A case of highly pathogenic avian flu in Minnesota was confirmed Tuesday at a Redwood County commercial turkey farm. It’s the first confirmed case in the state since April.

The case was not unexpected as the fall migration of wild birds has begun, but it comes just weeks after Minnesota was declared free of avian influenza at the end of August. This detection resets Minnesota’s response teams and will draw responders back into the fight against the costly avian influenza this fall, according to a Minnesota Board of Animal Health news release.

The Redwood County flock, around 20,000 turkeys, showed signs of increased mortality. Samples taken Sunday and submitted to the Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory on Monday tested PCR positive for influenza A and the H5 strain.

Molecular testing is a diagnostic tool that looks for the presence of the virus in the bird. Positive influenza results indicate the bird is infected and shedding virus. The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the results and will run further tests on the sample to classify the virus type, according to the news release.

“Though we remain hopeful that we can eliminate HPAI in Minnesota’s poultry stock, this case was not wholly unexpected as we move into the migration season for wild waterfowl,” Dr. Shauna Voss, assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, said in the news release. “Vigilance and robust biosecurity remain the best methods for flock owners to protect poultry from avian influenza.”

The board calls on poultry producers to review their biosecurity plans to maintain flock health.

Avian influenza has also been recently confirmed in commercial turkey flocks in North and South Dakota and a backyard chicken flock in North Dakota.

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely following comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s killing.

The network’s decision came Nexstar announced its ABC affiliates would pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely over his comments.

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division.

This is a breaking news story. More information will be added as it comes in.

To call Carson Wentz a journeyman might not be understating it. The veteran quarterback signed with the Vikings last month having already played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.

Carson Wentz #11 of the Minnesota Vikings warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sept. 08, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Now Wentz, 32, is preparing to make NFL history as the only quarterback to ever start a game for six different teams in six consecutive seasons. He will reach that distinction when he starts for the Vikings against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“It’s definitely given me a different perspective,” Wentz said. “I’ve gone from being a starter to being traded to being cut to being a backup.”

Though his path to this point makes Wentz a cheat code in Immaculate Grid — the online game where players attempt to fill a 3×3 grid with players that fit the criteria for the corresponding rows and columns — it also might make him the perfect person for the Vikings at this moment.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz (2) rolls to the outside looking for an open receiver during an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Zach Bolinger)

The vibes surrounding the Vikings already weren’t great after getting manhandled in a 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Then news broke that J.J. McCarthy had suffered a high ankle sprain, which is expected to keep the second-year quarterback out for the next few weeks at a minimum.

The amount of experience that Wentz has under his belt has allowed him to hit the ground running as he shifts his mindset from being the backup to being the starter. All those previous stops, he said, have helped him “find ways to learn quick.”

“That,” he added, “has definitely helped in this crash course the past couple of weeks.”

That’s something head coach Kevin O’Connell noticed about Wentz last week when McCarthy missed practice to be at the birth of his son. The fact that Wentz has started 94 games was apparent when everything continued to run smoothly.

“You felt that poise and presence from the walkthrough to the practice,” O’Connell said while noting that he challenged Wentz with a lot of stuff before the snap. “His ability to absorb all that, and then run the show, was apparent to everybody.”

The level of comfort Wentz already has in the offense is a testament to all the extra time he has spent working with quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and assistant quarterbacks coach Jordan Traylor.

“He has been on those guys,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. “He has been very intentional about getting up to speed.”

It helps that Wentz has experience playing in so many different offenses. There are some similarities across the board that have allowed him to grasp certain concepts a little bit quicker than expected.

“You’ve got a guy that’s played a lot of football,” O’Connell said. “You can really tap into a lot of that while also shaping a game plan that he’s comfortable with, so he can go out and have consistent success, because that’s what our whole team needs right now.”

As for Wentz, he’s very much looking forward to the game, admitting that he wasn’t sure that an opportunity like this would ever come again. Though his resume would suggest otherwise, it’s actually been a while since Wentz has played in a meaningful game.

His starts with both the Rams and the Chiefs came after they had locked up playoff spots. There were’t the same consequences Wentz will be faced with when he steps under center for the Vikings.

“You never know when the next chance is going to be in this league,” he said. “It’s not something I want to take lightly or take for granted.”

Briefly

It was another lengthy injury report for the Vikings as McCarthy (ankle), center Ryan Kelly (concussion) and left tackle Justin Skule (concussion) were forced to sit out practice, while edge rusher Jonathan Greenard (oblique), left guard Donovan Jackson (wrist), safety Theo Jackson (hip), linebacker Austin Keys (groin), tight end Josh Oliver (ankle), safety Harrison Smith (illness) and edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel (concussion) were limited participants.

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Minnesota Senate DFLers and Republicans are no closer to an agreement on gun control or school security after hours of public hearings this week that included emotional testimony from parents of children affected by last month’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.

