Minnesota Now

Democrat David Gottfried defeated Republican opponent Paul Wikstrom in a Tuesday special election to fill a vacant Minnesota House seat representing Roseville and Shoreview.

The results bring the House into a tie, with 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats. It also prompts a reset at the Capitol and returns the chamber to a bipartisan power sharing agreement reached earlier this year.

Gottfried joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about his plans as a new lawmaker. And MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson breaks down what the election means for state politics and this session’s main priority: passing a budget.

You may have seen a notice on a restaurant menu that says items containing eggs will cost extra. It's one way businesses are responding to record-high egg prices. We talked with a deli owner who took that step.

Agricultural communities in the Midwest and Mexico are linked by immigrants who come to the U.S. to work on farms. A Wisconsin group is building bridges by bringing dairy farmers to Mexico.

Residents of a mobile home park outside of Duluth may lose their homes in an area that's already dealing with a housing shortage. The park's owner is in a court battle over repairs.

We got the latest on the passive aggression heard around the world. A British writer joined the show with his take on the Minneapolis season of “Love is Blind.”

The Minnesota Music Minute is “Promise” by Carolyne Naomi and the Song of the Day is “Night Flying Birds” by Mike Munson

Dairy farms in Minnesota and around the country rely on immigrant workers, many of whom are undocumented. Dairy workers’ families often count on the portion of their wages they send back to their home countries. A group of farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin have been following these connections to Mexico to meet the families of their employees.

Mercedes Falk is the president of the Wisconsin-based organization Puentes/Bridges, which leads the trips. Cole Hoscheit is a board member and dairy farmer from Caledonia, Minnesota.

Falk and Hoscheit joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the organization’s goals for cultural understanding, how it’s changing farmers’ approach to running their businesses and how farm communities are discussing the spotlight on deportations.

You can’t miss it at the grocery store: egg prices are at a record high. The latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found in the Midwest, wholesale prices for large white eggs is $8.42 per dozen. Many grocery stores are even putting limits on how many eggs you can buy.

Egg prices are hitting restaurants hard. Several Twin Cities restaurants have added temporary egg surcharges. Marty's Deli in northeast Minneapolis announced they are adding $1 to all sandwiches with eggs on Monday.

The owner of Marty’s Deli, Martha Polacek, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about their decision to add a surcharge to egg items, why their business can’t absorb the cost of eggs and how they’re looking at the future of the food they serve.

Now that the Minneapolis season of “Love is Blind” has come to a close, everyone fan has their own take. Some have dubbed it “Love is Bland.” The Wall Street Journal's headline was “The Problem With Hosting ‘Love Is Blind’ in Minnesota: Everything.”

Many Minnesotans believe the lack of drama had to do with our own culture. We wanted to get an outside perspective, so a journalist who covers reality television and pop culture from the U.K. joined the show. Kieran Galpin writes for the outlet The Tab. He joined Minnesota Now to talk about the reaction to Minneapolis across the pond.

A mobile home park in Hermantown, Minn., is in the midst of a legal dispute that's pushing its residents toward homelessness. It has potential to contribute to the affordable housing shortage in the region.

Elevated Management LLC acquired Maple Fields mobile home park in 2021 and says it can’t afford to make repairs to improve living conditions to residents. Duluth News Tribune reporter Peter Passi has been following the story.

He joined MPR News host Nina Moini to explain the conditions Maple Fields residents are living in and how the ongoing legal conflict in the park has potential to contribute to the North Shore housing shortage.

NFL teams can start reshaping their rosters by signing free agents this week. There’s plenty of attention on the quarterbacks, including the Minnesota Vikings’ Sam Darnold.

Plus, the playoff picture is starting to shape up for the Timberwolves and Wild.

Joining Minnesota Now with the latest on all of Minnesota’s sports teams are sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.

Read the latest: QB Sam Darnold gets a 3-year, $110.5 million deal with Seahawks

Downtowns around the country lost money and foot traffic when offices went remote during the pandemic. We'll hear from the St. Paul Downtown Alliance about what the closure of downtown St. Paul's only grocery store means for efforts to revitalize the city center.

A lawsuit argues pollution from a metal foundry in St. Paul violated the property rights and wellbeing of neighbors. We'll get a breakdown from a reporter covering the legal battle.

Plus, a 40-day Target boycott is underway. We'll learn more about what impact this protest could have on the company.

And Moorhead won its first boys hockey state championship this weekend. We'll get the latest from our sports contributors Wally and Eric, along with other sports headlines.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Ease Your Mind,” by Ozone Creations and our Song of the Day was “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by The Mamas & the Papas.

A 40-day boycott of Target is underway. It calls for supporters to give up shopping at the Minneapolis-based company during Lent. The boycott comes after Target announced that it would phase out a handful of diversity, iquity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives. They followed several other corporations who made similar moves. But will the boycott make a dent on profit?

Joining Minnesota Now to explain is Aaron Sackett. He’s a marketing professor at the University of St. Thomas, with an expertise on consumer behavior.

Downtown St. Paul's only grocery store, Lunds & Byerlys, is closing this month. It's sparked conversations about the health of the state's capitol city.

This week marks five years since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, which took a major toll on downtowns across the country. As St. Paul makes its way out of that low point, Minnesota Now wanted to talk to someone with a pulse on the area.

Joe Spencer is the president of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance, he joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about how the closure of the grocer impacts revitalization efforts.