When St. Paul Public Works hired Jericho Huggar away from the city of Minneapolis two years ago to return to work in the neighborhoods where he was raised, no one was counting on him campaigning for a Bagela to follow.

The bright red Bagela — a portable asphalt recycler that whirs, smokes and smells like a contraption out of a Dr. Seuss children’s book — feeds on the kind of bottom-of-the-cereal-box construction debris that usually gives contractors heartache over where to store it. Instead of being carted off to a landfill, that potential hazardous waste is converted into hot pothole fill in a matter of minutes, saving costs on transport and disposal.

It would take some time for Huggar — a superintendent of street maintenance — to reassure others in St. Paul Public Works that buying a used machine from the city of Minneapolis would be a steal at $15,000, about one-tenth or so of its full retail price, and save taxpayer dollars by providing longer-term pothole relief for city streets than the common “cold mix.”

Huggar made the case anyway, and convinced higher-ups to make the purchase, which went through last year. The Bagela was put to work this month for the first time in the capital city. “I’m a taxpayer,” explained Huggar, who grew up in Frogtown.

Joined by St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw on Wednesday, Huggar and other Public Works officials showcased their “new-to-us” Bagela in action during a media event at a Public Works facility near Como and Western avenues.

Asphalt “rocks” dropped into the mouth of the Bagela like coffee beans in a grinder, churning into a relatively fine silt of steaming black fill, as a worker in a mini-skid steer loader scooped up the fallen grounds and deposited them into a heated truck bed.

Within minutes, the Public Works truck was parked just off Rice Street, on a residential street that had been rendered bumpier than corduroy by a series of winter potholes. Her received an impromptu tutorial in how to shovel out fill, drop it into place, tamp it down and then sweep it smooth.

For Her, whose first month in office has been dominated by thousands of federal agents swarming the Twin Cities, taking a moment to sweep pothole fill came almost as welcome relief.

“We can do both,” Her said. “We can address crises as they’re happening, but we have the staff in place so that we can continue to move forward on core city services, so that our residents do not see disruption.”

Given freezing temperatures, the city’s “hot mix” plant hasn’t opened for the season yet, and Public Works is still filling most potholes with “cold mix,” a type of asphalt mixture that has a shorter life expectancy.

Still, the Bagela is expected to make a sizable dent in demand this season by converting at least 13,000 tons of cast-off asphalt debris into hot pothole mix, which can be quickly transported to rutted streets needing a quick makeover.

“This is more durable and more efficient, so we can cover more potholes and get the work done so that it lasts longer,” said Kershaw, called the Bagela a promising addition to the city’s winter toolbox. “We have so many potholes that it’s never enough, but if this is successful, I imagine that we’ll want to get another one.”

Most of the asphalt source material will come from clean-outs of the city’s trucks and asphalt plant, or the dregs of street projects. “We try to find stuff that doesn’t have concrete in it, as clean as possible,” Huggar said.

Given temperatures that have risen and fallen in quick succession, leading to daytime melt and icy freezing overnight, Kershaw said there are plenty of pothole-riddled streets this season, though perhaps not quite as many as during winter 2022-2023, which ranked as one of the five snowiest seasons on record.

“They’re higher this year because the potholes are worse, but I don’t think we’re at ’23 levels yet,” Kershaw said.

While pothole filling isn’t entirely provided on a complaint or “first come, first served” basis, there’s some truth to the idea that the squeaky wheel — those who call in potholes — gets the grease, so to speak.

Public Works crews are doing the best they can to fill potholes citywide based on a grid map, working methodically from quadrant to quadrant, said Kershaw, while also prioritizing streets where especially challenging potholes may represent a danger to drivers.

“We will put those dangerous potholes first,” Kershaw said.

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More than 100 church bells are expected to ring across the Twin Cities on Saturday, calling for togetherness in a time when Minnesotans navigate tension with immigration actions in the state and mourn the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two community members who were killed by federal immigration agents.

“Bells signal our oneness as a people,” organizer Rebecca Jorgenson-Sundquist said. “They remind us of our capacity to be united. They stir our hearts to redouble our commitment to American ideals of freedom and justice for all. We believe that the bells sound messages of hope that one day our community will be whole.”

Jorgenson-Sundquist started City of Bells, an organization whose goal is to “celebrate the many bronze bell installations in the Twin Cities through discovery, education and promotion,” 11 years ago. Typically, the group coordinates churches, state buildings and other bell-bearing entities in ringing their bells in unison on the Fourth of July, Juneteenth and Veterans Day. But at noon Saturday, a day with no particular name, bells will ring during a time where words fail, Jorgenson-Sundquist said.

“With all of the chaos and heartbreak going on, I think all of us are asking ourselves, ‘What can we do? What can we do to make a difference?’ And I thought, ringing the bells is perfect, because to me, when I hear a big bell ringing, it’s like God is saying, ‘Be not afraid. I am with you,’ ” Jorgenson-Sundquist said.

The bells will be heard far and wide, Jorgenson-Sundquist said, as she’s reached out to over 200 churches and buildings with bells to participate in the initiative.

“I think that any bell that is in good working order will be joining us in ringing,” Jorgenson-Sundquist said.

The bells, which ring for all, she said, will provide people with an opportunity to step outside, pause, listen and contemplate. She said there is no political agenda behind the ringing of the bells, but the bells are delivering a message.

“We just really want the bells to be used as a force for good,” Jorgenson-Sundquist said. “We know that everybody’s hearts are aching, no matter what side of the political spectrum we’re on; it’s just an awful thing for our cities to experience, and it takes a long time to recover, and we want to be a part of the recovery.”

