Minnesota Now

This weekend is the 30th year of Art-a-Whirl, a free arts festival in northeast Minneapolis.

The neighborhood has long been a hub for artists and creatives. Throughout the event it transforms as artists open their studio doors and northeast businesses host local music and food trucks. Organizers say it is the largest open artist studio tour in the country.

Anna Becker is executive director of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association, which organizes Art-a-Whirl. MPR News host Nina Moini talked with her along with Kari Maxwell, a painter and one of this year’s 30 featured artists.

An organization that tracks domestic violence in Minnesota reported one intimate partner killing every week for the last four weeks, from April 12 to May 7. Murder charges have been filed in two of these deaths and law enforcement believe the other two occurred in murder-suicides. In total, Violence Free Minnesota has tracked seven intimate partner killings so far this year.

Behind each one is a human life, with friends, family and communities in mourning. Guadalupe Lopez, executive director of Violence Free Minnesota, joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about efforts to prevent the loss of more lives to abuse.

If you or someone you know is in a dangerous situation with a partner, help is available through a 24-hour statewide domestic and sexual violence hotline. You can call Minnesota Day One at (866) 223-1111 or text (612) 399-9995.

The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday it will end the Temporary Protected Status program for Afghan refugees, a move that could lead to the deportation of thousands of migrants from the U.S., including in Minnesota.

TPS protects migrants who cannot return to their home country due to unsafe conditions like war or natural disasters. In a statement, DHS said temporary protected status for Afghans will expire on May 20 and the program will be eliminated in July.

Nasreen Sajady, executive director of the Afghan Cultural Society in Minneapolis, joins MPR News host Nina Moini to break down what this means for Afghan refugees living in the state.

Two wildfires in northeastern Minnesota have destroyed dozens of buildings and forced people to evacuate. We had the latest on the situation and heard from evacuees who gathered Monday night to wait for news on their homes in the wildfire’s path.

Between school and social life, the digital world isn't really optional for most teenagers today. A Minnesota author examined the latest research into teens and screens, and talked to adolescents about their relationships to their phones. She joined the show to talk about what she found.

Minnesota has two professional sports teams that are just a game away from moving forward in the playoffs and both play Wednesday. Minnesota Now sports contributors joined the show with the scoop on the Timberwolves and the Frost.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was ‘Stranger’ by Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles and our Song of the Day was ‘Party Love’ by Jae Fontane.

The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Frost are both one game away from advancing in their respective playoffs.

The Timberwolves lagged behind the Golden State Warriors in the first half of Monday night's game, but at the halftime buzzer, Anthony Edwards scored a deep three and shrunk the Warriors' lead. The team went on to win the game 117-110.

Similarly, the Frost won their most recent game 7-5 against the Toronto Sceptres. It was the highest-scoring game in Professional Women’s Hockey League history. If they win the Wednesday night home game against Toronto, they’ll go on to the finals.

Minnesota Now sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson joined the show to talk about the outlook for the Timberwolves, Frost and Twins.

Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and co-host of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS' Eye on Football and Sirius XM.

If you have a teen in your life, you know their communication and self-exploration revolves around screens. Parents and their children have been grappling with that fact for decades, but a new book explores the latest research and firsthand accounts of adolescent development, independence and the digital world.

Minneapolis-based author Erin Walsh wrote “It's Their World: Teens, Screens and the Science of Adolescence,” which comes out May 13. 

Walsh joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the latest research on the teenage brain and tech.

Wildfires in northeastern Minnesota exploded in size overnight. Two large wildfires in the region are still uncontained. The biggest is the Camp House fire, which has spread over 12,000 acres. That’s about the size of the entire city of Winona.

Just 13 miles north of that fire, another fire, dubbed the Jenkins Creek fire, has burnt 6,800 acres. The burnt area is about the size of the city of Golden Valley.

Together, the wildfires have burned dozens of homes and cabins and also led to evacuation orders in the region. On Tuesday morning, St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said some people who did not evacuate are unaccounted for.

"Their houses have been lost, so we need to determine where they are,” Ramsay said. “We are hoping that they evacuated, but this is a new phase of this incident, where we are, we are working on determining the location of people, where they're at and if they're safe."

Leanne Langeberg works with the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center. She joined MPR News host Nina Moini with the latest.

Shortwave radio has a long history in our world. The transmission can travel across continents, much farther than FM and AM radio. That ability has made it a powerful tool for governments, extremists, or anyone trying to get their ideas to a faraway audience.

Minneapolis-based journalist Katie Thornton tells the story of shortwave radio in the second season of The Divided Dial. It’s an award-winning series of the WNYC program On the Media. Thorton joined Minnesota Now to talk about the show.

Dozens of firefighters are working to contain a fast-spreading wildfire northeast of Duluth. The fire has prompted evacuations and has already burned down at least three homes. We'll get the latest update from Dan Kraker, our correspondent in northern Minnesota.

A new study found that in the five years since the murder of George Floyd, Americans have grown skeptical that 2020 actually led to significant change. We'll break down that data with experts.

Plus, the Duluth City Council will vote today on a controversial condo proposal. We'll hear how it's pitting opponents and supporters of low income housing projects against each other.

And we'll learn more about how shortwave radio became an influential tool for political groups around the world.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Peaches” by Your Smith.

Immediately after the murder of George Floyd, there were more people than ever drawing attention to issues of racial inequality and police treatment of Black people. A new Pew Research Center study finds that in the years since, Americans are skeptical that 2020 actually led to any significant change.

Two people joined Minnesota Now to dig into the data. Kiana Cox is an author of the study and a senior researcher on the race and ethnicity team at the Pew Research Center and Yohuru Williams, founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas.