By JOSH FUNK, Associated Press

More than 550 commercial driving schools in the U.S. that train truckers and bus drivers must close after investigators found they employed unqualified instructors, failed to adequately test students and had other safety issues, the federal Transportation Department planned to announce Wednesday.

The move marks the Transportation Department’s latest effort to improve safety in the trucking industry. And unlike its previous actions last fall to decertify up to 7,500 schools that included many defunct operations, this latest step is focused on what it deemed were active schools with significant shortcomings that inspectors identified in 1,426 site visits.

The department has been aggressively going after states that handed out commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants who shouldn’t have qualified for them ever since a fatal crash in August. A truck driver that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says was not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people. Other fatal crashes since then, including one in Indiana earlier this month that killed four, have only added to the concerns.

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Duffy said 448 schools failed to meet basic safety standards. Inspectors found shortcomings such as employing unqualified instructors, failing to test students’ skills or teach them how to handle hazardous materials and using the wrong equipment to teach drivers. Another 109 schools removed themselves from the registry of schools when they learned that inspectors were planning to visit.

“American families should have confidence that our school bus and truck drivers are following every letter of the law and that starts with receiving proper training before getting behind the wheel,” Duffy said.

The list of schools that officials want to decertify now are generally smaller ones, including a number of programs run by school districts. The bigger, more reputable schools were generally not included in this action. Another 97 schools are currently under investigation for compliance issues.

Part of the problem in the trucking industry is that schools and trucking companies can essentially self certify themselves when they apply to begin operating, observers note, and questionable operations might not be caught until much later when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gets a chance to audit them.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many students were enrolled at these schools that are being decertified. But there is some cushion in the industry right now because there are currently more drivers than needed in the midst of a 10% drop in shipments since 2022 because of the economic uncertainty. Although many trucking companies still struggle to find enough well-qualified drivers with clean records.

In addition to threatening to withhold federal funding from states that don’t clean up their commercial driver’s license programs, the Trump Administration has been focused on making sure truck drivers meet English proficiency standards. California is the only state to lose funding so far with the federal government planning to withhold $160 million.

The long-held playoff mantra of “survive and advance” aptly describes the 2025-26 Lakeville North girls’ hockey season, which concludes this week with the Panthers back in the Class 2A state tournament for the first time since 2023.

The “advance” portion has been marked by notable drama.

Lakeville North players Allie Ablen (lett), Maizee Storey (center) and Mali Carlson (right) celebrate a goal during the Panthers’ 2026 sectional playoff run.(Courtesy of Mark Hvidsten)

Seeded third in their section, the Panthers got a 1-0 overtime shutout from junior goalie Beth Bigalke to knock off No. 2 seed Rosemount in the semifinals, then required two overtimes and another clean sheet from Bigalke to beat top seeded Apple Valley in the section final.

“She let one (puck) go in all sections, so she’s been amazing,” said senior defender Carly Hanson of Bigalke, who brings a .925 saves percentage and a 1.58 goals against average into the Panthers’ quarterfinal matchup with defending champ and top-seeded Hill-Murray at 11 a.m. Thursday at Grand Casino Arena.

The “survive” part came last fall, when head coach Buck Kochevar’s 21st season behind the Lakeville North bench looked unlikely for a time. A complaint was filed against Kochevar by a small group of parents regarding the coach’s communication with his team, and was fueled by disagreements over playing time.

After a six-month investigation by the school, Kochevar was asked to resign his coaching position in early October. He declined, and was placed on administrative leave.

Just a few days later, a Lakeville School Board meeting witnessed 19 Panthers players and several parents testify publicly in support of Kochevar staying on as coach. His administrative leave was lifted the next day.

“All I know is that’s not the way I wanted to go out, and it wasn’t going to be that way if I had anything to do with it,” Kochevar said, stressing that he felt it was vital to push back against what is seen as a growing youth sports culture where coaches have been targets. “That’s when you have the community back me, the school board back me, the girls, the parents and my staff. I did it for all coaches. If you live the job, you’re gonna fight for it, and hopefully that sent a little message to everybody.”

With that drama in the past, the team quickly jelled on the ice. Kochevar brought together an interesting mix of senior leaders like Sidney Petterssen, who leads the team with 20 goals and 18 assists, and a group of raw but talented eighth-graders who have delivered a dynamic element to the team.

The section tournament drama was nothing new for Lakeville North, which brings a 17-9-2 record to the tournament. The Panthers are battle tested, having played in 15 one-goal games this season.

“They seem like they’ve done it before,” Kochevar said when asked about the level of nerves in facing powerful Hill-Murray. “Maybe the 15 one-goal games have something to do with that. We didn’t win all of those games, but we sure made it interesting.”

