Today is Tuesday, April 1, the 91st day of 2025. There are 274 days left in the year. This is April Fool’s Day.

Today in history:

On April 1, 1945, American forces launched the amphibious invasion of Okinawa during World War II. (U.S. forces succeeded in capturing the Japanese island on June 22 after a battle in which more than 240,000 died, including as many as 150,000 Okinawan civilians.)

Also on this date:

In 1924, Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. (Hitler would serve just nine months of the sentence, during which time he completed the first volume of “Mein Kampf.”)

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In 1946, a magnitude 8.6 earthquake centered near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands triggered a tsunami that pounded the Hawaiian Islands with waves up to 55 feet (17 meters) tall, killing 159.

In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television beginning in January 1971.

In 1976, Apple Computer was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.

In 1984, singer Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father after Gaye intervened in an argument between his parents at their home.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

In 2003, American troops raided a hospital in Nasiriyah (nah-sih-REE’-uh), Iraq, and rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed on March 23.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Ali MacGraw is 86.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is 75.
Actor Annette O’Toole is 73.
Filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld is 72.
Singer Susan Boyle is 64.
Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Stevens is 61.
Rapper-actor Method Man is 54.
Political commentator Rachel Maddow is 52.
Actor David Oyelowo is 49.
Comedian-actor Taran Killam is 43.
Actor Asa Butterfield is 28.

NEWARK, N.J. – Music legends from the Garden State like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi and even Frank Sinatra love to croon about underdogs defying the odds. On Monday in the heart of Jersey, some underdogs in desperate need of a break got one, and a vital point came with it.

The offensively challenged Minnesota Wild were barely two minutes from their fourth regulation loss in five games when a puck bounced to Matt Boldy. He tucked a backhander past the New Jersey Devils’ goalie, and the Wild got the standings point that comes with overtime.

The Devils prevailed in a shootout, winning 3-2, but for the Wild it felt a bit like mission accomplished as they scrap and claw toward what they hope is an invite to the NHL postseason.

“Everything this time of year is important, and there were two objectives coming in the game,” said Wild coach John Hynes, who had bristled at his team’s effort and results in their previous outing. “Let’s make sure that we get back to the game that gives us the best chance to win with the mentality and the details and things like that. We did that, and then you’ve got to come out with one or two points every game. That’s what our objective is, and we accomplished both tonight.”

The Wild trailed throughout, but they got a Vinnie Hinostroza goal to tie it in the third, and Boldy’s goal to tie it again. The Devils appeared to win the game in overtime on a Paul Cotter goal, but officials reviewed the play and found they had entered the zone offside.

“Obviously when we see that play, we’re thinking it can be (offside) and then the day and age we’re in today, we have the TVs on the bench and they immediately put it back and zoom in, so we kind of knew right away it was offside,” Hinostroza said. “It’s like a rollercoaster of emotions there. Probably a little bit more for them, jumping on the ice, celebrating and then having to come back. So I think, um, I think we did a pretty good job.”

Filip Gustavsson had 26 saves for the Wild, who grabbed a one-point lead over idle St. Louis in the race for the top Western Conference wild card spot.

The Wild found offense to again be elusive for the first 40 minutes, but they finally found the back of the net with 17 to play when Hinostroza was in the right place – at the top of the New Jersey crease – to tip a Jake Middleton shot that slipped past the goalie. It was the fifth goal for Hinostroza since the Wild claimed him off waivers in early February.

Exactly 30 seconds later, New Jersey very nearly re-established a lead when Gustavsson stopped a long-range shot, and the puck popped up and landed on the goalie’s back. He caught the puck with his glove hand, pinning it between his arm and back, and stopped his momentum before backing into the net.

The home rink blew the goal horn anyway, and fans celebrated what they thought was a go-ahead score. But the on-ice officials called no goal and confirmed the call after video review.

“It went off the blocker and went up,” Gustavsson said, admitting that defenseman Zach Bogosian helped him find the puck once the goalie lost sight of it. “And Bogo talked to me. It was up in the air, and then I just held up my hand in the back there.”

The Wild coach had liked very little of what he saw in Saturday’s 5-2 home loss to the Devils – in which Nico Hischier had a hat trick – and addressed some issues with the team on Sunday before the team flight to New Jersey. The message appeared to be received early on as Minnesota posted the game’s first four shots on goal and played an aggressive offensive zone game early on.

But instead of an early lead, the Wild found themselves chasing again after some defensive zone chaos helped the Devils strike first.

Middleton had his stick knocked out of his hands by New Jersey’s Justin Dowling while Minnesota tried to clear the zone. As Middleton took another teammate’s stick and scrambled back to his position, it left a lane for Devils defenseman Luke Hughes to zip a wrist shot past Gustavsson on the glove side to put New Jersey ahead.

New Jersey led 1-0 in the first and 2-1 on Hischier’s goal in the third before Boldy’s goal tied things with just 2:05 left in regulation. Marcus Foligno, who spent Monday on the top line with Boldy and Marco Rossi, had pulled the puck off the end boards and fed Boldy, who was alone at the top of the crease.

“It was just a great play by Moose. He starts that whole thing,” Boldy said. “He’s such a presence on the ice, so big and strong. Guys know when he’s out there, so for him to have the wherewithal to kind of make that play was great. So all credit to him.”

Jakob Markstrom had 27 saves for the Devils, who have won three of their past four.

The Wild have an off-day on Tuesday, then will continue the East Coast road trip with a Wednesday night meeting at Madison Square Garden versus the New York Rangers. The teams met March 13 in St. Paul with the Rangers prevailing 3-2 in overtime.

