Minnesota Now

Park Tavern in St. Louis Park is reopening at this hour after a drunk driving crash left two dead and nine injured. The man charged in the case makes his first court appearance Wednesday and he had a history of DWIs. MPR News looked at tools to stop people from getting behind the wheel while while intoxicated.

Shoreline erosion is exposing human remains at one of Duluth’s oldest cemeteries. But who is responsible for making sure bodies laid to rest, stay at rest?

Our Minnesota Now and Then segment explored how child welfare has evolved by looking at its beginnings in Owatonna, once home to one of the largest institutions for children in the country.

And we checked on the possibility for severe weather this evening with Meteorologist Sven Sundgaard.

In the latest installment of Minnesota Now and Then — where we peek into our state’s past to better understand its present — we go back to Minnesota’s beginnings of child welfare.

Minnesota’s child welfare system has had its problems. In an expose published in 2023, the Minnesota Star Tribune uncovered a number of child deaths where the system failed to protect them from caregivers with a history of abuse or neglect.

For decades, orphans, children who were neglected, those who needed protection, would wind up in Owatonna at one of the largest institutions in the country that housed these children in need. It was called a state school and about 11,000 children spent time there from 1886 to 1946. It was a precursor to what became our current child welfare system.

For more on this history, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with Anne Peterson, manager of the Minnesota State Public School Orphanage Museum in Owatonna

You may have seen the story first reported by the Duluth News Tribune: A boy discovered historic human remains on the shore of Lake Superior near the Scandia Cemetery next to Glensheen Mansion in Duluth. The bones were uncovered through the process of erosion along the shoreline.

Erosion is a serious issue for cemeteries along bodies of water and it is tricky to figure out who is responsible for keeping human remains in place at these historic sites.

Minnesota State archeologist Amanda Gronhovd joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to share the next steps for the Scandia Cemetery.

A man facing charges in Sunday’s drunk driving crash that killed two people and injured nine others at Park Tavern in St. Louis Park is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.

There are questions surrounding his DWI record. During yesterday’s news conference outlining the charges, Hennepin County Attorney Moriarty said it was “hugely problematic” that Steven Bailey still had a driver’s license. Bailey had an ignition interlock installed in his car for several years after convictions for drunk driving.

The Minnesota Department of Health estimates one in seven Minnesotans has at least one DWI. The national group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) argues ignition locks and other technology preventing an intoxicated driver from operating their car could help reduce drunken driving deaths.

For more on these steps, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Lauren Johnson, marketing and community engagement manager for MADD’s Upper Midwest Region.

Nurse staffing levels have begun to improve in Minnesota hospitals and health systems, but it’s getting tougher to find doctors. We examined the trends in a health care workforce that is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tuesday is the first day of school for most Minnesota students. We found out what’s new this year.

And we talked with Dr. Jon Hallberg about back-to-school checkups, vaccines and parenting stress in our latest Vital Signs segment.

A volunteer group that helps people track down lost pets is enlisting one of their own dogs to help.

And Paralympian Chuck Aoki is bringing home yet another medal in wheelchair rugby. He joined the show from Paris.

If you have a pet, you’ve likely had an instance of your heart racing when your dog or cat accidentally got out. Sometimes pets come back, but other times they run away.

An all-volunteer group, “The Retrievers,” is dedicated to bringing lost dogs back home. Soon, the group will have a new tool in its kit that could be a game-changer.

The group is training a dog-scenting-dog, and she likely will be the first dog in the state trained to find lost dogs.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Miki Carlson, a case manager with “The Retrievers.”

Data out Tuesday about Minnesota’s medical workforce shows that nurse staffing levels are improving, but it's getting tough to find doctors. The report, from the Minnesota Hospital Association, finds the vacancy rate for physician jobs increased from nearly 12 percent to almost 15 percent this past year.

To help explain the issue and potential solutions, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Dr. Laurel Ries, president of the Minnesota Medical Association.

Most Minnesota students are back in school today, meeting their teachers and getting reacquainted with classmates.

MPR News education reporter Elizabeth Shockman visited Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary in Minneapolis Tuesday morning.

She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about how the morning went in the state’s fourth-largest district.

Team USA is bringing home a silver medal in the Paralympics with the help of Minneapolis native Chuck Aoki. The wheelchair rugby team bowed to Japan 48-41 Monday night.

Chuck is a co-captain of the team and is now the most decorated Team USA wheelchair rugby athlete, with three silvers and one bronze.

He spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer live from Paris.

Each month, Dr. Jon Hallberg joins MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about topics that are important to your health and take a deep dive into medical news.

Hallberg is a family medicine physician at Mill City Clinic and a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

In this installment of Vital Signs, he talked about the new COVID-19 booster shot, back-to-school health tips for parents and a new health advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General.