Minnesota Now

You’ve seen it and you’ve smelled it all summer long: smoke from the wildfires in Canada. Over the past three months, more than 5,000 wildfires have burned across Canada, scorching more than 27 million acres. Some Minnesotans have been on the front line of fighting the flames.

Our state has been answering the call for help thanks to something called the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact. It’s a partnership where Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Manitoba and Ontario have all agreed to help each other out with firefighting. So far three different groups of Minnesota firefighters have been sent to Manitoba. Lori Barrow is a Forester with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and joined Minnesota Now after spending 18 days working to fight wildfires.

Only a small share of M Health Fairview patients leave the hospital early, against their doctor’s advice. But according to new reporting in Sahan Journal, that number is five times higher for people who use opioids or meth, and and 10 to 12 times higher for people of color with those addictions. 

Doctor Ryan Kelly is working to reverse that trend. He’s a general medicine hospitalist, primary care physician and also treats opioid dependence at the Community and University Health Care Center. He spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about why people with drug addictions check themselves out of the hospital early, and what is being done about it.

If you visit the farmers market, or even pay attention to what's local at your grocery store — you've probably seen a lot of cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet corn.

That's because August is high time for that produce — along with a bunch of other food — to get harvested.

Meg Cowden is busy this time of year with her enormous garden. And she's back as usual to give tips for all of us who might have a little less than a green thumb.

This morning former Minneapolis Police Officer Tou Thao was the last of the four officers to be sentenced for his role in George Floyd’s murder. But the story is far from over... we hear more on that.

And we explore new state policy remaking adoption regulations.

We get a peek at MPR's new clean energy series, "Getting to Green."

And gardening expert Meg Cowden answers listener questions about how to keep their gardens going through late summer and fall.

The murder of George Floyd is a part of history. It led to riots, a racial reckoning and a promise for reform. And today – more than three years later – a chapter of that history is closing. This morning, former Minneapolis Police Officer Tou Thao was the last of the four officers to be sentenced for his role in Floyd’s murder.

MPR News reporter Matt Sepic was at Thao’s sentencing — he tells host Cathy Wurzer what happened.

And the story is far from over. Yohuru Williams, founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas joins Wurzer to reflect on how we got here and what’s next.

This week, MPR News is kicking off a new series looking at Minnesota's transition to clean energy. It's called "Getting to Green."

On Tuesday mornings, our reporters will be exploring the opportunities — but also the challenges — the state faces as it moves away from fossil fuels and toward more climate-friendly energy sources.

Two of our reporters working on that series talked about it with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer — Dan Kraker on the line from the Duluth bureau, and Kirsti Marohn in Collegeville.

Lost in the hubbub over legalizing marijuana and a massive budget surplus at the Minnesota Capitol this year were nine lines of state statute remaking adoption policy. They were tucked into the state's massive 909-page health policy bill. Those few sentences are now poised to unlock decades of potential family secrets held by the state -- secrets that even many who held them have been battling for decades to reveal.

Tim Nelson has been talking to some of the people affected by this change.

The law has been a long time coming for advocates like Penny Needham. She is an adoptee who has pushed to unlock birth records since the 1990s. Needham talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

If you haven't heard of Donnie and Joe Emerson, neither had most of the world — until their album was rediscovered by crate diggers in 2008.

It's time for sports!

In Stillwater, on the St. Croix River, a two-and-a-half block section of Main Street is closed for the next two months for construction. Local businesses are coming together to throw a dance party.