On Aug. 27, 2025, a shooter stood outside of Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis and opened fire through the stained glass windows. Children who had gathered for Mass during the first week of school dove for cover as bullets ricocheted off the pews. Older children shielded younger classmates with their bodies.

Two students were killed that day. Many other children and adults were wounded, some critically. Eight months later, the Annunciation community continues to heal from the grief and terror.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two parents and the principal at Annunciation about what recovery looks like — including how some parents are using their voices in the legislature and elsewhere to make sure no other children go through what their families experienced.

Guests:  

• Matt DeBoer is the principal of Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. He moved to Minnesota in 2022 to serve as campus minister at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis after serving eight years as principal of a Catholic school in Seattle.
• Brittany Haeg is the mother of three children who attend Annunciation Catholic School. She is co-chair of the Annunciation Light Alliance, a nonprofit founded by Annunciation parents to ensure that children can learn, play and worship free from gun violence.
• Kristen Neville is in a blended family with five children who attend Annunciation Catholic School. She is founder and co-chair of the Annunciation Light Alliance.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about how to prevent grooming — a pattern of manipulative behaviors to gain a child’s trust in order to sexually abuse them.

Angela’s guests explain why preventing grooming isn’t just about recognizing it. It’s about creating conditions where it can’t happen.

Guests:

• Dr. Mark Hudson is a child abuse pediatrician and medical director of the Midwest Children’s Resource Center at Children’s Minnesota, Minnesota’s largest pediatric hospital.
• Monica Rivera is the vice president of education and research at the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a nonprofit created in the wake of sexual misconduct at USA Gymnastics.
• Elizabeth Shockman is an MPR News reporter who covers K-12 education.

To report abuse in Minnesota, contact your county’s child protection agency: Directory of County and Tribal Child Protection Agencies | Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families.

A 24-hour statewide sexual violence and domestic violence hotline is available in Minnesota. You can call Minnesota Day One at (866) 223-1111 or text (612) 399-9995.

You can also contact the Midwest Children’s Resource Center at 651-220-6750. Emergency phone consultation is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for concerned patients, parents, child protection and law enforcement agencies, physicians, therapists and attorneys.

For more information about how to recognize and prevent grooming:

• Use this reference to identify, prevent, and respond to grooming behaviors.
• Recognizing Signs of Grooming in Sport | U.S. Center for SafeSport

MPR News host Angela Davis and her guests talk about something that affects every one of us, but most of us were never formally taught — how to manage money.

Guests: 

• Kumar Balasubrahmanyan is the vice president of Innovation for Junior Achievement North.
• Sara Dziuk is the president and CEO of Junior Achievement North.
• Isaac Kreis is a 10th grade student at Washington Technology High School in St. Paul.
• Rengsona Yawa is a 9th grade student at Washington Technology High School in St. Paul.

Last week, the U.S. Senate overturned a 20-year federal mining ban on land near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Supporters say modern mines can protect the environment while producing critical minerals and boosting the regional economy. Opponents argue the environmental risks are too great and the economic benefits aren't what they seem.

MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about what comes next and how lifting the ban could affect the environment and jobs.

Guests:

• Julie Lucas is the executive director of MiningMinnesota, an industry trade group.
• Ingrid Lyons is the executive director of Save the Boundary Waters.

We all know that we should exercise. It's good for our hearts, minds and overall health.

And yet, actually doing it — and doing it consistently — can be surprisingly hard.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with a behavioral researcher and a fitness expert about why so many people struggle to start and stick with an exercise routine, how to get motivated and what actually helps people build lasting habits.

Guests:

• Beth Lewis is a behavioral researcher, licensed psychologist and a professor of kinesiology at the University of Minnesota. Her work is focused on finding what actually helps people move more.
• Amber Ellison Walker is the head trainer and the co-owner of Happy Human Fitness, an in-home personal training company based in Minneapolis.

The midterm elections are still months away, but voting is already a major focus.

