Minnesota Now

Since 2018, the Association on American Indian Affairs, based in Washington, D.C., has tracked potentially sensitive Native items sold at auctions around the world. Many of these items hold spiritual or cultural significance for tribes across the United States.

The organization has found an ally in Revere Auctions, a St. Paul-based auction house believed to be the only one in the country with a formal process for repatriating Native American items. The process provides a pathway for returning items of spiritual importance to tribal governments.

Shannon O’Loughlin, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the CEO and attorney for the Association on American Indian Affairs, and Sean Blanchet, co-founder of Revere Auctions, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to discuss this work.

A federal judge in St. Paul is set to hear the case of a 25-year-old Salvadoran mother who has been in ICE detention for more than two weeks. Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, who lives in Lake Elmo with her husband and two U.S. citizen children, was detained by Homeland Security agents in July while heading to work.

An immigration judge granted her release on a $10,000 bond, but ICE blocked it using a policy aimed at restricting bond for individuals who entered the U.S. without inspection. Her attorneys argue the policy shouldn’t apply to her, given her age at entry and full compliance with immigration proceedings.

MPR News senior reporter Sarah Thamer has been following the story and joined MPR News host Nina Moini with the latest on the case.

Read more: Minnesota mother remains in ICE custody despite judge's release order

St. Paul officials confirmed the cyberattack causing chaos in the city for the last two weeks was a ransomware attack. How does a ransomware attack impact a city? We'll break down what this means and how the city may be recovering with an expert from Metro State University.

Minneapolis is holding its tenth Trans Equity Summit . The event provides workshops and resources to the trans community. An organizer will join us to reflect the summit's impact.

And, today is the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department Director's last day on the job. Michelle Phillips will join us for an exit interview.

Plus, the Vikings won their first preseason game over the weekend. We'll get the weekly sports roundup from our contributors Wally and Eric.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Basketball” by Kurtis Blow and our Song of the Day was “Guitars Pickin', Fiddles Playin'“ by Goose Creek Symphony.

St. Paul city officials say they hope to get systems back online by the end of the week, after what they’re calling a ransomware attack. They said they have not paid the ransom.

Mayor Melvin Carter says the city is going through “Operation Secure St. Paul,” which includes manually resetting the passwords of 3,500 city employees.

To explain what a ransomware attack is, professor Faisal Kaleem joined Minnesota Now with Nina Moini. He’s the director of cybersecurity and cyber operations programs at Metro State University.

J.J. McCarthy is back in the game. The Vikings quarterback took to the field at U.S. Bank stadium Saturday — a year after he tore his meniscus. The injury ended his rookie season. He said at a press conference this weekend that it felt “unbelievable” to compete again.

McCarthy played for only the beginning of the game. He completed his first four passes.

The Vikings beat the Houston Texans 20 to 10 in the first game of the preseason. Joining Minnesota Now to talk about it are our sports contributors, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.

Monday is the last day on the job for Minneapolis Civil Rights Department director Michelle Phillips. She announced in June that she is leaving for another position. She’ll be the Assistant City Administrator in Oakland, California — where previously she was that city’s first inspector general.

Phillips joined the Minneapolis Civil Rights department just over a year ago. She faced turmoil in the process of investigating police misconduct and a long backlog of complaints. The city has since made progress on that backlog, according to the independent monitor that is overseeing its court-ordered police reforms.

Phillips joined Minnesota Now to reflect on her time working in her position.

The city of Minneapolis is holding its annual Trans Equity Summit on Monday. It’s a day-long event that was created in 2014 to share ideas on how to lift up the city’s transgender community. Hundreds gathered at the the University of Minnesota for discussions, a resource fair and music.

Shor Salkas is the LGBTQIA+ equity manager for the city of Minneapolis and helped to organize the summit. They joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini live from the summit.

An MPR news report shows that four Minneapolis police officers who have histories of using excessive force are now training other officers. We get the details from reporter Cari Spencer.

The Bemidji area is still recovering from a massive summer storm. It will cost $9.8 million to repair the damage. But that's not quite enough to request federal aid.

And we look at the Ojibwe community's memorial to the Sandy Lake tragedy.

Plus, ever get too much produce from the farmer's market? We have tips on using it up and keeping it fresh.

And we talk with an astronaut and flight surgeon from Minnesota who is going to space.

This time next year, NASA Astronaut Anil Menon will be in space. Dr. Menon is launching on his first mission to the International Space Station in June 2026. He’s previously been a flight surgeon for NASA and SpaceX and treated astronauts from mission control.

But before he was a physician or an astronaut, Dr. Menon was growing up in the Twin Cities. He joined guest host Chris Farrell on Minnesota Now to share more about how he’s preparing to go to space.

Summer in Minnesota means an abundance of fresh, local produce. There are endless reasons to take advantage of it - it's healthy, it supports the local economy and it's delicious.

MPR News producer Ellen Finn wants to dive in to everything the state's farms have to offer. but she’s been struggling with food waste. So she reached out for some support from Jenny Breen, a chef and educator at the University of Minnesota.

Our ask: Help me learn to cook with seasonal produce.

Our professional: Jenny Breen, a chef and educator at the University of Minnesota.