Minnesota Now

We all know the pandemic disrupted education — but we’re still uncovering just how much it affected students here in Minnesota.

Recent data showed a severe issue with absenteeism throughout the state. And those who are chronically absent in Minneapolis are disproportionately special education students.

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of students with disabilities who are chronically absent from Minneapolis Public Schools has doubled or nearly doubled in more than a third of schools.

Beth Hawkins is a journalist with The 74, an online education magazine. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to explain the absenteeism crisis.

On Tuesday morning Ramsey County formally adopted its Climate Equity Action Plan, which was finalized earlier this spring. It includes a list of goals meant to help reduce the county's role in creating greenhouse gases and help it adapt to the impacts of climate change. An earlier report found that downtown St. Paul and areas along highways would be especially vulnerable to extreme heat and poor air quality. It also identified factors that could make people more vulnerable to stressors caused by extreme weather and diseases that come from mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. In 2022, the county hired Abigail Phillips to collect input from community members and create the new plan. She joined Minnesota Now to talk about it.

The multigenerational home was the typical living arrangement in mid-19th century America. A century later the multigenerational home was the exception rather than the norm.

Yet, almost unremarked, several forces have combined over the past half century to reinvigorate the idea that multiple generations living together is a financially smart and emotionally rewarding choice.

In the first of a two-part series for Minnesota Now, MPR senior economics contributor Chris Farrell examines a powerful economic and social trend that shows no signs of peaking.

Two young athletes are starting a fresh chapter in their basketball careers as the newest members of the Minnesota Lynx following Monday night’s WNBA Draft.

Thanks to the Caitlin Clark effect — along with other star players like Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso — this was one of the most anticipated women’s basketball drafts in years.

“For those of us that have been doing this for the better part of 25 years, this is the movement that we’re experiencing, that we all thought was possible if we could invest in women’s sports in a way that was comparable to how we invest in men’s sports,” Lynx Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve told MPR News on Tuesday morning.

“I think the timing of someone like Caitlin Clark is really incredible to sort of maximize the movement that had already begun,” Reeve said. “And we saw that in the NBA with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.”

Minnesota had the eighth and 31st overall picks. The Lynx selected forward Alissa Pili of the University of Utah in the first round and guard Kiki Jefferson of the University of Louisville in the third round.

Reeve said Pili and Napheesa Collier will be the Lynx’s “power forwards,” despite their slightly shorter-than-traditional stature at 6-foot-2 and 6-1 respectively.

Pili is originally from Anchorage and is of Alaska Native and Samoan descent.

“A lot of Indigenous and Polynesian girls don’t get to see that role model and I am just so blessed I can be in that position to be that for them,” Pili said in an interview after the draft.

Jefferson “rounded out our training camp roster” for the Lynx, according to Reeve. She played in all 34 of the Cardinals’ games and started in 32 of them.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced Monday she wants the league to expand from 12 teams to 18 by 2028. A San Francisco franchise is set to join the league next year. Engelbert said Denver, Nashville, Oregon, Philadelphia, Portland, South Florida and Toronto are up for future consideration.

“It’s a long time coming, we’ve been at 12 for entirely too long,” Reeve said, pointing to high interest in buying WNBA teams at good valuations. “A lot of great things are coming together for our league.”

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  WNBA expansion to 16 teams possible by 2028 League will pay for flights for playoffs and back-to-backs
  
  


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  WNBA fashionistas showcase their styles at the draft with spotlight on women’s hoops
  
  

In southern Greece on Tuesday, the Olympic flame was kindled at the ancient site where the games began. The Summer Games start in July — and Reeve will be there, coaching the U.S. women’s basketball team.

She said preparations for Paris are going well and the team just finished a training camp. But for now, Reeve’s focus is on getting the Lynx ready for their first preseason game on May 4 against the Chicago Sky at Target Center. Training camp begins April 28.

“Spring has sprung,” Reeve said. “I look outside and I see all that’s coming out of the ground and all the beautiful flowers and stuff. That only means it’s WNBA season. It’s time to go.”

