News @ Noon: Is It Time For Minnesota to Leave the ‘Midwest’ [AUDIO]

UNDATED - The region of the country that makes-up the Midwest includes a number of states, which can sometimes leave Minnesota out in the cold. Because of that, some people say it's time to move our state out of the Midwest and strike out on our own with a new region simply branded as the "North".

University of Minnesota Professor Tom Fisher says Chicago has already claimed the title as the capital of the Midwest.

Fisher says he's been working on a map for the new "North" region, which includes two-thirds of the Dakotas, northern Iowa, the upper two-thirds of Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan.  Minneapolis would be known as the unofficial capital of the "North".

Fisher says some of the marketing is meant to be fun.

But, Fisher says the rebranding of our region is also a serious one.

The United States has regions of the country that are known as the "East", "West", and "South", but there's no "North".

Fisher says it's also time to reclaim our cold climate status, and stop pretending that we don't have winters. Fisher says most of the advertising about our region only highlights our summers.

The next step in this rebranding process is putting together a marketing and branding campaign.