Minnesota Now

Valentine's Day is around the corner and many couples are making plans to celebrate their love. The holiday goes by another name for some, singles awareness day. And while it sounds like a day of pity, it's actually a day to celebrate that there's nothing wrong with being single! But with dating apps and the pandemic, it seems a lot of people have forgotten or never really learned how to flirt and date. So we turned to get some Professional Help.

Our ask: Help me date IRL (in real life)

Our professional: Erica Suzanne McKay, matchmaker with Erica Suzanne Matchmaking

A partnership between Hamline University and a school in Hawaii is helping to save a native dialect.

On the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the students of  Ke Kula Niʻihau o Kekaha immersion school speak the native language of the nearby island of Ni’iihau, which only has about 200 native speakers on the island.

Ten years ago, the only booked published in the dialect was a Bible. Now, thanks to a partnership with Hamline’s Center for Global Environmental Education, there are more than 400 books written in the dialect by students and staff.

Tracy Fredin, the director of Hamline’s Center for Global Environmental Education and Tia Koerte, the principal of Ke Kula Niʻihau o Kekaha immersion school, joined Minnesota Now to talk about the project.   

On Thursday, the full Minnesota House of Representatives is expected to gavel in for the first time this year with enough members to do business.

For more than three weeks Republicans and Democrats have been stuck in a dispute over chamber control. A deal struck Wednesday night and outlined Thursday will put Republican Representative Lisa Demuth in the speaker’s chair but give Democrats some of what they wanted.

Reporter Peter Cox joined Minnesota Now to talk about the recent updates.

Minnesota has a rich literary scene and one way to find books by local authors is to check out the annual list of finalists for the Minnesota Book Awards.

For the first time since 2006, anthologies are a category on that list. These are collections of stories, poems, and even visual art that are organized around a theme.

The stories in one of the finalist works this year may be familiar to anyone who’s stumbled into a deep conversation in a bathroom or on a bus. In fact, the idea for “Locker Room Talk: Women in Private Spaces” came to co-editor Michelle Filkins after she witnessed one of those moments. She joins MPR News host Nina Moini along with New York Times bestselling author Alison McGhee, who is one of the writers featured in the anthology.

MPR News has spoken with a number of writers on the list of 2025 Minnesota Book Award finalists, including Louise Erdrich, Mubanga Kalimamukwento, and Anne Ursu, as well as Graywolf Press, which is nominated for its 50th anniversary poetry collection.

President Trump is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday banning transgender athletes from competing in women's sports. We talk to Minnesota Rep. Leigh Finke about the move and the impact it could have here in the state.

Fentanyl has been cited by the Trump administration as the reason for tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension explains how fentanyl gets into the state.

Plus, more snow could be on the way. MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner has the forecast.

We hear the story of how a Minnesotan is inspiring local athletes and being honored for her work.

And we meet an author and editor of an anthology nominated for a Minnesota Book Award.

The Minnesota Music Minute was “Even with Scars” by Venus De Mars and “Ren Fest Parade Music” by Peter Micholic was the Song of the Day.

People gathered Wednesday at the Minnesota History Center to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Similar events across the country recognized girls and women’s achievements in sports and promote equality.

Among the honorees in Minnesota is Washburn High School alumnus Amy Cooper. Her list of accolades is long, beginning with her time as a Minneapolis high school athlete. She exceled in swimming, track, basketball and soccer. Then, at Howard University, she became the first soccer player for a Historically Black College and University to earn all-conference honors. She has gone on to create opportunities for other women and women of color as a coach and administrator.

Today Amy Cooper works as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration at the University of St. Thomas. She is this year’s recipient of the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award, which honors women who have overcome physical challenges in their pursuit of sports and created a path for others. She joins MPR News host Nina Moini to share her story.

The week ahead could bring good news to sledders and skiers in Minnesota: this winter's below-average statewide snowfall may soon take a turn. Northern Minnesota could see significant snowfall Wednesday and the Twin Cities will get in on the action, too.

MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joins MPR News host Nina Moini with a snow update and the forecast for the rest of the week.

Minnesota Now has been following President Donald Trump’s first two weeks in office, including the tariff threats on Canada and Mexico. Trump has said he ordered the tariffs to put pressure on the countries to prevent fentanyl trafficking into the states.

Fentanyl has wreaked havoc on the lives of millions of Americans and results in about 70,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. The synthetic opioid is mostly manufactured in China. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the majority of fentanyl coming into the states was bought by drug cartels in Mexico and smuggled over the U.S. border.

For a better understanding of how fentanyl is making its way into the state of Minnesota and the effect it is having here, MPR News host Nina Moini talks with Drew Evans, Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

The White House announced President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Wednesday afternoon banning transgender women and girls from participating in female sports at schools and colleges.

The order comes on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

It is still unclear what the order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” will entail and what its scope will be, but it will provide insight on how the Trump administration plans to interpret Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which is best known for its role in pursuing gender equity in athletics and preventing sexual harassment on campus.

Every administration has the authority to issue its own interpretations of Title IX. The Biden administration interpreted the law to include protections for LGBTQ+ students and provide new safeguards for victims of campus sexual assault, but the policy stopped short of explicitly addressing transgender athletes. Biden’s policies received a lot of pushback from Republican-led states.

For perspective on how this executive order could impact transgender athletes and the trans community in Minnesota, MPR News host Nina Moini talks with Representative Leigh Finke. She is the first openly transgender person to serve in the state Legislature. In 2023, she authored a bill to protect access to gender-affirming health care, making Minnesota one of the first trans refuge states in the nation.

The Trump Administration says it will shrink a humanitarian agency that it has accused of fraud and abuse and fold it into the State Department. We’ll talk with U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar. one of the Democrats pushing back on this move.

Minnesota does not have enough psychiatric beds to meet the need in the state. We'll learn about a new facility in Dakota County that could help.

MPR News host Angela Davis recently traveled to Montgomery, Alabama with a group of Minneapolis police officers and Black community members. She'll share a sneak peek of the radio documentary that comes out Wednesday.

Plus, celebrate Black History Month in the Twin Cities with a film festival happening Tuesday night. We'll meet one of the filmmakers.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Moqueca” by Room3 and our Song of the Day was “City Swans” by Neko Case.