The Minnesota Now team recently had a live show at the new public library in Moorhead. To get there, we took scenic Highway 10 from St. Paul to learn more about the state from the road.

The Moorhead show will air Thursday. Each day until then, we will make a stop along the way, with audio postcards from notable roadside places.

First, we visit a place that promises to have something for everyone. Just an hour and a half north of the Twin Cities, tucked between St. Cloud and Brainerd, Treasure City is a gift shop unlike many others. Treasure City's Jennifer Janski gave us a special tour.

A beloved American novel about immigration and the Great Plains is getting a new life on stage in Minneapolis. Theater Latté Da will premiere a musical adaptation of Willa Cather’s classic novel “My Ántonia” at the Ritz Theater this week.

The 1918 novel cemented writer Willa Cather as one of America’s defining literary voices. It follows a lifelong friendship between first generation immigrants on the Nebraska prairie. More than a century later, the story still resonates across the Midwest for its portrayal of resilience and belonging.

Director Jessie Austrian and composer and lyricist Kate Kilbane joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the production. It will premiere Wednesday and run through July 12th at the Ritz Theater in northeast Minneapolis.

The school year is wrapping up for high schoolers. Soon, some teens will put down their backpacks and pick up an ice cream scoop, or maybe a lifeguard whistle. It’s the season of the summer job. But this year, it may be a bit harder to find one.

Over the past year Minnesota lost more than 5,000 jobs in leisure and hospitality – sectors that tend to hire youth. In March, the teen unemployment rate was 13.2 percent, nearly double what it was in March 2025, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The higher unemployment rate could be a return to what was typical before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Oriane Casale, assistant director of DEED’s Labor Market Information Office. Casale joined Minnesota Now along with Billie Jo Greene, who helps teens find jobs as team leader of the Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program in Bemidji.

Four Twin Cities leaders have received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on behalf of their communities. The JFK Library Foundation presents the annual award to elected officials and others who have shown courageous leadership. This year, the award committee recognized the people of the Twin Cities for the response to the surge of federal immigration agents this winter.

“Their compassion and unwavering commitment to the ideals that sustain our democracy inspired communities across this country and forced the federal government to back down,” Caroline Kennedy said of Twin Cities residents when she presented the award Sunday night.

MPR News host Nina Moini talked with Imam Yusuf Abdulle, one of the Minnesotans who went to Boston to accept the award. He leads the Islamic Association of North America and co-founded the Somali American Leadership Table in response to the surge.

Monday marks six years since a former Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd, setting off waves of protest and civil unrest across the country.

Several memorial events this weekend are happening in south Minneapolis at the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, where Floyd was killed — and where activists and neighbors are still at odds with the city over how best to remember him.

MPR News reporter Estelle Timar-Wilcox has been tracking the story for years. She joined Minnesota Now to talk about that debate and also the events planned this weekend.

Trump administration officials have announced new fraud charges.

Meanwhile, a federal judge has sentenced the ringleader of the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal to nearly 42 years in prison. Our reporter Matt Sepic was inside the courtroom for Aimee Bock's sentencing.

The city of Minneapolis is set to memorialize Birdell Beeks by placing her name on the street sign above the intersection where she was killed by a stray bullet ten years ago. Her daughter reflects on the work she's done to honor her mother's life.

Plus, six years after George Floyd's murder, a look at construction at George Floyd Square.

And we learned about an effort working to provide music education in Duluth and Haiti.

In the 10 years since losing her mother to gun violence Bunny Beeks has made it her mission to help other families endure these senseless tragedies and find justice. Now, she has honored her mother’s legacy once again by successfully asking the city to place her name, Birdell Beeks, on the street sign over the very intersection in north Minneapolis where her life was taken in May 2016.

It happened in broad daylight while she sat in her minivan in the middle of crossfire she had nothing to do with. Bunny Beeks joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini in the studio to reflect on the time that has passed since her mother’s death and the work that remains.

For the past few weeks, a group of young people in Duluth have been learning to write and perform music through the “That’s a Rap!” program by the Music Resource Center and the Kako Foundation, which also provides music education programs in Haiti.

They’ll have their final performance Thursday night.

Their instructor, Terrell Grier, and Rudy Perrault, president of the Kako Foundation, shared more about the program.

With the legislative session wrapped up, Minnesota Now dug into how crucial funding is being spent. First, how millions of dollars will help HCMC out of a financial crisis. Plus, how $90 million in technological upgrades will support counties in administrating SNAP and Medicaid.

A new scorecard on school test results nationwide found large achievement gaps at Minneapolis Public Schools.

Plus, Minnesota's Muslim community is tackling safety concerns after the mosque shooting in San Diego.

We heard from the state's next Supreme Court Chief Justice.

Meteorologist Sven Sundgaard gave the holiday weekend forecast.

And a Minnesota-made podcast is helping kids navigate puberty.

The Minnesota Music Minute was “Down Home Blues” by Deb Jenkins and “500 Dollars” by The Lamont Cranston Band was the Song of the Day.

Minnesota’s Muslim leaders are gathering their community together after a deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in California on Monday. Minnesota's Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-MN, gathered imams and mosque leaders along with local law enforcement to talk about the shooting and security preparations for upcoming large Muslim gatherings in Minnesota on Tuesday evening. The organization will host a virtual public training about safety protocols and tips for the Muslim community on Saturday.