Minnesota Now

Twenty-five people were hospitalized after severe turbulence forced a Delta flight into an emergency landing at MSP. We'll learn from a pilot what passengers can do to stay safe and why turbulence may be becoming more common.On Friday, thousands of Minnesotans will see their student loan balances grow. We'll learn about big changes to student loans on the horizon with an advocate.It's been two years since recreational marijuana became legal in the state. We'll talk to a business owner in Duluth on the verge of being the first non-tribal store to sell legal cannabis. Plus hear from a Minnesota fashion designer on the new season of Project Runway.Our Minnesota Music Minute was "Leave her Johnny" by Sycamore Gap. 

In our series Thank You, Stranger, we hear the stories of how strangers can make our lives a little brighter, or lift us up in a difficult moment. Sarah Thuleen lost her baby due to a prolapsed cord. With her partner away, a nurse named Pat at the Mother Baby Center at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis helped her through the crisis.Thuleen said Pat advocated for her during a scary process with a lot of unknowns. Thuleen spoke to Minnesota Now producer Ellen Finn about her experience.

“Project Runway” season 21 will premiere on Freeform Thursday night. The reality competition features 12 contestants who compete through a series of fashion design challenges. And this season, you'll see a Minnesotan on your screen. Ethan Mundt is from a small town outside Rochester and studied theatre production and art at Hamline University. He is no stranger to the TV screen. He competed on “RuPaul's Drag Race” as Utica Queen. Mundt spoke with Minnesota Now senior producer Aleesa Kuznetsov to talk about his experience on the show.

Friday marks two years since Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana. A business owner says he is less than a week away from opening the first adult-use, nontribal recreational cannabis shop in the state. That business owner is Josh Wilken-Simon, who owns Legacy Cannabis in Duluth. He joined Minnesota Now to talk about the winding road to opening a recreational marijuana business in the state.

The entire landscape of student loans is undergoing a lot of change. Starting Friday, thousands of Minnesotans who are on the student loan SAVE plan will see their balances grow, with interest now being re-applied. Though SAVE borrower's payments are still on pause. It's one of many changes that are taking place over the next several years. The state of Minnesota has one person dedicated to helping borrowers navigate their repayments. Jabra Kawas is the state's first and only Student Loan Advocate under the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Kawas says last year he worked with 230 people. This year he already has 250 cases. He joined Minnesota Now to talk about the upcoming changes to student loans.

Passengers on a Delta flight from Utah to Amsterdam found themselves diverted to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Wednesday night after severe turbulence prompted an emergency landing. Their plane took off from Salt Lake City Wednesday afternoon. About an hour into the flight, they ran into turbulence that caused the plane's altitude to drop about 1,000 feet within a minute – according to the flight-tracking website, FlightAware. Delta said 25 people on board were injured. They were taken to hospitals after landing. We wanted to know more about what causes severe turbulence. Kwasi Adjekum is professor of aviation and aerospace sciences at the University of North Dakota. He spoke to Minnesota Now guest host Chris Farrell.

On Minnesota Now, we hear from many different people in Minnesota over the phone and in the studio. But we don't often meet them in the community, where news and life happens. In our Out to Lunch series, MPR News host Nina Moini sits down for a meal with people from Minnesota news and culture.Real estate CEO Kris Lindahl is best known for his billboard advertisements, where he's pictured with a cheeky smile and his arms spread out wide. His numerous billboards across Minnesota have generated countless memes and online conversation, some good and some bad. But even if you've seen his face, there's probably a lot you don't know about Lindahl. In his new memoir “Arms Out,” Lindahl shares about growing up in poverty and not always stable housing, his father's struggles with addiction and navigating high school after his father was murdered.   

The National Guard and the FBI are supporting the city of St. Paul in responding to a cyberattack. We talk to a cybersecurity expert about the information that could be at risk and the work being done to secure city systems. The White House is criticizing Minnesota Star Tribune immigration coverage and dedicated a press release to call out their stories. We talk about what this signals for press freedom. Earthquakes, tsunamis and wildfire smoke: we talk about it all with Paul Huttner. Plus, you have likely seen his face on hundreds of billboards across the state. We go beyond the billboard with real estate CEO Kris Lindahl in our latest Out to Lunch series.

You are likely seeing or smelling wildfire smoke on Wednesday. The entire state is under an extended air quality alert that will last through Saturday. At the same time, we are beginning to see pleasant temperatures across the state. MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joins Minnesota Now with details.

