Minnesota Now

Students and faculty of the University of Wisconsin River Falls are mourning the loss of four members of the campus community. In September, a professor of journalism died unexpectedly by natural causes. But the obituaries of three students suggest they died by suicide all within a month of one another. Two of these students were from Minnesota. Last year, 43% of the student body came from this state.

In a recent letter to students, University chancellor Maria Gallo said the school is providing grief counseling and plans to host conversations about mental health on campus. The campus also extended its Thanksgiving break to a full week to give students more time to recover.

Erich Mische is Executive Director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, or SAVE. It's a national non-profit based in Minneapolis. He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about school response to student tragedy and mental health issues.

Have you ever stopped for gas in Cloquet, Minnesota? If you've gassed up at one specific station, you may have been curious about the elegance of the place: the angles of the building, the green roof, a single row of pumps. This isn't an ordinary gas station. The R.W. Lindholm Service Station has a pretty interesting story.

Three students have died by suicide within the last month at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, and the university will extend its Thanksgiving break as students continue to grieve. We talked about how schools can respond to such a tragedy.

We waded through the thousands of submissions for the next Minnesota state flag, from serious, to satirical. Listen for a deep dive into the trends behind them.

Minnesota Celebrity Chef Ann Kim joined Minnesota Now to talk about opening day for her newest venture, simply named "Kim's."

Stopping for gas in Cloquet Minn. is a real treat for history buffs. Listen for the story behind it.

It’s opening weekend for Chef Ann Kim’s newest venture. Her new restaurant is simply named “Kim’s.”

Kim’s is replacing the beloved Uptown restaurant Sooki and Mimi. It closed on Oct. 21 and just two and a half weeks later, Kim’s was born.

Chef Ann is of known for her award-winning pizza at Young Joni, Pizzaria Lola and Hello Pizza. But Kim’s won’t be a pizza parlor. It’s Korean American cuisine.

Ann Kim joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the new restaurant.

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

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Since Duluth Minnesota became a city, it’s had 39 mayors. In January, Roger Reinert will become the 40th leader of the Zenith city. The former Duluth city council member and DFL state lawmaker handily beat incumbent mayor Emily Larson Tuesday evening by a wide margin of 60 to 40 percent.

After a hard-fought campaign he told supporters it's time for the city to unite.

Duluth mayor elect Roger Reinert joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about his win and his vision for the future of Duluth.

Minnesota Now is following historic results in mayoral races around the state. In Golden Valley, the race is still too close to call. Roslyn Harmon led Gillian Rosenquist by just 26 votes when the polls closed Tuesday night. If she wins, Harmon will be the city's first Black mayor.

In Duluth, Roger Reinert pulled off a rare win against a two-term incumbent. Reinert won nearly 60% of the vote. At a celebration Tuesday night at Clyde Iron Works, he told supporters he wanted to have a "smooth transition."

In St. Louis Park, voters chose Nadia Mohamed to be their next mayor. She is the city's first Somali city council member and at 27 years old, its youngest. Now she appears to be the first elected Somali mayor in the country. She received more than 58% of first-choice votes compared to opponent Dale Anderson's 41%.

Mayor elect Nadia Mohamed joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about her win.

So far this November, the Twin Cities have had mild weather, but the north shore has been looking more and more like winter. MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joined Cathy Wurzer to talk about winter snowfall trends, an unseasonably warm week coming up, and forecasts across the state.

The political makeup of the Minneapolis City Council will become more liberal after election results Wednesday show some progressive candidates likely gaining an edge in the body.

MPR’s Jon Collins joined Minnesota Now host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the nail biters and election results across the city.

According to the 2020 agricultural census, 99% of Minnesota farmers are white. And across the whole state, the census counted only 39 Black farmers. A history of discrimination in loan programs and other policies that led to a precipitous drop in Black-owned farms throughout the last century. State lawmakers created the Emerging Farmers office in 2021 and expanded it last session. Wednesday is Lilian Otieno’s first official day as its director. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.

Results from election day rolled in throughout Wednesday. Minnesota Now covered the latest results in some of the close races and what that means for the balance of power on the Minneapolis city council.

Election day has also brought historic wins across the state. St. Louis Park Mayor-Elect Nadia Mohamed joined the show after becoming the country's first elected Somali-American Mayor.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke to Duluth Mayor-Elect Roger Reinert after he beat out a two-term incumbent.

Plus, Wednesday is the first day on the job for the director of the Emerging Farmer's office, which looks to make farming more accessible.