In his State of the State address Wednesday night, Governor Tim Walz promoted key parts of his agenda: gun control, abortion and LGBTQ rights and a budget using the state’s 17 billion dollar-plus surplus.

And he contrasted these priorities with steps Republican-led states have taken to restrict abortion and gender affirming health care.

North Dakota, like Minnesota, has a trifecta – only Republicans are in charge.

So how are leaders there talking about what’s happening here in Minnesota? Do North Dakota residents view their state as a conservative refuge?

Jack Dura is Capitol Reporter for the Bismarck Tribune. He talked with host Cathy Wurzer about the political environment in North Dakota.

This weekend is Eid Al Fitr, a three-day festival that marks the end of Ramadan.

For the first time, students in Hopkins, Moorhead, Mankato and Minneapolis will get a day off from school to celebrate.

Nuziabah Said and Maryama Ahmed are co-presidents of the Muslim Student Association at Hopkins High School.

They talked with host Cathy Wurzer about their plans for Eid and their hopes for future Muslim students at their high school.

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

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The Minnesota House is poised to vote soon on a bill that would legalize recreational cannabis.

The bill has gone through numerous committees, with the last hurdle coming in the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this week.

If the bill passes in both the House and the Senate, it would just need a sign off from Governor Tim Walz — who supports legalization.

Twenty-one states have already legalized cannabis for recreational use. These states are windows into what might happen in Minnesota if marijuana is legalized.

Star Tribune reporters Ryan Faircloth and Brooks Johnson are covering the legalization effort. Faircloth traveled to Colorado, and Johnson to Michigan, to find out what happens after marijuana legalization in both the short term and the long term.

They talked with host Cathy Wurzer about their reporting.

Stand-up Trish Cook has a bit about her dad’s funeral.

He died during the pandemic, from COVID-19. Turning that pain and grief into laughs is just the brand of humor she was raised on.

“I think that gets to that Indian humor, of how we can laugh and find humor in those things,” Cook told MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

“And I like being able to share that with folks.”

She’s taking that trademark dry, self-deprecating wit in front of sold-out crowds these days, as part of the all-Ojibwe trio “NDN Way”— alongside Rob Fairbanks and Jon Roberts.

Their next show is Sunday, April 23 at the House of Comedy in Bloomington, Minn.

“It's so fun to have predominantly Native audience, getting dressed up making a night of it and we're getting together to have fun and to laugh,” she said.

“If you want to see three people making fun of themselves and their families, we're your show.”

Cook grew up idolizing indigenous comedian Charlie Hill. These days, she’s happy to see more representation of Native American folks in comedy, like Tonia Jo Hall and Dallas Goldtooth, and in television shows like “Reservation Dogs.” But there’s still a way to go.

Her childhood in the 1970s and 80s in South Minneapolis — and the quirks of her parents — is often fodder for her act. Her family lived near Lake Nokomis, and the entire city was her backyard.

These days, Cook is a mom to three boys.

She loves to joke about motherhood, playing a “salty mom” on the stage — someone who reminds other native women in the crowd of their aunts, or their moms.

That’s the best compliment she can get, she said.

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.

We continue to air the podcast by our friends at WTIP North Shore Community Radio called "It Happens Here: The Roots of Racial Inequity on the North Shore." It recently won first place for best radio series from the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. In the second episode, producers Staci Drouillard and Leah Lemm take us to Isle Royal on Lake Superior.

There are a lot of moving parts at the state legislature with a little over a month left to go in the session. State lawmakers are expected to hash out the details of that bill in committee this week. The DFL budget has increased the higher education budget by $650 million. But the chambers of the legislature disagree on how to use that money. On Tuesday, the Senate passed its version of the bill which would make tuition to public colleges and universities free for anyone whose family makes less than $80,000 per year. The House took a different approach in its bill, which passed a week ago. DFL Representative Gene Pelowski of Winona was the author of the House bill, and he joined MPR News guest host Emily Bright to talk about what comes next.

Last week's shock of warm temperatures aside, it feels like almost every week on Minnesota Now when we talk to MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner lately, we’re talking about the next storm rolling in. That’s the case Wednesday, with both rain and snow in the forecast across the state. Paul Huttner joined MPR News guest host Emily Bright to talk about the latest timing, rain totals, and thunder predictions for the next storm. They also talked about the flood forecast and severe weather awareness week.

It's tax day and the state legislature is considering a bill that could define what you pay next year. We'll hear just how much your taxes might change under the proposal.

Dozens of business owners say an event organized by the City of Minneapolis to celebrate Black entrepreneurship actually hurt them. We'll hear from them.

There's a lot of reasons to be stressed these days. We're looking at how stress affects the body and ways to manage it.

We'll chill with the children's band, The Okee Dokee Brothers. They'll talk about their musical inspirations and what they're working on.

Tuesday, April 18th is tax day – the last day to file your returns. It's the time of year when many of us have how much we pay in taxes top-of-mind. Right now, the state legislature is considering a tax bill that could define what you pay for next year. Representatives in the house taxes committee spent the morning hearing from representatives of tribal nations, local governments, and advocacy groups on a DFL tax plan.

The bill would send one-time payments to low- and middle-income earners and shield more retirees from paying taxes on their social security income. It also includes some property tax relief to offset rising prices. The bill also hikes taxes for some, by creating a so-called millionaire tax and requiring corporations to pay more for money they earn outside the country. All these points are central as lawmakers try to pass a budget in the next month.

MPR News politics reporter Brian Bakst joined guest host Emily Bright to explain further.

April is Stress Awareness Month. You'd probably be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't deal with stress, at least sometimes. Mayo Clinic Family Physician Dr. Jay Sheree Allen joined MPR News guest host Emily Bright with some tips on how to identify--and release--stress from our lives.