Minnesota Now

Clouds will cover much of the state Wednesday. With luck, they’ll clear in the evening so you can get a look at the night sky.

Each year around this time, the earth rotates through a trail of space debris. When these hunks of asteroids and comet particles burn up in our atmosphere, they give off the impression that stars are shooting across the sky.

It’s called the Perseid meteor shower and it is happening now — but it will peak Aug. 10-12. The darker the setting, the more brilliant the show. That’s why Voyageurs National Park on Minnesota’s northern border is a great place to watch the Perseids and other astronomical events.

Jesse Gates is a dark sky specialist with the Voyageurs Conservancy and he joined Minnesota Now to talk about what’s going on at the park and what makes it such an ideal place for stargazing.

On Saturday Aug. 10, the town of Hutchinson is for garlic lovers. They’ll have garlic ice cream, garlic wine, garlic cotton candy — plus foods from around the world dedicated to the ingredient.

The Sustainable Farming Association’s Crow Wing Chapter is throwing its 17th Minnesota’s Garlic Festival, featuring bulbs that were recently harvested across Minnesota. Jerry Ford is the festival’s director and he joined Minnesota Now to talk about how the festival got started and what to look forward to.

The southern part of the state saw at least four tornados Monday evening. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joined Minnesota Now with an update on the damage from those tornadoes plus the weather outlook for the rest of the week.

The decision to tap Gov. Tim Walz was one that surprised many across the country.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer took a deeper dive into that choice with Chris Devine, a political science professor at the University of Dayton Ohio and the co-author of the book “Do Running Mates Matter?”

They talked about how much the choice will actually affect Democratic chances at winning the election this November.

On Wednesday afternoon, both the Trump-Vance campaign and Harris-Walz campaign will be on the ground in Eau Claire, Wisc.

Both Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz will speak at a rally as part of a seven-state battleground tour. Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance is mirroring that tour, and is stopping for an event at an aviation manufacturing plant.

MPR politics reporter Ellie Roth joined Minnesota Now live from Eau Claire outside of the plant.

The political battle for the Midwest is center stage Wednesday with dueling presidential campaign events. Minnesota Now heard reports from a Harris-Walz rally, attracting thousands and a smaller JD Vance campaign event, both in Eau Claire, Wis.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer took a deeper dive into Harris’ decision to choose Walz as a running mate and how it affects the ticket.

MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joined the show to recap some destructive storms that have made way for a calm weather pattern for the rest of the week.

One of the most plentiful meteor showers of the year is in full swing. The show covered how and where to watch.

Our summer festival spotlight took us west to the Minnesota Garlic Festival in Hutchinson to learn about the unique traditions of celebrating the plant.

The Minnesota Music Minute was ‘Paranoid’ by Hippocampus and the Song of the Day was ‘Ain’t Spring for Me’ by Tim Emmons.

Shortly after the news broke that Kamala Harris selected Tim Walz as her running mate for the presidential election, he issued a statement on social media that said a person who’s had an up close look at the sharp-elbowed game that is national presidential politics is Minnesota’s senior U.S. senator, Democrat Amy Klobuchar. Senator Klobuchar joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about how Walz might help a Harris campaign.

The Trump campaign has wasted no time in trying to define Gov. Tim Walz and his record as Minnesota’s governor. There are already ads posted on social media that rip Walz for his “radical ideology” for supporting gender-affirming health care, abortion rights that are enshrined in state law, and his role in dealing with the riots that erupted after George Floyd’s death.

State Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson is a leading Republican voice in Minnesota and represents a large part of rural northwestern Minnesota. He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to share his take on Walz’s elevation to the presidential ticket.

Minnesota Now had back to back coverage of a historic day in Minnesota.

From a name unknown for most of the country to number two on the ticket, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has catapulted to become candidate for Vice President with Kamala Harris.

His quick rise to fame started only 14 days ago with that line. But his career spans much farther than that.

We went all the way back to his teaching days in Mankato and talked to former students.

We heard from Senior Sen. Amy Klobuchar, along with Minnesota Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson about his legislative career that’s now put him on the map.

Minnesota is the land of vice presidents. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke to a national expert on Vice Presidents about what lies ahead.

When a presidential candidate chooses a running mate, it can make or break their entire campaign. And unlike normal election cycles, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris had only two weeks to vet and choose a running mate.

On Tuesday she announced that she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Joel Goldstein has dedicated much of his career to studying the role that U.S. vice presidents have in the country.

He’s a professor at St. Louis University school of Law and he joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about how Walz could make his mark.