Minnesota Now

The past few months have been full of headlines about the Trump administration’s stepped-up immigration policies and focus on deportations.

Leondra Hanson, an associate professor of legal studies at Hamline University, recently published an essay raising concern about the federal treatment of migrant children in the United States. She joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about her look into the rapidly changing immigration process.

Wednesday morning, the Minnesota Board of Pardons voted to commute the sentence of Brian Pippitt, a Native American man convicted of murdering a convenience store owner in 1998.

Pippitt has always maintained his innocence. Last year, the state’s Conviction Review Unit recommended Pippitt be exonerated and released from prison.

Native News reporter Melissa Olson was at the meeting and joins MPR News host Nina Moini to share more.

Correction Sept. 26, 2025: A previous version of this story incorrectly states the year the Clemency Review Commission was created. The audio and transcript have been corrected.

Former State Sen. Nicole Mitchell has been sentenced to six months in jail following her burglary conviction over the summer. MPR News reporter Mathew Holding Eagle III joined Minnesota Now live from Becker County with the latest updates.

A shooting at a south Minneapolis homeless encampment last week left many Twin Cities area leaders questioning how to navigate encampment policies. We heard how one leader with Hennepin County's homelessness prevention team is thinking about what types of resources are effective.

Native American activist Leonard Peltier is back home after nearly 50 years in prison. Our documentary brings you his reflections on how Indian activism has changed in that time.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Achat Sha'alti” by Paul Schoenfield and Carol Wincenc.

Homelessness has been top of mind for many leaders in the Twin Cities metro area in recent weeks. On Sept. 15, seven people were injured in a shooting at a homeless encampment in south Minneapolis that was on private property. Since then, one person has died from their injuries. It’s raising questions about how to best prevent and respond to homeless encampments.

David Hewitt, Hennepin County’s Housing Stability Director joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about leadership on homelessness at the county level, the types of services they provide and the work they do surrounding homelessness.

Former state Sen. Nicole Mitchell has been sentenced to six months in jail or a workhouse. Mitchell was found guilty of felony burglary and possession of burglary tools by a jury in July. Becker County's Judge Michael Fritz handed down the sentence in Detroit Lakes Tuesday morning. MPR News reporter Mathew Holding Eagle III was in the courtroom and joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about it.

Since Leonard Peltier’s days of activism in the 1970s with the American Indian Movement, life for Native people has improved dramatically. Those who supported his grant of clemency say that AIM was the spark that lit the flame.

The Trump administration is ending the federal government's reporting on hunger amidst an upheaval to the food benefit program SNAP. We'll hear from the new CEO of the region's largest food bank on how she's navigating these changes.

A professor at Bemidji State is developing a suicide screening tool specifically for Indigenous people. We'll learn more about his work.

Plus, the growing diversity of different languages spoken in Minnesota offers a snapshot of a changing state. We'll hear from two Sahan Journal reporters who analyzed survey data from the U.S. Census.

And Minnesota sports fans are celebrating! We'll get all the news on this weekend's wins from our sports contributors Wally and Eric.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Georgia on my Mind” by Willie Nelson and our Song of the Day “Golden Ray of Sun” by The Midnight Hounds.

There are a lot of happy Minnesota sports fans after a really remarkable weekend of wins for our professional sports teams. The Vikings, the Lynx, and yes, finally the Twins all came out on top.

Joining MPR News host Nina Moini to relive those victories are our sports contributors, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.

Every year, the American Community Survey, a survey affiliated with the U.S. Census Bureau, asks people across the country to share what languages they speak at home.

In Minnesota, those numbers not only help us understand immigration patterns and changes in language diversity, they also help shape state policy.

Sahan Journal data reporter Cynthia Tu and Sahan Journal reporting fellow Shubanjana Das recently published a story diving into the survey results and joined Minnesota Now to share more about their reporting.

The region’s largest food bank has a new leader. Sarah Moberg was named Second Harvest Heartland’s CEO last week. She takes on the new role with news over the weekend that the Trump administration is ending the federal government’s reporting on hunger in the nation. It’s just the latest upheaval after cuts to the food benefit program SNAP, which is used by millions.

Moberg joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about her new role and keeping track of hunger.