Jorgenson-Sundquist said she’s working to see if prominent leaders or politicians in Minnesota would speak and offer an opportunity for community members to gather on Saturday, possibly at the Liberty Bell on the state Capitol grounds in St. Paul. She said any of the leaders or their representatives who signed a letter calling for “immediate de-escalation of tensions” in the state are also invited to join.

Some of the churches expected to ring their bells on Saturday include House of Hope Presbyterian in St. Paul, Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis.

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There was a particular sequence on Thursday night at Grand Casino Arena during which superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes put on a passing clinic with the rest of his teammates on the ice.

The puck glided from tape to tape with pinpoint precision as the Wild dominated possession. It felt like only a matter of time before they found the back of the net.

Not once did the Wild even scare the net. It started to feel like there was a literal forcefield surrounding whichever net the Wild was shooting on as they too often looked for the perfect play in the offensive zone.

The good news for the Wild was they made the most of their limited chances and eventually pulled away for good in a 4-1 win over the Flames.

The goals from center Danila Yurov and wingers Vinnie Hinostroza, Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov proved to be enough for goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who carried his teammates for most of the game with 26 saves.

In the opening minutes, the Wild went up 1-0 when Yurov hammered home a beautiful backhand pass from winger Vladimir Tarasenko.

Not long after that, the Wild stretched their lead to 2-0 when defenseman Jake Middleton flipped an outlet pass to Hinostroza, who caught the puck in midair, placed it on the ice, then went top shelf to make it 2-0.

Though the Flames briefly cut deficit to 2-1, the Wild pulled away down the stretch.

On a power play late in the game, Boldy finished off another passing display from Hughes and Kaprizov to make it 3-1. Naturally, Kaprizov netted an empty netter on the next shift to finalize the score at 4-1.

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Lynn Youngblom, right, and Dane Youngblom, second from right, both of Duluth, hold up signs in opposition of ICE while attending a rally outside of the Teamsters Local 346 building in Duluth while U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber was speaking with members on Wednesday evening, Jan. 28, 2026.

(Dan Williamson / Duluth Media Group)

A large crowd of protesters wrapped around the sidewalk on both sides of a union hall in the Lincoln Park neighborhood as U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber spoke to members inside Wednesday.

With chants like “Where’s Pete?” and “We want to talk with Pete,” protesters held signs challenging the Hermantown Republican’s support of President Donald Trump, removing the mining ban on federal land within the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the federal government’s immigration enforcement in the state.

The gathering outside the Teamsters General Local 346, 2802 W. First St., came four days after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents shot and killed protester Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, in Minneapolis, and three weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Macklin Good in Minneapolis.

U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., leaves the Teamsters Local 346 building in Duluth after speaking with members on Wednesday evening, Jan. 28, 2026.

(Dan Williamson / Duluth Media Group)

When Stauber left through the back door of the Teamsters General Local 346, protesters yelled and flipped him off as he backed his truck out of the Teamsters’ parking lot.

‘You don’t get much opportunity’

Fiadh Kinsella, of Duluth, who has worked at Dinosaur National Monument and Glacier and Mount Rainer National Parks, wore a classic wide-brimmed National Park Service hat to the protest.

Fiadh Kinsella, of Duluth, speaks during an interview with FOX 21 outside of the Teamsters Local 346 building in Duluth while attending a rally to voice concerns with U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber on Wednesday evening, Jan. 28, 2026.

(Dan Williamson / Duluth Media Group)

“I think we’re kind of at a turning point where either things are going to cool off a lot or it’s going to get a lot, lot worse … if you want your voice to be heard, that now is the time to start getting out there, showing up en masse, regardless of where you’re at, to really push for what you believe in,” Kinsella said.

Standing on a pile of snow at the corner of First Street and 28th Avenue West, Beth Hall, of Duluth, said she makes regular calls to Stauber’s Hermantown and Washington, D.C., office but feels like her concerns aren’t being heard by staff. She was particularly concerned about mining near the BWCAW.

“When I heard he was going to be in town, I had to come here and be a part of this movement so he can see how many constituents don’t agree with many, many of his stands,” Hall said. “You don’t get much opportunity because he has not made himself available to any of us for a very long time.”

One topic, media limited

Stauber, who did not respond to the News Tribune’s request for comment, was there to speak about the bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act, a bill he introduced in September meant to speed up first contracts between a newly unionized group of workers and their employer.

According to their website, the Local 346 represents pipeline workers in Minnesota and all its surrounding states, and workers in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin in a variety of industries including delivery, driving, construction, paper mills and policing.

In an email Wednesday morning, Local 346 Secretary Treasurer Zak Radzak told the News Tribune that it was the only topic of the meeting.

“We will be running on rules to not allow other topics to be discussed at this meeting,” Radzak said.

The media was largely blocked from attending.

While WDIO was allowed inside the event, other media organizations were not. A Minnesota Star Tribune photographer was kicked out after being initially allowed into the entryway.

Northern News Now reported that its photographer and reporter were initially allowed into the event but were called “unwanted guests,” and the meeting was paused until the two left the building.

Northern News Now alleges a Teamster “shoved” the photographer out the door as the photographer was trying to leave.

A News Tribune reporter and photographer were denied entry; the man at the door, wearing Teamsters apparel, said he had been instructed by Radzak not to let the Star Tribune or News Tribune inside.

Earlier on Wednesday, Radzak told the News Tribune in an email that their staff would not be let in because “we have very limited space and we are expecting a packed house. We want to make sure every member that wants to attend is able to get in. So for that reason I have to say no.”

Radzak did not respond to the News Tribune’s requests for comment after Wednesday’s meeting on who decided which outlets were allowed inside or if the union condoned a Teamster member allegedly shoving a journalist.

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