With 81 Minnesota counties in an ongoing federal drought declaration, the Small Business Administration is rolling out financial resources for businesses affected by a lack of snowfall this winter.

The SBA will host a virtual webinar at 10 a.m. Friday, March 15, for Minnesota businesses interested in applying for Economic Injury Disaster Loans up to $2 million.

If a loan is granted, businesses would not have to pay interest for the first year, with a maximum rate of 4% from the remainder of the loan period.

Gov. Tim Walz recently urged Minnesota business owners to apply for assistance as soon as possible.

As of Feb. 29, most areas in the state had received less than 50% of their normal snowfall totals, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. That has impacted a variety of businesses that rely on wintry conditions, including northern Minnesota resorts.

Applications and additional disaster assistance information can be found at lending.sba.gov. Applicants can also contact Small Business Development Centers or message the customer service center at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

To register for the webinar, visit https://tinyurl.com/3tp6wuef.

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By VALERIE GONZALEZ (Associated Press)

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. government has started requiring migrants without passports to submit to facial recognition technology to take domestic flights under a change that prompted confusion this week among immigrants and advocacy groups in Texas.

It is not clear exactly when the change took effect, but several migrants with flights out of South Texas on Tuesday told advocacy groups that they thought they were being turned away. The migrants included people who had used the government’s online appointment system to pursue their immigration cases. Advocates were also concerned about migrants who had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally before being processed by Border Patrol agents and released to pursue their immigration cases.

The Transportation Security Administration told The Associated Press on Thursday that migrants without proper photo identification who want to board flights must submit to facial recognition technology to verify their identity using Department of Homeland Security records.

“If TSA cannot match their identity to DHS records, they will also be denied entry into the secure areas of the airport and will be denied boarding,” the agency said.

Agency officials did not say when TSA made the change, only that it was recent and not in response to a specific security threat.

It’s not clear how many migrants might be affected. Some have foreign passports.

Migrants and strained communities on the U.S.-Mexico border have become increasingly dependent on airlines to get people to other cities where they have friends and family and where Border Patrol often orders them to go to proceed with their immigration claims.

Groups that work with migrants said the change caught them off guard. Migrants wondered if they might lose hundreds of dollars spent on nonrefundable tickets. After group of migrants returned to a shelter in McAllen on Tuesday, saying they were turned away at the airport, advocates exchanged messages trying to figure out what the new TSA procedures were.

“It caused a tremendous amount of distress for people,” said the Rev. Brian Strassburger, the executive director of Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries, a group in Texas that provides humanitarian aid and advocacy for migrants.

Strassburger said that previously migrants were able to board flights with documents they had from Border Patrol.

One Ecuadorian woman traveling with her child told the AP she was able to board easily on Wednesday after allowing officers to take a photo of her at the TSA checkpoint.

___

Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

MADISON, Wis. — Prescott’s state title hopes evaporated in a four-minute flurry of dunks and high-flying layups.

Top-ranked Milwaukee St. Thomas More broke open a close game with a decisive 16-0 run midway through the second half and pulled away for a 68-45 victory over the Cardinals in the Division 3 semifinals of the Wisconsin boys state high school basketball tournament Thursday.

Mason Schommer’s 3-pointer brought the Cardinals within 46-41 with 8:43 remaining. After an exchange of misses, Amari McCottry, a 6-6 senior guard, scored on a breakaway dunk to make it 48-41.

The Cardinals turned it over on their next possession and 6-9 Sekou Konneh turned it into another breakaway jam at the other end. The Cavaliers scored their next 10 points on four layups and a putback. Konneh capped the run by turning another turnover into another breakaway dunk to make it 62-41 with 4:27 left.

“We battled. We went toe-to-toe with them for 26, 27 minutes,” said Cardinals coach Nick Johnson. “We had a couple in-and-outs where we got good looks. We had that one layup where we could have cut it to two, and then they just kind of came in a wave.”

Dallas Wallin and Kobe Russell each had 11 points for Prescott (21-7), appearing in the state tournament for the first time since winning the title in 2018. Wallin, a 6-6 senior, had a team-high nine rebounds.

“I’ve usually got the taller guy in there, but at 6-9, that’s an unteachable, that height there,” said Wallin. “You just try pump fake, get him in the air and get some shots off, but it’s tough to score when you’ve got that size and that ability and that skill there.”

Prescott struggled from deep, making just 6 of 33 shots from beyond the arc. The Cardinals also committed 16 turnovers, which St. Thomas More turned into 21 points.

Konneh finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while McCottry added 18 points and 10 boards for St. Thomas More.

The Cavaliers shot 30% in the first half but 68% after the break on 19-of-28 shooting. St. Thomas More also had an astonishing 25-0 edge in fastbreak points.

“They are so talented,” Johnson said. “They just come at you, and come at you, they push in transition. I thought our kids played great. We had good looks. I don’t have the stats, but I think we were 6 for 33 from three, and we’re a good-shooting team. We just didn’t knock down shots.”

