Minnesota Now

Minnesota's professional women's hockey team lost in Montreal last night as the Timberwolves beat the Washington Wizards, recovering from a rough loss earlier in the week. Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to process the week in sports news. Wally is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and Eric is the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports radio. Together they host the show 10,000 Takes.

Fashion is cyclical, and what’s old is always new again...in time. Thrift shops have become a pot of gold when it comes to finding unique clothing and accessories. Dozens of people in the Twin Cities have made a business out it. Vintage stores are popping up everywhere. A business owner is helping people access the vintage market through the Instagram account Twin Cities Vintage Map, which tracks sales and pop ups happening all over the metro. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with the person behind the account and the collection Rosella Vintage, Jahna Peloquin.

Navigating the doctor’s office is something we have all had to do. Sometimes, it can be frustrating. Maybe you can’t access your medical records. Or you feel like you’re not getting the care you need. It can be difficult to advocate for yourself. One Minnesota doctor is empowering patients to speak up. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with physician and longtime patient health advocate Dr. Archelle Georgiou about her new podcast, called “Speak Up for Your Health.”

Are you one of the remaining few people who like to send cards or letters the old fashioned way through the mail?

The Afton-Minnesota based artist John Kaul has a long history of collecting stamps, sending stamps and painting stamps and envelopes. He has a brand new exhibit at the Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis featuring some of the hundreds of portraits he’s painted directly onto mailing envelopes.

He joins me right now to talk more about his work. Kaul joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer.

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.

A state trooper has been charged in the death of a Black motorist during a traffic stop last July.

A group of Minnesota college students are in New Hampshire helping with Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. MPR News talked with their professor about Tuesday night’s primary results.

St. Paul’s own Joe Mauer is joining the Baseball Hall of Fame. MPR News talks with a longtime sports journalist who wrote a children’s book about the Twins catcher.

And we’ll hear from the creator of a new film about another hometown hero, the late hockey legend Henry Boucha.

Plus, there’s an art to sending a good letter. We’ll meet an artist who has painted hundreds of portraits onto mailing envelopes.

A new documentary that follows the life and legacy of Henry Boucha, a Native hockey player who grew up in Warroad, gets its first public screening at the end of the week.

Many older Minnesotans know Boucha’s story. He was a standout high school player who went onto a pro hockey career, one that was cut short because of an on-ice injury. Boucha went on to advocate for Native American youth. In his later years, he embarked on a film project to highlight the stories of Indigenous Olympians, beginning with his own.

Henry trusted his story with Emmy award-winning filmmaker Leya Hale, who produced and directed the film. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

As part of Hockey Day Minnesota, there will be a community screening at 3 p.m. on Friday in Warroad. The film is also screening next Wednesday, Jan. 31, at the Main Cinema in Minneapolis at 7 p.m. as part of the Great Northern Festival.

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.

You may have noticed we are at the start of a January supersized thaw. All that along with a pretty warm winter overall has made some people feel odd.

MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to share more on this unusual weather.

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.

From hometown hero to hall of fame, this summer, Joe Mauer will be enshrined as one of major league baseball’s greats. The career Twins catcher is a first ballot hall of famer. It’s only the third time a catcher has made it in the first ballot. The St. Paul native received 76 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association and will be inducted in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. in July.

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  Cooperstown bound: Joe Mauer headed to baseball Hall of Fame
  
  

KSTP-TV Sports Director Joe Schmit has followed Joe Mauer through his career and also has a new children’s book coming out this week about Joe Mauer. The book is called “The Right Thing to Do: The Joe Mauer Story.” He joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.

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.

Democratic presidential challenger Dean Phillips is continuing his long-shot campaign after he lost New Hampshire’s primary election Tuesday night to President Joe Biden. Biden’s name did not appear on the ballot, but he won nonetheless with write-ins.

Phillips got about twenty percent of the vote in New Hampshire compared to Biden’s nearly fifty-four percent. But he said he isn’t letting that defeat keep him down just yet. He’s moving his campaign down to South Carolina.

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  Related After New Hampshire vote, Dean Phillips says he'll ‘keep this baby going’ in Democratic race
  
  

Dan Hofrenning, a St. Olaf college professor and 16 students are in New Hampshire right now to learn about the primaries and participate in internships for the campaigns of Biden and Phillips, as well as Republican candidates Donald Trump and Nikki Haley.

He joined MPR News Cathy Wurzer to talk about the primary.

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.

Brooklyn Center’s City Council narrowly voted down a proposal to change the way police do traffic stops and searches. Under the policy, officers would not have been allowed to pull over drivers for minor infractions like a broken taillight or objects hanging from a rearview mirror. A committee drafted the reforms after police killings of Daunte Wright in 2021 and Kobe Dimlock-Heiser in 2019. Wright was stopped for expired tabs, another of the minor violations on the list. The changes would have also prevented officers from asking to search a vehicle without probable cause.

The committee behind all this first presented its recommendations to the city council in September 2022. Fast forward to this past October, the council tabled the new rules after police chief Kellace McDaniel said he had reservations. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with committee member John Solomon back then. With the policy defeated in a 3-2 vote, he joined her on Minnesota Now again.