Sam's Top 5 Things to Know for Thursday

1. In honor of International Women’s Day, some in the U.S. stayed home from work, joined rallies or wore red to demonstrate their economic clout.

The Day Without a Woman protest in the U.S. was put together by organizers of the vast women's marches that drew more than 1 million Americans the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration.

The turnout on the streets this time was much smaller in many places, with crowds often numbering in the hundreds. There were no immediate estimates of how many women heeded the call to skip work.

2.  The CIA has gone dark about the WikiLeaks dump of nearly 9,000 pages of purported U.S. intelligence files

The CIA wouldn't confirm yesterday that the material came from its files, although no one is doubting they did. The CIA wouldn't talk about whether there was any investigation underway to figure out how the material ended up on the internet for all to see. And the agency wouldn't say whether it suspects that a mole lurking inside the CIA secretly spirited the material to WikiLeaks, or whether the CIA could have been the victim of a hack.

Still, without acknowledging any breach, the CIA warned: "The American public should be deeply troubled by any WikiLeaks disclosure designed to damage the intelligence community's ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries. Such disclosures not only jeopardize U.S. personnel and operations, but also equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm."

3. Representative Collin Peterson won the 7th annual Minnesota Congressional Delegation Hotdish Competition.

First-time winner Collin Peterson earned the coveted hotdish trophy with his “Right to Bear Arms” hotdish — featuring meat from a bear hunted by one of Peterson’s staffers — took home top honors. (Peterson admitted the bear was hunted on Wisconsin soil, citing regulations from the Minnesota DNR.)

Tied for second were GOP Reps. Tom Emmer and Jason Lewis, both first-time runners-up. Lewis’ “Minnesota Wild Rice” dish, featuring a cut-out of the Wild logo, was a hit, as was Emmer’s “Sunday Beer Run and Brat Hotdish.”

4. Winds take down small patch of U.S. Bank Stadium panels — again

The 270-foot prow on the western facade of the building overlooking the plaza has been a trouble spot since last summer, not long after the panels went up.

With winds of up to 60 miles per hour in the past day, three panels came partly loose from the building's spiked prow near the five glass pivoting doors. The panels, partly made of zinc, are a signature component of the $1.1 billion building. But they've also been one of two significant problems.

Minneapolis-based M.A. Mortenson Co. already spent much of the fall reinforcing how the panels are held to the building. Previously, the panels were fastened only along the bottom edge. Then Mortenson attached panels on the top after some came loose.

5. Edina is considering raising the minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21

Yesterday, The City Council voted to draft an ordinance and schedule a public hearing on the proposal, intended to curb youth tobacco use.

Edina Mayor Jim Hovland said, “if we can have a direct local impact on the health of our residents and [try] to do something that’s positive ... we’ll take that step.”

The cause is being spearheaded by Dr. Caleb Schultz of the city’s Community Health Commission, who recommended raising the buying age during a presentation to the council Tuesday. Schultz said the commission was spurred by Tobacco 21, a national campaign to raise the minimum buying age. The campaign is supported by Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation (MSFG), a coalition of state health organizations.


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