Minnesota government shuts down

(CNN) -- The Minnesota government was forced to shut down Friday for the second time in six years after lawmakers failed to reach a budget agreement before a midnight Thursday deadline.

Gov. Mark Dayton held a news conference to announce an impasse in budget talks two hours before the deadline.

"This is a night of deep sorrow for me," Dayton said.

The governor, a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party wants to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1.9% of Minnesotans, as well as cut spending.

Republicans accused the governor of giving up too soon.

Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch said in a statement issued by her office Friday that Republicans had "100 matched" some of Dayton's funding requests. She called the governor's decision a "major disappointment."

"We met several times in order to bridge the gap between our differences over more complicated areas of the budget and left thinking that a budget agreement was imminent," she said. "Unfortunately, Gov. Dayton has chosen to prioritize his rigid, tax-and-spend ideology, rather than prioritize the best interests of Minnesotans as we move into the holiday weekend."

Republicans had proposed passing a temporary funding bill while they worked out their remaining differences with Dayton.

"This is very disappointing, very disheartening," House Speaker Kurt Zellers said after Dayton's news conference.

Zellers told reporters that budget talks were much closer than Dayton previously said.

The state Democratic-Farmer-Labor party blamed Republicans for the shutdown, accusing them of stubbornly favoring millionaires over other Minnesota residents.

"Minnesotans deserve more than what the GOP has forced upon them with this government shutdown," party chair Ken Martin said in a statement. "Our state's residents deserve much more than the devastating cuts to education, health care, public safety, and other vital services that the Republicans are digging in their heels to enact."

The last government shutdown was in 2005, when Tim Pawlenty was governor.

The shutdown means 46 state boards and agencies will be closed, with minimal staffing at 29 others, according to CNN affiliate WCCO.

Residents are already feeling the impact.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation had shut down more than 80 highway rest stops by Thursday afternoon.

State parks and the zoo are also set to be closed. Emergency and disaster agencies, Minnesota State Patrol, the state court system and the prison system are a few of the agencies that will remain open.

CNN

Volcano eruption shuts Iceland airspace

A cloud of smoke and ash rises over the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland on Saturday.NEW: There is no effect on European or transatlantic flights, Eurocontrol saysOfficials close airspace around Keflavik International Airport, they sayThe Grimsvotn volcanospewed a dark cloud SaturdayThe eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland snarled European flights for weeks last yearAre you there? Send us your photos or videos.

(CNN) -- A volcanic eruption in Iceland forced the closure of airspace over and around the country's main airport, a spokeswoman for Keflavik International Airport said Sunday.

"The airport itself is not closed, but no planes will be taking off or landing," Hjordis Gudmunsdottir told CNN, saying officials would reassess the situation later on Sunday.

There is currently "no impact on European or transatlantic flights," and none was expected on Sunday, Europe's umbrella air traffic control association Eurocontrol said.

Last year, another Icelandic eruption, of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull, attracted worldwide attention after its ash cloud disrupted air travel across Europe.

The Grimsvotn volcano under the Vatnajokull glacier erupted Saturday, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office.

A dark cloud of smoke was rising from the glacier, and scientists were flying over the scene to evaluate the event, according to CNN affiliate TV2 Iceland.

The last eruption of the volcano was in 2004, TV2 Iceland reported.

Sitrun Kapitola, manager of the Islandia Hotel Nupar, which is close to Saturday's eruption, said she could see a cloud of smoke over the mountains, and ash was falling around the hotel.

Police were telling her and others that there was no need to evacuate and there was nothing to fear, Kapitola said.

"We see it very well," she said.

Tourists at the hotel were excited to see the eruption, watching the events unfold while eating dinner, she said.

"It happens every 10 years," she said. "It mostly produces water."

Grimsvotn is Iceland's most frequently active volcano. In 1783, a 16.7-mile fissure system from the volcano produced the world's largest known historical lava flow over a seven-month period, damaging crops and livestock, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. A resulting famine resulted in the loss of one-fifth of Iceland's population, according to the Smithsonian website.

"It's nothing compared to the other one," she added, referring to last year's dramatic eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull.

CNN's David Wilkinson, Brian Walker, Marilia Brocchetto, Aliza Kassim and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.

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