Minnesota Now

St. Paul’s city council has yet to formally debate a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Council Member Nelsie Yang tried to bring a resolution at Wednesday night’s meeting just as Council President Mitra Jalali adjourned, not allowing the resolution to move forward. Yang also took issue with the adjournment, calling it undemocratic. But a spokesperson for Jalali said she was following normal procedure. She’s also said she signed onto a letter from public officials asking the White House to call for a cease-fire.

This is all happening, of course, in a larger context as constituents demand their local leaders take a stance on what is happening in Gaza. Across the river in Minneapolis, the city council earlier this month overrode a veto by Mayor Jacob Frey to pass their own cease-fire resolution.

Joining MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about this mix of local and global politics is University of Minnesota Political Expert Larry Jacobs.

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. 

Minnesota still has a projected budget surplus. State budget officials presented their latest financial forecast Thursday morning and it projects a $3.7 billion surplus for the budget ending in 2025. That is up by about $1.3 billion compared to the prior estimate in December. But there are still some potential tougher financial straits down the road.

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  Minnesota posts $3.7 billion budget surplus, with financial pressure on the horizon
  
  

Our senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson was there and joined Cathy Wurzer to explain.

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

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.  

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

Sophia Wahlstrom was on a run when she fell and broke her leg. It was the height of the pandemic, she didn’t have her phone on her, and most strangers were wary to interact with others. But eventually two strangers stopped to help, and stayed with her for hours.

If this story reminds you of help or even friendship that came from a stranger, we want to hear from you! Call 612-361-1252 and leave a voicemail.

Geocaching is described as the "world's largest treasure hunt" and hundreds of Minnesotans are on the hunt today for caches in a tradition that uses leap day to make up for lost time. One Minnesota man took the day off work, to go looking for 75 caches today. Truitt Johnson is an avid geocacher, and the former vice president of the Minnesota Geocaching Society. He joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the special day.

More than 160 years ago in Minneapolis, a woman named Eliza Winston stood before a judge and won her freedom after spending decades in slavery. Her enslavers were vacationing in Minnesota, where she met abolitionists who helped her gain her freedom.

In a new book, Christopher P. Lehman points out how historians have paid more attention to those abolitionists than to Winston herself, leaving aside the story of her life before and after her brief but eventful time in Minnesota. That life includes time she spent enslaved by former president Andrew Jackson and efforts she made to get emancipated before ever setting foot in the North. Lehman is the author of a new book, “It Took Courage: Eliza Winston’s Quest for Freedom” out April 16th. He joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer.

Local author Kao Kalia Yang is releasing two new books in March. One is a children’s book called “The Rock in My Throat” and the second is a memoir called “Where Rivers Part.” Both are personal stories about Kalia's experience as a Hmong person.

“The Rock in My Throat” is a true story about when she stopped speaking for many years as a child. She was at the store with her mother when her mom didn’t know the word for lightbulb. She asked “for the thing that makes the world shiny.” The clerk didn’t understand, and never came back with a lightbulb. That’s when as a child Yang began to think that people did not want to hear a voice like hers and became a selective mute.

Yang’s memoir “Where Rivers Part” is a story about her mother’s journey from Laos to the U.S. It is the first book she has written in the first-person. She talked to MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about learning her mom’s story, how she found her voice, and the impact her books have had on young Minnesotans.

“A Rock in My Throat” comes out March 5th. “Where Rivers Part” comes out March 19th.

Michigan's presidential primary is Tuesday and some voters are checking "uncommitted" on their ballots. It's part of a national movement to pressure President Biden to call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. With Minnesota's primary a week away, we'll talk about how this movement is taking shape.

We'll hear why four young voters are politically engaged, but not all that excited about this year's election. It's a new series we're calling "State of Democra-Z".

We'll learn more about the person named to be the University of Minnesota's next president.

In March author Kao Kalia Yang is out with a new memoir about her mother and a picture book about her own childhood.

A St. Paul-based podcast explores how to support and celebrate young people of color.

Here's something you might not realize: in the last mid-term and presidential elections, Minnesota was among the top states for young voter participation. Now there are around 800,000 eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 29 in Minnesota. That includes Gen-Z and the youngest millennial voters. And 70 percent of them are already registered voters.

With those kinds of numbers, we wanted to know what’s top of mind for them. In “The State of Democra-Z”, we’re turning to a group of young voters who are paying close attention to politics.

Meet the panelists

Cori Stockard is a junior at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities and the state president of the College Democrats.

Will Pierce is a junior at Macalester College in St. Paul where he leads the group Mac Dems.

Ruth Hailey is a senior at St. Olaf College and a leader in the school's College Republicans chapter.

Addie Raum is a sophomore, also at St. Olaf, who recently worked on Nikki Haley's campaign in New Hampshire.

We love to highlight other Minnesota-made podcasts on Minnesota Now. One of those podcasts is housed at a local nonprofit.

St. Paul Youth Services originated in the 1970s with programs that were alternatives to juvenile detention. It has since expanded into youth leadership and engagement work. The third season of the organization’s podcast Rewriting the Rules launched in February.

Tracine Asberry is the executive director of St. Paul Youth Services and the host of the podcast. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about what rules she’s rewriting, respecting mothers as loving experts, bell hooks and feedback on the podcast.

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

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.  

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

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 breaks down possible changes to COVID-19 isolation guidelines, measles cases in Minnesota, and the early reappearance of ticks in the state.