Minnesota Now

For the next week, a suburb north of the Twin Cities will become a hub for young soccer players from all over the world. More than 1,200 teams are coming to Blaine from 70 countries for the Target USA Cup. The tournament has been going on since 1985 and now claims to be the largest youth soccer competition in the Western Hemisphere.

It gets underway tomorrow as a mass of heat moves toward Minnesota. Temperatures are expected to hit the 90s Saturday, which is the first time this summer we'll see temperatures of 90 degrees or above. When you add humidity, the heat index is forecasted to near 100 degrees on Sunday.

As Medical Director for the USA Cup, Jayme Murphy is in charge of looking out for the health of thousands of players. He joined MPR News guest Host Nina Moini to talk about how player, spectators and anyone outside this weekend can stay safe.

Law enforcement agencies around the country sell firearms to licensed dealers when they are done with them. Some say it makes financial sense because it helps pay for new equipment. But an investigation by The Trace, Reveal and CBS News found that since 2006, more than 52,000 police guns were used in crimes. Some of these were lost or stolen, but many were sold. And after reporters from WCCO-TV shared their findings with Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara, he said the department will no longer sell its guns. MPD changed its policy in May.

Alain Stephens is a staff writer with the non-profit newsroom The Trace, which covers gun violence. He joined MPR News guest Host Nina Moini to talk about the flow of police guns to crime.

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.