There’s a growing debate surrounding something called historical horse race betting in the state. A racetrack leader weighed in.

During routine checkups, some doctors are asking patients about gun safety. We learned more about whether it’s an effective strategy for preventing gun violence.

Understaffed school districts across Minnesota are turning to international teachers to fill open positions. We learned about the influx of Filipino teachers and hear from one.

The historic Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis closed Monday for two years. We heard from a musician bidding the bridge farewell.

The most successful Timberwolves season of the last 20 years ended with disappointment last night. We heard how the Wolves are looking going into playoffs.

There are more 5,000 active job postings in Minnesota schools, according to St. Cloud State University’s EdPost listings. There’s one school district you won’t see on that list: Red Lake Public Schools.

The district is fully staffed, thanks to teachers it has hired from abroad, specifically from the Philippines. Red Lake has hired 11 educators from the Philippines.

Back in 2022, MPR News reported on Willmar doing the same. Fridley Public Schools has hired 33 educators from the Philippines. And the Department of Education just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mexico to help pave the way for teachers from Mexico to get jobs here as more districts look to teachers from other countries to fill positions.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked about this strategy with Red Lake Public Schools Superintendent Tim Lutz and Dara Antazo, a Pre-K special education teacher at Red Lake from the Philippines.

The most successful Timberwolves season in 20 years ended with a turn for the worse last night. They quickly fell behind in a game against the Phoenix Suns and never recovered.

Now they are third in the Western Conference and set to play the Suns, a team they have yet to beat this season, this coming Saturday in the NBA playoffs.

Anna Knutsen is a huge Timberwolves fan. She co-hosts a podcast all about the team called The Boy Lynx. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the season and what’s to come in the playoffs.

In wellness visits, primary care doctors have a few minutes with patients to check in about various issues related to their health, including smoking, drinking, medications and exercise.

Some physicians have added gun safety to the list. The move stems from the perspective, shared by the Minnesota Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups, that gun violence is a public health crisis.

Dr. Thomas Kottke has been surveying doctors about their experiences speaking with patients about gun storage. Kottke is HealthPartners’ medical director for wellbeing and a board member of the group Protect Minnesota, which advocates for firearm restrictions and violence prevention programs.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with him about what he’s heard from physicians and what lessons he’s drawn from tobacco prevention.

There’s some turmoil at the state capitol over something called historical horse racing, also called instant racing, where betters pick a horse in a digital horse race that has been run in the past.

The state’s horse racing tracks, Canterbury Park in Shakopee and Running Aces in Columbus, say historical horse racing is a critical revenue source for them. Lawyers for tribal nations in Minnesota say historical horse racing is too similar to slot machines, which tribes have exclusive rights to host in their casinos.

DFL Representative Zack Stephenson is an author of a bill banning historical horse racing that had another hearing Monday morning.

“I just want to be very clear with folks, there is no universe in which any bill that leaves this committee is going to authorize historical horse racing at the tracks,” he said. “That’s a total nonstarter will not happen will not be part of a sports betting deal. Bright red line in the sand.”

Stephenson is also the author of the larger sports betting bill making headlines right now. The latter will legalize sports betting, but with the tribal nations running the sports books.

The CFO of Running Aces, Tracie Wilson, joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the state of Minnesota race tracks and the debate in the legislature.

The Biden administration just set the first-ever federal limit on forever chemicals, which leaves 22 cities in Minnesota over the limit. We hear about what’s being done to protect residents’ health.

A new book celebrates the life of Duluth civil rights activist Ethel Ray Nance, in the words of her granddaughter.

As a Minnesota runner prepares for the Boston Marathon on Monday, she is fighting at the state capitol for rights for those who use prosthetic legs.

We hear about an ambitious Shakespeare project ready to take the stage in Minneapolis.

Plus, we get the latest on the Frozen Four and the Timberwolves ownership drama along with other Minnesota sports news.