Minnesota Now

In the archives of the Minneapolis Institute of Art sits a kitchen. It doesn't look like any other piece of high art you might find in Mia. It just looks like a regular kitchen. But that kitchen holds a story of design and women's liberation not often told. The kitchen is called the Frankfurt Kitchen-- and the one that exists at Mia is one of just a few that remain in the world. There is a high likelihood that the design of your own kitchen replicates it. Minneapolis journalist and historian Katie Thornton reported a piece all about the fascinating history of this kitchen for the design podcast 99% Invisible. She joined Emily Bright to talk about her research.

On Thursday morning the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

To explain exactly what was in the ruling — and what it means for the future of Minnesota’s students — Professor T. Anansi Wilson joined MPR News host Tim Nelson.

Wilson is the Founding Director of the Center for The Study of Black Life and The Law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul.

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.

Our sports guys are here to talk all things Lynx, Twins, Wilds, and more.

Wally Langfellow is the creator of Minnesota Score Magazine and the host of the 10,000 Takes sports talk show. His co-host is Eric Nelson, who’s also the Minnesota Vikings Reporter for CBS Sports’ Eye on Football show.

It's no Taylor Swift concert — but six thousand people are expected in Minneapolis this weekend for the Elks National Convention.

The Elks are a national fraternal service organization, similar to the Lions, Kiwanis or the Moose. These days, fraternal organizations have a fraction of the members they had at their peak in the 1970s.

What relevance do fraternal organizations have in 2023? Past Elks national president Paul Ryan says it’s all about service.

MPR News host Tim Nelson talked with Ryan, who lives in Willmar.

The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action this morning... ending race-based admission at two elite east coast universities. We'll find out what this means for colleges here in Minnesota.

We talked about a situation no parent wants to be in. New legislation in Minnesota covers end-of-life care for children. We'll hear from one mom who fought for the bill.

6,000 people are expected in Minneapolis this weekend for the national convention of the Elks fraternal order. What does a fraternal service organization like the Elks or the Lions mean in 2023? We're talking about it.

No family should have to plan for the end of a child's life, but it happens and it is heartbreaking. Minnesota has one of the only children's hospices in the United States. Crescent Cove, located in Brooklyn Center, provides respite and end-of-life care to hundreds of children. During this year's legislative session, lawmakers from both parties approved a bill to help fund pediatric hospice. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talked with former Minnesota State Medicaid director and Crescent Cove board member Brian Osberg and Carrie Edberg, the mother of Leo Edberg, who received end-of-life care at the facility.

The most remote region of Minnesota is arguably the Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods County.

It's completely surrounded by Cananda or water — in fact, it's the highest point in the lower 48. And the few locals in the area are preparing for a big celebration — and a transition.

Grace Prothero has run the remote Prothero’s Post log cabin resort alongside her late husband Dale for a whopping 60 years. At 91, now that her hearing has gone, Grace is retiring—and handing off the business to her granddaughter, Kellie Knight.

Next Thursday July 6 their community will hold a celebration for Grace’s retirement—and her 91st birthday.

Grace is full of stories from the region over the past 60 years. She shared some of them with MPR News host Emily Bright.

Minnesota lawmakers approved nearly a billion dollars in funding for nonprofit organizations around the state over the next two years– including some that have been waiting years for funding. But the legislature also pushed to increase oversight of these grants and make it easier to cut off money when problems arise. MPR News reporters Dana Ferguson and Brian Bakst reported on the state’s efforts to balance two goals: expanding access to funding and preventing fraud.

Canadian wildfire smoke has blown into central and southern Minnesota, which is under an air quality alert through Wednesday night. The state has now surpassed its average air quality alert count ten times over.

The average number of air quality alerts in a year is two or three. This week marks 23. The previous record was 21 alerts issued in 2021.

Wednesday’s air quality alert comes from smoke from wildfires in Ontario and Quebec, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says.

The alert includes the Twin Cities metro, Albert Lea, Marshall, Worthington, Rochester, Hinckley, Winona, Mankato and the tribal nations of Upper Sioux, Prairie Island and Mille Lacs. The alert area no longer includes northeast Minnesota.

Fine particle levels are expected to reach unhealthy levels in the metro, Albert Lea, Rochester, Winona, Mankato, Marshall, Worthington and the tribal nations of Upper Sioux and Prairie Island. The MPCA says everyone in those areas should “limit prolonged or heavy exertion and time spent outdoors.”

Areas with air quality levels considered unhealthy for sensitive groups include Brainerd, Hinckley, Alexandria and the tribal nation of Mille Lacs. Sensitive groups should limit outdoors and exercise time, the MPCA says.

View an interactive map of air quality on the MPCA’s website.

A cold front is expected to move across the state Wednesday afternoon and bring cleaner air from the west by midnight.

Fire seasons are becoming more severe, longer and more frequent because of climate change, which is also causing more extreme weather.

Minnesota is getting wetter with time, but the state has seen record wet years in 2016 and 2019 followed by a few years of drought.

Canada is facing the same; droughts, extreme cold and wet periods have frequented the country.

The state will likely see more frequent periods of worsened air quality in the coming years, depending on weather patterns like flooding and wet periods.

Fires in western Canada started this spring. Since then, hot and dry conditions started fires in eastern Canada that are still going strong — that’s where smoke has been coming from these past few weeks.

Those eastern fires are currently affecting areas beyond Minnesota: Haze has settled over most of the Great Lakes region, while unhealthy air has moved as far south as Kentucky and Missouri.

Rain plays a role in air quality, both for better and worse.

Precipitation earlier in June pushed wildfire smoke down to the surface and worsened the air quality. But a significant amount of heavy rain — like showers and thunderstorms expected Wednesday across parts of Minnesota — can clear up fine particulates and alleviate air quality concerns.

People can make their own indoor air filters by attaching furnace filters to the backs of box fans.

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  Wildfire smoke in Minnesota: How to best protect your health and your home
  
  


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  Minnesota sets record for most air quality alerts in a season
  
  


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  The latest on wildfires in Minnesota
  
  

Apart from Saturday’s storms, which accounted for 39 percent of Minnesota’s severe weather warnings this season so far, it’s been a quiet summer for intense storms.

The state is in its least-active severe weather season since 1995. Last year, Minnesota’s severe weather season kicked off with a record start.

Get the latest weather news, updates and forecasts on Updraft. The MPCA has updates on current air quality conditions.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation on Minnesota Now with MPR News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard and MPR News host Emily Bright.

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.

More than a year after the Feeding Our Future scandal that allegedly saw millions in stolen aid, Minnesota nonprofits are getting a billion dollars in funding.

Lawmakers say they have increased transparency and accountability measures to stave off wrongdoing.

And new information out today about the delays and cost overruns of the Southwest Light Rail Transit project, now a decade behind schedule.

Plus, another hazy, cloudy day in Minnesota. Sven Sundgaard shares our Fourth of July forecast and whether clear skies are in our future.

And we'll head to the Northwest Angle of Minesota for the story of a well-loved resort preparing for a big celebration... and transition.