Love winter? The St. Paul Winter Carnival is still seeking candidates for Aurora, Queen of the Snows for 2026.

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The application process is currently underway ahead of the upcoming carnival, which will be held Jan. 22-Feb. 1.

To apply for this volunteer role, you don’t need to live in St. Paul, but you do have to be at least 21 years old by Jan. 15, 2026.

Candidates must submit an online application, including a resume, by 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 1.

The Winter Carnival’s cast of characters, including King Boreas, spend the 10 days of the festival making appearances and playacting the battle between winter and spring; they continue to make appearances throughout their yearlong reign.

Apply and get more info on the queen — and other roles in the Winter Carnival legend — at wintercarnival.com/p/traditions–the-legend/become-a-legend-character.

By CLAIRE RUSH, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. citizen in Portland, Oregon, was detained by plainclothes officers and held at the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building for hours before being released, according to his attorney.

Francisco Miranda was outside his place of work early on Oct. 2 when multiple agents wearing masks, who did not identify themselves, approached him and told him he was “on an overstay,” his attorney Michael Fuller said. In a video that Miranda took of his detention, he can be heard saying, “What do you mean, overstay? I don’t know what that is.”

He told the officers that he was born in California. After objecting to being taken into custody and saying he hadn’t done anything wrong, an officer can be heard on the video saying, “We’re gonna put you in cuffs or you’re gonna get the dog.”

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Miranda was then struck from behind, handcuffed and put into an unmarked vehicle that took him to Portland’s ICE building, Fuller said. He was held there for several hours before being driven back to his place of work.

ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Willamette Week, a local news outlet, first reported the incident.

Fuller said it was the first detention of a U.S. citizen on the pretext of being in the country illegally that he was aware of in Oregon. Such detentions have occurred elsewhere in the country, including in Alabama, Florida and Southern California.

Aggressive immigration enforcement has been central to President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum said she was “infuriated” by what happened to her constituent. “Masked federal agents aren’t welcome in our state and they can’t keep kidnapping Americans,” she said in a statement.

Fuller, who said he has a copy of Miranda’s California birth certificate, sent a tort claim notice to the Department of Homeland Security and a letter to its leader Kristi Noem, requesting the documents and information used to justify the detention. DHS oversees ICE.

“I hope that ICE and the senior officials will just provide us the documentation,” Fuller said. “If it truly was an honest mistake that couldn’t have been avoided, then we won’t go to court. Right now, we’ve just been given no answers. And so that’s all we’re asking for at this point, it’s just answers.”

By MICHAEL CASEY, Associated Press

A federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration cannot put conditions on grants that fund efforts to combat domestic violence, including barring groups from promoting diversity, equity and inclusion or providing abortion resources.

U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose in Providence, Rhode Island, granted a motion by 17 statewide anti-domestic and sexual violence coalitions for a preliminary injunction, which blocks the Trump administration from enforcing its conditions while the lawsuit plays out.

“Without preliminary relief, the Plaintiffs will face irreparable harm that will disrupt vital services to victims of homelessness and domestic and sexual violence,” DuBose wrote in her ruling. “On the contrary, if preliminary relief is granted, the Defendants will merely need to revert back to considering grant applications and awarding funds as they normally would.”

DuBose, however, went further in the scope of her ruling. She ruled that the decision preventing these grant conditions went beyond plaintiffs and will apply to anyone applying for money doled out by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Organizations serving survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, LGBTQ+ youth, and people experiencing homelessness should not be forced to abandon their work, erase the identities of those they serve, or compromise their values just to keep their doors open,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which was one of the groups representing plaintiffs, said in a statement. “This unlawful and harmful policy puts extreme schemes ahead of people’s dignity and safety by restricting essential federal support.”

Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women’s Law Center, one of five organizations representing the coalitions, also welcomed the ruling.

“When this administration claims to be targeting ‘illegal DEI’ and ‘gender ideology,’ what it is really trying to do is strip life-saving services from survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence, LGBTQ+ youth, and people without homes,” Martin said. “Today’s order makes clear that these federal grants exist to serve people in need, not to advance a regressive political agenda.”

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Neither HUD nor HHS responded to a request for comment.

In their July lawsuit, the groups said the Trump administration was putting them in a difficult position.

If they don’t apply for federal money allocated under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, they might not be able to provide rape crisis centers, battered women’s shelters and other programs to support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. But if the groups do apply, they said they would be forced to “fundamentally change their programming, abandon outreach methods and programs designed to best serve their communities, and risk exposing themselves to ruinous liability.”

