Minnesota Now

If legislative leaders and Governor Tim Walz had their way, all 201 lawmakers would be headed back to the Capitol for a special session as soon as Wednesday. The governor has not yet made that report-for-duty call, and the legislature hasn’t polished up the budget enough to stage bills for up-or-down votes.

Officials are making early preparations for a possible partial government shutdown, but that worst-case scenario is still weeks away. Peter Cox joined Minnesota Now from the Capitol to talk about what’s ready and what’s still holding things up.

One woman is dead and five others were shot following a mass shooting at Boom Island Park in Minneapolis last night. As police are preparing for busier months ahead, Minneapolis police Chief Brian O'Hara will join us to talk about violence prevention this summer.

A new study finds it's becoming more difficult for teachers to afford to rent or own homes in the communities they teach in. We'll learn why that matters and what effect this trend is having in Minnesota.

Plus, a Minnesota youth-led conservation group is tackling local environmental problems. We'll hear from two teens behind the Green Crew.

And the Lynx are undefeated to start the season. We'll get the latest from our sports contributors Wally and Eric.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “In The Light” by Laamar and our Song of the Day was “Minnesota Moon” by The Big Wu.

This weekend there was a concentration of Minnesota teams on the West Coast. The Twins lost their series in Seattle while Minnesota United won in that same city. The Lynx won their game in San Francisco against the WNBA's newest team, the Golden State Valkyries.

The Twins, Loons and Lynx will all be at home for their next games.

Our sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson joined Minnesota Now to tell us what to expect.

A group of Twin Cities teens want youth to feel more hopeful about the future of our world. They’re turning to their own back yards to tackle climate change. The Green Crew is a youth-led conservation and leadership program. It was recently featured in the New York Times as part of the “50 States, 50 Fixes” series about local solutions to environmental problems.

Joining Minnesota Now to talk about the Green Crew is Hannah Barisonzi. She is a junior at The Blake School and the founder of the Green Crew and Griffith Pugh, who just finished his freshman year of college and is a co-founder of the Green Crew.

A new study from the National Council on Teacher Quality shows that housing costs are outpacing the growth of teacher salaries across the country, including here in Minnesota.

As part of a sample of more than 72 large urban school districts around the U.S., the research and advocacy group looked at whether teachers at Anoka-Hennepin Public School District and St. Paul Public Schools could afford to rent or own a home in the community they teach in.

From 2019 to 2025, the study found in Anoka-Hennepin schools, teacher salaries increased on average 21 percent, while home prices jumped by nearly 36 percent and rental costs by nearly 51 percent.

In St. Paul Public Schools during the same time period, teacher salaries increased on average 19 percent, with home prices increasing nearly 29 percent and rent nearly 51 percent.

Joining Minnesota Now to talk about what impact housing affordability has on teacher retention and the education system is Heather Peske, the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality and John Wolhaupter, an educator in the Anoka-Hennepin Public School District.

A shooting at Boom Island Park near downtown Minneapolis left one woman dead and six injured Sunday night. Of those six, five people were shot. The Minneapolis Police Department said that the shooting happened at a gathering of more than a hundred people at the popular park.

Sunday night’s events prompted the city of Minneapolis to announce the launch of what it’s calling ‘Operation Safe Summer’ to curb the uptick in violence the city sees during the warmer months. Police Chief Brian O’Hara joined Minnesota Now to explain.

Jeanette Rupert, Jeanelle Austin and Butchy Austin grew up around 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis and all took action in different ways following the murder of George Floyd. They shared with MPR News how their activism has impacted them and their communities in the time since.

The prairie is teeming with such a wide diversity of living things that it’s on par with tropical rainforests. But it often doesn’t get the same attention or concern.  

In a new book, a pair of Minnesota journalists document the story of North American grasslands as well as efforts to protect and restore them.

Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty are the authors of “Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie.” They joined Minnesota Now to talk about their book.

The first recreational cannabis dispensary off tribal land in Minnesota is expected to open as early as this weekend. White Earth Nation’s cannabis company, Waabigwan Mashkiki, will run the store in Moorhead. 

This comes after White Earth and the state signed an agreement earlier this week. It’s the first of its kind in the United States, because it recognizes the authority of a tribal nation to regulate dispensaries off reservation land.  

Mary Jane Oatman is executive director of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association. She’s an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe and a descendant of the Delaware Tribe. Oatman spoke to Minnesota Now We about how the deal fits into the wider scope of tribal cannabis agreements around the country.

The first recreational cannabis dispensary outside of tribal land in Minnesota is set to open this weekend. We'll learn about the historic partnership between the White Earth Reservation and the state, that will lead the tribe to set up shop off the reservation.

Did you know that Minnesota's grasslands have as much biodiversity as tropical rainforests? And North America is destroying a million acres of that land every year. Two local journalists have a new book about an unsung ecological hero: the American prairie.

Plus, we'll hear from three siblings who grew up next to George Floyd Square. They all responded to Floyd's death in different ways. They went in depth about their journey as activists over the past five years.