In this episode of Thank You, Stranger, Minneapolis resident and printmaker Kolean tells her tale of travelling to Italy and making an unexpected friend.

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.

In the final weeks before K-12 students return to school for the fall semester, some schools are still working to fill open positions for teachers and other staff.

The race for mayor in Duluth shaping up to be one of the most competitive in more than fifteen years. We find out what last night’s primary means in that election.

And we get an update on how undocumented immigrants who are victims of crime are treated in Minnesota.

Plus, we hear about one of the largest performing arts festivals in the Midwest.

And a new book is out detailing the most harrowing shipwrecks that have taken place along the North Shore. The author tells us some good stories.

Lake Superior is historically home to some of the largest shipping enterprises North America has ever seen.

While the Great Lakes have been vital to the American economy, they've also shown the ships — and the crews of people on them — harrowing, sometimes life-threatening storms.

The power of Lake Superior is not lost on Michael Schumacher. He's written multiple books about just how dramatic life can be on deck in the throes of Lake Superior. And he's got a new book. It's called "Too Much Sea For Their Decks" and it's chalk-full of short sea-stories and shipwrecks along Minnesota's North Shore and Island Royale.

Did you know that we just hit the traditional middle of summer a few days ago? It might feel like a relief to some that there is still plenty of summer left.

MPR's chief meteorologist Paul Huttner chats with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about what we can expect for the peak of the summer season across the state.

We are about halfway through one of the largest performing arts festivals in the Midwest: Minnesota Fringe.

It is in its 30th year of highlighting more than 1,000 local artists on stages across the Twin Cities. The festival kicked off last week, but there is still a full slate of performances heading through Sunday.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Alex Church, a writer whose show “Primary” is taking the Fringe stage.

Undocumented immigrants who are victims of a crime may hesitate to report it, out of fear of deportation or being separated from loved ones. All the way back in 2000, Congress created U visas. They grant status to survivors of some crimes who cooperate with law enforcement.

Since then, the list of pending applications has grown to more than 190,000 nationwide. And behind each one is someone waiting years for a decision.

Temporary work permits are also available for those waiting. But even this interim status can take years to come through. These applications make up a large chunk of the caseload for Lenore Millibergity, an attorney with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.

The race for mayor in Duluth shaping up to be one of the most competitive in years.

A challenger, no stranger to Minnesota politics, comfortably defeated Duluth’s two-term incumbent Mayor Emily Larson in a primary last night. Former DFL state Senator Roger Reinert earned 63 percent of the votes, and Mayor Larson secured the second spot on November’s ballot with 35 percent of the votes. They were among five candidates in the primary.

Larson ran with the governor’s backing and the DFL Party’s endorsement even though the office is technically nonpartisan.

Reinert served in the Legislature as a DFLer until 2017 but said he’d run without party backing in this race.

Larson is vying to be the city’s first three-term mayor in about two decades. She didn’t make public remarks to supporters after polls closed, but in a statement to the media said, “There are many challenges we still face in Duluth and over the next three months, our campaign will be working to build the coalition we need to win in November."

For more analysis on the primary, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with Cynthia Rugeley, an associate professor and head of the political science department at University of Minnesota-Duluth.

There’s another air quality alert that parts of Minnesota is dealing with Tuesday. Heavy ground level smoke from Canadian wildfires is drifting across Northern Minnesota. The air quality alert includes cities like Brainerd, Alexandria, Hinckley, Ortonville, Moorhead, International Falls, Two Harbors, Hibbing, Ely, Duluth, Roseau, and Chisago, Isanti, Mille Lacs, Kanabec, and Morrison counties. The alert lasts until Wednesday afternoon.

Tuesday is the 41st day with bad air quality in Minnesota this year. Most of the alerts have been due to wildfires raging across Canada. And unfortunately we are currently in peak wildfire season. David Brown is an Air Quality Meteorologist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and he joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about his work.

Northern Minnesota is under yet another air quality alert until Wednesday. A scientist from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency joined the show to talk about what the state is learning from this summer of smoke.

That smoke is coming from Canadian wildfires. Minnesotans have been helping fight those fires this summer. One of them joined the show to talk about what she saw there.

People with substance use disorder are more likely to check themselves out of the hospital against their doctor's advice. Listen for why.

DFL Representative Dean Phillips still hasn't confirmed whether he plans to challenge President Joe Biden in a Democratic primary. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke to him about it.