MPR News pictures of the year, October through December

1

St. Paul, Minnesota, USA — Bergen Gandrud Pickett, 4, of Edina, Minn. greets King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway at the St. Paul Hotel in St. Paul, Minn. Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011. The King and Queen will be touring through Minnesota and Iowa this week. (MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson) link to this photo

2

Minneapolis, Minn., USA — Protesters surrounded a man meditating outside the Federal Reserve Bank Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, in Minneapolis as part of the OccupyMN demonstrations. (MPR Photo/Tim Nelson) link to this photo

3

St. Paul, Minnesota, USA — Clare Freberg, 4, takes a break in a leaf pile outside the home of Jun-Li Wang in St. Paul, Minn. Friday, Oct. 14, 2011. The pile is intended to be used by the entire community. (MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson) link to this photo

4

The crowd at Atmosphere's TCF Bank Stadium concert (MPR Photo / Nate Ryan) link to this photo

5

St. Charles, MN, USA — Mena Kaehler delivers rolls to her brother-in-law Ed Kaehler outside of St. Charles, Minn. Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. Ed farms about 1000 acres in Winona and Olmsted counties. (MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson) link to this photo

6

St. Paul, MN, USA — Former Marine Jason Christiansen received help from Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota's C.O.R.E. program after he planned to kill himself in 2009. Christiansen, who now works at a car dealership, used C.O.R.E. to assist with everything from finances to mental health. (MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson) link to this photo

7

Minneapolis, MN, USA — Fathia Salah holds a photo collage of her uncle, Anwar Salah Mohammed, who was shot and killed at the Seward Market in south Minneapolis in 2010. Salah was among those who came to witness the sentencing of Mahdi Hassan Ali at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on October 31, 2011. Mahdi Hassan Ali received a life sentence with no parole for his role in the triple homicide at the Seward Market. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

8

Moorhead, MN, USA — Union worker Donnie Flemmer of Fargo, N.D., walks past an open tent door on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, during an informational demonstration outside the American Crystal Sugar Co. processing plant in north Moorhead, Minn. The phrase "Here for as long as it takes!!!" is written on the outside of the tent. Union workers, who have been locked out for three months, voted Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011 on the latest contract proposal from the sugar beet refiner. (MPR Photo/Ann Arbor Miller) link to this photo

9

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minn. — At left, a raspberry seedling pokes through the ash only a couple weeks after the Pagami Creek wildfire scorched this area near the Isabella River. Raspberries and large-leaved aster are among the first leafy plants in the area to sprout after fire. At right, a young, scorched jackpine. Fire spurs jackpines to open their cones and release seeds, ensuring the next generation of this hardy species. (Photo for MPR by Steve Foss) link to this photo

10

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA — A murder of crows fills the sky near the Trask Worship Center at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minn. Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. (MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson) link to this photo

11

Hillsboro, ND, USA — Retired Hillsboro, N.D., businessman Rick Nelson, 65, says it's time for locked out union workers and American Crystal Sugar Company to come to an agreement. The situation -- now in its fifth month -- is particularly difficult for smaller communities like Hillsboro and Drayton where the largest employer is American Crystal. Nelson was photographed on Friday, Dec. 9, 2011, at the A&R Bar. (Photo for MPR by Ann Arbor Miller) link to this photo

12

Minneapolis, MN, USA — Teens and twenty-somethings make up the majority of the congregation at Urban Jerusalem in Minneapolis, Minn. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel) link to this photo

13

Wheaton, MN, USA — Wheaton, Minn., residents Roy Hormann, left, and John Rose, right, are among those who regularly gather for coffee and conversation at Homer's One-Stop Mini-Mart on Highway 75 in Wheaton. The tables stay pretty full most afternoons. That's even more so on colder days, according to store clerks. (Photo for MPR by Ann Arbor Miller) link to this photo

14

Greenfield, Iowa, USA — Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, center, jokes with patrons at Nodaway Diner in Greenfield, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson) link to this photo