Minnesota Now

It's been a contentious few months for St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her. This summer, she received pushback after directing the clearing of an encampment near Pig's Eye Park. She then faced a lawsuit from Police Chief Axel Henry for sexual harassment allegations. The results of an independent investigation into these claims did not find evidence that she sexually harassed the Chief but did find she acted...

With a week to go before midterm elections, national names are stepping in to support Minnesota candidates. We'll hear how President Donald Trump, former president Barack Obama and political commentator Hasan Piker are trying to reach Minnesota voters. Researchers say northeastern Minnesota lost an estimated $9 million in economic activity due to this summer's wildfires. We'll check in with a Cook...

The U.S. Census Bureau won’t count the nation’s population again until 2030. But the federal agency is making plans for the survey now. And the Trump Administration wants to change who gets counted, as well as the questions they’re asked. Under a proposed rule announced last month, the census would no longer include immigrants who aren’t U.S. citizens or permanent residents. And it would stop coll...

A new study is giving us a first look at the economic impact of the wildfires this summer in the Boundary Waters. Researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth looked at Ely and Grand Marais, and in July alone, estimated an economic loss of $9 million. Using cell phone ping data, the study looked at the number of visitors to each city. Because the data looks at the number of pings per day, vis...

All of Minnesota’s men’s professional sports teams currently playing are all leading their respective leagues (hopefully we didn’t jinx it). The Timberwolves are just at the start of their season. But the Vikings are one-third of the way through and are sitting undefeated. And the Wild are sitting on top of their division. Plus, for the first time in decades the Minnesota Gophers have all three Bi...

The Trump Administration wants to send federal election monitors to polls in two Minnesota counties on Election Day. A spokesperson for the Minnesota Secretary of State's office told MPR News the U.S. Department of Justice has notified Hennepin and Ramsey counties of its plans to observe voting locations in November. The agency gave similar notice to elections staff in at least four other states,...

The Department of Justice said it will send election monitors to polls in Hennepin and Ramsey counties on Election Day. We spoke to Secretary of State Steve Simon about what federal election monitors are and how his office is preparing. A new report says Minnesotans are travelling further and waiting longer to receive medical care. We heard more about what hospital leaders are calling a crisis of...

Minnesota Now’s series called “Thank You, Stranger” explores the small acts of kindness that make a big impact. Roze Mulen was grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s in Bloomington when the cashier helped make her day a little bit better. She shared her story on TikTok and it got more than 50,000 views. Minnesota Now producer Aleesa Kuznetsov spoke with Mulen about the help she received in this installm...

A University of Minnesota researcher is helping to identify priorities for climate science across the country after President Donald Trump paused and dismissed the contributors of the 6th National Climate Assessment in 2025. Melissa Kenney is a part of a group of scientists trying to continue similar work on their own. The new paper, recently published in Earth’s Future and the Journal of the Amer...

Hospital leaders say Minnesotans are facing a crisis of care — and they expect things to get even worse. That’s the topline of a new report from the Minnesota Hospital Association out this week. Backed by data from 2024, it says Minnesotans are having to travel further and wait longer to get care. It’s the result of hospitals facing rising costs they’re struggling to absorb all while seeing record...

What do pottery, pasta making and pickleball have in common? You can learn about all of these things through a community education class! Minnesota school districts offer an incredible variety of classes for people of all ages, interests and skill levels. Community education professionals from across the state gathered in Rochester this week for the Minnesota Community Education Association’s annu...

Leadership at Red Lake Nation is in dispute after a federal investigation found child neglect and abuse in the tribe's child welfare program. Community members are now coming together to find a way forward. A new partnership aims to train more doctors to provide obstetric care in rural communities in Minnesota. Plus, an anthology out this week shares stories of aging from Minnesota women over the...