The groups suing, including organizations combating domestic violence from California to Rhode Island, argue the conditions violate the First Amendment. They also argue that the conditions violate the Administrative Procedure Act by exceeding defendants’ authority by “in some cases outright conflicting with governing law or failing to follow required procedure.”

The government argues that the matter has to do with payments to these groups and, as such, should be handled by the Court of Federal Claims.

Even if the jurisdiction argument fails, the government argues federal agencies may impose conditions on funding that “further certain policies and priorities consistent with the authority provided by grant program statutes.”

“Both agencies have long required compliance with federal antidiscrimination law as a condition of receiving a federal grant,” the government wrote in court documents.

Michael Guidotti will have his driver’s license on him when he runs the Chicago Marathon, just as he did during every training run since summer.

After the Trump administration escalated its immigration crackdown in the city, runners like Guidotti, 31, are worried they could become a target during Sunday’s race.

“Just knowing that I do come from a Hispanic background and also that I am somewhat darker, and that these individuals do seem to be targeting people of that demographic as well,” Guidotti said. “So it’s just an extra precaution that I’m taking that I have my driver’s license with me at all times.”

Questions have been swirling for weeks over whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents might target the marathon, which draws thousands of runners from around the world each year. Reflecting the unease, event organizers sent an email to participants Wednesday that referred to an immigration “Know Your Rights” page on the city’s website.

An ICE spokeswoman, Tanya Roman, said rumors that agents will be at the race are false.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous to ascertain that ICE would conduct immigration enforcement to intentionally disrupt the Chicago marathon,” she said in a statement. “These are the kind of rumors that fan the flames of dissent and result in unwarranted and dangerous riots like those in Portland, Chicago and Los Angeles.”

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Such assurances might not calm the fears of some participants, though.

Asked last week by a podcaster whether there would be “ICE enforcement” at the Super Bowl in February in California, Kristi Noem, who runs ICE’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, said immigration officers would be “all over” the event.

DHS always heads the security effort at the Super Bowl, which is a bigger event. But Chicago has become a top target of the Trump administration, which has escalated immigration enforcement in the city through aggressive raids and tactics. Protesters at immigration facilities have been arrested, and President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard there to protect federal property and federal law enforcement, including ICE agents.

The Chicago Marathon is one of the biggest in the U.S. each year and is a major tourism draw for the city. There were 52,150 finishers last year, of which 15,000 were international participants, according to race organizers, who didn’t respond to requests for comment. Among foreign countries, Mexico was best represented, with 3,790 participants. It was followed by the U.K. (2,814), Canada (2,442) and Brazil (1,811).

The course winds through 29 neighborhoods, and more than a million people line the streets to support the runners.

Pilsen, a predominantly Latino neighborhood, is known for the energy that locals bring, with loud cheering and mariachi music blasting. But Enrique Rivera, who leads the neighborhood’s Venados Running Club and will be watching this year’s race, isn’t expecting the same energy.

“I’m absolutely sure that people are going to stay home,” he said. “There’s street vendors that aren’t out on the street doing their sales that impact their life. I’m sure they’re also going to be able to cut off recreational activities like cheering on runners.”

Rivera said his club is encouraging runners to stay informed, keep a list of important contacts on hand, and run in groups. Some club members have discussed what documentation they should bring.

“There is something in the air that says, ‘No, it doesn’t feel right,’” he said.

Critics say the immigration crackdown, which has swept up people who are legally living in the country, including U.S. citizens, is a sweeping government overreach, and that ICE engages in racial profiling.

Participant Amar Shah, 31, said that even though he was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, he’s worried that his Indian heritage could make him vulnerable.

“I shouldn’t have any concerns from a legality standpoint, but I am a brown man. I have a beard,” he said. “I could be seen as someone who fits the stereotype of folks who are being targeted right now.”

Michael Rodriguez, the alderman for Chicago’s 22nd ward, which is home to a large Latino community, said businesses are “hurting” amid concerns about ICE, and this year’s race may bring less economic activity to the city than usual.

“I’m worried about those hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals from out of town, who come from internationally and throughout the nation to run,” Rodriguez said. “The hotel rooms they stay in, the restaurants they dine in, the money they spend in our city is going to be negatively impacted.”

“Some people might not come, others may choose not to spend their money,” he said.

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Mayor Brandon Johnson expressed confidence this week that the marathon would go off without a hitch, noting that roughly 3,000 runners from Mexico have signed up, “and I want them all to come.”

“I feel strongly about our ability to be able to hold large-scale events, and the strategic security measures that we’re putting in place are to ensure we continue to hold a reputation of hosting large-scale events,” the mayor said.

Associated Press reporters Jay Cohen in Chicago and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.