Gov. Tim Walz sued over ‘clean cars’ rule

Stribber Jennifer Bjorhus reports, “Though they have yet to take effect, Minnesota’s ‘clean cars’ standards to limit climate pollution from tailpipes are under legal assault. A coalition of soybean farmers, gas stations, convenience stores and ethanol industry players has sued Gov. Tim Walz and state pollution regulators in federal court saying the requirements violate federal law and will damage their business.”

At MPR, Paul Huttner says, “There are some interesting forecast model trends emerging for Thursday’s inbound weather system. It still looks like the heaviest snow with this system will fall across northeast Minnesota including the Duluth area and North Shore. And some of Wednesday’s afternoon forecast model runs have eased up even further on Thursday’s snowfall potential for the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota. … Most of central and southern Minnesota is under a winter weather advisory Thursday into Friday morning. That includes the Twin Cities area where considerably less snow will fall.”

For Reuters, Chris Prentice and Pete Schroeder say, “The former head of Wells Fargo’s retail bank is facing prison time after agreeing to plead guilty to obstructing a bank examination in relation to the sweeping phony accounts scandal that roiled the bank in 2016. Carrie Tolstedt, 63, faces up to 16 months in prison under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors filed on Wednesday. The development marks a rare instance of a senior bank executive facing prison time as a result of their job.”

The Duluth News Tribune’s Joe Bowen reports, “Art in the Alley wasn’t set to open for another hour when the Miller Hill Mall’s roof collapsed Tuesday morning, sending an estimated 80 tons of snow into a common area there and prompting mall administrators to close the entire building until at least Friday.”

An MPR story says, “The Uptown Transit Station will close Wednesday evening after security issues in the last several months. Metro Transit says the indoor waiting facility will be shut down until new security measures are put in place. An indoor transit center in downtown St. Paul was shut down temporarily a few months ago after a double homicide at the location.”

For Fox News Gary Gastelu writes, “The catalytic converter theft crime wave that’s been sweeping America may be even worse than it seems. A new report from CarFax estimates that 153,000 of the emissions control devices were stolen in 2022, based on repair records. That’s higher than some previous estimates and the situation doesn’t appear to be improving. … CarFax identified which vehicles are hit the most often and these are the top 10:

1. Ford F-Series
2. Honda Accord
3. Toyota Prius
4. Honda CR-V
5. Ford Explorer
6. Ford Econoline
7. Chevrolet Equinox
8. Chevrolet Silverado
9. Toyota Tacoma
10. Chevrolet Cruze.”