Stephanie Beckman, Lisa Beane, Liz Kramer and Anne Rasmusson are the four candidates recommended for consideration to fill two upcoming vacancies on the Minnesota Court of Appeals, according to a news release from the office of Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

The vacancies will occur upon the retirement of Judges Louise Dovre Bjorkman and Randall J. Slieter. One vacancy is currently at large while the other seat is designated for Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District.

Earlier this year, a merit selection panel consisting of members of Walz’s administration and at-large members of the Commission on Judicial Selection took applications from candidates and recommended the four finalists. The panel announced its decision Thursday.

The news release provides the following biographical information about the four candidates:

Beckman is currently chief judge of Minnesota’s Eighth Judicial District. Her seat is chambered in Meeker County.

Beckman was previously the Meeker County Attorney and an assistant county attorney in Stearns County. During her time on the bench, Beckman helped start a district-wide treatment court, assisted with starting a child protection specialty court and a district-wide housing court. She serves as a board member on the Board on Judicial Standards and the Minnesota Rules of Evidence Advisory Committee to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Beckman’s community involvement includes being a board member for the Litchfield Area Mentorship Program and the Meeker County Law Library.

Beane is a senior associate general counsel at the University of Minnesota’s Office of General Counsel. She was also previously an associate at the Minneapolis office of Jones Day and at Robbins Kaplan LLP. She was also a law clerk to Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright at the U.S. District Court for the District Court of Minnesota and at the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Beane serves as a member of the Minnesota Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure and is also on the board of directors for the Minnesota Lavender Bar Association.

Kramer currently serves as solicitor general for Minnesota, defending the constitutionality of state laws and representing Minnesota in state and federal appellate courts. Kramer was previously a partner at Stinson LLP, where she practiced complex commercial litigation. She was previously a law clerk to Judge Helen M. Meyer on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Kramer’s community involvement includes sitting on the boards of the Minnesota State Fair Foundation and the Minnesota Supreme Court Historical Society.

Rasmusson is assistant chief judge of Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District. Her seat is chambered in Polk County.

During her time as judge she established and served on the White Earth/Mahomen DWI and Drug Courts and the DWI Courts for Polk, Red Lake, and Norman Counties. She was previously a partner at Rust, Stock and Rasmusson P.A.

Rasmusson is also chair of the Minnesota Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the General Rules of Practice, chairs the Ninth Judicial District Case Flow Committee and is a member of the Children’s Justice Initiative Committee.

Rasmusson has also chaired the RiverView Healthcare Association Board of Directors and the Polk County Developmental Achievement Center.

Related Articles

Migration, tax and affordability issues plague Minnesota economy, business leaders say

Driving home: A 3,500-mile road trip from Minnesota to Washington offers surprises – and similarities

Washington state’s paid leave program struggles. Will MN be different?

Ice safety is important any time, but especially right after freeze-up

Trump says he’s terminating legal protections for Somali migrants in Minnesota

While Sunday saw a record high temperature in the Twin Cities, cold air will bring rain and snow this week across the state, the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service posted online.

The day’s new record high was 56 degrees, barely higher than the previous record of 55 degrees in 1905.

Colder weather is coming this week, the NWS predicts, with rain Tuesday turning to snow Wednesday morning. Central Minnesota may see strong northwesterly gusts above 40 mph, and a few inches of snow accumulation.

The NWS also outlined a winter storm watch for the northern part of the state and eastern North Dakota, to be in effect Tuesday and Wednesday. It includes just about every county in eastern North Dakota as well as a number of counties throughout northern Minnesota, except Pembina in North Dakota and Kittson and Roseau in Minnesota.

Cities in the watch are within a large swath, from Bottineau, Rugby, Harvey and Jamestown in North Dakota, all the way to Bemidji, Thief River Falls and Detroit Lakes in Minnesota. It could result in minor impacts to holiday travel, the NWS reported in the media packet.