DFL Gov. Tim Walz has said he wants to call lawmakers back to the state Capitol for a special legislative session on guns in the wake of the shooting. But the reality remains that in a narrowly divided Legislature, Democrats will need Republican support to pass the gun control legislation they say the state needs to avert future tragedies.

This week only reinforced that point as the second meeting of the Senate Gun Violence Prevention Working Group wound down on Wednesday. Chair Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, reviewed a list of DFL-endorsed gun control proposals, including a ban on so-called assault weapons, all of which Republicans opposed.

“It’s not just the Democrats’ job to pass an assault weapons ban,” Latz said. “We will try, but it should be and is an obligation of every member of the Legislature to take steps to go after the weapons, not just the people.”

Familiar political debate

A person armed with a semiautomatic rifle killed two children and injured 21 others at Annunciation School, prompting calls for greater restrictions on guns in Minnesota.

It’s brought an all-too-familiar political debate to the forefront of Minnesota politics: Does the government need to bar the public from possessing weapons capable of rapid fire, or should more be done to stop people with mental illness from spiraling and committing violent acts?

Senate and House Republican proposals center on the latter, and include boosting funding for school safety and mental health services and increasing mandatory minimum sentences for gun-related offenses. They argue that an assault weapons ban or other policies, such as requiring training before purchasing a firearm, are unconstitutional.

“I truly believe we need to do things now … we all want to protect our kids, we all want safe schools, but the issue is how do we get there,” said Sen. Jeff Howe, R-Rockville. “We can pass all these gun laws, which I believe will be tied up in court and won’t take effect, if they ever take effect, for years.”

State laws on guns overturned

This year alone, Minnesota saw three of its gun laws overturned as a result of lawsuits.

Gun rights groups won their legal battle to reduce the minimum age to obtain a permit to carry a gun to 18 and overturned a state ban on binary triggers — a modification that can greatly increase a semiautomatic weapon’s rate of fire by allowing it to shoot both when the trigger is pulled and released.

In another ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court said a decades-old law banning certain guns without serial numbers didn’t apply to homemade “ghost guns” as long as federal law doesn’t require a serial number.

Still, DFLers remain skeptical of an approach that does not account for weapons, and questioned how Republicans could get behind boosting funding for mental health services when they had rejected program funding boosts in the past.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. Bonnie Westin, DFL-Plymouth, called measures like armed guards or police officers at schools “security theater” and doubted their effectiveness.

“I don’t think we are … ever going to completely rid ourselves of gun violence, but there are things we can do that will reduce the risk that will reduce harm,” she said. “And I’m willing to have this conversation as well … but we also have to talk about guns.”

No guarantee of meaning action

Latz commented that there could be room for consensus on a proposal to provide funding for public and private schools to pay for school resource officers introduced at the end of the Wednesday hearing by Sen. Andrew Mathews, R-Princeton.

Asked if he believed calling 200 or so state lawmakers back to St. Paul was worthwhile even if there was no guarantee of any meaningful action, Latz told reporters he still saw purpose in getting elected officials on the record.

“I think it’s valuable to vet these issues and to hold legislators accountable so their constituents know where they are on these issues,” he said. “I also think there’s a reasonable possibility of getting some of these things passed, and I think we have to try.”

Republicans claimed their proposals on school safety and mental health would have an “immediate impact” and complained that they hadn’t been given enough time to prepare bills and more detailed explanations since the DFL-majority Senate called for the meetings last week.

Sen. Eric Lucero, R-St. Michael, also pointed out that the DFL controlled state government during the 2023 and 2024 sessions, but failed to pass an assault weapons ban. Some DFL senators from largely rural northern districts, like Grant Hauschild of Hermantown and Rob Kupec of Moorhead, have been hesitant to support sweeping gun control bills in the past.

Talk and even emotional testimony did little to change minds this week in the Senate working group, and no GOP members have signaled interest in gun bills.

Sen. Keri Heintzeman, R-Nisswa, thanked parents of the victims of the Annunciation School shooting for coming forward to share their experiences. Asked if any of the testimony had changed her mind on the need for an assault weapons ban, she told reporters: “No.”

Legislative margins

Walz continues to meet with legislative leaders of both parties for private talks on what a special session might look like, though Latz admitted there will need to be a bipartisan consensus for anything to pass.

The House is set to return to a 67-67 tie between the DFL and Republicans after a Tuesday special election to pick the successor of Rep. Melissa Hortman, the former DFL House speaker killed by a gunman in June.

Two vacancies in the Senate have left DFLers holding 33 seats to Republicans’ 32. Special elections for those vacancies this November could change the balance of power or preserve the DFL’s one-seat majority.

But right now, they still need 34 votes to pass any bills.

If a special session were to happen right now, DFLers would need one Republican vote in both chambers to get any bill to the governor.

However, the governor has said he felt a sense of urgency about the issue and would call lawmakers to the Capitol before the regular session is scheduled to start in February.

“The public is asking us to do something,” he said last week. “I will call the special session one way or another.”

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