Kate Hayes still recalls the advice her father gave her years ago before she d take her Pontiac Sunfire for a drive on brutally cold days. He told me to let it warm up, the 31-year-old Burnsville resident said in a recent phone interview. But I ve always kind of wondered. Should you let your car run on cold mornings before driving it?
With Minnesota in the throes of winter, Hayes posed the question to Curious Minnesota, our community-driven reporting project fueled by readers.
It s totally unnecessary, even on the most frigid days, said Douglas Longman, manager of engine research with the U.S. Department of Energy s Argonne National Laboratory. Modern cars have electronic fuel injection, so drivers need to let their vehicles run for only up to 30 seconds before pulling out of the driveway. Motoring allows the engine to warm up faster and reduces wear on engine components, he said.
Ubah Jama, widow of Hussein Samatar, took a selfie with others while standing on the “Samatar Crossing” walkway, opened in her late husband s honor in 2018. Hussein Samatar was the first Somali-American elected to public office in Minneapolis. Photo: Shari L. Gross, Star Tribune Curious Minnesota
How did the Twin Cities become a hub for Somali immigrants? June 21, 2019 10:45am Related coverage
While attending the University of Minnesota, Lakeville native Erik Borg wondered how the Twin Cities came to have such a large population of Somali Americans. Many, he noticed, lived near the campus.
“I was just kind of curious how a place like Minneapolis becomes home to a thriving population of Somali immigrants,” said Borg.
Did Ford make millions of windows from sand mined beneath its plant?
Henry Ford chose the St. Paul site carefully. Minnesota was a central location, and the plant was sitting on a mine not of gold, but of pure, white silica sand. January 15, 2021 8:45am Related coverage
Atop the Mississippi River bluffs in St. Paul, workers turned out more than 7 million vehicles at the Ford assembly plant between its opening in 1925 and its closing in 2011.
And for much of that time, they were being undermined by colleagues literally. Benjamin Schmaus of Brooklyn Park brought the topic to Curious Minnesota, our reader-driven feature that answers questions about life in the North Star state.
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Both Minneapolis and St. Paul draw their drinking water from the Mississippi River.
Curious Minnesota host Eric Roper paid a visit to Minneapolis water treatment campus in Fridley to understand the complex process that makes river water safe to drink.
Click here for the accompanying Curious Minnesota article on this topic. If you cannot see the podcast audio below, click here to listen.
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How are courts in Minnesota coping with the pandemic?
There were only five state jury trials in December, with COVID-19 protocols in place, but plenty of court hearings are happening, mostly remotely. January 8, 2021 9:02am Related coverage
As COVID-19 surged in Minnesota last year, both state and federal courts were forced to slow down, with many trials put on hold.
That prompted one Curious Minnesota reader to ask how the court system is operating during the pandemic. They requested anonymity but wanted to know about virus precautions impact on court hearings, trials and jury selection.
More than 190,000 state court cases have been impacted, says Jodi Boyne, public affairs director for the Minnesota Judicial Branch. These are cases that had to be canceled or rescheduled, or a party was unable to attend due to COVID-19.