Kochevar is the son of an Iron Range sports legend. His father, Bobo, coached football, hockey and baseball in Eveleth, including the 1993 Golden Bears team that won the state Tier II boys’ hockey title. In a nod to his hometown, and to other coaches who have found success on the ice and in the face of critics, Kochevar said on Thursday he may wear a pin commemorating the life and career of the late Willard Ikola, the Eveleth native who coached the Edina boys to eight state titles, and sometimes dealt with off-ice challenges from critics who questioned his style.

And after all of the drama, he and the Panthers are three wins away from fulfilling another dream of a proud Iron Ranger, to hoist the traveling trophy shared by the state’s four prep hockey champions each summer.

“I’ve set a lot of coaching goals, but the one I’ve always wanted to hold up high is the Eveleth Trophy,” Kochevar said. “I have dreams about it, but it hasn’t come to reality. I told that to my mom and she said, ‘I think your dad’s looking down.’ He raised the player and the coach.”

It all sounds like a screenplay-worthy scene in the Panthers’ cinematic season.

Thursday’s Class 2A quarterfinals in St. Paul

No. 1 Hill-Murray (23-3-1) vs. No. 8 Lakeville North (17-9-2), 11 a.m.

No. 4 Edina (20-4-3) vs. No. 5 Bemidji (20-5-1), 1 p.m.

No. 2 Centennial/Spring Lake Park (24-3-1) vs. No. 7 Farmington (22-4-1), 6 p.m.

No. 3 Holy Family (24-3) vs. No. 6 Andover (17-10-1), 8 p.m.

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The 2026 Minnesota girls state hockey tournament brackets

For the past 10 years, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has been weighing how best to reconfigure a 7.5-mile segment of Interstate 94 stretching from Minnesota 55/Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis to Marion Street in St. Paul. Three options are now on the table and ready for public comment through early March, with in-person discussions with the public scheduled for Thursday evening in St. Paul.

Transit and pedestrian advocates have called for filling in the deep trench of the highway in St. Paul, bringing it to grade level and creating a neighborhood-friendly boulevard that slows traffic speeds and potentially reduces vehicle emissions. Pointing to costs, congestion and traffic spillover into surrounding neighborhoods, MnDOT has chosen not to include the boulevard concept in a short list of potential projects, while offering simpler alternatives that could include removing travel lanes, adding managed lanes or consistent bus shoulders and improving frontage roads.

The goal is for MnDOT to make a final decision on interstate improvements by late 2028, while seeking environmental approvals around the same time.

Estimated construction costs have ranged from about $500 million to retain the status quo, on the one end, up to $3.2 billion to fill in the interstate and create a boulevard. A reduced freeway, reconfigured freeway or expanded freeway with new lane configurations and transit options could cost $1.5 billion to $2.6 billion for construction, on top of $62 million to $139 million for maintenance.

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Three options

After weighing 22 criteria ranging from impacts upon water pollution, noise and air quality to opportunities for economic growth, MnDOT has whittled 10 potential project approaches down to three options. A fourth option, “No Build,” is included in discussions to provide a baseline for comparing each project to the costs and drawbacks associated with doing nothing.

Option 1: “Maintenance B”

The first option is to maintain I-94 and its four travel lanes in each direction generally as they are, while reconstructing pavement and bridges and providing some relatively limited opportunities for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Bus shoulders would be upgraded for consistency between downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis, which could improve transit travel times. On the other hand, “wider shoulders may offer limited safety improvements but would not fix many of the other safety issues on I-94,” reads the MnDOT website.

Option 2: “Reduced Freeway-A”

With an eye toward reducing vehicular crashes and the seriousness of those crashes, the second option would be to remove travel lanes, add managed lanes and make other key changes designed “to improve the safety and comfort of people walking, bicycling or rolling.” That includes offering higher-speed bus rapid transit access and improved transit access for residents living near the highway at up to three new BRT stations whose locations have yet to be decided. Some frontage roads could be heavily improved.

The existing freeway would be rebuilt to host three lanes in both directions instead of four. During rush hours, two lanes in each direction would be dedicated to general travel, and a managed lane in each direction would be open to buses, carpoolers and those willing to pay with an E-Z Pass. At other times of day, everyone would be able to use all three lanes, including bus rapid transit services.

MnDOT has expressed concern that removing travel lanes will lead to more traffic congestion, especially during morning and evening rush hours, and possible traffic spillover into neighborhoods surrounding the interstate. On the other hand, a reduced freeway would make it easier to install locally-planned pedestrian and bicycle improvements across I-94, as well as new green space and other community-oriented improvements.

