The Minnesota Department of Education launched an online tool Friday that Minnesotans can use to learn more about federal funding for public school districts as the federal government shutdown enters its third week.

With the site, viewers can see estimated annual allocations from the federal government for each Minnesota school district, including money for food, broadband Internet and busing, as well as classroom support.

“Minnesotans deserve clear information about how federal investments support the students and schools in their neighborhoods,” Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett said in a statement. “This tool helps families, educators and community members see where their tax dollars go.”

The education department created the tool amid concerns with the ongoing federal government shutdown and budget negotiations, as well as reports that the U.S. Department of Education has permanently laid off a large number of its special education staff and others.

“These layoffs are troubling and add to the uncertainty at the federal level,” the Minnesota Department of Education said Friday in a weekly letter to school superintendents.

Federal allocations to school districts range widely and are driven in large part by the income of students’ families. For example, St. Paul Public Schools is the state’s second-largest district but gets more than four times as much federal money as the largest district, Anoka-Hennepin.

The state provided the following estimates of annual federal funding for these 10 East Metro school districts, based on 2023-24 cost reimbursements and direct allocations:

• St. Paul: $190 million or 22.4% of the district’s total budget

• Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan: $27.9 million or 5.2% of the total

• Burnsville-Eagan-Savage: $20 million or 11.2% of the total

• North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale: $19.1 million or 9% of the total

• Roseville: $14.39 million or 9.3% of the total

• Mounds View: $13.3 million or 6.3% of the total

• South Washington County: $11.9 million or 3.4% of the total

• White Bear Lake: $7.6 million or 4.8% of the total

• Lakeville: $6.9 million or 3.2% of the total

• Stillwater: $5.8 million or 3.7% of the total

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Today is Saturday, Oct. 18, the 291st day of 2025. There are 74 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 18, 1977, Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win and a 4-2 Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers; his success in the Fall Classic earned him the nickname “Mr. October.”

Also on this date:

In 1867, the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia.

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In 1898, the American flag was first raised in Puerto Rico, shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the U.S.

In 1931, inventor Thomas Edison died at his home in West Orange, New Jersey, at the age of 84.

In 1954, Texas Instruments unveiled the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio.

In 1962, James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.

In 1968, American Bob Beamon shattered the previous long jump world record by nearly two feet, leaping 29 feet, 2 1/4 inches (8.90 meters) at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding President Richard Nixon’s veto.

In 1977, West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 87 hostages and four crew members and killing three of the four hijackers; the Lufthansa flight had been hijacked five days earlier by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and made multiple stops before the rescue raid.

In 2007, two bombs exploded near a motorcade carrying former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi hours after her return from eight years in exile, killing more than 130 people; Bhutto herself was unhurt but would be assassinated in December 2007.

In 2018, President Donald Trump threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico if authorities could not stop a caravan of migrants from Central America.

Today’s Birthdays:

Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka is 86.
Composer Howard Shore is 79.
Actor Joe Morton is 78.
Author Terry McMillan is 74.
Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova is 69.
Boxing Hall of Famer Thomas Hearns is 67.
Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 65.
Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 64.
Musician Ne-Yo is 46.
Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn is 41.
Jazz singer-musician Esperanza Spalding is 41.
Actor Freida Pinto is 41.
Actor Zac Efron is 38.
WNBA center Brittney Griner is 35.
Actor Tyler Posey is 34.
Actor Barry Keoghan is 33.

An off-duty St. Cloud, Minn., police officer was in grave condition Friday after his pickup truck crashed into the back of a Mississippi Valley Transit Authority bus on Monday night in Apple Valley.

Law enforcement reported that alcohol was involved, though St. Cloud Police Chief Jeffrey Oxton disputed whether it contributed to the crash.

The MVTA bus and the Ram pickup driven by Ryan Matthew Ebert, 44, of Big Lake, were traveling northbound on Minnesota 77/Cedar Avenue when the truck collided with the back of the bus and a cable barrier just before 10 p.m. Monday, according to a Minnesota State Patrol report.

Ebert suffered “injuries that are not survivable,” friend Tonya Eggers wrote on a GoFundMe campaign she started for Ebert’s children, who are 17 and 18.

“His family is now navigating a time filled with unexpected and overwhelming challenges,” Eggers wrote. “As a devoted father, Ryan’s greatest priority has always been the well-being of his children.”

