By HALLIE GOLDEN

The first major blast of wintry weather in the U.S. this week brought snow, frigid temperatures and in some places something a little more magical: Frost flowers.

Related Articles

Skywatch: Holiday telescope shopping guide

Bill would allow roads, vehicles in Boundary Waters for border enforcement

Nature walks are good for you, but can a city stroll be just as good?

Skywatch: Long starry nights are back

Hunting camp tradition is a rite of fall at its finest

Made of thin ribbons of ice that extend out in intricate patterns when frozen water breaks through the slits of certain types of plant stems, the icy blooms can disintegrate with a single touch and only appear for hours at a time.

They are found most often in the Eastern half of the U.S., especially in the upper half where hard freezes are more common, and resemble clouds of cotton candy or spun glass.

For some, it’s become a well-known phenomenon, indicating the nearness of winter and ushering people out of bed to get a glimpse before the day’s sun melts them away.

On Monday and Tuesday, people in Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee and elsewhere posted photos on social media showing undisturbed fields and backyards littered with the distinct pieces of natural art in the early hours after the hard freeze.

“You have to be at the right time, at the right place,” said Alan Templeton, professor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, who does a lot of conservation genetics. “You see them and you know they’re going to be gone in an hour or two. So it’s this very ephemeral, but highly variable beauty, and it’s that combination that makes me so fascinated by them.”

While the intricate ice patterns are found near the base of a few common plants, including white and yellow wingstem plants, Templeton explained that the conditions need to be just right for them to appear. And once they do, they won’t be back for another year.

The ground must be warm and wet enough for water to travel up from the plant’s roots into the stem, while the air needs to be cold enough to freeze the liquid so that it breaks through the stem, creating the flower-like appearance.

They’re only found on a few different types of plants because the phenomenon can only occur if the stem is able to hold water in the fall or early winter and is weak enough to break against the pressure from the ice, he said. The plants also need to have an especially active root system later in the year.

Templeton said he first came across frost flowers decades ago while scoping out an area in the Missouri Ozarks for field work.

“They’re really beautiful,” he said. “And also each one is unique. There’s no two frost flowers that are the same.”

On Monday, after noticing that the weather conditions would be ripe for the phenomenon, he set out for a conservation area in St. Louis County where he’d found hundreds in past years. This time, there were only about two dozen, which he said was likely due to them appearing earlier than usual and the temperatures not dipping quite low enough.

Crystal Legens has lived in Tennessee for most of her life but said she only discovered frost flowers three years ago when her family moved into a more rural part of the state.

After seeing them along a small unmaintained tract of land while driving to work in McKenzie, some 47 miles northeast of Jackson, she said she initially thought they were spider webs or silkworms. When she got out of her car and picked them up, she said they broke apart in her hands.

“People live here their whole life and they never even know that exist because they just never see them or they’re not in the right place at the right time,” she said.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk hears the popular catchphrase “6-7” all the time at home, possibly more often than please and thank you.

Related Articles

Gophers running back Darius Taylor in line to return vs. Oregon

Girls state swimming: Como Park’s Aleia Lueck has top 50 free prelim

Twins finalize coaching staff, adding some familiar faces

Vikings vs. Bears: What to know ahead of Week 11 matchup

Women’s hockey: No. 2 Gophers pull away from Bemidji State

Getting an earful of it at a women’s basketball game, well, that was new for the mother of three.

Baranczyk and the sixth-ranked Sooners became the latest college team to send fans into a frenzy when they hit 67 points in an 89-61 victory against North Alabama on Friday.

Hundreds of students on a field trip screamed their approval along with the ubiquitous phrase and juggled their hands up and down to mimic a video that went viral earlier this year.

Sports viewers might have seen the motion before, perhaps in six or seven NFL games.

“I did not do it because I was like, ‘Yep,’” said Baranczyk, who has a son and two daughters. “I knew it. But I’m like, ‘Gotta give the people what they want sometimes.’”

Raegan Beers, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the victory, raved about the OU bench reaction. Teammates, assistant coaches and staffers celebrated simultaneously in similar fashion.

Beers said teammates Payton Verhulst, who made a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma a 66-33 lead, and Zya Vann were trying to draw fouls, presumably so they could shoot free throws.

“We got so excited to do that,” Beers said. “We knew the kids were going to get excited about that. That’s the joy of this game. That’s why I love this game. Just to have that energy in the building and lean into what is trending at the moment, which is 6-7, whatever that means. It was so much fun to have that moment and let the kids enjoy it.”

Dictionary.com made the viral term “6-7” its word of the year, and it isn’t even really a word. It’s a phrase kids and teenagers can’t stop repeating and laughing about while parents and teachers can’t make any sense of it.

The word — if you can call it that — exploded in popularity over the summer. It’s more of an inside joke with an unclear meaning, driven by social media.

