Minnesota Now

For the last week and a half we have been having a lot of fun with our "Winter Play" series.

We asked members of the MPR News staff to go out and try some winter activities which were new to them. So far we have had fat tire biking, ice-climbing, dog sledding, ice-dipping and winter birding.

And now, it's the turn of our intrepid north central Minnesota reporter, Mathew Holding Eagle III, who joins us from our Bemidji bureau.

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

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We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Some inmates at the Ramsey County jail are starting to get moved out of St. Paul today, following an emergency order from state inspectors that requires Sheriff Bob Fletcher cut the number of people held at the facility. The move follows a months-long battle between Fletcher and the county board over the budget for the facility, and findings that the county was failing to keep inmates safe.

Tim Nelson has been following the story. He shared the details with host Cathy Wurzer.

Monday marks a somber occasion in Minnesota history. It was Feb. 13, 1906 when William Williams, a St. Paul steamfitter, was hanged for the murders of two people. The execution was botched, and his death led to Minnesota abolishing capital punishment in 1911.

For our history series Minnesota Now and Then, we take a look back at the final execution in state history. Host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Bill Convery, director of research at the Minnesota Historical Society.

The Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act was the subject of a state senate hearing Tuesday morning — and testimony was emotional.

People recounted how forced removal by private and public child welfare agencies tore apart their families.

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Chairman Faron Jackson Sr. said his two brothers were removed from their home in the 1960s, and not allowed to return until they were 18. His family still feels the effects.

“Even today… we kind of feel like strangers when we’re together,” he said.

The 1978 federal Indian Child Welfare Act aimed to keep native children in native homes. Minnesota’s Indian Family Preservation Act, passed in 1985, built on that.

But the Supreme Court is currently considering a case challenging the federal law— under the assertion that it violates anti-commandeering principles of the Tenth Amendment.

“We want to make sure this is codified in our state legislature,” Assistant Senate Majority Leader, DFL Senator Mary Kunesh told host Cathy Wurzer. “We’re concerned that if we don’t put in these safeguards… that we wouldn’t be able to continue to do the work that we need to do to preserve our native families in Minnesota.”

She spoke with Wurzer about how the bill would change Minnesota law.

Even though February is technically sometimes our shortest month, it can sometimes feel like the longest and dreariest here in Minnesota. That's why MPR News reporters are focusing on fun things to do in the cold weather. MPR News reporter Elizabeth Shockman talked to MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about cold dipping.

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. 

Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell ordered the Ramsey County Jail be emptied of some inmates to reduce capacity by 168 inmates. In a Friday, Feb. 3 letter to Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, Schnell wrote that understaffing at the jail poses "imminent risk of life-threatening harm." Commissioner Schnell joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to explain why understaffing and healthcare concerns caused him to call for the capacity reduction plan.

 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. 

The Department of Corrections has cracked down on Beltrami and Ramsey county jails for violations. Trees along a scenic byway in northern Minnesota will be torn down. We heard why locals are not happy. We revisited a great conversation with the head of the Human Spaceflight Laboratory at the University of North Dakota and met the new voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who hales from north Minneapolis. And this time in our series about finding joy in winter, we went cold dipping with MPR News reporter Elizabeth Shockman.

MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talked with a leading opponent of a tree removal project along a scenic stretch of highway in northern Minnesota. Then, she heard from one of the MnDOT leaders moving the project forward.

Dr. Bevin Yueh is the CEO of the University of Minnesota Physician Group and Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs at the University of Minnesota medical school. He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk more about the concerns of the medical school leaders and staff.

As part of our new series called Winter Play, we're turning the winter doldrums on its head in a celebration of all things snow and cold. We sent our reporters out around the state to revel in the weather that makes living in Minnesota so unique. Hannah Yang is our MPR News reporter based in Worthington, Minnesota. She is a solid angler in the summertime, but she decided to try her hand at ice fishing for the first time. And she joined Cathy to talk about tips and tricks for first timers.

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.