St. Paul has declared a state of emergency over what appears to be a massive cyberattack. The city is working with the Minnesota National Guard, the FBI and two private cybersecurity firms to respond to the cyberattack, which is disrupting city services including payment systems, libraries, recreation centers and city hall. For more on how cyberattacks like this one occur and the issues they can cause, Minnesota Now guest host Chris Farrell talks with Faisel Kaleem, director of cybersecurity and cyber operations programs at Metro State University.

The Trump administration has singled out Minnesota's largest newspaper for its coverage of immigration enforcement. A press release Tuesday accused the Minnesota Star Tribune of covering for people the White House called “criminal illegal immigrants.” The statement linked to social media posts from federal agencies that criticized Star Tribune immigration stories as well as an opinion column. For its part, the newspaper told MPR News, “we stand by our reporting and don't have any additional comment.” Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for Media Ethics and Law and the University of Minnesota, joins Minnesota Now guest host Chris Farrell to talk about the White House statement and its press freedom implications.

Starting this Thursday, local theaters across the Twin Cities will be filled with unique projects, plays and performances as part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival. In all, there will be hundreds of performances over 11 days. “Manasu” is a play featuring a South Asian queer love story, with an all South Asian cast. Divya Maiya is the playwright and director of the show and the co-founder of the South Asian Arts and Theater House in the Twin Cities. She joined Minnesota Now to talk about the show and the Fringe Festival.

New data is out about gun deaths in Minnesota. They creeped up in 2024, despite new laws to keep weapons out of the hands of potentially violent people. We got the details on how advocates are taking action.If you've tried to buy gold or silver recently, you know those prices are remarkably high. It's driven by uncertainty around federal tariff policies. We'll hear from a jeweler about how her business is impacted.We learned more about how uncertainty for immigrant workers under the Trump administration is playing out in rural Minnesota.A new play with the Minnesota Fringe Festival this weekend highlights queer relationships in the South Asian community. We talked to the playwright.Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Broken Wing” by Good Night Gold Dust and our Song of the Day was “Sleight of Hand (feat. Aby Wolf & Omaur Bliss)” by Joey Van Phillips.

The price of gold and silver has been surging. This year has seen international gold prices rising nearly 30 percent, driven by increased demand for secure investments amidst the ongoing economic uncertainty surrounding President Trump's tariff policies and global political tensions. Last month, silver hit its highest price in more than 13 years. Cheryl Lais has run Heirloom Jewelry out of the Hopkins Antique Mall since 2002. She sells one-of-a-kind, vintage jewelry pieces. She joined Minnesota Guest host Chris Farrell to talk about how rising gold and silver prices have impacted her business.

Foreign-born workers play a major role in Minnesota's agricultural and hospitality sectors. Many of these workers have come to the United States on temporary visas or have some other legal status, while many others are undocumented. President Donald Trump's efforts to restrict immigration and step up enforcement have caused uncertainty for some workers with and without legal status. Ma Elena Gutierrez, the founder of the immigration advocacy organization Fe y Justica, and Fernando Quijano, a University of Minnesota extension educator for community economics based in Moorhead, joined Minnesota Now to discuss how this uncertainty is carrying over into the rural economy.

A new report that looks at gun violence in Minnesota found that gun deaths increased year-over-year in 2024. The analysis by Protect Minnesota found 564 Minnesotans lost their lives to gun violence in 2024. That's slightly up from 530 people in 2023.  It's in contrast to what's happening in the United States. CDC data shows a 5 percent decrease in gun deaths in 2024. More than 44,000 people died of gunshot wounds last year, compared to 46,000 in 2023. Joining Minnesota Now to help us dig deeper into this report is Maggiy Emery, the executive director of Protect Minnesota.  

Powerful storms swept across the state Sunday night and we're tracking severe storms again later Monday. We'll check in on storm damage and get the latest forecast from MPR News Meteorologist Mandy Thalhuber.For decades, Minnesota has been a hub for Fortune 500 companies. We'll learn about the changing landscape for how businesses thrive here.Plus, less people are crossing into Minnesota from Canada this summer. We'll check in with two Grand Marais businesses that rely on tourism.And more people are entering retirement with more debt. We'll learn what's behind this trend.The Lynx home game winning streak has been snapped. We'll catch up with our sports contributors Wally and Eric.Our Minnesota Music Minute was “There You Are (Beautiful)” by Kiss the Tiger and our Song of the Day was “Tequila and Pills” by Thomas and the Shakes.

