Minnesota lawmakers and Gov. Tim Walz have brokered a budget deal. It includes funding for HCMC, cuts to vehicle registration fees and property tax relief. We broke down the agreement and checked in on what work still needs to be done in the final days of the session.

A new Minneapolis-based study shows that hospitals are an important place for gun violence prevention.

And, there's a growing list of cities choosing to fly Minnesota's old flag instead of the new one. A look into the debate.

Plus, a new project is mapping 50 years of Hmong history in Minnesota.

And, Art-A-Whirl is a big weekend for painters, photographers and other artists. But it's becoming a landmark event for music, too. We'll look at the lineup.

From the first Hmong businesses, to homes that became museums and a regenerative Hmong farm, a new map seeks to document important historical and cultural sites for the Hmong community in Minnesota.

Led by the Hmong Museum, the Hmong StoryMap Project shares the stories behind more than 20 places across the state. It covers some 50 years of history since the first Hmong family arrived in Minnesota. And after a yearlong effort, the digital map will finally be unveiled on Saturday.

We heard more about the project from two people who were a part of it. Bee Vang-Moua is a writer and researcher for the story map. Pheng Her is the founder of Guerilla Pastures, which is one of the places on the map.

A new study is looking at how hospitals can play an important role in gun violence prevention. HCMC and The Violence Prevention Project teamed up and compared hospital data with homicide data in Minneapolis. They found from 2013 to 2022, that 1 in 50 people admitted to HCMC with a violent trauma injury, ended up later involved in a homicide, as a victim or perpetrator.

Joining Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to dig into the data is two authors of the study. Jillian Peterson is with the executive director of The Violence Prevention Project and Dr. Derek Lumbard is a trauma surgeon at HCMC.

Northeast Minneapolis' beloved Art-A-Whirl returns this weekend. For more than 30 years, painters, printers, sculptors, jewelry makers, glass blowers and more have flung open the doors of their studios and invited guests to check out how they make their art, to buy their art, and to even make art of their own.

But there's another side of the weekend, too, that's been growing larger and larger since the festival began in 1995. It's live music! The venues and schedules are stacked this year with bands out to show their stuff.

Diane Miller, host of the Local Show on The Current, joined to help us parse through the thick lineup.

Leaders at the Minnesota Capitol have a budget deal – and four days left to finish the legislative session. House and Senate leaders along with Gov. Tim Walz reached the spending agreement Wednesday night.

It includes anti-fraud measures, cuts to vehicle tab registration fees and money to help a critical hospital in Minneapolis stay open.

MPR News Politics Editor Brian Bakst joined Minnesota Now to talk about the deal and what remains unresolved.

State health officials say they’re monitoring a Minnesotan who may have been exposed to hantavirus. The person was briefly in contact with a cruise ship traveler who tested positive for the virus.

The Minnesota Department of Health says the individual is not currently showing symptoms and the risk to the public remains very low.

Hantavirus is normally passed on by rodents but the Andes strain linked to the cruise ship outbreak is the only known type that can spread person-to-person.

Dr. Ruth Lynfield, epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health, shared more about the steps being taken and what to know about the virus.

A Minnesotan may have been exposed to hantavirus. The Minnesota Department of Health is monitoring this person for symptoms. The state epidemiologist explained this virus, how it spreads and how health officials are making sure it stays contained.

You might be looking at gas prices and thinking it’s time to go electric. We checked in on the state of the EV industry in Minnesota.

Plus, prediction markets are on their way to being banned in Minnesota. But the ban is likely to face legal obstacles.

It's a picture-perfect spring day. We got an extended forecast from MPR News Meteorologist Sven Sundgaard.

This weekend, a herd of bison will be released in the St. Croix River Valley. We learned how the animal is crucial to habitat preservation.

Every spring, a herd of bison stampede onto prairieland in the St. Croix River Valley. This Saturday, the Bison Festival at the Belwin Conservancy in Afton will draw hundreds of people to watch the release of the animals.

The herd sticks around for the summer and helps create a healthy habitat. Belwin Conservancy naturalist Lynette Anderson joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the incoming bison herd.

Websites like Kalshi and Polymarket have unleashed a new era of betting on sports and current events. Minnesota lawmakers Tuesday passed a bill banning these prediction markets from the state. To become law, it will need to be signed by Gov. Tim Walz.

The bill is the latest move by states and tribal nations that want to reign in these platforms. If what’s happened elsewhere in the country is any guide, the bill will likely attract lawsuits. A federal agency has sued five states for their attempts to regulate prediction markets. The platforms themselves have also filed lawsuits.

Todd Phillips has been surveying this legal landscape. He’s an assistant professor of law at Georgia State University, where he specializes on financial regulation. He joined MPR News host Nina Moini to explain.

Gas prices are continuing to climb. On Wednesday, according to AAA, the average price in Minnesota was $4.15. It’s averaging even higher in the seven-county metro at $4.24. You may have looked at the price at the pump recently and wished you had an electric car.

But data shows the number of Minnesotans buying electric dropped by 50 percent in the last few months of 2025. From January through October of 2025, EVs made up 8.4 percent of vehicle registrations in the state. In November and December, that dropped to 3.9 percent, according to the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association.

Association President Scott Lambert said high gas prices are unlikely to reverse the trend. He joined MPR News host Nina Moini for a check-in on the EV industry.