The Minnesota Department of Health has released an interactive online map showing lead level test results in drinking water at all state public and charter schools and licensed child care centers.

Since 2017, state law has required public and charter schools to test for lead in drinking water every five years and make results publicly available.

As of this past July, a new law requires licensed child chare centers to begin testing drinking water for lead and for schools and child care centers to report their test results to the state department of health. The map is part of the reporting requirement of that law.

Schools and child care centers are at different periods in their testing cycles so the map is not complete, according to MDH officials. The most recent test results from a specific school or center should be available from the site when requested.

No lead was detected in 76% of the drinking water fixtures tested in the first 190 schools and child care centers that reported to MDH. Less than 5% of fixtures had lead levels of five parts per billion or more, the level at which a fixture must be shut off until corrective action is taken and a follow-up test to ensure water safety.

Water remaining in pipes during long breaks can cause elevated lead levels, according to the department, making testing in schools and child care centers especially important. In Minnesota, most elevated lead levels in blood are caused by exposure to lead paint and dust rather and rarely by drinking water alone. Elevated blood lead levels in children are linked to health issues, including learning and behavior problems.

Schools and child care centers are encouraged to check their testing schedules and report results as required. More information on MDH work to protect drinking water in schools and child care can be found on the department website. Actions that individuals can take to reduce exposure also are provided by the department. More information is also available at data.web.health.state.mn.us/lead.

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By CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street

Zuppa forte, also known as zuppa di soffritto, is an old-school Neapolitan dish made by slow-cooking meats with garlic and other aromatics, along with tomatoes and preserved chilies, until reduced and concentrated. The rich, spicy paste-like mixture can be spread on crusty bread, though it’s more commonly diluted and used as a soup base or pasta sauce.

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Zuppa forte traditionally was made with odds and ends of meats, including offal, but in our cookbook, “Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year,” we use salty cured pancetta as a stand-in. For best flavor, purchase a chunk of pancetta, which contains a decent amount of fat, and cut it yourself. The type sold pre-diced is too lean and cooks up with a tough, leathery texture.

A combination of deeply browned tomato paste and canned whole tomatoes, blended until smooth and simmered in a skillet, yields a sauce with concentrated flavor. Don’t use canned tomato puree or canned crushed tomatoes, which have slightly tinny, metallic flavors that only become more pronounced in the finished sauce. The flavor of whole tomatoes, blended until smooth, is fresher and cleaner.

Instead of harder-to-source preserved chilies, we use Korean gochujang, which may seem out of place, but delivers a similar complex, fermented spiciness along with welcome notes of umami. But if you can find it, spicy, tangy Calabrian chili paste also works well. Fresh basil and dollops of ricotta complement the richness and intensity of the sauce.

This image released by Milk Street shows a recipe for pasta with spicy tomato and pancetta sauce. (Milk Street via AP)

Pasta with Spicy Tomato and Pancetta Sauce

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 to 6

Ingredients:

14½-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons gochujang (see headnote) or 1 tablespoon Calabrian chili paste
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta (see headnote), chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 sprig rosemary
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 pound penne, ziti or rigatoni pasta
½ cup lightly packed fresh basil, torn
Whole-milk ricotta cheese, to serve

Directions:

In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. In a blender, puree the tomatoes with juices and gochujang until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds; set aside.

While the water heats, in a 12-inch skillet, combine the oil, pancetta, garlic, bay, tomato paste, rosemary and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook over medium, stirring often, until the pancetta has rendered some of its fat and the tomato paste darkens and begins to stick to the pan, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the pureed tomato mixture and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Simmer, uncovered and stirring often, until very thick and the fat separates, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, when the water reaches a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta; cook, stirring occasionally, until just shy of al dente. Reserve about 1½ cups of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and return it to the pot. (If the sauce is done ahead of the pasta, remove the skillet from the heat.)

Scrape the sauce into the pot with the pasta and add ¾ cup of the reserved cooking water. Cook over medium, stirring and tossing often, until the sauce clings and the pasta is al dente, 2 to 4 minutes; add more reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the noodles if the mixture is very dry and sticky.

Off heat, remove and discard the bay and rosemary. Taste and season with salt and pepper, then stir in the basil. Serve topped with dollops of ricotta.

For more recipes, go to Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street at 177milkstreet.com/ap

It appears that Sam Darnold could be headed to market.

After weighing all of their options, the Vikings did not place the franchise tag on Darnold ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to do so. As a result, Darnold, who turns 28 years old in a few months, has the ability to sign elsewhere when free agency opens next week.

“He’s in a position where the NFL thinks he can play quarterback at a high level,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said last week at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “That’s a really good thing. I feel very proud to be a part of helping him get to this point. Now, we’ll see where it goes from here.”

The franchise tag would have paid Darnold roughly $40 million next season, and while the Vikings would have gained exclusive rights to him if they opted for that route, they clearly weren’t interested in him eating up that much cap space given the many areas of need across the roster.

After doing some digging last week at the NFL Combine, the Vikings also must have come to the conclusion that there wasn’t a team interested in trading any sort of draft capital for Darnold at that price point.

Although the Vikings reportedly still have interest in working out a new deal with Darnold, they might have to bid against other teams, which could include the Las Vegas Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans, among others.

The fact that Darnold will be so coveted in free agency speaks to how impressive he was for prolonged stretches last season.

Not only did Darnold help the Vikings shock the league with a 14-3 regular-season record, he slowly started to look the part of a franchise quarterback in the process, completing 66.2 percent of passes for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns.

The magic appeared to run out for Darnold down the stretch, however, as he crumbled under pressure in a 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions, then struggled mightily in a 27-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. As much as the Vikings will take both games into account heading into free agency next week, there’s still a chance they could work something out with Darnold that will keep him in Minnesota moving forward.

In that scenario, Darnold would take some pressure off of J.J. McCarthy, allowing him to be brought along slowly after he missed all of last season with a torn meniscus.

“We’re in a position where we have options,” general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said at the NFL Combine. “We’ll continue to work those options and figure out the best way for the Vikings to move forward.”

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