Minnesota Now

One year from Monday, Minnesota voters will choose a governor. Over the weekend, House Speaker Lisa Demuth declared her candidacy, which is a jolt to the Republican field. She held her first event as a candidate Monday.

MPR News politics correspondent Dana Ferguson was there and joined Minnesota Now to talk about Demuth’s campaign and the landscape of the governor’s race.

Fourteen Medicaid programs that provide support for Minnesotans with disabilities are being audited for fraud. We talk to a care provider about the impact this may have on people who rely on these services.

Election day is coming up. We hear from the mayoral candidates in Minneapolis and St. Paul who took the debate stage at MPR News.

We peak inside the notebook of MPR's Rochester reporter to see how she told the story of people bridging political divides.

And we get an update from a northeast Minneapolis co-op that was upturned by vandalism.

Plus, are you ready for Halloween? A local podcast is looking into Minnesota's most haunted places.

The Minnesota Music Minute was “Try to Sleep” by Low. The Song of the Day was “I Put a Spell on You” by Annie Lennox.

On Halloween, it is said the veil between the spirit world and the living world is at its thinnest. And spirits come alive. In Minnesota, there are plenty of haunts where ghosts are said to be lurking.

A local podcast is dedicated to exploring Minnesota’s haunts and horrors year-round. Its hosts, Madeline Ramirez and Dan Laschansky, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to share more about “The Grim Cities” podcast.

Minnesota Now’s series called “Thank You, Stranger” explores the small acts of kindness that make a big impact.

A Minnesota food co-op was turned upside down this month by a theft that broke the store’s refrigeration system.

In this week’s episode of Thank You, Stranger, Minnesota Now producer Ellen Finn spoke to Anne Gazzola, the manager of Eastside Food Co-Op in northeast Minneapolis, about how the community helped the store recover after they were forced to throw out dumpsters-full of food.

In our series Thank You, Stranger, we hear the stories of how strangers can make our lives a little brighter or lift us up in a difficult moment. If you have a story to share about a stranger who made your life a little brighter, we want to hear it.

Contact us at [email protected] or ‪(612) 361-1252‬.

A first-in-the-nation program is pairing Democratic and Republican state lawmakers together to visit each other’s districts. Sponsored by the Citizens League, the program pairs lawmakers who seemingly have nothing in common in order to promote civility in politics.

Rochester bureau reporter Catharine Richert attended one of these swaps for MPR News Talking Sense project, a series which helps people have hard conversations better, by telling stories of people who are bridging divides. She shared more about the story as part of a weekly regional check in with MPR News reporters covering Greater Minnesota.

The state of Minnesota is hiring a third-party auditor to look for fraud in 14 Medicaid programs. These programs are intended to provide housing and care for people with disabilities and severe mental illnesses.

Gov. Tim Walz announced Wednesday the state will temporarily stop paying providers of these services while the auditor, Optum, analyzes billing. A statement from the governor’s office said this pause will last 90 days, but’s not clear when it will begin.

Josh Berg is director of Minnesota services and strategic growth for nonprofit Accessible Space, Inc. He’s also on the board of directors of Association of Residential Resources in Minnesota, which lobbies on behalf of disability service providers. He spoke to MPR News host Nina Moini about how this pause could impact how providers can care for people with disabilities and severe mental health illnesses.

Layoffs at Target and other large corporations are leaving thousands looking for new jobs in an uncertain job market. We talk to an employment counselor about the hiring landscape and the next steps people can take after being laid off.

Federal workers in Minnesota are facing uncertainty, too. They have received their first paycheck with no pay. We hear from workers about how they're doing.

Several candidates on ballots next week are members of the Democratic Socialists of America. But what does that mean? An expert breaks it down.

Plus, we hear from a Minnesotan in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa tore through the country. And chief meteorologist Paul Huttner has the latest on the storm’s path as well as the forecast at home.

A new picture book by a trio of well-known Twin Cities creatives tells the story of an American couple whose social justice writing and activism had wide-ranging influence. They were James Boggs, who was a Black union organizer in Detroit, and Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese-American philosopher. When they got married in 1954, their interracial relationship was illegal in parts of the country.

The new book about their lives is called "Revolutions Are Made of Love." It was written by Sun Yung Shin and Mélina Mangal and illustrated by Leslie Barlow. They spoke with MPR News’ Emily Bright.

The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis will host a book launch Saturday from 2-4 p.m. ahead of the book’s release on Tuesday.

The government shutdown has lasted nearly a month now and there’s no indication that Congress is any closer to resolving the budget conflicts before funding ends for several key programs on Nov. 1.

Minnesota is home to 18,000 federal workers, many of whom have been told to stay home and not work, or work without pay. This week was the first where many didn’t receive a paycheck.

Abby, a federal worker in Minnesota, felt the impact Monday when she went to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions. “I double checked my bank account to make sure I had enough to cover it. It was tough, and I knew I had to buy a bunch of other things as well,” she said. MPR News is not sharing Abby’s last name, or the agency she works for, because she fears workplace retaliation.

To understand the conversations federal workers are having around the dinner table as uncertainty grows, MPR News host Nina Moini spoke with with Ruark Hotopp. He is the national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees District 8, a union that represents federal workers in Minnesota and other Midwest states.

Wednesday is day one of recovery in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa reached its shores with destructive winds and flooding rain Tuesday afternoon.

MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joined Minnesota Now with latest on Hurricane Melissa and an outlook on the weather closer to home.