Each week on Minnesota Now, we are learning about the summer festivals that are happening all over the state. We turn the spotlight to Worthington, where the 30th annual International Festival gets underway tomorrow. Jesse Nitschke is chair of the group organizing the festival and he joined MPR News guest host Nina Moini with a preview.

A state trooper has been charged for a deadly crash during a high-speed chase. We talk to the attorney of another family who lost a loved one during a police pursuit.

We hear from a formerly incarcerated person about the rights of deaf and hard of hearing people in Minnesota’s prison and jails.

Our first 90-degree day is on the horizon. Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner forecasts when you’ll want to crank up the air conditioning.

Our summer festival spotlight series takes us to the Worthington International Festival.

Plus, thousands of choral singers are in the Twin Cities today as part of the largest LGBTQ+ choral event in the world.

We may see our first 90 degree day of the year this week. MPR’s Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joined MPR News Host Nina Moini to talk about the hot forecast ahead.

Twin Cities One Voice is the largest mixed-voice LGBTQ choir on the continent. Wednesday evening they will be joined by seven thousand singers from one hundred twenty-two LGBTQ+ choruses across North America in Minneapolis. Kimberly Waigwa joined MPR News guest host Nina Moini to explain why this massive gathering is happening.

We are following new charges against a Minnesota state trooper who struck and killed 18-year-old Olivia Flores and injured five others in Rochester in May.

Trooper Shane Roper was following a vehicle for a "petty" traffic offense at 83 mph in a 40 mph zone without his lights or sirens activated. Flores was in another vehicle.

The Olmsted County Attorney's Office has now charged Trooper Roper with criminal vehicular homicide, second degree manslaughter and five counts of criminal vehicular operation.

Records show that four times earlier that day, his squad car had reached over 99 mph, also without lights or sirens on.

This is not the first time we've seen high-speed driving by law enforcement coincide with the deaths of civilians. In 2021, a Minneapolis police officer struck and killed Leneal Frazier after running a red light at over 90 mph in pursuit of a stolen Kia.

Jeff Storms, the attorney for the family of Leneal Frazier, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to share perspective on this latest case.

In prison, the intercom rules over mealtimes, medications, counts and activities, a system that does not work for people who do not hear well. This is one example of how prisons and jails can be especially isolating for people with disabilities, who are incarcerated at higher rates than the general population. The Minnesota Department of Corrections provides pagers to deaf and hard of hearing inmates, but according to a lawsuit, staff were not using them consistently. Under a new settlement agreement going into effect this month, the DOC must train staff to immediately send out the announcements and discipline those who don’t.

Sonja Peterson is an attorney with the Minnesota Disability Law Center who argued the case on behalf of two Stillwater inmates. Choua Yang has personal experience of this issue from two different jails — he settled his own lawsuits with Washington County and Hennepin County in 2016 and 2022. MPR News guest host Nina Moini talked with Peterson and Yang about the rights of deaf and hard of hearing inmates in prisons and jails, with Patty McCutcheon interpreting.

It's one of the most anticipated days of the summer for Minnesotans. The list of new State Fair foods for 2024. The list includes 33 official new foods and six new vendors selling a variety of foods from dill pickle tater tots to grilled purple sticky rice with shredded Hmong beef jerky on a stick. But how does someone get a coveted spot to sell food at the fair? Maria Hayden is a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Fair. She joined Minnesota Now to explain how many submissions the selection committee ate their way through, and how the new vendors made the cut.

Having a health crisis in your family is difficult no matter where you live. But in rural areas far from hospitals, the experience can be especially taxing.

Preventable death rates tend to be higher in rural areas along with insurance premiums. And then there’s the extra cost of travel to doctors’ visits.

Aaron Brown has had a front-row seat to the problems with health care in rural Minnesota since his mom has suffered a stroke in 2022. Brown, an author and instructor at Minnesota North College in Hibbing, wrote about their experience in a recent column for Minnesota Reformer.

He joined Minnesota Now to talk about it.

The much-anticipated list of state fair foods was released Tuesday. There are 33 official new foods and six new vendors. A spokesperson from the state fair joined the show to discuss how the decisions were made. Plus, a new vendor joined in to talk about what makes a Korean corn dog fair food.

A journalist who struggled to find health care for his mom in a northern Minnesota is speaking out about a crisis in rural health care.

Minnesota will soon see the first curriculum for teaching Hmong. Fifteen teachers are the first to be licensed to teach the language.

A St. Paul author has published a summer beach reach about motherhood and a senior swimming competition. MPR News host Emily Bright talked to its author.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “The Great Exaggeration of Summer ‘19” by Zaq Baker, and our Song of the Day was “No one will ever know” by Enemy in the Sky.

Coming-of-age stories are great, but what about a beach read with whose main characters have a little more life experience?

St. Paul author Sarah C. Johns’ debut novel features three generations of women with a unique family history, and the stars of the show are in their late 50s and and 70s. And they’re working together to ready a team for a senior synchronized swimming competition.

The novel is called “The Sirens of Soleil City,” and it comes out July 9. MPR News host Emily Bright spoke with the author, who will read from her debut novel “The Sirens of Soleil City” Tuesday, July 9 at Magers and Quinn Bookstore in Minneapolis at 7 p.m.