Minnesota Now

What's blue and wavy with an eight-pointed star? It's Minnesota's new state flag. After thousands of submissions and many tweaks and changes, the north star state has a new symbol.

A Minneapolis encampment was set to be cleared today. But now the future of the camp is unclear.

Plus, the holidays can be a difficult time for many, but especially those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. We talk to an addiction psychiatrist.

A local church is becoming their own 'Shark Tank' of sorts, and giving back by funding ideas that help the community.

And we meet Minneapolis' first poet laureate.

For the first time, the City of Minneapolis has its own poet laureate. Heid Erdrich was announced Tuesday morning as the first person to fill the role. She takes the position next year and will hold it through 2024, after which laureates’ terms will last two years. On top of being an award-winning writer of six poetry collections, Erdrich is a curator, editor and teacher. She is Ojibwe and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band in North Dakota.

The city’s arts commission and the Loft Literary Center oversee the award and a group of community members chose Erdrich out of 24 nominees. Poets Junauda Petrus, Miss Mari, Chavonn Williams Shen, and Raymond Luczak were also finalists.

Every family has their holiday traditions, but few are as complex as one Minneapolis family, whose season revolves around the Penumbra Theatre's annual production of Black Nativity. No fewer than five members of the Whitlock family are involved in the show, which tells the Christmas story through gospel and spiritual songs. Lewis Whitlock passed in 2021, but the family continues to keep his legacy and tradition alive. We take you back to 1997, when MPR News reporter Lauran McCallum spoke to the Whitlocks about the production.

Black Nativity is still onstage today, showing Wednesday night through Christmas Eve at the Penumbra Theatre.

It is the season of giving, and one local church is going above and beyond in a unique way. For a second year, the Wayzata Community Church is giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars to social entrepreneurship initiatives. The program is called “Dough Grants” and you can think of it like a church-based Shark Tank. The best ideas get an investment from the church, with no strings attached. Reverend Danielle Jones joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to explain.

Minnesota has a new state flag. The State Emblems Redesign Commission finalized the simple design late Tuesday morning.

MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson has listened to several months of flag design discussion. She joins MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about how the panel made its choice and its next steps in making the case for the new design.

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.

For many people, the holidays are a time of celebration and joy. But holiday stressors can pile up quickly, whether it’s about having to see family or spending money on gifts. And for people who are in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction, it can be a difficult time of year to stay sober. In fact, federal data shows the months of December and January see an increase in alcohol- and drug-induced deaths. Dr. Sheila Specker, an addiction psychiatrist with the University of Minnesota Medical School and M Health Fairview, joins MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer with insight.

Laura Hauge, a sharpshooter on the St. Croix Lutheran Academy’s girls basketball team in West St. Paul made state high school sports history last week when she broke the Minnesota state girls high school basketball record for most made three-point shots.

She ended the game with 460 3-pointers to her name. The record was set in 2012 with 458 3-pointers. Her school celebrated her achievement Friday at its game against Hill-Murray School.

“In that moment, it just didn’t feel real,” Hauge told MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. “It was just super awesome to realize how many people love and support me.”

She said in her experience, the craft of 3-pointers is more mental than it is physical. A positive mind is key.

Whenever she starts missing, she said in her head she can hear the voices of her coaches saying, “Don’t think, just shoot.”

Hauge said she looks up to her dad the most. He taught her how to shoot.

“He always comes to the gym and rebounds for me, and he’s made a bunch of sacrifices for me. Both of my parents have,” she said.

After she graduates in the spring, Hauge will be headed to the University of St. Thomas to play Division I basketball.

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 new report says Minnesotans inhaled more Canadian wildfire smoke than much of the U.S. this summer. We take a look back at the impact that poor air quality had on us.

It's tough to be a teenager these days. We hear from two teens who are trying to getting ahead of mental health crises through a smart phone app.

Older folks continue to make up a larger share of new entrepreneurs. One entrepreneur shares her second act, her third, and what she’s learned from trying something new.

Plus, a Minnesota high school basketball player made history. Sharpshooter Laura Hauge talks her record-breaking three point shots.

Among the more striking economic and social trends in the past several decades is the rise of the second-act entrepreneur. The catchphrase captures older adults who retire from their primary career later in life and start a new business in their next chapter.

People who are 55-64 years old account for about a quarter of new entrepreneurs in recent years. These entrepreneurs include everyone from the solopreneur to the ambitious founder launching an enterprise with several employees. Whatever the size, scale and scope of the small business, second-act entrepreneurs add to the dynamism of our communities.

MPR’s senior economics contributor Chris Farrell has long reported on the economics of second-act entrepreneurs. He interviewed Courtney Burton, who is running two businesses in her encore, and joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about what he learned.

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 prominent Minnesota peace activist has died. Erica Bouza was a member of Women Against Military Madness, or WAMM.

Her commitment to the anti-nuclear movement led to at least two arrests at demonstrations against the Honeywell Corporation in 1983. Honeywell manufactured cluster bombs. At the time, her husband Tony Bouza was Minneapolis’ chief of police.

MPR News correspondent Regina Medina spoke to Mary Lou Ott, Erica’s friend and fellow WAMM member.

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.