Option 3: “Reconfigured Freeway-A”

A third option would reconfigure the freeway, keeping the four existing travel lanes along I-94 today but converting one lane in each direction into a managed lane during morning and evening rush hours. The goal is to minimize traffic spillover onto surrounding streets while providing more reliable travel times for people in cars and freight trucks and decreasing travel times for buses. As in Option 2, planners would study up to three bus rapid transit locations.

Public comment closes March 9

The discussion resumes Thursday evening with an in-person meeting from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wilder Foundation’s Amherst H. Wilder Auditorium, 451 Lexington Parkway N. in St. Paul. MnDOT will showcase project boards, make project representatives available for questions and offer the opportunity for visitors to submit official comment on the scoping document and draft scoping decision, as well as its state Environmental Assessment Worksheet, which were released in early January.

The public comment period on both documents closes March 9. Visitors on Thursday can fill out index cards or share their thoughts with a court reporter. Translated materials and interpretation services will be provided in Spanish, Hmong, Somali, Karen, Oromo, Amharic and American Sign Language.

MnDOT has acknowledged that the state’s approach toward highway construction 60 years ago was little short of devastating for the neighborhoods that I-94 bisected and displaced, including but not limited to the historically-Black Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul. In addition to safety improvements and necessary repairs to bridges, walls and pavement, state transportation officials see an opportunity to enhance broader community goals, such as reconnecting neighborhoods using MnDOT’s “livability framework,” which was developed following public workshops in 2021.

The framework calls for identifying key opportunities to establish a “sense of place,” as well as “community connections, economic opportunities, equity, safety and a healthy environment for the communities that live, work, and play there.”

Jointly conducted by MnDOT and the Federal Highway Administration, the Rethinking I-94 project is the first comprehensive review of this segment of the interstate since its construction in the 1960s.

More information is online at tinyurl.com/Rethinking9426.

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The Minnesota Legislature reconvene this week, and lawmakers will make decisions that will affect almost everyone in Minnesota in some way.

They likely will consider a capital investment package to pay for infrastructure projects for schools, colleges and universities, parks, roads and bridges and more. They also will debate how to best deal with fraud in state government programs and the impact of the federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota.

The session official began Tuesday with a memorial to slain former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.

It’s worth keeping in mind that neither party is in full control of state government, and highly partisan issues such as gun control are unlikely to see significant action. Bills that make it to the governor’s desk will be the product of compromise.

Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

If you’re interested in getting involved or just tracking progress, here are some tips on how to do so:

How do I find out who represents me?

Go to the Legislature’s Geographic Information Services page at gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/. Type in your address to find your senator and representative, and contact information for them.

How do I contact my legislators?

Click on the “members” link for the House or Senate at leg.state.mn.us or call the House Public Information Services office at 651-296-2146 or the Senate Information Office at 651-296-0504.

How do I keep track of what’s happening?

The Pioneer Press will report on major issues at the Capitol and provide breaking news as well as archived coverage at twincities.com/news/politics. Subscribers to Twincities.com can sign up for the Capitol Report newsletter by clicking the “All Sections” tab on the left hand side of the homepage and going to the bottom.

The Legislature also provides an array of information. Check its website at leg.state.mn.us to find bills and ways to track those you’re interested in, as well as committee schedules and reports on legislative activities. You can sign up for committee mailing lists, news releases from your legislators and a customized bill-tracking service.

Minnesota Senate Democratic Majority Leader Erin Murphy talks with reporters on the Senate floor in the Minnesota State Capitol. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)

How can I participate in committee meetings?

To speak at a hearing, contact the committee chair or its staff members and ask to be put on the agenda. Senate committees meet in the Capitol; House committees meet in the State Office Building. The sessions are open to the public.

How do I get into the Capitol?

The primary entrance for visitors is on the ground level under the south steps of the state Capitol. This year there are metal detectors as part of increased security. A weapons screening requirement at the state Capitol will help keep prohibited weapons like knives out of the building, but visitors are still be able to carry handguns if they have the proper permit.

Where can I park when I visit the Capitol?

Several parking ramps and lots near the Capitol provide metered spaces for the public, and there is also a limited amount of metered street parking. The Administration Department provides maps and parking cost information at mn.gov/admin/citizen/buildings-grounds/parking.

Margaret Smith, 7, is chased by her sister, Saoirse, 5, in the Rotunda of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Thursday, June 10, 2021. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

 

Key dates for the 2026 session

Here are some key dates for the 2014 Legislature:

Feb. 17: The House and Senate convene.

March 27: The first and second committee deadline. To remain alive, a House bill must be approved by a House committee and a Senate bill by a Senate committee by this date.

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March 28: Second committee deadline. Bills that met the first committee deadline must be approved by a committee in the other house.

April 17: Committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.

The annual Easter/Passover break is scheduled to begin on March 27. The Legislature will be in recess until 8 a.m. on April 7.

The Legislature must complete its work by May 18.