A new anthology brings together Minnesota women over age sixty-five to reflect on what it means to age and continue to be creative. It's called " Nick of Time: Women Write about Art and Aging ." The collection was edited by Morgan Grayce Willow, Julie Landsman and Debra J. Stone. Landsman and Stone joined MPR News host Kelly Gordon with a look inside the book and the story behind it.

Nearly 30 Minnesota hospitals have stopped providing obstetric services over the past 15 years, leaving fewer options for families who need maternity care close to home, according to University of Minnesota research . Now, CentraCare and UMN are launching a new fellowship to train family medicine doctors in obstetrics, with a focus on rural communities in the state. The first fellows will begin tr...

The Red Lake Nation is grappling with a federal investigation that alleged abuse and neglect in the tribe's child welfare program. A federal notice describes the deaths of as many as eight Red Lake Nation children since 2021. It says tribal officials refused to cooperate with federal investigators, while children remained in danger. Last month the federal government took over Red Lake Nation's chi...

On Friday, Minnesota native and astronaut Dr. Anil Menon will have been in space for 100 consecutive days. Since blasting off into space for his very first time in July, Dr. Menon has done his first spacewalk. As a physician, he's also been conducting medical experiments in zero gravity. MPR News Chief Meteorologist Ben Cathey talked with Dr. Menon as he dialed in from the International Space Stat...

Musician Charlie Parr has been a mainstay of Minnesota’s blues scene. He was born in Austin, Minn., and now splits his time between Duluth and St. Paul. He has more than a dozen albums to his name, and his latest was released on Friday, called “ Rooming House .” He joined MPR News host Emily Bright in the studio to listen to some of his music and talk about why he calls this album a “conceptual fo...

Starting Wednesday, Shiloh Cares Food Shelf in north Minneapolis is trying a new solution to feed its neighbors even after it closes for the day. It’s opening a row of food lockers that can be accessed with a code anytime. For details, MPR News host Emily Bright spoke with Pastor Jalilia Abdul-Brown, executive director of Change Starts with Community at Shiloh Temple church, who led the project.

State law enforcement officials are trying a new approach to gang violence. The call for coordination came after a string of shootings across the Twin Cities that involved Somali youth. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the new approach is modeled after what’s known as the New Jersey Strategy. James Densely is a professor at Metropolitan State University who researches gang violen...

State law enforcement say they'll begin sharing more information on what they call group and gang violence. The approach is modeled after what’s known as the “New Jersey Strategy.” We hear from an expert about lessons learned back east. We'll get the latest in a series about the lives that led top candidates to this year's ballot. This time, we’ll hear from Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Peggy F...

Immigrant advocates in Minnesota say they're seeing the federal government revoke refugee status for some who have already been vetted. We'll hear more about how this could be a continuation of a campaign for more deportations by the Trump administration. Election Day is just about two weeks away. We'll learn more about Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michele Tafoya. And what role should gambling...

The Minnesota Vikings were off this weekend, but the Wild were on. They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets and forward Kirill Kaprizov is breaking records. And as the Vikings come off their bye week, they'll face the Indianapolis Colts -- who just this morning announced they've fired their general manager. Joining me to talk about this and other sports stories are our weekly contributors, Wally Langfe...

Sports betting sites make it easy to wager on just about anything in a game. But what happens when someone shows signs of problem gambling? Do these platforms intervene, or encourage them to keep betting? ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson spent 10 weeks testing the sports betting apps DraftKings and FanDuel. Even after losing thousands of dollars, he was invited to join DraftKings’ VIP program, whi...

Minnesota immigrant advocate organizations have noticed a growing number of cases in which the federal government is trying to revoke the refugee status of some people who have already been admitted — in some cases, years ago. First reported by Sahan Journal, it's a continuation of Operation PARRIS, a federal operation claiming to target fraud in the refugee program. Joining Minnesota Now to expla...

Minneapolis city council members will hear from the public Monday night about Mayor Jacob Frey's proposed budget for 2027. Producer Alanna Elder reports, supporters of local food and home energy programs are pushing back on proposed cuts to the city’s climate spending.