The Minnesota Lynx are currently the No. 1 team in the WNBA. On Wednesday night, they'll face off against the No. 2 team, and arguably their league rival, the New York Liberty. It will be the first time the two teams will play against each other since the Lynx had a heartbreaking loss against the Liberty in the WNBA finals. Plus in golf, the weather itself was a player in this weekend's 3M Open golf tournament in Blaine. Golfer Kurt Kitayama won the trophy under sweltering heat before the storms rolled in.Joining Minnesota Now to give us the latest sports headlines are contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.

In a 12-part series for our sister station Marketplace called “Buy Now, Pay Later” we look at the trend of people entering retirement with a lot of debt. On Minnesota Now for the next two weeks, we'll be sharing some stories from this series. We'll start by looking at the changes over decades to America's social safety net.This series was produced in partnership with Next Avenue, a non-profit news platform for older adults with Twin Cities PBS.

Summer is a busy time for road trips and travel on the North Shore. But data from the Department of Transportation shows that fewer people are crossing from Canada into Minnesota. This June, there were about 16 percent fewer people traveling in by car compared to last June. That's about 26,000 fewer people who came to visit our state. Earlier this year, MPR News host Angela Davis and Minnesota Now guest host Chris Farrell traveled to the Minnesota-Canada border to talk about how the U.S. tariffs on Canada have affected the relationship between the two nations. Minnesota Now is checking in on how that relationship may have slowed summer traffic into the states. John Fredrikson is an owner of the Gunflint Lodge & Outfitters in Grand Marais, and Kirsten Brune is a manager at the restaurant My Sister's Place also in Grand Marais. They spoke to Farrell about the changes they are seeing.

A derecho is possible across central and southern Minnesota late Monday into Monday night, bringing a significant wind threat. Wind gusts over 75 mph are possible, along with heavy rain and embedded tornadoes within the line. MPR Meteorologist Mandy Thalhuber joined MPR News guest host Chris Farrell to explain what a derecho is and other severe weather threats heading our way.

Almost 15 years ago, University of Minnesota professor Myles Shaver made some keen observations about Minnesota's unusually high number of Fortune 500 companies. His research showed that the state's strong business landscape comes from talent in one field attracting talent from other fields to the region. The business landscape has changed over the years since Shaver published his research in the 2012 book called "Headquarters Economy." So he's working on a brand new batch of research about Minnesota's economy and why big business thrives here. Shaver joined MPR News guest host Chris Farrell to talk about the changing business landscape in Minnesota.

Clean up from Sunday night's severe weather and another round is coming Monday night. As of noon, Xcel Energy is reporting 25,000 people are still without power across the state.Reporter Estelle Timar-Wilcox is tracking storm damage and joined Minnesota Now guest host Chris Farrell.

Minnesota-based UnitedHealth is under investigation by the Department of Justice for its Medicare billing practices. It's just the latest in a string of setbacks the powerful insurer has faced recently. We learn more from a Wall Street Journal reporter.Housing in the Twin Cities is pricier than ever. We hear how first-time buyers can cope.And young people are losing confidence in their future social security benefits. We break down why.Plus, summer is the time to swim. But for adults who didn't learn during childhood, developing water skills can be daunting. We have tips on trying it out.And we hear the story of how early miners on the Iron Range contributed to a bedrock of U-S transportation.Today's Minnesota Music Minute was “You Are There” by Connie Evingson. The Song of the Day was “Light Switch” by Fall Risk.

Did you know that a major part of the American transit system as we know it got started on the Iron Range in Minnesota? The Greyhound Bus Museum in Hibbing, Minn., tells the story of how the bus line began more than 110 years ago, toting miners from town to town in northern Minnesota. Ron Dicklich has a long history of his own capturing and telling the stories of the Greyhound bus. The volunteer director at the Greyhound Bus Museum and former state senator joined Minnesota Now to share more.

We all need a little help to get through life sometimes. From everyday questions to more complex problems, we're asking the experts to lend us a hand.Throughout the series Professional Help, we'll hear some direct advice, for us not-so-direct Minnesotans.Summer is a great time to enjoy the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But for adults who didn't learn to swim during childhood, developing water skills can be daunting. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 40 million adults in the U.S. do not know how to swim. Minnesota Now producer Ellie Roth asked an expert about learning to swim as an adult. Our ask: Help me learn to swim as an adult.Our professional: Molly Belk, Aquatic Program Manager at V3 Sports, a North Minneapolis organization that teaches families to swim and aims to close the racial gap in swimming safety. Find more information about V3 Sports swimming lessons on their website.