Related Articles

Ice safety is important any time, but especially right after freeze-up

Newspaper delivery delayed on Sunday due to printing press issue

Twin Cities hit 72 degrees Friday, the warmest temperature on record so late in the season

With one touch, they vanish. Meet the delicate, icy wonders called frost flowers

Solar storm forecasts come true, trigger northern lights on Tuesday night

Today is Monday, Nov. 24, the 328th day of 2025. There are 37 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 24,1971, a hijacker calling himself “Dan Cooper” (but who became popularly known as “D.B. Cooper”) parachuted from a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 over the Pacific Northwest after receiving $200,000 in ransom; his fate remains unknown.

Also on this date:

In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species,” which explained his theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

Related Articles

Sec. Kristi Noem hands out $10,000 bonus checks to Minnesota TSA workers and announces increased funding

The Crypto Industry’s $28 Billion in ‘Dirty Money’

Mamdani and Trump Tamp Down Fears Over National Guard in New York City

In Geneva, US and Ukraine officials report progress on ending Russia’s war but offer few specifics

Today in History: November 23, Liberia elects its first woman president

In 1865, Mississippi became the first Southern state to enact laws that came to be known as “Black Codes” aimed at limiting the rights of newly freed Blacks; other states of the former Confederacy soon followed.

In 1947, a group of writers, producers and directors, who would become known as the “Hollywood Ten,” was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about alleged communist influence in the movie industry.

In 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, in a scene captured on live television.

In 1974, the bone fragments of a 3.2 million-year-old hominid were discovered by scientists in Ethiopia; the skeletal remains were nicknamed “Lucy.”

In 1991, Queen singer Freddie Mercury died in London at age 45 of AIDS-related pneumonia.

In 2012, fire raced through a garment factory in Bangladesh that supplied major retailers in the West, killing 112 people; an official said many of the victims were trapped because the eight-story building lacked emergency exits.

In 2014, it was announced that a grand jury in St. Louis County, Missouri, had decided against indicting Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown; the decision enraged protesters who set fire to buildings and cars and looted businesses in the area where Brown had been fatally shot.

In 2017, a terrorist attack on a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula killed at least 235 people. The attack was ascribed by authorities to a local Islamic State affiliate.

In 2021, three white men were convicted of murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was running through a Georgia subdivision in February 2020 when they chased and shot him.

In 2023, Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering Black man George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured at a federal prison in Arizona. He was subsequently transferred to another prison.

Today’s Birthdays:

Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson is 87.
Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue (TAG’-lee-uh-boo) is 85.
Rock drummer Pete Best is 84.
Actor-comedian Billy Connolly is 83.
Basketball Hall of Famer and former Detroit mayor Dave Bing is 82.
Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rudy Tomjanovich is 77.
Filmmaker Emir Kusturica is 71.
Actor Conleth Hill is 61.
Actor Danielle Nicolet is 52.
Author Arundhati Roy is 64.
Actor Colin Hanks is 48.
Actor Katherine Heigl (HY’-guhl) is 47.
Actor Sarah Hyland is 35.

The Minnesota Lynx were awarded the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA draft in Sunday’s draft lottery.

“This selection will no doubt be an important part of our future as we continue our pursuit of a fifth WNBA Championship,” Lynx coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve said in a statement released by the team.

Minnesota got the second pick despite having the best record in the league last year. It had a 28.5% chance of securing the No. 2 pick in the lottery.

The Lynx possessed the Chicago Sky’s first-round pick after a previous trade.

The Dallas Wings won the draft lottery for the second consecutive year. The Wings, who drafted Minnesota native Paige Bueckers No. 1 last year, had a 42% chance to secure the top pick again.

Seattle, Washington and Chicago rounded out the lottery. This marked the fifth time in the history of the lottery that the results matched the order of chances held by the teams — the last came in 2018.

While there’s no clear No. 1 pick in the draft like Bueckers last season, there’s a host of draft-eligible players in college including UCLA’s Lauren Betts, UConn’s Azzi Fudd, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson and TCU’s Olivia Miles. There’s also Spanish player Awa Fam.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Related Articles

Who are the greatest women’s college basketball players?

Ref from crew Cheryl Reeve criticized just received an NBA promotion

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve: ‘I will never apologize for being me’

Lynx’s Napheesa Collier roasts WNBA leadership

Shorthanded Lynx eliminated with Game 4 loss in Phoenix