Of note...

Gen Olson through the years

With State sen. Gen Olson’s confirmation on Thursday that she will retire this year, we came across a series of offiical-looking photos of her during her 30 years in elective office - thanks to the Legislative Reference Library.

Great photo of #CrashedIce event in St. Paul, taken by my colleague Jeff Thompson. More of Jeff’s photos available here.

North Mpls youth capture community after tornado

Photo courtesy Ana Soto, who captured this familiar sight after the north Minneapolis tornado: Blue tarps slung over destroyed roofs. The image is part of a new exhibit opening tonight on the northside. Colleague @euankerr told their story in a piece on today’s Morning Edition.

Aaah, the majestic St. Paul Cathedral, illuminated by the search lights brought in by Red Bull for the big Crashed Ice event this weekend. The track is built & the event is ‘go’ for launch, despite the lack of a real winter in St. Paul.

Student ‘white outs’ for #jabs

Students across Minnesota wore white t-shirts on Thursday to pay tribute to Jack Jablonski, the 16-year old Benilde-St. Margaret sophomore who was paralyzed after being checked from behind during a junior varsity hockey game on Friday, Dec. 30.

Doctors on Thursday confirmed Jablonski’s spinal cord was severed and he would likely not walk again. Thursday was also the day students at Benilde-St. Margaret wore white in honor of their classmate.

School president Bob Tift told reporters the ‘white out’ idea appeared to be student-driven and had spread to several other schools, via social media. A quick check of Twitter - where the #jabs hashtag has become a go-to place for updates and messages about Jablonski - showcased that. Here is a sample of photos posted on Twitter from around Minnesota.