Confidence in the future of Social Security among younger adults is at a 15-year low, according to a new survey from AARP, the interest group focused on issues affecting Americans over 50.AARP has been tracking public attitudes and opinions about Social Security for decades. AARP Minnesota Director Cathy McLeer and Doug Craig, a retire and volunteer with AARP Minnesota, joined Minnesota Now to discuss the study's findings and the impact of Social Security in Minnesota.

Housing prices in Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro are hitting all-time highs. The latest report from Minnesota Realtors looked at the housing market in June and found that statewide, median home prices rose to a record high of $370,000. In the Twin Cities alone, the median price is $401,000. It's the first time the metro has seen median prices over $400,000. Andy Babula, the director of the Real Estate Program at the University of St. Thomas, joined Minnesota Now to break down what this means for the housing market and first-time home buyers.

UnitedHealth Group said Thursday it is cooperating with civil and criminal requests from the United States Department of Justice over its Medicare practices. The Wall Street Journal reported in May that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Minnesota-based company for criminal Medicare fraud. This comes after a civil probe into UnitedHealth the newspaper reported earlier this year and a series of articles about the company's billing practices. The Wall Street Journal found UnitedHealth had received billions of dollars from Medicare for diagnoses that some doctors said were incorrect or irrelevant. Wall Street Journal reporter Anna Mathews joined Minnesota Now to talk about the reporting.

Extreme heat is sweeping across parts of the state and some of the humidity may be due to something called corn sweat. And we track the chance of severe weather and get the latest forecast from MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner. Minnesota researchers have found that obstetric care is dwindling across the country. The decline is hitting rural communities the hardest. Plus, we learn more about plans for a massive data center in southeastern Minnesota. A Minnesota Star Tribune report is finding a lot of secrecy around the process.Minnesota-based Minnetonka Moccasin is making reparations after appropriating Native designs.Eight murals will be going up in north Minneapolis this weekend as part of a new art festival.Today's Minnesota Music Minute is “Not Going Home” by Frankie Torres. “Grod” by Charlieboy is the Song of the Day.

Minneapolis will be home to eight new murals after the MPower Northside Arts Festival on Saturday. The festival will scatter local artists to paint murals at grocery stores, churches and other businesses along the West Broadway corridor. Festival organizer Melodee Strong joins MPR News host Nina Moini with details. Editor's note: Participating artist Esther Osayande was unable to join to do technical difficulties.

A recent study by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health looks at obstetric care in all 50 states. It found a widespread loss in care for pregnant people that is disproportionately impacting rural communities. The study's lead author, Katy Backes Kozhimannil, joins MPR News host Nina Moini to dig into its findings. Kozhimannil is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and co-director of the Rural Health Research Center at the University of Minnesota.

The Minnesota-based footwear brand Minnetonka Moccasin has been around since 1946, but it made its mark in the shoe industry by appropriating Native footwear and designs. Since issuing a public apology in 2021 for decades of profiting from Native culture, the company has been working to reconcile with Native American tribes. Their newest initiative is the Minnetonka Reclamation Collaborative, which brings together Native artists to redesign the company's appropriated designs, create new products and reclaim cultural narratives. It launched at the beginning of the month.For more, MPR News host Nina Moini talks with reconciliation advisor Adrienne Benjamin, who leads the effort and is a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

Across the country, technology companies are searching for land to build large-scale data centers, or physical facilities that house the computers for cloud services and artificial intelligence. About 10 tech giants, such as Microsoft and Meta, have proposed data centers in Minnesota to support their growing AI networks. The Minnesota Star Tribune has found that Google may also be looking for land to build a data center in Minnesota, according to emails obtained through a public records request. For more, MPR News host Nina Moini talks with the Minnesota Star Tribune's Walker Orenstein, who reported the story.

A heat advisory is in effect Wednesday from noon to the evening for the Twin Cities region and southern Minnesota. A serious heat wave has hit the state this week, with high humidity adding to the danger of hot temperatures. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joins MPR News host Nina Moini to explain the forecast for the rest of the week.

