsville) is short-sighted and spreads the impact of trash over decades as landfills are not a solution," Lunde said. 

District 6 Commissioner Heather Edelson reissued a statement she provided to WCCO on March 31:

"I care about the people behind this movement, and I am genuinely concerned for their health and safety. A hunger strike is a serious and risky step, and I hope we can continue this conversation in a way that keeps everyone safe," Edelson said in part, stating that HERC should close but must be done 'responsibly.'"

The woman is charged with one count of wire fraud. The complaint does not name the company she worked for, but said it "is in the business of selling new trucks, parts, and services."

The complaint alleges the woman "created excess garnishments" in the company's payroll system between 2017 and 2025 and sent the money to herself. She is also accused of creating separate ledgers to hide the embezzlement, which prosecutors say totaled more than $1.2 million.

An attorney representing the woman said in a statement she is "deeply remorseful for her actions and the impact they have had on her employer, her family, and the community." The woman "has been actively engaged in treatment" for gambling addiction, the attorney said.

If you or someone you know struggles with playing responsibly, the Minnesota Department of Human Services has resources available. Call 800-333-HOPE for free, confidential information and referral to services in your area or visit getgamblinghelp.com.

The River Falls Fire Department says crews were dispatched to a fire at Walker Farm, located near County Road M, at approximately 1:30 a.m. 

Upon arrival, crews found a barn fully engulfed in heavy fire and smoke, and immediately began efforts to extinguish the flames.

It took several hours to put out the fire, with the fire department saying crews remained on scene until 6:12 a.m. A short time later, firefighters were called back to extinguish a small rekindle.

Steffanie Walker says a barn fire is a farmer's worst nightmare.

"It's part of us. I've always said this farm is bigger than all of us," Walker said. "I opened this door and smoke just billowed out."

The family of five, who also runs a farm store on the property, came home from their kindergartener's football practice to a kitchen fire. They spent the night at a family member's home in Woodbury, Minnesota.

"Unfortunately got a phone call at 1:30 a.m. that the big barn was on fire. My husband and I rushed here," she said. 

The fire killed the kids' pony named Cookie, three of their dogs and more than 200 chickens, ducks, geese and a few other four-legged friends.

"It was too far gone before anyone had gotten here," she said.

A dog and several barn cats survived. WCCO witnessed Walker rescuing a singed cat. Their friend took it to a local animal hospital.

The surviving dog and rescued cat were both back home on Friday, according to Walker.

"That whole morning, night was so numb," she said. "What will do here will still be here."

The mom says a pack of scissors on the stove is what caused their kitchen fire, but they don't know what set the barn on fire. They believe they weren't related.

An online fundraiser has been set up for the family. The Walkers want to thank the community for their constant support so far.

As a result of the barn fire, the family says the Walker Farm Store will be closed for several days.