Minnesota farms face labor shortage as workers fear federal immigration action

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota farmers are worried they won’t have enough hands to tend livestock and manage crops this year, a consequence of ongoing federal immigration enforcement in the state targeting undocumented workers from Latin America who keep U.S. agriculture churning.

While the thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who’ve descended on Minnesota have focused on the Twin Cities, rural communities are feeling their presence, too.

ICE has recently raided dairy farms, according to farmers and industry leaders, and crop growers are worried they won’t have enough temporary visa holders to work the fields come spring.

The immigration enforcement has created a climate of fear among both undocumented and documented workers, and made farmers unsure if they’ll survive the growing season.

—The Minnesota Star Tribune

Drone pilot charged after posting YouTube video of Maryland military complex

BALTIMORE — A man was federally charged in Maryland last week after posting drone footage on YouTube of a flight over part of the Raven Rock Mountain Complex, a military installation buried in the Catoctin Mountains sometimes described as a “second Pentagon.”

The drone pilot, Stuart Dale Bennett, was identified by FBI agents after a U.S. military official reported in September that a YouTube channel had posted drone footage of an “identified sensitive national defense facility,” according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court for Maryland.

Bennett could not be reached for comment. The Raven Rock videos were no longer visible on his YouTube channel, titled “Area 82 Surveillance911.” The channel includes a description stating that he has “varied interests that range (from) secret to military.”

The video in question was a drone flight over the Raven Rock installation, a vast military complex built into the mountains along the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. Opened in 1954, the complex was constructed to function as a replacement Pentagon in the event of a nuclear attack. It remains an active base and is officially called the Alternate Joint Communications Center.

—The Baltimore Sun

Why EGLE issued air quality advisory for parts of southeast Michigan

DETROIT — The state environmental department has issued an air quality advisory for several Southeast Michigan counties just as the weather warms up due to higher concentrations of fine particle pollution in the air from snow thawing.

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy said pollution levels are expected to range from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups through noon Monday. The advisory includes Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, Monroe and St. Clair counties.

The recent weather warmup is contributing to the alert, according to the advisory. Temperatures above 50 degrees have sped up snowmelt, and as the snow melts, it releases “trapped particulate matter” into the air.

"Light winds throughout today will decrease atmospheric dispersion which will allow for these concentrations to stagnate until winds pick up," the advisory said Sunday.

—Detroit News

Lebanon pressing on with bid to disarm Hezbollah, premier says

Lebanon’s government signaled it’s open to expanding its role in the U.S.-led task force monitoring the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and stepping up efforts to disarm the Iran-backed militia.

More Lebanese civilian experts can be added to the committee “when need be,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told Bloomberg in an interview. He gave the example of “lawyers, topographers” who might consult on border demarcations and other unresolved issues between Israel and Lebanon, which have no formal diplomatic relations.

The premier also said he’ll be briefed Monday on the next phase of the Lebanese army’s plan to demilitarize the country’s south, where Hezbollah held sway for decades until arch-foe Israel killed many of the Islamist group’s leaders in late 2024.

“We are not seeking confrontation with Hezbollah, but we are not going to be intimidated by anyone,” Salam said at the Munich Security Conference, which ended on Sunday. Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and others, vows it won’t lay down its weapons.

—Bloomberg News