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Minnesota leaders must craft a two-year budget by the end of June this year, and they all seem to agree on one thing: The state will have to reduce spending to deal with a potential deficit in the future.

What they still need to figure out is just how much to cut and how to do it. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor-controlled Senate, tied House, and DFL Gov. Tim Walz all have slightly different targets to address a deficit looming later this decade.

Right now, the state is running on a two-year budget of more than $70 billion — some of that one-time spending — and Walz is seeking a budget of around $66 billion.

Budget officials project that Minnesota will have a modest surplus of around $456 million in the next two years. But as spending outpaces revenue, the state is expected to have a multibillion-dollar deficit in 2028-2029.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)

Senate DFLers, House Republicans and DFLers and Walz are largely looking to address that with cuts and slowing spending in high-growth areas like reimbursements for disability services — which Minnesota Management and Budget warns may swallow up to half of the budget by the 2030s if left unchecked.

Growing special education costs also continue to strain the budget and also may face cuts, Walz said in January when he presented his budget recommendations.

House targets

The House, where the DFL and Republicans each have 67 seats, is calling for $1.2 billion in cuts for the upcoming 2025-2027 budget and another $2.6 billion in the following two years.

They announced their plan to cut roughly $3.8 billion in the next four years this past weekend, after the Senate DFL announced its goals on Friday.

The Senate is calling for a total of about $2.4 billion in cuts in the same timeframe. The governor is seeking around $2.7 billion in cuts. All their plans rely largely on controlling costs at the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

House Ways and Means Committee Co-Chair Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, said their framework “responsibly slows expenditures in areas that are growing faster than the rate of inflation.” Again, the biggest cuts are under Human Services, which would see a $1.3 billion reduction in the next four years.

Rep. Melissa Hortman, House DFL leader. (Courtesty photo)

The House proposal calls for significantly larger cuts than the governor or Senate DFL proposals. House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman said the proposal looks that way because her caucus had to compromise with Republicans.

“If Democrats were setting targets on our own, these targets would, of course, look very different,” she said at a Monday briefing at the state Capitol. “We would have asked the wealthy and large corporations to pay their fair share in order to make additional needed investments in public education and affordable health care.”

House Republicans have said they wouldn’t pass a budget with new taxes.

In a statement, Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth said she looked forward to committees putting together a “common-sense budget” based on their compromise outline.

“House Republicans are holding strong on fiscal responsibility, securing budget targets that would represent the largest spending cut in state history and taking a major step towards fixing the Democrat deficit,” she said.

House Speaker Lisa Lisa Demuth. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Minnesota had an $18 billion surplus two years ago. Under a budget enacted by the DFL-controlled state government in 2023, the state is now spending more than it is taking in, though there’s some remaining padding, meaning there’s no deficit for now.

That last budget grew spending nearly 40% to over $70 billion — a few billion of that one-time spending.

Senate targets

The Senate DFL’s targets include a $754 million reduction in the upcoming biennium and a bigger cut of $1.7 billion in 2028-2029. Like the House and the governor, the focal point is controlling the growth of Department of Human Services costs, largely because of the disability waiver program.

“Our committees are working in earnest to finalize a budget that protects historic gains and the generational investments in education, healthcare, and affordability for family budgets the Senate DFL has championed,” Senate Majority Erin Murphy said in a statement about the targets.

Senate Majority Leader Erin P. Murphy. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Senate)

Senate Republicans said the state should do more to address government waste and spending on services for people in the U.S. illegally before making cuts to programs.

“These targets seem to align with Governor Walz’s plan to cut services for disabilities and special education, which is the wrong way to balance the budget,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said in a statement.

Minnesota Senate Republican Minority Leader Mark Johnson. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski).

What’s next

With targets out, committee chairs will now have to figure out how they’ll meet those goals and get budget bills together.

There’s an April 11 deadline to pass those out of committee.

The Legislature is in session until May 19, and lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass a budget this year.

If they don’t do so on time, the governor will have to call a special session where they can finish their work.

Minnesota’s current two-year budget runs until the end of June. So if there isn’t a new budget passed by then, the government will shutdown until the Legislature can pass one.

State leaders passed a budget with no need for a special session in 2023 when the DFL controlled the Senate, House and governor’s office.

The DFL shares control of the House with the GOP this year, and in recent history, divided government isn’t great at finishing its work on time.

In 2021, 2019, 2017 and 2015, divided Minnesota Legislatures reconvened for special sessions to finish up the budget after running out of time during the regular session.

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Criminal charges will not be filed against the parents of Rudy Sweere, a 3-year-old rural Wadena boy who died from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound in December, according to the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office.

On Dec. 29, Otter Tail County dispatchers were notified of the shooting in northwestern Minnesota, and law enforcement, emergency medical services and rescue personnel responded, finding the child with a gunshot wound to his head. The boy was transported to a hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

According to the sheriff’s office, an investigation into the incident revealed that the residence had childproof safety mechanisms in place, including secured doors and cabinets. The incident occurred in a room where the child was not permitted unsupervised access. However, a door equipped with a childproof mechanism was inadvertently left partially ajar for a brief period, allowing the child to enter. The handgun was stored in a closed drawer.

“After a thorough review of the evidence, the Otter Tail County Attorney’s Office determined there is no reasonable likelihood of a successful prosecution,” the sheriff’s office said. “As such, no charges will be filed.”

Under Minnesota statute, it is a gross misdemeanor to negligently store or leave a loaded firearm in a location where a person knows, or reasonably should know, that a child is likely to gain access to it, unless reasonable steps are taken to secure the firearm.

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