Minnesota Now

Today on Minnesota Now host Cathy Wurzer talks with Julian Green who has made it his mission to celebrate and explore Black musicial expression across musical genres. He's the Content Director for Carbon Sound - a streaming service that launched almost exactly one month ago today.

Listen to the full show here.

Long covid is a relatively new concept in the medical world. Doctors don’t have all the answers about the disease, it’s symptoms, or—most importantly—it’s treatment yet. It’s caused a feeling of desperation that has led some to seek alternative and risky health treatments, just for a chance to feel like themselves again. That story is familiar to many who have suffered from mysterious chronic illness- like Katie Thornton. Katie Thornton is a freelance multi-media journalist and she has been reporting on chronic illness and the popularity of risky long covid treatments.

Construction ripped up a curb on Michael Sack’s block in south Minneapolis.

He reported the curb through the city website. Nothing happened. A year later, it still wasn’t repaired.

In 2021, he decided he would send an email to a city council member. Within three weeks, the curb was fixed.

He said he realized there was a more efficient way to report pathway deficiencies rather than reporting through the city website so on June 24, 2021, he created Minneapolis Sidewalk Repair Hunters group on Facebook.

The group now has 142 residents involved. They have reported 48 sidewalk issues and 29 have been fixed over the past year. Moving forward, Michael is looking to form a five person board to further their reach of accessibility in the Twin Cities.

“Having accessible paths is a must, especially in a big city in order to provide equal and safe access to those who use wheelchairs or their mobility devices, strollers and for every pedestrian,” Sack said.

Sack has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. He says he has always been interested in activism, but when the pandemic hit, he found more time on his hands. His interest grew exponentially.

He has helped with voting accessibility and in August of 2021 worked for mayoral candidate Sheila Nezhad as a disability policy and engagement consultant. He also has developed a disability and accessibility plan and presented it to city council member, Emily Koski.

Sack has written about voting accessibility, transportation and disability services for local outlets like Southwest Voices and the Star Tribune.

He says the city should develop a better system for searching for and responding to spots in need of repair and allocate city money instead of letting residents pick up the bill. In the meantime, Michael and the Minneapolis sidewalk repair hunters will keep on hunting

If you’re interested in getting involved with the Minneapolis Sidewalk Repair Hunters, head to their website or find them on Facebook.

Correction (July 19, 2022): A previous version of this article had an incorrect timeline for when a report was made to Minneapolis. The story has been updated.

The pandemic continues, inflation is high and folks are struggling. And that’s causing major demand at area food shelves—especially in rural areas.

Ashley Hall is the executive director of Falls Hunger Coalition in International Falls. She joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk about what her area has been experiencing.

It is a hot day all across Minnesota with temperatures reaching nearly 100 degrees in some parts of the state. As climate change continues to worsen, many hospitals are seeing an increase in patients struggling with heat-related illness. And a recent report by the Washington Post found that some institutions are reaching their breaking point. Dr. Anupam Kharbanda is chief of critical care services at Children’s Minnesota. He joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk more about the increase in heat related illnesses due to climate change.

There’s a new COVID-19 variant on the radar called BA 2.75. MPR News Reporter Catherine Richert talked with virus expert Michael Osterholm about the latest insights. Dr. Osterholm is a veteran epidemiologist and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

News is still coming in about a police involved shooting of a man in south Minneapolis. We'll have the latest details on that.

COVID has left the headlines but it's alive and well in our communities. We'll find out how effective vaccines are with new variants.

Minnesota’s 2020 teacher of the year is leaving the profession. We’ll talk to her to find out why.

Plus, an update on Minnesota sports with Wally and Eric.

Minneapolis police fatally shot a man early this morning in the city’s Seward neighborhood at an apartment building near 21st and Franklin. That happened at the end of an hours-long standoff. MPR News reporter Mark Zdechlik has been covering the story — he tells host Cathy Wurzer what we know right now.

Good news in Minnesota sports — a few Minnesota teams are on winning streaks this week.

Host Cathy Wurzer gets the details from our sports guys, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and co-host of Ten Thousand Takes sports show, and Eric Nelson is the other co-host of Ten Thousand Takes and the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports radio's Eye on the NFL.