Megan Graftaas

Duluth

Producer at WDIO-TV (Duluth, MN)

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Articles

Wildfires spark air quality alert in Northland

3 days ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for northeast Minnesota due to wildfire smoke. The alert took effect on Monday at 5 p.m. and will stay in effect through 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Hibbing and Ely are expected to be impacted. Two fires, Camp House and Jenkins Creek, have broken out in the Superior National Forest. Both are still uncontained. This is about 25 miles north-northwest of Two Harbors. Additionally, the Munger Shaw Fire is burning north of Cloquet.
Road work and closures: Skyline Parkway, Eklund, Lake, and Junction Avenues

3 days ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

Multiple projects began Monday in Duluth, prompting various road closures in the city. A crew is replacing lead pipes on the 600 block of N Lake Ave. This is expected to last through Friday. In the meantime, motorists will have to detour onto First Ave. East. This is part of Duluth’s city-wide lead water service replacement project. A project to convert a portion of Skyline Parkway to a one-way traffic configuration began Monday.
Put your financial literacy to the test

6 days ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

Michelle Buria, a Certified Financial Planner and Managing Director for Choreo, puts The Lift's Baihly Warfield's financial literacy knowledge to the test. Michelle Buria, a Certified Financial Planner and Managing Director for Choreo, puts The Lift’s Baihly Warfield’s financial literacy knowledge to the test. The quiz is from FINRA. The average person gets 3 or 4 questions right. Try it out for yourself.
Dozens displaced after Moose Lake apartment fire

6 days ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

Forty-two people were displaced after an early morning apartment fire in Moose Lake. The Moose Lake Area Fire District responded to Hillside Manor West after midnight on Friday and was on the scene until nearly 4 a.m. When the crew responded, they found a small kitchen fire that the sprinklers had extinguished. The fire crew says there was moderate fire damage in the apartment, but there was water damage in several other units. Everyone was evacuated no one was hurt. Power was cut from the building.
Two arrested after drug investigation at Ashland AmericInn

6 days ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

Two people were arrested on Wednesday after an employee at the AmericInn told authorities they found a white, rock-like substance in a hotel room, which they suspect was illegal narcotics. A Milwaukee man and a Brown Deer man were subsequently arrested. The Ashland Police Department got a search warrant for the hotel room and their vehicle. Ashland Police Department suspect they recovered 67.8 grams of meth, 12.4 grams of heroin, 6 grams of cocaine.
Nurse contract negotiations heat up at Essentia Health in Duluth

1 week ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

Essentia nurses are nearing the end of their contract, and now negotiations between Essentia Health and the Minnesota Nurses Association are heating up. There have been 5 negotiation sessions, and there are only 3 planned sessions left. MNA is drawing attention to staffing and says that having an enforceable standard would protect the quality of care that patients receive. But Essentia is saying that an enforceable standard could get in the way of meeting the needs of patients.
Ask Dr. Dylan: FAQs about Sunscreen

1 week ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

Dr. Dylan talks about how sunscreen can help prevent us being harmed by UV rays. As we start to see more of the sun in the Northland, some reminders about the importance of sunscreen from Emergency Medicine Physician, Dr. Dylan Wyatt of Aspirus-St. Luke’s. Do we need sunscreen? Why is it so important? Sunscreen helps reduce our exposure to the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, also called UV rays. Exposure to UV rays causes sunburns, skin damage and accelerated aging, and skin cancer.
Consulting group to audit the Superior Police Department

1 week ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

The Superior City Council unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday to hire a consultant to audit the Superior Police Department. Councilor Nicholas Ledin says the Police Department came to the Public Safety Commission with a request to hire a consultant who would “look into the police department and city policies, collect evidence, conduct interviews, and make recommendations.”“There has been some internal issues,” Councilor Ledin explained.
Northern DeLights fundraiser for the Nordic Center

1 week ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

Nordic Center co-chairs bring some of the deserts that you can bid on at their auction. The Nordic Center is hosting is first-ever dessert auction fundraiser. They’re calling it Nordic DeLights. It’s Thursday, May 8th at the Norway Hall Event Center from 7 – 9 p.m.It’s a chance to bid on Nordic-themed desserts made by local artisans. There will also be live Nordic music by Ponyfolk and refreshments for all. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased online.
Meet a UMD Student who named a plant species

1 week ago | wdio.com | Megan Graftaas

Isabel Smalley got to name a new species of fern. Isabel Smalley will graduate Saturday from the University of Minnesota Duluth, double-majoring in Biology and Computer Science. These two disciplines has allowed her to study plant genetics and evolutions. “DNA can be thought of as the code for life. To understand the code for life, you also need to use coding,” Smalley explains to The Lift. “DNA has this massive amount of data that can be found in a genome.