Minnesota Now

Thousands of Minnesota nurses have voted in favor of a strike at seven different health systems in the Twin Cities and Duluth. The Minnesota Nurses Association and the hospitals have been in negotiations since last March. MPR’s Tim Nelson has been following the vote.

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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. 

Checkmate, pawn and endgame aren’t words that turn up in everyday conversation. But to people like Alex Betaneli, they represent a way of life. Betaneli is a national chess master and the co-organizer of the first-ever Minnesota International Chess Festival that kicks off Friday Aug. 19 in Bloomington.

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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. 

On Minnesota Now, hear about the national uptick in crime and how political hopefuls this fall say they’ll get ahead of it.

Minnesota’s Sun Country Airlines is on the rebound after a history of flops.

Open storefronts in Duluth partner with BIPOC entrepreneurs to try out a new business model.

Finally we’ll hear some salsa music from the Twin Cities band Salsa del Soul.

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. 

If you’re a regular Minnesota Now listener, you know that we love music! Cathy Wuzer spoke to Shai Hayo from Salsa del Soul about their music and inspiration.

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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. 

Crime is one of the campaign issues in this fall’s election. It’s likely to increase in attention following a report that came out late Friday, Aug. 12. That’s when the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released a summary of crime numbers statewide for 2021.

Violent crime is up statewide by 21 percent. That’s not only in the Twin Cities, where violent crime was up by nearly 24 percent. Violent crime, homicide, rape and assault is also up in greater Minnesota by 16 percent.

The report prompted some GOP hopefuls to blame DFL incumbents for their “soft on crime” policies — but that’s not quite accurate. For more insight, Cathy Wurzer was joined by Thomas Abt, senior fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice based in New York. He is the chair of the violent crime working group and the author of the book “Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets.”

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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. 

Every town and city has a downtown that needs some love. For decades, suburban malls have created competition for these more historic central shopping districts. In Duluth, the Greater Downtown Council is supporting a pop-up market featuring nine BIPOC entrepreneurs in storefront spaces in downtown Duluth.

This isn’t the first time they’ve done this. So how successful is this pop-up market idea? Kristi Stokes is president of the Greater Downtown Council in Duluth. She joined Cathy Wurzer to talk about what’s happening.

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’s own Sun Country Airlines hasn’t always had a smooth journey. The airline, which turned 40 this year, barely survived its former owner, Tom Petters’ Ponzi Scheme and a subsequent bankruptcy.

But the airline went public last year and says it is continuing to grow. That’s a pretty remarkable come back story. How did that happen? Kyle Potter joined Cathy Wurzer to answer that question. Potter is the executive editor of travel website Thrifty Traveler, and he recently wrote about Sun Country’s comeback.

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. 

Internationally known life coach Richard Leider speaks with Cathy Wurzer on how to find your gifts and share them with the world. The revelations shared in his most recent book “Who do You Want to be when You Grow Old; the Path of Purposeful Aging”.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison easily won the DFL nomination on primary night. He’ll take on Republican nominee Jim Schultz in November.

Republican Attorney General nominee Jim Schultz talks with MPR’s Mike Mulcahy.