President Donald Trump has claimed that non-citizens vote illegally in large numbers, though there’s no evidence of widespread fraud. Still, he has backed the SAVE Act, which would require in-person proof of citizenship to register. It passed the House, stalled in the Senate and some Republican-led states are moving ahead with similar requirements.

At the same time, the federal government is seeking access to state voter rolls, the president’s attacks on mail-in voting have ramped up and the Supreme Court may weigh in on mail-in ballot deadlines.

So how secure are elections in Minnesota and across the country? Are new laws needed — or not? MPR News host Angela Davis and her guests talk about how our election systems can balance security with access.

Guests:

• Steve Simon has been Minnesota’s Secretary of State since 2015. He oversees elections and partners with township, city and county officials to organize elections on behalf of Minnesota’s four million eligible voters. He previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives representing St. Louis Park and Hopkins. He’s a past president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
• Jennifer Morrell is the CEO and co-founder of The Elections Group, which works with election officials from across the country on how to conduct fair and secure elections. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs in its graduate Certificate of Election Administration program. She’s also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and served as an election official in Utah and Colorado.

It’s been one year since the U.S. raised tariffs on Canada. MPR News host Angela Davis and senior economics contributor Chris Farrell take a look at the impact — on both sides of the border.

Angela and Chris will talk again with some of the people they first interviewed last April in Thunder Bay, Ontario and Grand Marais, Minn.

Guests:

• Livio di Matteo is a professor of economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
• Charla Robinson is the president of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce.
• Chris LaVigne is the manager of the Grand Marais Municipal Liquor Store.

Historically Black colleges and universities — known as HBCUs — are schools that were created to educate Black students at a time when most colleges would not admit them.

While “HBCU” might not be a household name in Minnesota, students and graduates of these 107 schools represent a thriving culture and network, especially in the southern United States.

And, their impact is significant. A recent report by Forbes magazine reveals that HBCUs have produced about 80 percent of Black judges, 70 percent of Black doctors and dentists, 50 percent of Black engineers, and 40 percent of Black lawyers. And about half of the nation’s Black teachers graduated from an HBCU.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with several graduates of HBCUs and a leader from an organization that supports these schools. They’ll talk about the history of these institutions and why they still matter today.

Guests:

• Laverne McCartney Knighton is an area development director for the United Negro College Fund. She oversees fundraising and scholarship programs in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas.
• James Burroughs is the senior vice president of government and community relations and the chief equity and inclusion officer at Children’s Minnesota — Minnesota’s largest pediatric hospital. He also attended Morehouse College, an HBCU in Atlanta, Ga.
• Zarina Sementelli is a recent law school graduate who grew up in Minnesota. She graduated from Spelman College, an HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia, and California Western School of Law.

Addiction doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Stress, fear, instability and isolation can shape how people cope and recover. MPR News host Angela Davis and her guests talk about how some people living with substance use disorders support others in recovery.

Guests:

• Caddy Frink is the director of programs for Minnesota Recovery Connection, a nonprofit that works to increase access to the support, care and resources needed to achieve long-term recovery from substance use disorders.

• Edward Hovelman is a peer recovery specialist and the director of bilingual programs at the Minnesota Recovery Connection.

If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol issues, visit FindSupport.gov. To find a treatment facility or provider go to FindTreatment.gov or call 800-662-HELP (4357).

We think of wildlife as separate from urban life. But there are a lot of wild critters living all around us in the city.

Turkeys have made a remarkable comeback in the last few decades after being driven entirely out of Minnesota. Deer, squirrels, rats and racoons are regular visitors to many people’s back yards. And, a relatively new research project is documenting how coyotes and foxes are vying for territory in city neighborhoods.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about the secret lives of wild animals in our midst and how they interact with each other and with us.

Guests:

• Geoff Miller is a post-doctoral associate in the department of fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology at the University of Minnesota, where he works with the Twin Cities Coyote and Fox Project. His research focuses on how coyotes and foxes live in urban areas, and interact with each other and humans.
• Marlene Zuk is a professor in the department of ecology, evolution and behavior at the University of Minnesota. Her newest book is “Outsider Animals: How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach Us.”

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