Dictionary.com says its annual selection is a linguistic time capsule reflecting social trends and events. But the site admitted it too is a bit confused by “6-7.”

“Don’t worry, because we’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means,” the site said in its announcement last month.

How did “6-7” become a thing?

It all seems to trace back to rapper Skrilla’s song from 2024 called “Doot Doot (6-7).”

That song started appearing in TikTok videos with basketball players, including the NBA’s LaMelo Ball who stands 6-foot-7.

Then a boy, now known as “The 6-7 Kid,” shouted the ubiquitous phrase while another kid next to him juggled his hands in a video that went viral this year.

That’s all it took.

This Dictionary.com page shows the newest word of the year “6-7” on a computer screen, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

So what does “6-7” mean? The real answer is no one knows, but it’s widely regarded as harmless. Unlike some other trends that have come and gone, there’s not believed to be an inappropriate backstory to the craze.

According to Dictionary.com, the phrase could mean “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that” when combined with the juggling hands gesture.

Merriam-Webster calls it a “a nonsensical expression used especially by teens and tweens.”

Regardless, it’s trending at basketball games when a team nears 67 points, and in football games when it’s time for a dance.

It happened at the Prairie View-Oklahoma State women’s game earlier this week and at an Air Force-South Dakota women’s game.

Associated Press freelance writer Tim Willert contributed to this report.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

A Connecticut couple who authorities say was part of a group that plundered nearly $1 million in goods from Lululemon stores across the U.S. admitted in Ramsey County District Court on Friday to stealing from several of the retailer’s Twin Cities locations last year.

Appearing out of custody by Zoom and in separate hearings, Jadion Anthony Richards, 45, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, 46, both pleaded guilty to one count of felony organized retail theft under a “global resolution” agreement that covers charges filed against them in both Ramsey and Hennepin counties for thefts at Lululemon stores in Roseville, Edina, Minneapolis and Minnetonka.

Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, left, and Jadion Anthony Richards (Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

The charges brought against Richards and Lawes-Richards in November 2024 were the first for Ramsey County under a state law that took effect in August 2023 to address organized retail theft. The cases also mark the county’s first convictions.

The law was enacted after large jumps in shoplifting cases across the metro area, and several high-profile cases of organized retail crime, such as grab-and-run thefts from Best Buy locations in Maplewood, Burnsville and Blaine on Black Friday in 2021.

Richards and Lawes-Richards pleaded guilty one year to the day after they stole just shy of $5,000 worth of goods from the high-end women’s athletic wear retailer’s Rosedale mall store in Roseville. They were arrested the next day after a Lululemon organized retail crime investigator notified police they were in the Woodbury store.

As part of the plea agreement, other charges against the couple will be dismissed: a second count of organized retail theft in Ramsey County, and two counts of felony theft stemming from two cases in Hennepin County.

Because they have no prior criminal history in Minnesota, their attorneys said in court Friday, the presumptive sentences under state guidelines are stayed prison terms to probation. Restitution will also be ordered at their sentencing hearings, which are scheduled for Jan. 30.

Theft scheme explained

According to the criminal complaints, Richards had a JW Marriot key card on him when he was arrested on Nov. 14, 2024. Police recovered more than $50,000 in stolen Lululemon goods in his hotel room at the hotel’s Mall of America location in Bloomington.

The Lululemon investigator told Roseville police the couple was alleged to have stolen over $30,000 from local stores between September 2024 and November 2024, and that their group was responsible for almost $1 million in thefts across the country. They allegedly pulled off thefts in Colorado and Utah before arriving in the Twin Cities.

The group usually traveled to an area and hit up Lululemon stores over two days, the complaints say. They then went back to the East Coast, where they made “unverified exchanges” at stores — meaning with no receipts — for other goods, which were later returned to credit cards. After a week or so, the group then headed out again to commit more thefts.

The Lululemon investigator told police that Richards used at least six credit cards to process nearly a half-million in fraudulent returns, the complaints say.

The investigator explained, based on store surveillance, how the couple carried out the theft scheme:

The group worked together using tactics such as distracting store associates and blocking their view by holding up jackets. Women in the group stuffed leggings and other clothing in their own jackets or under their shirts. The investigator suspected Lawes-Richards used a strap under her clothing to secure the merchandise.

They removed security sensors using a tool, and put one on an item Richards had just bought. They always left the store together with women leading. When a theft sensor beeped, Richards stopped and showed his bag to store associates with his purchased items. The others went on their way without looking back.

Nearly four dozen charges to date

The focus of Minnesota’s organized retail theft law is on people stealing items to resell on the black market, most always online.

