The entire state woke up in frost on Monday.

Winter is undeniably on its way. And this leaves everyone from neighborhood squirrels to farmers taking stock of what the summer yielded — and cleaning up for winter.

Michael Johnson is the news editor for Agweek and he and his wife also grow vegetables and cut flowers near Deer Creek in Western Minnesota.

He recently wrote a column reflecting on the growing season. He talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about it.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

The Twin Cities area is home to more than 40 international grocers.

In many places, international grocers are stepping up to fill food deserts. MPR Correspondent Regina Medina recently reported on the entrepreneur behind Colonial Market, the Latino grocery store with plans to open in North Minneapolis in the former Aldi location at Penn and Lowry.

If you’re trying to find a specific ingredient or check out a new store, it can be hard to know where to start.

Local food and music critic Ali Elabbady wrote an exhaustive list of all of them for the alt-weekly internet publication Racket.

He talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about it.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump are both in Pennsylvania Monday as the nominees chase votes in a very tight presidential race.

The schedules of their running mates had the two VP candidates minutes apart at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. Republican Senator JD Vance swung through for a fundraiser and Democratic Governor Tim Walz departed for a series of events in Wisconsin.

MPR News has dispatched reporters to those campaign events. Our politics editor Brian Bakst filled us in on the latest.

The Pohlad family says they intend to sell the Twins. We’ll get the latest on the decision that has surprised sports fans nationwide. The Lynx are three wins away from a WNBA title. We’ll talk to a team executive about their ride to the 2024 championships.

The southeastern U.S. has been barraged by hurricanes this month. We’ll learn how man made tweaks to the Mississippi here in Minnesota affect damage from storms down south.

One in 16 Somali Minnesotan children is diagnosed with autism. That’s almost four times more than the state average. Minneapolis’ director of special education is here to talk about support. Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Gigawaabamin” by Bizhiki and our Song of the Day was “Pitter Patter” by The Orange Goodness.

The southeastern U.S. has captured our attention over the last month with the barrage of hurricanes that have passed through the region, causing mass destruction from wind and floodwater. The storms harken back memories of the nation’s last extreme hurricane — Ida ripped through part of the Gulf Coast in 2021.

Minnesota is more connected to the flooding and land loss that region faces than you might think. The way we control the Mississippi River has serious implications on the future of that land.

Minnesota journalist Katie Thornton looked into that connection in a sprawling report about the politics of dams and levees in The Guardian. She joined the program to share what she found.

The Minnesota Lynx are in New York for the first game of the WNBA finals. They tip off against the New York Liberty at 7 p.m.

These are the top two teams in the WNBA. New York is coming back to try to win a title after losing to the Las Vegas Aces in last year’s finals. The Lynx are in the finals for the first time since 2017, when they won their fourth championship.

Lynx fans say this finals run could be the start of something big.

“I would say they’re almost there as a dynasty level,” said Lynx fan Devin Xiong. “No matter what, this is the start of something, I think it is the start of something.”

Joining the program to talk about how they got here is Lynx President of Business Operations Carley Knox, who’s worked for the team since 2010.

One in 16 Somali-Minnesota 4-year-olds has autism. That’s compared with one in 53 of their classmates.

The data comes from a 2023 Centers for Disease Control autism survey, with help from two University of Minnesota researchers who are tracking the rise in overall diagnoses over the years.

For another perspective on this data, Dr. Deeqaifrah Hussein is on the line. She is the executive director of special education with Minneapolis Public Schools.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is considering a challenge to a deal between the Minneapolis school district and teachers’ union. The agreement in question ended a Minneapolis teachers’ strike two and a half years ago and included job protections for teachers of color.

Before the agreement, Minneapolis Public Schools would have to lay off teachers in order of seniority, so the last ones hired would be the first let go. Now the district can exempt teachers from underrepresented groups from that rule. But a Minneapolis resident sued over this provision, saying it’s unconstitutional. What the court is weighing is whether a taxpayer, who helps fund the district, has legal standing to sue over something like a union contract.

Sahan Journal education reporter Becky Dernbach has been following this and she joins MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to break it down.

Hurricane Milton is approaching Florida’s west coast and is expected to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Here in Minnesota, there is special attention on the storm because so many Minnesotans now live there or have a second vacation home there.

For the past few days, hundreds of thousands of people have evacuated their homes, clogging hotels and highways to get out of the path of the hurricane. One of them is St. Paul resident Tim Dykstal.

Tim lives in Minnesota, but drove down to Florida to stay in a shared family condo and play golf in Palm Harbor, about a mile inland from the coast. He left the condo and is taking shelter in a hotel to ride out the storm. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talks with him.

Hurricane Milton is barreling towards Florida’s gulf coast as a catastrophic Category 4 storm with winds of 145 miles per hour. We talk to one Minnesotan who went to Tampa on vacation and is now taking cover in a shelter.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is looking at whether a Minneapolis resident has the right to sue Minneapolis Public Schools over something in its teacher contract. We break down the arguments.

Plus, a Minnesota man is looking to squash his own record for the world’s largest pumpkin. That would be more than 2,700 lbs.! We check in with him as he gets ready to transport this year’s pumpkin to a competition in California.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Candy” by Cameo.

Our Song of the Day was “june” by “honeygrl”.