Since first hitting the scene in 2018 with his pop culture-soaked musicality, Nur-D has stayed busy. His latest album, “Chunkadelic,” is his tenth full-length project in seven years. Ahead of its release, he stopped by Minnesota Public Radio to perform a few tracks and talk with MPR News arts reporter Jacob Aloi.This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Tell me a little about ‘Chunkadelic.'The whole project spins around this record, which was birthed out of a very mean comment on Reddit. A while back ago, we finally had a video go semi-viral on Reddit — me and the rest of the friendly neighborhood SpiderBand. We're all in tie dye. We're all having a good time, loving ourselves, enjoying the music we're making. You know, the internet can't have any of that. So this dude, somebody on the internet, typed in the comment section, “This looks like Chunkadelic.”I was like, honestly, this is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen.  It was supposed to be mean, but this is right. This is exactly who I am. But we sat on it for years. And then as we were getting together, making this record, I said to myself, “Chunkadelic”, and DJ Hayes was like, “Should we use that name now?” And it kind of just exploded to what it is now.DJ Hayes is your collaborator.He's on half of the record as producer. “Chunkadelic” is homegrown, like we cooked that from the kitchen in our house, like we made it up.You've described it as one of your most personal projects. What are you exploring in this album?It is a lot about finding joy in the face of adversity. Like, radical creativity under societal pressure to conform. One of the things that people ask me all the time is, “Oh, hey, like, why haven't you popped off?”And it's like there is an entire complex, a ton of people who get paid to make sure that only certain types of people get into the positions of musical acceptance. People get to go to the show once they pay their dues and shave off the weird parts of themselves that make them unmarketable. And so for me, this record was kind of just my rejection of that as a concept.The industry works great for some people, and that's awesome. What I found is like, the more I just hang out with the people that rock with me, the people who just want their music a little bit different, who are cool with me saying the things that I believe in out loud and unapologetically — they're gonna rock with me. So this record is kind of, like, I don't know — a butterfly moment out of a cocoon. Like, how far do I go into the industry? How far do I just lean into just making art, for art's sake? And the butterfly that came out of it was “Chunkadelic.” It was just like, “I'm gonna do me. I'm gonna be weird. I've decided that that's what I'm gonna do, if that is no longer in vogue, cool.” It makes me think about the Billy Joel song, “The Entertainer.” There's a line in it that says: “If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit. So they cut it down to 3:05.” You have a similar line in one of your other songs.“Two Minutes and 30 Seconds,” I remember I had a professor when I was in music business school. I was going for a music business major, and he told me “two minutes and 30 seconds” — after that, you're losing them.And there is this industry standard of clickbaity, repeatable, “let's get you on a TikTok sound,” and that's all you need. If you can just get a chorus, you're good, you know? And while I like that in certain accesses, because it allows for people to come up with cool, catchy stuff… I miss being rewarded for listening from track one all the way down to track 15, and you can feel the home-cooked meal-ness of a record. And so that's what I'm trying to do. What were some of the things that you were thinking about, or some artists you might have been listening to, when you were coming up with these tracks? I really wanted to take the time to not only listen to the funk genre, but also listen to the things that I enjoy… Anderson .Paak was one of the people I was listening to a lot. Because, while not specifically funk, his decision to be unique in his records was really, like, integral to me. Not only that, but George Clinton — obviously. “Funkadelic” is the main inspiration. “[Not Just] Knee Deep” was one of the first songs for me that I think really gripped me as a musician. And I didn't hear it on a record. I didn't hear it in concert — I heard it on “Good Burger.” Nur-D performs live in the Current Studio In the movie “Good Burger,” Kenan (Thompson) and Kel (Mitchell) end up in an insane asylum, and then in order to get out, there's a big dance number. And that dance number was to “Knee Deep, and George Clinton's in it; he's in the scene. And I just remember thinking to myself as a kid, this is so much fun, like music can be like this. I would rewind that little orange VHS tape over and over and over again, just to wear that scene out. And so that's like, in me, it's always been in me. It's been there since I was a little kid. And so I'm excited to be able to finally let that come out. I think one thing that maybe gets mistaken for your performance style is that it's just comedy, but really, you're having a good time. Being unapologetically happy about what you're doing is one of the biggest forms of resistance. I personally feel comedy — and laughter and joy — cuts through the fear that often is used to keep people in particular spaces.If you're laughing, if you're enjoying yourself, if you're poking fun, it requires a lot more work from the opposition to stop you. Because people want to laugh, people want to have a good time. And so what I try to bring to my thing, this “Nur-D” thing is, like — I am entertainment. I'm not a distraction.I'm the fiddler in the trenches. I am just as much a part of the war and the fight for what we need to do, as you guys are, people who are listening. But my job is to keep you motivated, to keep you having fun, thinking that tomorrow is worth it, and therefore, we will fight. It's comedy. It's fun. I make jokes. I'm gonna make a lot of them, but like, it's because… being sad is what they want. And I don't want to do that anymore. I want to just be happy.When you say that's what “they” want, what do you mean by that?I mean the powers that be… not to get too conspiracy theory about it, but there are people out there who have a vested interest in you buying what they're selling. And a lot of the time, they manufacture scarcity, they manufacture hurt so that you will buy the joy that they are selling: the temporary joy that they are selling. And for me, I'm like, no, let's bring some real joy, joy that comes from within, joy that can't be taken from you. And love for yourself, love for the things that make you happy. If you can operate in that, there is no force — business, political or otherwise — that can stop you. And then getting linked up with people that also agree with you? Now we're a super team. Now we can't be stopped. It's like Power Rangers up in here. Is there anything else you want to say about the record? I'd want to say, listen to it a thousand times a day, every day for the rest of your life, to help me pay rent! What I really want to say about the record is thank you to the Minnesota music community for kind of giving me proof of concept, sticking with me throughout all of these records, all of these projects.10 projects within the seven-year span that I've been out, to have them all be so well received, is so awesome. I'm very lucky. I understand how blessed I am in that capacity. So with this 10th record, it is really a thank you to the scene.