St. Thomas More (28-1) advances to Saturday’s title game against No. 2 seed Lakeside Lutheran (26-2), which defeated No. 3 seed Kiel 57-55.

“I thought our guys did a great job of second-half adjustments,” said St. Thomas More coach Tony Mane Jr. “And then coming out in the second half and getting on a roll a little bit. Thankfully we got some stops, and I think that was the biggest thing.”

Prescott trailed 26-23 at the half but pulled within 28-27 on Russell’s drive. McCottry capped a 6-0 run with a breakaway dunk to make it 34-27.

Prescott was within one possession at the half after hitting just 4 of its first 20 shots, including 2 of 12 from deep.

Kyle Cogan hit a 3-pointer to bring the Cardinals within 12-11, but the Cavaliers responded with an 8-2 run, pushing the lead to 20-13 with 4:46 left in the half.

McCottry’s layin put St. Thomas More up 25-15, but Max Monteith and Barrett Temmers answered with back-to-back 3-pointers. The Cavaliers turned it over on a 5-second call playing for a final shot, and Wallin closed the half with a layin to pull Prescott within 26-23.

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President Joe Biden came out in opposition to the planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan, saying on Thursday that the U.S. needs to “maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers.”

In a statement, Biden added: “U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.”

By opposing the merger, Biden has chosen to support unionized workers in a critical election year at the risk of upsetting the business community and an essential ally in Japan. Thursday’s announcement, coming as Biden is campaigning in the Midwest, could have ripples in his race against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

In Minnesota, U.S. Steel is a dominant force on the Iron Range, where it operates the Minntac and Keetac iron ore mines and pellet plants in Keewatin and Mountain Iron.

Biden has made the restoration of American manufacturing a cornerstone of his agenda as he seeks reelection, and he has the endorsements of the AFL-CIO and several other prominent unions. The White House said Thursday that Biden called David McCall, president of United Steelworkers, to reiterate his support for its members.

Nippon Steel announced in December that it planned to buy the Pittsburgh-based steel producer for $14.1 billion in cash, raising concerns about what the transaction could mean for unionized workers, supply chains and U.S. national security.

The Japanese company has tried to assuage critics by promising no job losses due to the merger. It also committed to keeping the U.S. Steel name and Pittsburgh headquarters, while noting it already has a presence in the American market and would bring in new resources to foster job growth.

The company, which is the world’s fourth largest steel producer, launched a website with supportive statements from Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary, and Pat Toomey, a Republican and former senator from Pennsylvania.

Shortly after the steel deal was announced, the White House indicated it would be under review by the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The government does not officially provide updates on the CFIUS review process.

Biden has a big megaphone to weigh in on the matter, but he is not intervening in the review process or formally blocking the deal, according to a person familiar with deliberations who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation.

When asked about the deal on Thursday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby declined to say if the president wanted to stop it outright or would be amendable to changes in its structure. But Kirby told reporters that the United States sees its alliance with Japan as “stronger than it’s ever been.”

Still, the president holds sway over CFIUS. The treasury secretary leads the committee, which is also composed of the heads of federal agencies and, as deemed appropriate, directors of White House councils on the economy and national security.

Trump said earlier this year after meeting with the Teamsters union that he would stop the U.S. Steel acquisition: “I would block it. I think it’s a horrible thing, when Japan buys U.S. Steel. I would block it instantaneously.”

Biden traveled Thursday to Saginaw, Mich., which was once home to multiple General Motors plants and where he hopes his backing from union workers can resonate with voters.

The city is in a swing county that narrowly backed Trump in 2016 and then flipped to Biden in 2020, making it a crucial contest in this year’s presidential race.

Biden has a close relationship with the United Steelworkers. He gave the union members “personal assurances” that he has their backs, according to a February statement by the union about Nippon Steel’s plans. U.S. Steel is headquartered in Pennsylvania, another key state in this year’s election.

The United Steelworkers issued a statement last week after meeting with representatives from Nippon Steel that it had concerns about whether the company would honor existing labor agreements and about the company’s financial transparency, adding that there were “barriers” to closing a merger.

The U.S. considers Japan to be one of its closest allies and a key partner in countering China’s ambitions and influence in Asia. Biden has visited the country twice as president and will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on April 10.

But Nippon Steel’s connections to China have raised concerns within the Biden administration. More than half the steel produced globally comes from China, according to the World Steel Association. India is the second-largest producer, followed by Japan and the United States.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned in a February blog post that it would be foolhardy of the Biden administration to block the deal. Doing so could hurt foreign investment into the United States, cause other countries to block the overseas investments that U.S. companies want to make and undermine the U.S.-Japan alliance, the chamber said.

John Murphy, the head of international issues for the chamber, said Thursday that it was “inappropriate and counterproductive” of Biden to politicize the CFIUS review.

“It’s imperative that the CFIUS review proceed; and if, as expected, it reveals no national security concerns, the sale should proceed,” Murphy said.

But Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, who is up for reelection, applauded Biden’s statement, saying, “I’ll work like hell against any deal that leaves our Steelworkers behind.”

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