Minnesota Now

School district referendums for building new schools, technology upgrades and more are failing across the state, and by just a few hundred votes. We talked to the Duluth and Fergus falls school districts about impacts on students.

The newest Top Chef episode is on Indigenous cooking. One of the judges is Minnesota’s own Sean Sherman and we talked with him.

May 15 is college decision day, two weeks later than normal due to FAFSA delays. We learned more about the impact on aid packages and enrollment.

The University of Minnesota launched a new climate visualizer this week that you can use to look at what’s happening in your backyard.

And our chief meteorologist shared some good news on spring planting.

The University of Minnesota launches a new online tool this week. It allows people to visualize how a future climate will look and feel in their own backyards.

Users can zoom in on rainfall, temperature and other climate projections down to the size of a neighborhood. The goal is to help engineers, farmers and others better plan for a climate-changed future.

For more on this new tool, University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership director Heidi Roop joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

Now that the sky is clear of wildfire smoke from earlier this week, much of Minnesota is back to enjoying spring weather and rain is moving in.

The rain we’ve gotten so far this spring have been good news for Minnesota’s lakes, rivers and ponds. MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to explain.

May 15 is decision day for many colleges across Minnesota. It’s two weeks later than the normal May 1 deadline for students to commit to attending the school in the fall.

That’s because of an alarming delay to FAFSA earlier this year, which was plagued with glitches and challenges. Around 225,000 Minnesotans usually fill out the FAFSA form overseen by the U.S. Department of Education that is used to determine which government loans and grants students can receive.

But Minnesota students have submitted the form at unusually low rates this year.

BG Tucker is the senior director of programs at College Possible, an organization that helps low-income families with the college process. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with an update on this important day for many Minnesotans’ higher education.

Voters across Minnesota headed to the polls on Tuesday for a special election. Six schools districts had referendums on the ballots.

The results are mixed. Ellsworth Public Schools, Norman County East and Martin County West got the money for building upgrades that they asked for, although Martin County voters rejected a request for an auxiliary gym. School leaders in Pine City, Fergus Falls and Duluth are regrouping after their referendums failed.

In Duluth, the district was asking to raise $5 million in property taxes each year to fund technology and security upgrades as well as new technical educational programs. It failed by 453 votes, according to preliminary results from the district.

In Fergus Falls, the district asked to raised property taxes to build a new school for grades 3 through 5. It failed by 921 votes.

School board chair for Duluth Public Schools Jill Loflad and Fergus Falls Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Drake joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

It’s crunch time at the Minnesota State Capitol and lawmakers less than a week to pass a few major bills — including one that would fund building projects around the state. We talked with House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth about Republican priorities during these final days.

A rural hospital plans to close its inpatient psychiatric unit. We found out how this fits into the bigger picture of mental health care shortages around the state.

We got some perspective on political disinformation — from another continent.

Apple lovers, rejoice! There’s a new variety in town and it’s now available to grow at home.

The Westminster Dog Show has been running for nearly 150 years. We met a Minnesotan who is one of this year’s judges.

Tuesday is the final day of the 148th Westminster Dog Show, where the top dogs from across the United States compete for the title of Best in Show.

This year, there’s a judge from Bloomington representing Minnesota dog lovers. Barbara Selton has been judging for 15 years, and on Saturday she was one of the judges for the Masters Obedience competition.

She joined Minnesota Now with her reflections on the show so far.

Time is ticking at the state capitol. The session ends in less than a week, and there are still several big bills still on the line.

Republicans who are in the minority in both chambers will have a voice in many deals in these final days. House Minority Leader Representative Lisa Demuth joined Minnesota Now to talk about the legislative priorities for the GOP.

If you’ve ever wanted to grow an apple tree in your yard, there’s a new tree on the market: The Triumph apple tree is now available to home gardeners.

It’s an offspring of the Honeycrisp apple and it also is disease resistant. Right now is the perfect time to plant a tree.

To share more about this new apple tree variety is David Bedford, an apple breeder with the University of Minnesota.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

On Tuesday evening there will be a public hearing on the closure of an inpatient psychiatric ward in central Minnesota. Lakewood Health System plans to close its 10-bed unit in its hospital in the small town of Staples.

It is the latest loss of services in an industry that is already struggling to keep up with demand. The state reports 80 percent of counties are experiencing a shortage of mental health care.

Sue Abderholden, executive director of Minnesota’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to discuss the situation.