The USA Wheelchair Softball World Series is in full swing outside of the Mall of America. The event, hosted by the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, started Thursday morning and runs through Saturday.

The event brings together more than 300 athletes and their families from around the world. This year, the Minnesota Rolling Twins are seeking to defend their 2024 World Series title.

National Wheelchair Softball Association Tournament Director Jeff Downes and Ryan Trench, the supervisor of the sports and recreation department at Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, joined Minnesota Now to talk about the tournament and the sport's impact on athletes who use wheelchairs.

Find more information about this year’s tournament on the National Wheelchair Softball Association’s website.

As the state's first nontribal cannabis businesses are preparing to open, Governor Walz appointed an official director of the Office of Cannabis Management. Eric Taubel joins Minnesota Now to talk about the issues he's confronting.

We head to the factory floor of a speaker company with an executive who says federal tariffs that are meant to help them are making it harder to keep their business in the U.S.

Plus, a common practice of barricading lakeshores with large rocks comes with an environmental cost. MPR News correspondent Kirsti Marohn explains.

Can you believe the start of school is right around the corner? We get tips on how be thrifty with school supplies.

And the USA Wheelchair Softball World Series is in full swing.

School supply shopping is a marker of summer winding down and a new year of learning about to begin. For many kids, it is also a chance to express themselves through the stuff they pick out.

But many families are concerned about the price of that fresh start. Several years of inflation has pinched budgets, and there is concern that tariffs will drive up prices further. A survey by the National Retail Federation found more families started their shopping early this year because of that worry.

For the latest in the Minnesota Now series Professional Help, Minnesota Now producer Alanna Elder talked with Julie Granning, PTO president for Valley View Elementary School in Columbia Heights, as well as Sarah Lancaster, who teaches first grade in Onamia and was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2022.

Lancaster noted there are school supply giveaways across the state, including one happening Tuesday at Onamia Public Schools. The blog “Thrifty Minnesota” rounded up a list of other events in the state. And the Little Canada-based organization Kids in Need Foundation also provides supplies to eligible students and teachers.

Our ask: Help me shop for school supplies on a budget

Our guests: Julie Granning, PTO president for Valley View Elementary School, and Sarah Lancaster, a first grade teacher in Onamia and 2022 Minnesota Teacher of the Year.

Have you ever noticed how many lake homes have large rocks lining their shorelines?

Those layers of rocks, known as riprap, are often meant to fight erosion and keep soil from crumbling into the lake due to waves or high water. But rock riprap brings a whole raft of other problems with it.

Kirsti Marohn has been reporting extensively on the subject and joined Minnesota Now to share what she’s learned as a part of a check-in with MPR News reporters in Greater Minnesota.

Minnesota is armoring its shorelines with rocks, but lakes are paying a price

Business owners have been on a rollercoaster this year from tariff battles between President Donald Trump and leaders of China, Canada, Mexico and other countries. Some businesses are pushing back against the tariffs that are meant to help them, including one here in Minnesota.

Dan Digre is the CEO of MISCO Speakers, which has been making loudspeakers in the Twin Cities for 75 years. They sell their speakers to customers who make everything from airplanes to video games to fast food drive-throughs. MPR News senior economics contributor Chris Farrell met Digre at the MISCO Speakers headquarters in St. Paul.

The state office that regulates cannabis in Minnesota has an official director for the first time in nearly two years. Gov. Tim Walz named Eric Taubel to the role on Thursday.

Taubel had been interim director since January. He steps into this more permanent version of the job as the first non-tribal cannabis retailers are preparing to open. As of Aug. 6, the state had issued 10 licenses in the microbusiness category.

Taubel joined Minnesota Now to talk more about what’s next for Minnesota’s budding cannabis industry.

A Minnesota mother is expected to leave ICE custody today after an emergency order from a federal judge. We hear the latest on her release.

Plus, St. Paul voted in a new city council member in a special election. We talk to Molly Coleman about her priorities.

We get a look at how the Minneapolis-St. Paul economy is doing through a new dashboard.

Plus, when will we be finally done with smoke? MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner has an outlook.

We meet the winner of one of the most prestigious art awards in the state.

And the Minnesota Twins are not for sale after all. We talk about the Pohlad family's decision to keep the team under their ownership.

The Minnesota Music Minute was “Billionaires” by jeremy messersmith and “Snorkel” by Leo Kottke was the Song of the Day.

The Minnesota Twins are not for sale after all. The Pohlad family announced Wednesday they will keep their majority ownership of the team. The Pohlads have been searching for months for a buyer after revealing their plans to sell last October. The family has owned the team since 1984.

Twins Executive Chair Joe Pohlad spoke for the family in a written statement issued Wednesday morning. He said, “This ownership group is committed to building a winning team and culture for this region, one that Twins fans are proud to cheer for.”

Minnesota Now sports contributor Wally Langfellow joins MPR News host Nina Moini to help explain the reversal.

The McKnight Foundation has named its Distinguished Artist of 2025, one of the largest and most prestigious awards in the state.

The recipient is Carolyn Holbrook, an author and arts advocate who has founded three arts organizations over the years, all designed to create space for writers and amplify the voices of writers of color. MPR News’ Emily Bright spoke with Holbrook.

A statewide air quality alert has ended, but the northern part of the state is still being impacted by smoke from Canadian wildfires Wednesday.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joins Minnesota Now host Nina Moini with the latest on the most recent bout of poor air quality and a preliminary state fair forecast.