Ebert was taken by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He was not wearing a seat belt and an airbag  deployed at the time of the crash, the State Patrol said.

The agency said in a report that Ebert’s alcohol use was a factor in the crash.

“It is important that it be known that toxicology from blood samples taken by medical staff upon Ryan’s arrival at the hospital indicate that he had a very small or trace-amount of alcohol in his system, significantly below that which would ever lead to a person being considered impaired or driving under the influence,” St. Cloud Police Chief Jeffrey Oxton said in a written statement issued Friday.

The State Patrol did not have access to Ebert’s medical records, and his family authorized their use and release for the St. Cloud Police Department statement, said Oxton, adding that news coverage of the crash may be misleading.

“Unfortunately, without all the information being known, the preliminary details being disseminated in some media coverage may lead one to assume otherwise,” Oxton said.

The driver of the bus, Phillip Alan Wright, 65, of Apple Valley, wore a seat belt and suffered minor injuries, the State Patrol said.

Ebert has been an officer with the St. Cloud Police Department since 2006, according to state licensing records. He worked as an investigator and a patrol officer, Oxton said.

“Our department is devastated by this news,” the chief said. “For all of us devastated by this tragic accident, it is important that the cause of the accident not be judged prematurely, before the final State Patrol Investigation is complete and all the information is known and available.”

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GRAND FORKS — Banners covered the side of fraternities on University Avenue. They offered encouragement for UND, vulgarities for the University of Minnesota.

When UND players arrived for the rivalry game on Friday night, they walked past a student line that wrapped around Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The chants started during warmups.

College hockey’s greatest rivalry returned to Grand Forks, and UND players ensured the night ended with a standing ovation for the final 90 seconds of the game.

Sophomore defenseman E.J. Emery scored the first two goals of his career, senior forward Dylan James added two more and No. 8 UND beat No. 13 Minnesota 5-2 in front of a raucous crowd of 11,634.

“I don’t know if I’ll experience something like this again — pro hockey or wherever hockey takes me,” James said. “I don’t think there’s a crowd or a fan base that has more passion for their players. I’m grateful to be here and score in front of them.”

UND gradually took over the series opener.

It was tied 2-2 after the first.

UND outshot Minnesota 8-4 during a scoreless second.

Then, the Fighting Hawks outshot the Gophers 11-2 in the third and scored three times.

Emery buried the game-winner at 2:25 into the third, pinching in and finishing a feed from freshman Cole Reschny.

“The whole week, you just have that feeling — the energy of the city,” Emery said. “You’re walking around campus and students are getting fired up for a big series like this. You see it all over Instagram. You really feel it the whole week. Coming in to the game today, you can really feel how special this is. Going out there and playing, it was incredible. There’s not going to be much more that tops playing the Gophers in The Ralph.”

UND continued its strong run against the Gophers in recent years.

UND is now 8-3 in last 11 rivalry games against Minnesota, and 20-3-4 in the last 27 against college hockey teams from the state of Minnesota.

“That’s a lot of fun,” UND first-year coach Dane Jackson said. “It’s such a great crowd. The Ralph was just rocking tonight. Just to be able to compete hard and represent the program in a positive manner makes you proud. We take a lot of pride in trying to live that identity that’s been put before us. The fact that guys competed at such a high level and checked and really battled and had a good mentality made you feel good.”

UND moved to 3-0 this season. Minnesota dropped to 1-3-1.

“When we game-planned, we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make they come through five people,’” Jackson said. “We want to make them come 200 feet and not give them those quick-strike chances where they’re coming up the ice and making high-skilled plays. I thought we did a good job bottling them up and re-loading. Guys were continually getting above pucks and taking hard strides back, not cheating for offense. That was part of the success of checking well.”

UND will now try to finish a two-game sweep — a rarity in this rivalry series.

There has only been one sweep in the last nine two-game series between the teams. In 2019, UND won a pair of games on Thanksgiving weekend in Minneapolis.

The last time UND swept the Gophers in The Ralph was January 2009.

“The mental reset now is going to be huge,” Jackson said. “Happy for the guys. We’re excited. It’s a big win. We should be proud of it. But just the idea of saying, ‘Hey, we want to be a mature group, not too high here, let’s learn from the things we did well, figure out the things we can improve and come back with a real business-like attitude.’

“We know how hard it is in this series to get a sweep. We want to make sure we’re playing our best game. If we focus on the process of playing our best game, they’ve got a chance to do it again.”

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