A grocery store in St. Paul is closing, leaving 96 employees out of a job and nearby residents with fewer grocery options. We talked with a councilmember and a leader of a local group about efforts to fill vacant lots and revitalize the area. The man charged in the shootings of Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses could face the death penalty in his federal case. We got some context on how prosecutors and juries make capital punishment decisions. We talked to a reporter who followed two Minneapolis eighth graders through their first year of school in the United States. In the latest Wander and Wonder, we met a man fighting for honeybees. Twin Cities rapper NUR-D is dropping a new album on Wednesday. We got a sneak peek.Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Chunkadelic” by NUR-D and our Song of the Day was “Late Bloom” by Vicky Laske.

Federal prosecutors say it's possible they will seek the death penalty in the case of Vance Boelter, the man charged with killing Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounding Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. It's been more than 100 years since Minnesota's last state execution. The state abolished capital punishment in 1911. Federal prosecutors have not sought the death penalty in a Minnesota-based case since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Robin Maher joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the possibility that Boelter will face the death penalty. Maher is the Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Another grocery store is leaving St. Paul. Cub Foods in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood announced it will close on August 2. The closure will leave just one major grocer nearby, Target, though Aldi and other smaller ethnic grocery stores are in the neighborhood. It also follows the closure of nearby Lunds & Byerlys in downtown St. Paul.The closing Cub Foods will leave an additional vacancy in a neighborhood that is working to revitalize. Interim St. Paul city council member Matt Privratsky, who represents part of the Hamline-Midway area and Dawn Einwalter, president of the Hamline Midway Coalition joined Minnesota Now to talk about the future of business in the area.

In middle school, so much can change over the course of a single school year, or even a semester. A new story by Sahan Journal goes inside a Minneapolis classroom where students who recently moved to the United States are learning to navigate not just a new school but also a new country. Education reporter Becky Dernbach followed two eighth-graders through their first few months of school, which coincided with President Trump's return to the White House, a federal immigration crackdown – and heightened fears of deportation. Dernbach joined Minnesota Now to talk about her reporting.

Democratic state Sen. Nicole Mitchell will resign her seat after she was found guilty on burglary charges late last week. Politics reporter Dana Ferguson will join us from the Capitol to explain how this could change the political balance of the legislature. Democratic Socialist and state Sen. Omar Fateh won the Minneapolis DFL endorsement for Mayor. He's the first mayoral candidate to do so since 2009.A new report finds that warming is accelerating in the Great Lakes region due to climate change. And a north Minneapolis organization is moving into a larger space to help people keep their pets as costs rise. Plus, the WNBA All-Star Game blurs the usual team rivalries. But the Minnesota Lynx took it by storm.Our Minnesota Music Minute was “The Horse” by Products Band and our Song of the Day was “It's U” by Rob Coates.

Two Minnesota Lynx players celebrated the 2025 All-Star Weekend by livestreaming basically the entire thing on the platform Twitch. Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman took viewers inside practices and parties, picking up 500,000 views and reaching 70,000 followers to their account, StudBudz. Sports Illustrated called it a "generation-defining piece of WNBA content."During warm ups, the players wore shirts that said “Pay Us What You Owe Us.”Meantime during the game Napheesa Collier broke an all-star game scoring record. Joining Minnesota Now to talk about the game, plus the Twins and other Minnesota sports news, are our sports contributors, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.