Minnesota Now

A woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against a factory that produces metal parts near her home. The suit says the Northern Iron metal foundry is releasing pollution that is harming health and property values in the area.

The company that owns the foundry is also in a legal battle with the state of Minnesota over its permit.

Reporter Andrew Hazzard has been following the situation for Sahan Journal and joined Minnesota Now to talk about what he’s learned.

Lawmakers are getting a better picture of how much money they'll have to hammer out a budget. And they're finding they might have less money than they planned. We'll learn more about the future of the state's finances from our politics reporter.

Farmers in Minnesota know that their job is tough. But some LGBTQ+ farmers are speaking out about additional challenges they face. We'll hear from a farmer about how they're building support.

Plus, we'll get some professional help in creating a budget during economic uncertainty.

And a new exhibit highlighting iconic works of art by Black artists is opening in Minneapolis.

The number of butchers are dwindling. And a grant is helping students get the chops for a career in meat processing.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Hat Drop” by Sugar on the Roof and our Song of the Day was “Minneapolis Horn Power” by Scott Agster.

A state grant is helping Minnesota schools teach meat processing to students. Applications are now open for the MEAT grant, which stands for Meat Education and Training. In the first round of grants, $350,000 was dispersed across nine districts to establish or enhance meat cutting and butchery training.

One of those districts was West Central Schools in Grant County. The district was granted $35,000 to support the purchase of a meat processing mobile trailer and provide up to 100 hours of hands-on training for one agriculture instructor at a local butcher shop.

Eric Sawatzke is the high school agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at West Central Schools. He also helped create the state grant. He joined Minnesota Now to talk about teaching meat processing in schools.

In our current economy, there is a lot of uncertainty. Tariffs are threatening to raise prices of everything from gas to groceries. And thousands have lost their job or are worried they may with federal cuts impacting state and non-profit work.

U.S. consumer confidence plummeted last month. It was the biggest monthly decline in more than four years. And it is leading people to change their spending habits.

So how do you prepare for the unknown when it comes to your finances? We turned to get some professional help.

Our ask: What are some budget tips during uncertain economic times?

Our professional: Kim Miller, senior program manager and financial counselor with Lutheran Social Services.

A new exhibit opens at the Minneapolis Institute of Art Friday. The exhibit, called “Giants,” marks the first major showcase of the Dean Collection, owned by Swizz Beats and Alicia Keys. 

The show is organized by the Brooklyn Museum and highlights nearly 100 significant works by Black artists.  

Kimberli Grant is the curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum and Casey Riley is MIA’s chair of Global Contemporary Art. Both joined Minnesota Now to talk about the exhibit.

On Wednesday afternoon, state economic officials will present their important forecast. It’s the one that sets parameters for lawmakers building a new budget.

We already know the top line items: the state is on track to have a smaller cushion in the next budget than was previously predicted. And Minnesota could have a nearly $6 billion deficit in the budget two years down the road if lawmakers stay on the course they’re on now.

MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson joined Minnesota Now for an update.

Farmers know that the pressures of making it through unpredictable weather, crop or livestock disease and rural life make the job tough. LGBTQ+ farmers say they face additional struggles, like isolation from fellow agricultural workers. Some LGBTQ+ farmers are coming together to talk about it — and connect with each other.

This Saturday the state agriculture department and the University of Minnesota are hosting a conference called Ag for All in St. Cloud. It’s the first conference of its kind in Minnesota.

Emily Krekelberg is an organizer of the conference with the University of Minnesota and Michael Romanski is the owner of a chicken and sheep farm in Monticello. Both joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the inaugural conference.

A winter storm is leaving behind a mess and high winds are still causing trouble in parts of the state. We get the latest on snow totals from MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner and an update on hazardous road conditions in southern Minnesota from MnDOT.

President Donald Trump's address to Congress highlighted a stark partisan divide. We talk with our Gen-Z political panel about what they heard.

Plus, we check in with a fired federal worker from Minnesota who was in Washington for the address.

The executive director of a local organization providing support to the Horn of Africa talks about the impacts of cuts to foreign aid.

And let’s play hockey! A sports journalist and author shares the most memorable moments from the Boys State Hockey Tournament.

The Minnesota Music Minute was “Snow Days” by Trip Shakespeare and “Stuck Again“ by Diet Lite was the Song of the Day.

The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday morning ordered the Trump administration to immediately pay $2 billion dollars owed to USAID contractors for work they have already done. But the ruling does not change the administration’s move to cut $60 billion dollars in aid delivered through the agency. Countries that would have received that aid are already feeling the impact.

Countries in the Horn of Africa, like Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, have seen projects that combat malaria, provide food assistance, health care and nutritional services close. Many countries in the region are facing famine and Sudan is in the middle of a civil war that has created the world’s largest and fastest displacement crisis.

Mohamed Idris is the executive director of Twin Cities-based American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa, also known as ARAHA. The organization has field offices in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan. He joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the situation in the region.

The puck drops Wednesday on high school hockey's biggest stage, the Boys Hockey State Tournament. Downtown St. Paul is filled with high school hockey families who have driven from all corners of the state to compete. The annual tournament has a storied history that goes back to 1945.

The book “Tourney Time: Stories from the Minnesota Boys' State Hockey Tournament" by sports journalists David La Vaque and L. R. Nelson takes a year-by-year look at the tournament. Minnesota Now revisits a conversation MPR News host Tom Crann had with La Vaque in 2020.