Related Articles

Maplewood man, 56, admits in court to 2014 kidnapping and rape attempt

‘I look for her every day,’ mother of slain Fridley teen said at killer’s sentencing

Parents threaten to sue Stillwater school district after employee accused of producing AI child porn

Ex-wife of DOC commissioner sentenced to 3 years in prison for attempted murder of son

Judge dismisses case against man accused of lighting St. Paul apartment on fire

The law spells out that a person is guilty of organized retail theft if they’re working with at least one other person in “a retail theft enterprise,” they previously were involved in at least two separate retail thefts in a six-month period and they attempt to sell the merchandise or return it for anything of value.

The law increases the penalties compared to other theft. If stolen merchandise exceeds $5,000, a person who’s convicted could receive a prison term of up to 15 years, rather than 10 years. It includes an enhanced penalty if, during an offense, there is “a reasonably foreseeable risk of bodily harm to another.”

Minnesota prosecutors in 11 counties have filed 45 charges under the law through Nov. 7, according to Minnesota Judicial Branch data. This year, 19 charges have been filed; there were 24 in 2024. Dakota, Hennepin, Scott and Washington counties have each secured one conviction.

By JOSH FUNK

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — New data the Agriculture Department released Friday created serious doubts about whether China will really buy millions of bushels of American soybeans like the Trump administration touted last month after a high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The USDA report released after the government reopened showed only two Chinese purchases of American soybeans since the summit in South Korea that totaled 332,000 metric tons. That’s well short of the 12 million metric tons that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said China agreed to purchase by January and nowhere near the 25 million metric tons she said they would buy in each of the next three years.

American farmers were hopeful that their biggest customer would resume buying their crops. But CoBank’s Tanner Ehmke, who is its lead economist for grains and oilseed, said there isn’t much incentive for China to buy from America right now because they have plenty of soybeans on hand that they have bought from Brazil and other South American countries this year, and the remaining tariffs ensure that U.S. soybeans remain more expensive than Brazilian beans.

“We are still not even close to what has been advertised from the U.S. in terms of what the agreement would have been,” Ehmke said.

Beijing has yet to confirm any detailed soybean purchase agreement but only that the two sides have reached “consensus” on expanding trade in farm products. Ehmke said that even if China did promise to buy American soybeans it may have only agreed to buy them if the price was attractive.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the lack of Chinese purchases and whether farmers can still expect a significant aid package like Trump promised earlier.

The Chinese tariff on American beans remains high at about 24%, despite a 10-percentage-point reduction following the summit.

Soybean prices fell sharply by 23 cents to $11.24 per bushel Friday. Ehmke said “that’s the market being shocked by the lack of Chinese demand that was confirmed in USDA data today.” Prices are still higher than they were before the agreement when they were selling for $10.60 per bushel, but the price may continue to drop unless there are significant new purchases.

Before the trade agreement, Trump had said farmers would receive an aid package to help them survive the trade war with China. That was put on hold during the shutdown, and now it’s not clear whether the administration will offer farmers aid like Trump did in his first administration.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, right, films a social media post on a combine with farm owner Tyler Everett during a farm tour in Lebanon, Ind., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

American farmers have been through this before after Trump’s first trade war with China. The trade agreement China signed with the United States in 2020 promised massive purchases of U.S. crops. But the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted trade between the two nations just as the agreement went into effect. In 2022, U.S. farm exports to China hit a record, but then fell.

Soybean prices are actually still a little higher than they were a year ago even without China’s normal purchases of roughly one-quarter of the U.S. crop. That’s because this year’s soybean crop is a little smaller while domestic demand remained strong with the continued growth in biodiesel production.

But farmers are dealing with the soaring cost of fertilizer, seed, equipment and labor this year, and that is hurting their profits. The Kentucky farmer who is president of the American Soybean Association, Caleb Ragland, has said he worries that thousands of farmers could go out of business this year without significant Chinese purchases or government aid.

Ragland said he’s still optimistic that China will follow through on the purchases, but it’s hard to be confident in that right now with so few sales reported.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, right, speaks during a farm tour in Lebanon, Ind., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

“We don’t want to assume they won’t. But it’s going to be a wonderful day when we actually deliver those soybeans, and when there’s my money in hand and so forth and the transaction’s complete,” Ragland said.

China is the world’s largest buyer of soybeans. China bought more than $12.5 billion worth of the nearly $24.5 billion worth of U.S. soybeans that were exported last year.

But China quit buying American soybeans this year after Trump imposed his tariffs and continued to shift more of their purchases over to South America. Even before the trade war, Brazilian beans accounted for more than 70% of China’s imports last year, while the U.S. share fell to 21%, World Bank data shows.

Ragland said that every vender he talks to has told him they are increasing their prices for next year, which will continue to put pressure on farmers.

“We’re still looking at sharp losses and the red ink as we figure budgets for 26 is still very much in play,” he said.

AP Writer Didi Tang contributed to this report from Washington.