Minnesota Now

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 weighs in on whether higher cigarette prices in Minneapolis will reduce smoking, explains the role art and storytelling have to play in the medical field. And in honor of National Poetry Month, he shares a poem.

The Center for the Art of Medicine is hosting an evening of storytelling Saturday, May 4 at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis.

College protestors across the nation — including in Minnesota — woke up in tents this morning.

A growing number of students have joined rallies and campouts to protest the Israel-Hamas war and demand their schools cut financial ties to Israel.

Student journalists from Hamline University in St. Paul and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities joined MPR News host Emily Bright about the latest on their campuses.

Sabine Benda is a senior at Hamline and has been reporting on the protests for her school’s paper, The Oracle. And Sam Hill is a student reporter and sophomore at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where protests led to arrests last week.

Students at Hamline University are setting up an encampment, protesting the Israel-Hamas war, and University of Minnesota students will be re-starting protests on campus today. We spoke with two student journalists — one from each university — about free speech on campus.

Dr. Jon Hallberg drew connections between art and medicine, plus he addressed the new price of cigarettes in Minneapolis.

We celebrated the Timberwolves’ win with a look back at the game.

A local author shared the contrasting beauty and danger of the Boundary Waters.

And we learned about the local non-profit Mizna, which is celebrating 25 years of amplifying the voices of Minnesota’s Arab, Southwest Asian and North African artists.

A youth violence prevention initiative is being piloted in Hennepin County. We talked to Mary Moriarty about how she hopes to keep young people out of trouble, amid several high profile cases involving teens.

Women's Advocates in St. Paul was believed to be the first women's domestic violence shelter in the U.S., and this year it is celebrating 50 years.

We heard the story of a Russian transgender man, who fled to Minnesota due to the state’s transgender refuge status.

In a new edition of our series Thank You, Stranger, we heard from a man who saved the life of a driver inside a burning car in St. Paul.

The Vikings are preparing for a new quarterback, plus Timberwolves news.

Saturday marks one year since Minnesota became a refuge state for transgender people. The state’s status has reached far beyond its borders, leading a Russian couple to seek safety here in Minnesota.

Erik Beda’s mere existence is practically a death sentence in Russia. He’s transgender, which is illegal and considered an act of terror in the country.

Beda spoke to MPR News Senior Producer Aleesa Kuznetsov. The two spoke in Russian.

Dave Klepaida was one of the good Samaritans who came to the rescue of Sam Orbovich after his car started on fire during an accident on I-94 in St. Paul.

MPR News Minnesota Now producer Ellen Finn spoke with him for our “Thank You, Stranger” segment, a featured dedicated to those we do not know who make our day.

Klepaida was driving his truck on its normal route on the evening of April 18 when he saw a car fire. He approached it, and noticed a handful of people were trying to pry the door open. That led him to believe someone was stuck inside.

Orbovich had veered off the road and hit a pole. The driver side door was wedged against a freeway guardrail and he was trapped inside, unconscious. Quickly, the entire vehicle was engulfed in flames.

People were hitting the window trying to break it open to rescue Orbovich. But, Klepaida knew they would not be successful.

“People were using a fire extinguisher to try to break the window, but I knew that is not going to break the window, a car window will not break,” he said. “You can hit it with a hammer, but it is meant to take impact.”

Klepaida said there wasn’t really time to think as the flames were rising, but then it came to him — he needed a tool in his truck.

He always carries “the window punch” with him. It is a simple tool that shatters the window. Klepaida quickly broke the car window and helped pull out Orbovich.

“We were at the right place at the right time,” he said.

Klepaida says he wasn’t prepared for how much attention the incident would get. The crash was recorded on a dashcam by Kadir Tolla and soon went viral.

But he says despite the attention, it was just another day at MnDOT.

“I’m just gonna get right back on my truck and go do my job,” he said.

Now for the question on the mind of every Timberwolves fan this week: Wolves in four? The team has won two games so far in a seven game series against the Phoenix Suns. It’s an exciting comeback after Minnesota lost to Phoenix every time they were matched in the regular season.

Two more wins and the Wolves secure their spot in round two of the NBA playoffs. Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson joined MPR News guest host Nina Moini to talk sports news.

Wally is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and co-host of the ten thousand takes sports talk show. Eric is the other host of that show and Vikings reporter for CBS Sports.

St. Paul is home to what’s considered the first shelter for survivors of domestic violence in the nation. It started when a group of volunteers in a legal office were taking calls from women seeking advice about divorce and changing their names.

Shelley Cline worked with the founders of the organization back in the 1980s. Holly Henning is the current Executive Director of Women’s Advocates and they both joined Minnesota Now to talk about the growth of the organization.

A program to prevent youth violence could reach more young people in Hennepin County. County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced in a press conference on Wednesday that her office and the county are each spending $250,000 to expand the effort.

A pilot program that was already in place connected youth on supervised probation with outreach workers. Under the expansion, Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center police departments will make those connections for youth who are at risk of being involved in violence.

The outreach groups offer support with mental health, employment, housing and other challenges. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty joined Minnesota Now to talk about the program.

The largest school district in the state broke through an impasse over diversity efforts in its budget. We talked with Anoka-Hennepin’s superintendent about what happened in a meeting that stretched for more than five hours last night.

A suite of newspapers serving the southwest suburbs and nearby communities will shut down in the coming days, leaving a void in local coverage. We talked to a past reporter at Shakopee Valley News about the impact.

We met a kayaker who is about to paddle the length of the Mississippi River, source to sea. She’d be the first Black woman to complete that journey solo.

Plus, we learned how much rain to expect this weekend and how to get ready for gardening season.