Minnesota Now

As Minnesotans many of us have taken a walk through the woods to relieve stress. But a new study from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse found forest therapy – also called forest bathing -- had significant health and well-being benefits for kids with mental health challenges.  

For more on what we can learn from the new research, a Minnesota forest bathing practitioner joined Minnesota Now. Leigha Horton is the co-founder and program director of Silvae Spiritus.

Starting Monday, Metro Transit will begin tougher fare enforcement. Community Service Officers will begin asking riders for their fares. Those who haven't paid will be issued a citation. Fines start at $35 for a first violation to $100 for a fourth. It's part of a push to clean up light rail platforms and trains, and bring ridership back up. Part of that also includes a new rider code of conduct, which will be voted on December 13th. Metro Transit General Manager Lesley Kandaras joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the changes and how fare enforcement impacts rider experience.

Metro Transit says it's getting tough on fare evasion, starting Monday. Why now? We talked to general manager Lesley Kandaras about efforts to boost enforcement -- and ridership -- on metro buses and trains.

Some Minnesota schools are already using new reading tools that will be required by law. We talked to Catharine Richert -- a reporter and parent in Rochester -- about what she's hearing, along with Emily Hanford, host of the podcast that helped cause the change in curriculum.

Feeling stressed? We learned about the science of forest bathing and a new study on its potential to help kids with their mental health.

We checked in with a Minnesota blogger about what holiday pop-ups there are to see this season.

The Minneapolis-based jazz pop band Rabeca releases a new album called ‘Junk’ on Dec. 1. They will perform an album release show at the Hook and Ladder in Minneapolis on Dec. 2.

Anna Dolde is a Minneapolis jazz and pop saxophonist. She co-leads the band and joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the new album.

There are calls to cut Minnesota's financial ties to Israel by moving pension accounts and other investments that benefit its economy. On Wednesday, protestors met at the state capitol to call on the State Board of Investment to do so. They echoed a wider movement known as BDS for "boycott, divest, sanctions." The Jewish Community Resource Council also gathered at the capitol yesterday to voice opposition to this idea. The investments in question are about 116 million dollars -- or .14% of the state's portfolio -- according to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's office. The governor is on the investment board along with other top state officials, including Attorney General Keith Ellison, Secretary of State Steve Simon and State Auditor Julie Blaha. Auditor Blaha joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.

The movie Priscilla has earned more than $19 million since its late October release. The film tells the story of the teenage girl who met and later married Elvis Presley, one of the pioneers of rock n’ roll. Priscilla’s movie comes less than two years after Elvis had a biopic of his own. Both have stirred up attention over the King’s legacy.

Elvis died at the young age of 42 of a heart attack. When he came through Minnesota on one of his final tours a few months earlier, drug use and chronic illness were taking a toll on his body. For the latest story in our history series, Minnesota Now and Then, MPR contributors Robbie Mitchem, Jamal Allen, and Britt Aamodt take us to Elvis' 1977 concert at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

The state of policing in the city of Minneapolis is once again under scrutiny. We heard from one of the people tasked with making change.

Calls continue for Minnesota to withdraw over one hundred million dollars in investments from Israel. State Auditor Julie Blaha joined the show for more.

What happens when a small town loses its ambulance service? An Iron Range city may soon find out.

Elvis is back in the public lexicon with the movie, "Priscilla." We travelled back to the time Elvis visited Duluth just months before he died.

Minneapolis-based jazz pop band Rabeca joined the show to talk about their new album out on Friday.

During a medical emergency, you can count on an ambulance to likely be at your home within 10 minutes. Sometimes those minutes matter. But a city in the Iron Range is at risk of losing that critical service. The city of Nashwauk says they are considering selling their ambulance service. Aaron Brown joined Minnesota Now to explain why this is happening and the impacts it could have on this small rural community. He runs the blog ‘Minnesota Brown’ and is also a radio show host and college professor.

An often overlooked governmental body at the state Capitol drew much attention Wednesday.

The Minnesota State Board of Investment — which includes Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and other top officials — had to meet in a larger room than usual, and one that made entry and exit for state officials more accessible.

That’s because pro-Palestinian and Jewish groups gathered there to weigh in on the state’s foreign investments. The board manages public pension accounts and other investments. Those benefiting Israel make up $116.3 million dollars, or 0.14 percent of the state’s portfolio, according to the governor’s office.

“As a nurse, this latest bombing campaign — unprecedented in the century by every measure of death and destruction — was unimaginable,” retired nurse Sarah Martin said during the meeting’s public comment period. “Hospitals were at the center of Israel’s attacks. My pension, which I get because I took care of sick and injured people in a state-of-the-art hospital just down the street, was used to destroy the hospitals of Gaza.”

Human Rights Watch on Sunday said its investigation into an Oct. 17 strike on Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital suggests a Hamas misfire caused that blast. But Israeli bombardments have caused massive death and destruction, including at hospitals. Israel’s military says Hamas uses the facilities as shields for an underground network of tunnels.

The retired nurse, Martin, along with five other speakers, asked the state to divest from Israel and weapons manufacturers. The activists said the board moved on its own to divest from South Africa in the 1980s in response to apartheid, pointing to it as a precedent for the actions they want the board to take now.

It’s part of a global movement known as Boycott, Divest, Sanctions or BDS. Supporters want institutions and governments to withdraw investments in Israel. Some in the Jewish community say the movement is anti-Semitic.

“Divestment as part of the Boycott, Divest, Sanction movement would be a profound mistake. You don’t divest from the victim of an attack,” State Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, said at a press conference before the meeting.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas organized the press conference, where Latz and other Jewish community leaders spoke about the anguish that the Israeli people and some of their friends and relatives in Minnesota are feeling in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. And they said pulling state money from businesses there would only make things worse.

Meanwhile, about seven miles west of events at the Capitol, dozens of University of Minnesota students and faculty donned Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and walked out of classes to raise awareness and support for Palestinians.

“Some professors are worried about canceling class and missing important content for their students. What I have to say to that is, this right here is the content,” said anthropology and global studies professor Serra Hakyemez.

Students for a Democratic Society organized the walkout.

As for the investment board, it did not indicate whether Wednesday’s actions would change its investment practices. Its members thanked people for their comments and ended the meeting without engaging further with the crowd.

If it does take action — as it did in 2022 with Russia and Belarus and in 2009 with Iran — it will not be swift. The state typically will gradually withdraw its investments to avoid hurting pensions.

For example, six months after the 2022 law went into effect, the state still had about $1 million invested in businesses tied to Russia or Belarus, with about 30 percent of those targeted for divestment. Both laws also have language exempting humanitarian relief, education and journalism organizations.

We’re following protests at the Capitol calling for the state board of investment to divest money from Israel. We’ll learn more and check in on the first year of an inpatient mental health unit for kids.

Plus, can you believe it’s (nearly) December already? Meteorologist Paul Huttner gives us our forecast, including potential for northern lights later this week!

Inside the cookbook that gives away secrets to some tasty dishes at the Midtown Global Market.

Plus, some songs can make a movie sing, and the other way around. We’ll hear from a St. Paul music writer on the ties that bind pop music and famous films together.