Minnesota Now

The state crime lab has a backlog of thousands of cases because of the surge of crime. They say more funding could fix it and want a bite of that billion dollar surplus.

Lawmakers are meeting Tuesday evening to recommend new candidates for the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer will find out what's at stake with that vote.

A proposal in Two Harbors would bring townhouses taller than the town's historic lighthouse. We’ll hear about last night's contentious city council meeting.

A Minnesota cellist talks with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about her father’s time in an orchestra of Holocaust survivors led by Leonard Bernstein.

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

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Famous 20th-century conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein is known for West Side Story and the Marlon Brando picture On the Waterfront. But cellist Janet Horvath is interested in a lesser-known chapter of his life. In 1948, Bernstein conducted an orchestra of Holocaust survivors who played at displaced persons camps in Germany. From 1980 to 2012, Janet Horvath was the associate principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra. Now she’s written a book about her father and that orchestra of Holocaust survivors. It’s called The Cello Still Sings.

Janet spoke about her book with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

Neighbors in Two Harbors on the north shore have been wrestling with the idea of a development near the town’s iconic Split Rock Lighthouse for over two decades. Now, there’s yet another proposal for the land.

The Two Harbors City Council met on Monday about a plan to build between 22 and 28 townhomes on the spot. Those buildings would be taller than the lighthouse. The lighthouse has been a bed and breakfast since 1999.

Lake County Press editor Kitty Mayo has been covering developments at the site and she was at the meeting on Monday. She spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about the townhouse plans.

Here in Minnesota, we’ve got famously abundant lakes. The headwaters of a major river. Bird migrations, wide open prairies, and big trees. There are so many ways to connect with the natural world. But social issues and personal experiences also shape people’s relationships to nature.

Racial inequities especially have made it harder for some folks to access green space or feel safe in the outdoors. Yet there are rich histories within BIPOC communities of people connecting with nature in lots of different ways.

Erin Sharkey has spent a lot of time digging into these stories. Sharkey is a Minneapolis-based writer, organizer, and filmmaker. She’s the editor of a new essay collection called A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars, and she joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.

We have a better picture of the state's budget surplus and it is slightly less than originally predicted. The Minnesota State Fair has a new CEO for the first time in nearly 30 years. New state funding is supposed to ensure that Medicaid recipients can see the dentist, but obstacles remain. A unique project is using food to bring people together across cultural divides. And finally, in the latest of our Minnesota Now and Then stories, dance marathons have a uniquely Minnesota history.

Have you ever participated in a walkathon to raise money for a charity? How about a dance marathon? Back in the day, these events drew huge crowds and they have roots in the state of Minnesota. Local journalist and history buff Katie Thornton found a rather grim backstory to these events and joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about it.

The Minnesota State Fair has a new CEO. Renee Alexander, the organization's longtime deputy general manager, will become the first female CEO in state fair history when she takes over this spring. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talked with Alexander about her past decades with the fair and why she signed up to lead it.

It’s easy to talk about food: its tastes, aromas, textures, and potential to bring people together. Chaz Sandifer and Julie Burton also use food as a way to unlock to storytelling about people and cultures. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talked with them about their project Stories Behind the Menu, an annual series of four dinners.

At the Minnesota Capitol, state lawmakers got their first look Monday at a revised forecast that will guide them as they make final decisions on a new state budget. MPR politics editor Mike Mulcahy joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to help explain it all.

On blizzard days, when many people are hunkering down, truck stops are one of the few places you can expect to be open. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Tyler Freyberg, who operates five truck stops and gas stations in the Mankato area, about how he’s spending this week’s storm.