Minnesota Today

Anger over large scale data centers was a factor in major elections across the country this week. It also played a role in some local Minnesota races. Immigration activists are calling for the release of an investigation of a clash between protestors and St. Paul police almost a full year ago. A Red Lake woman convicted of killing two of her children and setting fire to their home is expected to r...

This year’s election saw Minnesota’s largest voter turnout for a midterm election in the past 12 years. More than 2.8 million people voted in this year's election, which accounts for more than 64 percent of eligible voters. That's according to unofficial numbers from the Secretary of State. Democrat Jake Johnson is claiming victory in Minnesota's first congressional district, even though the race...

Minnesotans voted to change the constitution in favor of funding schools. The amendment will preserve Minnesota’s permanent school fund, which has been in place for nearly 170 years. And after two years of tight margins at Minnesota’s Capitol, voters yesterday put the DFL firmly back in control of the Legislature. The size of the DFL majorities will come down to likely recounts in some races. But...

DFL Senator Amy Klobuchar will be Minnesota’s next governor. Klobuchar defeated Republican Lisa Demuth in Tuesday’ election. She will be the first female governor in Minnesota history. Democrat Peggy Flanagan is the first Native American woman to be elected to the United States Senate. Flanagan defeated Republican Michele Tafoya with about 54 percent of the vote. And U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar...

Voters in St. Paul told MPR News they want the election results to send a message to Republican President Donald Trump. Many voters at polling sites are telling MPR News that dissatisfaction with the Trump administration's policies is motivating them to vote. But Melanie Carruth, a 66-year-old semi-retired registered nurse from Spring Valley, says the election is not about the president. Find more...

Minnesotans heading to the polls on Election Day will find nearly all statewide races on the ballots, along with many local races. Starting at the top of the ticket, voters will see races for U.S. Senate, governor and other constitutional offices: attorney general, auditor and secretary of state. All eight congressional seats are on the ballot, along with every legislative seat — 134 in the state...

The latest pre-election look at early voting in Minnesota has more than 886,000 ballots already in. The Secretary of State's Office published data that covers activity through Sunday. With one more day of in-person early voting and ballots coming in by mail; that tally will continue to rise. It's already a record for a Minnesota midterm election. Regular polling places around Minnesota open at 7 a...

Republicans, Democrats and third-party candidates are making their final pitches to voters, doing last-minute door-knocking and trying to rally voters to cast their ballots. Olmsted County is launching a new mental health program that could supplement clinical treatment approaches in the Rochester area. A new report from the University of Minnesota warns generative artificial intelligence could ha...

Vice President J. D. Vance's office says he will be in St. Cloud on Friday to make an announcement about the Trump administration's ongoing efforts to stop fraud. Vance chairs the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. That story and more in today’s evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

The Minneapolis City Council will vote this week on an ordinance that would allow supervised parking lots for unsheltered residents to sleep overnight in their cars. The city of Pine Island will conduct a more thorough environmental review of Google's controversial data center proposal in the town northwest of Rochester. Health officials say vaccine hesitancy is behind a cluster of 20 measles case...

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says two YouTubers from out-of-state violated Minnesota law when they recorded themselves allegedly attempting to vote in Minneapolis during the August primary. James O'Keefe and Cam Higby are now charged with unlawful voting and identity theft. And a judge today sentenced a former owner of a Minneapolis restaurant to 30 years in federal prison for his role i...

The Hermantown City Council is expected to vote Tuesday whether to approve or reject a proposed Google data center after dozens of protesters blocked the start of Monday night’s meeting. Left wing-streamer Hasan Piker and Minnesota Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar joined DFL state Sen. Omar Fateh on Monday for an event some Democrats criticized as divisive. Tensions were high Monday night as the De...

The parents of Alex Pretti spoke earlier today in Minneapolis . They sharply criticized federal officials’ handling of the investigation into their son’s killing. It’s the first time that Susan and Michael Pretti have held a news conference since their son was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis in January. And a meeting on a controversial data center proposal in the northeast Minnesota...

The Hermantown City Council is expected to vote Tuesday whether to approve or reject a proposed Google data center after dozens of protesters blocked the start of Monday night’s meeting. Left wing-streamer Hasan Piker and Minnesota Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar joined DFL state Sen. Omar Fateh on Monday for an event some Democrats criticized as divisive. Tensions were high Monday night as the De...

The Hermantown City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on whether to approve a controversial Google data center in a rural area just outside Duluth. Google has made a few changes to the proposal in advance of the vote. The tech giant is dropping a plan for up to $80 million in property tax breaks. It also scaled down the size of the development. And former President Barack Obama endorsed Democra...

The Detroit Lakes School Board is meeting Monday. Some community members have signed up to give public comment about the board's recent efforts to ban rainbow stickers from school grounds. They'll now each only be allowed to speak for one minute. The University of Minnesota and CentraCare are launching a new medical school fellowship aimed at getting more doctors into rural areas who can deliver b...

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar cast her ballot today in her first public appearance since federal agents raided her home last week. And Minnesota officials say the federal government has stopped sharing evidence related to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis. Those stories and more in today’s evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by...

Several competing and collaborating groups are releasing lists of school board candidate endorsements. The conservative Minnesota Parents Alliance has endorsed 75 candidates in 52 Minnesota districts, and teacher unions have endorsed 89 candidates in 27 districts. After pressuring authorities for more than two and a half years, the family of a Minneapolis Indigenous woman finally feel justice was...

The Minnesota Secretary of State's office says Hennepin and Ramsey counties have been notified that the Justice Department will send election monitors there on Election Day. And it's another week with no change reported in long-standing drought conditions across most of Minnesota. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor update continues to list about 63 percent of the state in some level of drought. Just...

Candidates for governor Amy Klobuchar and Lisa Demuth held their first — and likely final — televised debate in Rochester on Wednesday. Questions covered fraud, taxes, healthcare, cancer treatment, gang violence and mining. Abortion came up, too. The Justice Department is seeking to disqualify two Minnesota federal judges from a pair of immigration-related cases after they made public comments abo...

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Peggy Flanagan provided evidence Wednesday of her membership in an academic honor society , undermining a national publication’s report that she inflated her credentials. The jarring turn followed a story in the Wall Street Journal earlier in the day that said Flanagan did not qualify to be a member of Phi Beta Kappa when she graduated from college. The society conta...

Republican Lisa Demuth says the first thing she would do as governor is sign an executive order adding more protections for state government whistleblowers. Democratic nominee Amy Klobuchar has said she would immediately order an audit of all departments of state government. And the race to replace Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty pits a Democratic state lawmaker against a veteran former fed...

A sprawling district in northeast Minnesota could determine who controls the state Senate. It’s a political rematch that's drawing a huge amount of outside money. Four years ago DFLer Grant Hauschild defeated GOP challenger Andrea Zupancich by about 700 votes. Starting this week, Minneapolis voters can take advantage of expanded early voting hours and special one-day pop-up locations around the ci...