Minnesota Now

New figures show Minnesota’s high school graduation rate dropped a little in 2023.

Last year, graduation rates rebounded to levels seen prior to the pandemic, but in 2023 it dipped slightly, with about 83 percent of high school students graduation in four years. There were slight decreases in graduation rates for BIPOC students.

We wanted to zoom in on one district to talk about this in more detail. Christine Tucci Osorio, superintendent of North St. Paul Maplewood Oakdale school district joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her district.

The region has been in a drought that started in 2020. Until this week, nearly all of the state was abnormally dry and 75 percent of the state in a moderate drought.

Then rain and snow hit and Thursday morning’s drought monitor report contained some good news. On Thursday, 43 percent of the state is in a moderate drought thanks to that multi-day storm system.

Jeff Strock joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about what that means for soils — and farms — around Minnesota. Strock is a soil scientist who shares information with farmers in his role with the University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center.

The U.S. drought monitor shows drought conditions have improved across much of Minnesota. That’s good news after months of bare ground and open water where most years there is snow and ice. Sandra Lichter and Erin Steinhibel pay a lot of attention to the changing of the seasons as they guide people through two different sections of the Mississippi River. Sandra Lichter is a naturalist at Itasca State Park and joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about what’s happening at the headwaters. And further downstream, Erin Steinhibel is a park ranger with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in the Twin Cities.

This is the story of a race against time — and all the strangers who helped Carrie Yeager from New Hope say goodbye.

Thank You Stranger is our series about unexpected kindness in our lives. If you have a story to share about a stranger who made your life a little brighter, we want to hear it.

Contact us at [email protected] or ‪(612)-361-1252‬.

The snow and rain earlier in the week was a drought buster. A soil scientists will share the impact on farmers as they start planting.

High school graduation rates took a dip statewide. We'll hear from one superintendent who is tackling absenteeism to turn things around.

We continue our religion series with a Rabbi who is helping Jewish people find their spiritual home.

Two naturalists will share the impacts of this year’s winter on the Mississippi river's ecosystem.

Stranger after stranger stepped up to help a Minnesota woman say a final goodbye. We'll share her story in a new episode of Thank You, Stranger.

Thursday is opening day for Twins baseball. Minnesota Now sports contributors will talk about that plus a deal to buy the Timberwolves and Lynx that fell through.

We’re following the Baltimore Bridge collapse. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty shares lessons from his experience with the 35W bridge tragedy in Minneapolis.

It’s Disability Advocacy Day at the capitol. We talk about the disabilities that aren’t obvious.

We get the final numbers from the winter storm earlier this week.

State leaders are meeting to work out how marijuana sales will be implemented and a nonprofit called Minnesota Cannabis College is following closely.

We talk with a doctor about our happiness rating, which varies wildly based on age.

Each month we take a deep dive into health news or what’s top of mind at the doctor's office. Dr. Jon Hallberg is a family medicine physician at Mill City Clinic and a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the fallout of the cyberattack against a UnitedHealth subsidiary, the results of a new happiness study, and more.

The Office of Cannabis Management will hold the inaugural meeting of its Cannabis Advisory Council Friday. The council, which was created as part of the new cannabis law, will review policy and make recommendations to the state office.

While that is happening on the state level, there is also a grassroots nonprofit informing the community about the rollout of all aspects of legalization. Minnesota Cannabis College Founder Tanner Berris joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.

Our multi-day snowstorm is taking its own sweet time exiting the region. It was still snowing in parts of northern Minnesota Wednesday afternoon as the system headed east. MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with snow totals from the first half of the week.

Six people are presumed dead after the bridge collapse in Baltimore and there is now an effort to recover their bodies. All six are believed to have been construction workers on the bridge at the time of its collapse in the wee hours of yesterday morning.

As recovery efforts continue, leaders in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. are talking about how quickly the bridge can be rebuilt. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with CNN Wednesday morning about the response and how lessons can be learned from the 35-W tragedy in Minneapolis.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like this, but there have been experiences in the U.S. that we are drawing from, including the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse, where really the federal government, the whole country stepped up to get that reconstructed,” Buttigieg said. “We’re learning from that and a lot of other moments in U.S. history as part of the playbook on what to do next.”

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who helped the Twin Cities navigate that time, including the rebuilding efforts.