Minnesota Today

Gov. Tim Walz did not mince words Wednesday night in his State of the State speech when it came to President Donald Trump, but he struck a much more bipartisan tone when it came to Minnesota Republicans. During his speech to the Legislature, Walz, a Democrat and former candidate for vice president, talked about the two parties working together, giving a nod to the equally divided Minnesota House.

The Minnesota Senate has passed a bill that grants veteran benefits to Hmong and Lao soldiers who fought with the U.S. military in Laos during the Vietnam War.

A recent arrest for vandalism of Teslas in Hennepin County has become a political issue. Last week, Minneapolis police arrested a man seen on tape keying six Tesla vehicles around the city. 

A jury has convicted three Minneapolis street gang members of federal racketeering and murder charges.

State lawmakers are advancing budget bills to the House and Senate floor this week.

And a search is underway for a man who vanished during his trial in Stillwater on charges of criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and domestic assault.

Those stories and more in today’s evening news update.

Other headlines:

Walz delivers State of State as gaze goes beyond Minnesota | MPR News

Blue Line trains to airport, Mall of America to be replaced by buses for three weeks | MPR News

Gov. Tim Walz delivers his State of the State speech tonight to a joint session of the Minnesota Legislature.

Minnesota is suing President Trump’s administration over executive orders related to transgender people. Trump’s directives seek to override policies like those in place in Minnesota that allow for broad participation of transgender youth in sports. His administration is threatening to withhold funding from the state and other states if they don’t allow those directives.

A federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to temporarily restore the student visas of five Concordia University graduate students. The five are citizens of India and earned master’s degrees in information technology and management.

Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina went on lockdown for about an hour yesterday because of a domestic assault involving an armed man.

The state of Minnesota is suing the Trump's administration over threats to withhold federal funding because the state has not complied with executive orders regarding transgender people.

Maplewood-based 3M said today it’s taking steps to mitigate what it estimates could be an $850 million annual impact on the company from tariffs.

Those stories and more in today’s evening update. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

Catholics are remembering Pope Francis after his death Monday. At the same time, they’re thinking about what comes next for the church. The process already is underway at the Vatican to choose his successor.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from the state of Minnesota seeking to revive the state’s ban on gun-carry permits for young adults. A federal appeals court ruled last year that the Minnesota law — which banned people ages 18-20 from getting permits to carry guns in public — conflicted with the Second Amendment.

Five non-citizen graduates of Concordia University in St. Paul are suing the Department of Homeland Security after their student visas were canceled. According to the lawsuit in U.S. District Court, the five plaintiffs are citizens of India who attained master’s degrees in information technology and management. 

This morning's mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul started with a moment of silence for Pope Francis, who passed away earlier today.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter says the city is making progress on its goal to bring 20,000 new residents to downtown.

Those stories and more in today’s evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

Pope Francis has died. He was 88. The Vatican made the announcement Monday, a day after the Pope appeared in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday. Francis suffered from chronic lung disease, and had recently battled double pneumonia. Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936. He was chosen to lead the church in 2013.

Minnesota lawmakers return to St. Paul Monday after the Easter/Passover break with the biggest work of the legislative session yet to complete.

Former State Sen. Justin Eichorn is due back in a St. Paul federal courtroom Monday afternoon on charges of trying to solicit a minor. 

Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer is defending the Trump administration’s moves to deport a man who was living in Maryland without legal permission. Emmer yesterday told CNN the president was within his rights to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a prison in El Salvador. The Trump administration has said it deported the man in error but can't bring him back.

Two men hoping to stave off government efforts to deport them remain in custody in Minnesota. Aditya Harsono, 33, is jailed after the government appealed a judge’s order to release him from immigration detention. ICE agents arrested Harsono in Marshall after revoking his student visa. International student Doğukan Günaydın also remains jailed pending an appeal. He is a Turkish citizen studying at the University of Minnesota.

Meat packing workers demonstrated outside the JBS Plant in Worthington on Thursday over safety concerns as the Department of Agriculture moves to allow for faster production at meat processing plants.

A Minneapolis man could face felony property damage charges for allegedly vandalizing multiple Tesla cars.

State health officials recommend people limit the amount of fish they eat from some Minnesota lakes due to forever chemicals. The health department has updated fish consumption guidelines for 44 water bodies, based on levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

For the fifth year in a row, more than half of Minnesota's electricity came from carbon-free sources, according to a new clean energy report.

The Minnesota Department of Health has updated its advice on how much fish is safe to eat from certain lakes with so-called "forever chemicals."

Those stories and more in today’s evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

Mayo Clinic is changing the name of its Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity. It will now be called the Office of Belonging, according to internal communication to staff.

Authorities continue to investigate a Wednesday fire in the city of Jordan that left two people dead and a third person seriously injured. The early morning fire happened at the Valley Green Mobile Home Park just north of Highway 169. First responders pulled two women from the burning home; both died from their injuries. A man was able to escape and was hospitalized in serious condition.

Protesters outside El Salvador’s consulate in St. Paul demanded the return of a man mistakenly deported from the U.S. to a prison in that Central American country.

The driver of a semi escaped injury after his truck was hit by a train at a railroad crossing in Blue Earth County. The sheriff’s office says the driver was following an unofficial detour around construction and, as he turned off the highway and crossed the tracks, a Union Pacific train collided with the semi trailer. The train included tanker cars believed to be carrying ethanol. None of those cars were damaged.