Minnesota Now

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.

We’re seeing more school districts across Minnesota starting to provide, Hmong, Somali and Karen language classes. But there hasn’t been the infrastructure to teach those classes until now,

Fifteen recently graduated teachers are the first in the state to be licensed to teach Hmong as a heritage language. And the next cohort includes the first Somali and Karen teachers to be licensed.

It’s something that isn’t happening anywhere else in the world. One of the driving forces behind the licensure program and curriculum development is the organization Minnesota Zej Zog. The organization’s executive director Pang Yang and curriculum professor at University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Jenna Cushing-Leubner joined to talk about why and how they created a licensure program.

Some Democrats, including Minnesota congressmembers, are joining calls for a new nominee for president. We spoke about upheaval in the party as President Joe Biden says he’s committed to the race. Plus, we heard from one of Minnesota’s uncommitted delegates.

A new data story by Sahan Journal shows the heavy — and unequal — toll of fentanyl in Minnesota.

A historian has learned the state may have been more important to the Underground Railroad than previously thought. We found out about the time that a well-known abolitionist spent living in St. Paul.

We learned how people in the city of Cook are trying to prevent health problems caused by indoor flooding.

And we heard stories by young journalists who recently finished Radio Camp here at MPR News.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Unbound” by Bizhiki, and our Song of the Day was “Two Wheels and Westerns” by Luke Lynell.

In our Minnesota Now and Then segment, we’re going back to pre-statehood in the mid-1850s.

Black abolitionist Moses Dickson led countless formerly enslaved people to freedom. But there are about 10 years of his life that historians haven't been able to place. Until now.

Historian Karen Sieber has placed Moses in St. Paul. Sieber has now started the Finding Moses initiative to build a comprehensive database of names, places and resources associated with Moses Dickson, and also to better understand the Midwest’s role in the Underground Railroad. Sieber joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to share what she knows so far.

Opioid overdoses—mainly fentanyl—killed more than 4,000 Minnesotans from 2019 through 2023. And there have been dramatic racial disparities that have only grown as death rates show signs of maybe leveling off. This is especially true for Native Americans, who in those five years were 15 times more likely to suffer a fatal overdose than white people. Minnesotans who did not go to college were also more likely to die from opioids.

Antony Stately is a clinical psychologist and the President and Executive Officer of the Native American Community Clinic. Dr. Dziwe Ntaba is an emergency medicine physician and an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

These two health care providers are working to prevent more deaths from opioid overdose. They joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about what’s behind the numbers—and what they leave out.

State Democrats are facing a split on whether or not President Joe Biden should stay in the presidential race after his poor performance in a debate against Donald Trump.

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig tweeted over the weekend that Biden should “step aside for the next generation of leadership.” She is one of five House Democrats in the country to call on President Biden to step aside.

Still other Minnesota politicians like Gov. Tim Walz have doubled down on their support for Biden, insisting it is too late to change candidates. Democrats will make their decision at the national convention which starts on Aug. 19.

Dan Engelhart is one of the handful of uncommitted delegates to the DNC from Minnesota’s fifth congressional district, and David Schultz is a professor of political science at Hamline University.

They joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer; Engelhart shared why he remains uncommitted, and Schultz provided context on the controversy of Biden’s candidacy.

A triple science major at the College of St. Scholastica may be both the fastest and youngest to circumnavigate Lake Superior in a kayak — and he’s hoping the 1,000-mile trip will draw more attention to climate change’s effects in Minnesota.

Last summer, Cale Prosen’s adventure of the season was trekking the Superior Hiking Trail. This year, with little to no experience kayaking, he decided to undertake another gargantuan trip, hitting the water within 48 hours of finishing his final exams in mid-May.

“It was about experiencing the raw nature” and spending time in an impermanent environment, he told MPR News.

Prosen saved for the trip by putting in hundreds of hours as a caregiver at an assisted living facility, primarily in dementia care. He spent the last year saving money, buying equipment, doing research and talking to others who’d undertaken the trip in kayaks or canoes. He went vegan. Prosen began a blog two days before the Superior trip, documenting his journey with near-daily entries and photos.

Once underway, the wet and storm-filled spring created some memorable moments.

“It was just pretty wild to be out there at times, especially like June 18. Those storms that kind of rock the shore, it’s pretty wild,” Prosen recalled. “I woke up in a pond. I got hit by a flash flood while I was trying to camp and the water rose like seven feet in two hours. Pretty nuts.”

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  Highways close as rivers rise across southern Minnesota. More storms in forecast
  
  


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  Minnesotans on flood watch during an unusually wet week
  
  


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  Heavy rain brings flooding to the North Shore closes trails and roads
  
  

For the most part, though, Prosen said he was able to anticipate inclement weather and be in a place to get off the lake quickly. Regardless, storms didn’t stop his mission.

“I think that like climate change, and the effects of that, are what I want my message and takeaway of this to be about,” Prosen said. “Focusing on my kayaking skills and adventure is not what’s important to us all and I believe climate change is heavily impacting Lake Superior, and I wanted to bring advocacy and action to that.”

An incoming junior at St. Scholastica, Prosen is pursuing degrees in biology, chemistry and science education. While he’s not exactly sure what his post-grad career will be, Prosen knows nature will inspire it.

“I hope to eventually become an educator or advocate that seeks to conserve that outdoors.”

What’s next on the adventure bucket list?

“We’ll see. I haven’t decided.”

Ahead of a busy holiday weekend, more than 300 Minneapolis parks workers are preparing to walk off the job. We heard from union leaders about their week-long strike and what’s been happening at the bargaining table.

It may rain on your Fourth of July parade and Mother Nature will have fireworks of her own. We got a detailed forecast for the holiday from MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner.

A new law in effect requires cosmetologists in Minnesota to learn how to cut and style textured hair. We talked to a cosmetology educator about the importance of expanding training.

And a new documentary takes a deep dive into the world of Minnesota Roller Derby. We met the local filmmaker behind “Minnesota Mean.”

A new documentary is now-streaming giving an inside look at the world of Minnesota Roller Derby. It’s called “Minnesota Mean.”

The documentary follows six women on the Minnesota Roller Derby team over the course of a season. It won Best of Fest at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival last year. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with the film’s director, producer and editor, Dawn Mikkelson.