Since December, a pilot program in Brooklyn Park has sent social workers and paramedics out on some 911 calls. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Leah Kaiser, Human Services Director at Hennepin County Behavioral Health and Brooklyn Park Chief of Police Mark Bruley about how the effort is going how they may look to expand it in the future.

At the Minnesota Capitol on Monday, the Minnesota House votes on a huge public safety bill. The bill funds many programs and includes new policies that affect gun ownership. On Wednesday a conference committee added language to that bill that would expand background checks for gun transactions between private parties. It also added a provision that some call a red flag bill to allow law enforcement to temporarily take guns from persons believed to be a risk to themselves or to others. The state senate approved a similar bill Friday night.

‘Red flag’ laws have popped up all over the United States as a response to increased gun violence. Jennifer Paruk researches Extreme Risk Protection Orders at the University of Michigan. She's joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to explain how effective red flag laws really are.

Boys volleyball is now an official high school sport. And the Twins are about to start their third game in a series against San Diego. We'll hear all the latest from sports guys, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.

Langfellow is the founder of “Minnesota Score” magazine and the cohost of the "10,000 Takes" sports talk show. Nelson is the other host of "10,000 Takes" and is also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio "Eye on Football.”

Some students will be able to attend public colleges and universities in Minnesota at no cost, under a bill which is on its way to the governor's desk to be signed. We'll get the details from one of our political reporters. And we'll hear from a student leader about how this change would affect his life.

The leader behind the scenes of the long-running, statewide television show Almanac, is wrapping up a 40-year career. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer has worked with Brendan Henehan for 30 of those years. We’ll look back on all the stories he's covered and the lessons he's learned.

Boys’ volleyball is now an official high school sport. And the Twins are about to start their third game in a series against San Diego. We'll hear all the latest from sports guys Wally and Eric.

Brendan Henehan is the brains behind one of the longest-running public affairs shows in the country: “Almanac” on Twin Cities PBS.

Very few people understand the immense amount of work it takes to put a live broadcast on the air — radio or TV. The people who do the work, the producers, are folks you never hear or see.

Henehan has produced a live television program every week for 40 years. That's unheard of in this business.

Gov. Tim Walz has declared Friday Brendan Henehan Day in the State of Minnesota because that night, after about 1,700 shows, Henehan — TPT’s managing director of public affairs and Almanac's executive producer — is retiring.

Before the show fades to black tomorrow night, MPR News host Cathy Wurzer — who also hosts “Almanac”— sat Henehan down for an exit interview.

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 bill is heading to Governor Walz's desk that would provide free tuition to public colleges and universities in Minnesota to students whose families earn less than $80,000 a year. The bill passed in a Senate vote yesterday, 34 to 30.

To hear more about what the bill could mean for Minnesota students and their families, MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talked with MPR News reporter Brian Bakst, and John Runningen, student president of Lead Minnesota.

Lawmakers from the Minnesota House and Senate are scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon to resolve differences in another pair of big spending bills. Both measures increase funding for transportation across the state, but the chambers disagree on how much money to raise through a metro sales tax increase.

Both bills would also create a new program to address safety concerns on buses and rail lines in the metro and allocate funding for a passenger train between Duluth and the Twin Cities.

Sam Rockwell, Executive Director of the transportation advocacy group Move Minnesota, joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the proposed investments in transit systems, bike lanes, safety, and more.

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.

Weather nerds, this one’s for you. Minnesota Now is dedicating time to all five of MPR News contributing meteorologists, who have a combined 150 years of forecasting experience. With MPR News host Cathy Wurzer, they looked back at major Minnesota weather events and their favorite parts of meteorology.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke to MPR Chief meteorologist Paul Huttner, along with Sven Sundgaard, Ron Trenda, Bill Endersen, and Mark Seeley, retired University of Minnesota climatologist and meteorologist.

Transportation bills are at the capitol Wednesday, and funding for roads, bridges and public transit are on the line. That includes money for safety concerns after several incidents of violence on public transit this year. We'll learn what's inside the bills.

Do you remember the "domebuster" blizzard of 2010? How about the Roseville tornado of 1981? We’re getting five people in one room with a combined150 years of weather coverage: our MPR meteorologists. We'll talk about their most memorable weather events from the years, and how their jobs have changed over time. You won’t want to miss this fun conversation.

Minnesota hospitals and the Mayo Clinic are pressuring lawmakers to back away from two proposals in both the House and Senate versions of a health care package. One provision would create a Health Care Affordability Board that would make recommendations to address rising costs. Another would give nurses more say in hospital staffing levels. Lawmakers still need to resolve differences in the two bills before sending them, as part of an overall health care spending package, to Governer Tim Walz's desk to be signed. With these negotiations in their final stages, lobbying is heating up. Most notably, Mayo Clinic recently threatened to pull billions of dollars of investments from the state if lawmakers don't back off. Rochester Post Bulletin business reporter Jeff Kiger has been following all of this and he joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.