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There’s controversy over the upcoming graduation ceremony for Hinckley-Finlayson High School. On Monday, the school board announced the Native American Student Association will no longer have the opportunity to play the Ojibwe Honor Song with its drum group at graduation next Friday.
More than 40 students walked out of class Wednesday in protest. They say that their culture is being silenced, even as Native American students make up about a quarter of the student body. Students say they’ll continue walkouts and silent protests until graduation day.
The district superintendent said in a statement that the reason is to ensure that graduation focuses on graduating students rather than extracurricular student activities. Melanie Benjamin Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe chief executive joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with perspective on the situation.
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State lawmakers are entering the final stretch to get work done at the Minnesota Capitol. Tensions flared Wednesday night when DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman cut off debate on a bill connected to a new paid family leave program. After the bill passed and Democrats called it a day, the chamber filled with Republican lawmakers calling for the day’s session not to adjourn.
MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer from the Capitol to discuss what happened and what’s left to do this weekend.
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It was a late night at the Capitol as Minnesota lawmakers worked past midnight to pass bills in the final days of the session. MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson explains why tensions ran high on the house floor.
The college Class of 2024 has overcome a lot in their four years. We hear reflections from graduates.
A northern Minnesota school district is seeing pushback for banning a Native drum group performance at graduation. We hear from a tribal leader.
Plus, this weekend you can go behind the scenes of some of the most iconic and historic buildings in Minneapolis.
And it’s win or go home for the Timberwolves. We talk about what obstacles the team faces to keep their playoff run alive.
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Thursday is a make-or-break day for the Timberwolves. The team needs a win against the Denver Nuggets to stay in the playoffs. If the Wolves lose, Denver gets to keep defending the championship title they won last year. If the Wolves prevail tonight, they get another chance Sunday to win the series against Denver and move on to the Western Conference finals. Tipoff is 7:30 at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
And Friday night in the same place the Minnesota Lynx play their home opener against Seattle. Sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about this moment in Minnesota basketball and the latest sports news.
Wally is the founder of “Minnesota Score” sports magazine and co-host of the “Ten Thousand Takes” sports talk show. Eric is the other host of that show and sports reporter for WCCO radio and TV.
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Have you ever passed an interesting building while driving through town and been curious about what goes on behind its closed doors? An event Saturday and Sunday is made for the curious to take a peek behind closed doors throughout Minneapolis.
The public is free to tour hundreds of private spaces, from historic mansions to factories to performance venues to apartment buildings to places of worship. The event is called “Doors Open Minneapolis.” Kelly Fischer is leading the charge through her organization, Rethos, and she joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with a preview.
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This season of Top Chef is taking place in Wisconsin. Chefs from across the country and even world are competing in different Wisconsin-themed challenges focusing on things like cheese, beer and cherries.
Wednesday night’s episode will be focused on Indigenous cuisine. And a familiar face will be there to judge and help out in the challenge. James Beard winner, and chef-owner of Owamni, Sean Sherman.
Sherman joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about his experience being part of Top Chef and sharing Indigenous cuisine on a national platform.
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School district referendums for building new schools, technology upgrades and more are failing across the state, and by just a few hundred votes. We talked to the Duluth and Fergus falls school districts about impacts on students.
The newest Top Chef episode is on Indigenous cooking. One of the judges is Minnesota’s own Sean Sherman and we talked with him.
May 15 is college decision day, two weeks later than normal due to FAFSA delays. We learned more about the impact on aid packages and enrollment.
The University of Minnesota launched a new climate visualizer this week that you can use to look at what’s happening in your backyard.
And our chief meteorologist shared some good news on spring planting.
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The University of Minnesota launches a new online tool this week. It allows people to visualize how a future climate will look and feel in their own backyards.
Users can zoom in on rainfall, temperature and other climate projections down to the size of a neighborhood. The goal is to help engineers, farmers and others better plan for a climate-changed future.
For more on this new tool, University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership director Heidi Roop joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.
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Now that the sky is clear of wildfire smoke from earlier this week, much of Minnesota is back to enjoying spring weather and rain is moving in.
The rain we’ve gotten so far this spring have been good news for Minnesota’s lakes, rivers and ponds. MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to explain.
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May 15 is decision day for many colleges across Minnesota. It’s two weeks later than the normal May 1 deadline for students to commit to attending the school in the fall.
That’s because of an alarming delay to FAFSA earlier this year, which was plagued with glitches and challenges. Around 225,000 Minnesotans usually fill out the FAFSA form overseen by the U.S. Department of Education that is used to determine which government loans and grants students can receive.
But Minnesota students have submitted the form at unusually low rates this year.
BG Tucker is the senior director of programs at College Possible, an organization that helps low-income families with the college process. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with an update on this important day for many Minnesotans’ higher education.
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Voters across Minnesota headed to the polls on Tuesday for a special election. Six schools districts had referendums on the ballots.
The results are mixed. Ellsworth Public Schools, Norman County East and Martin County West got the money for building upgrades that they asked for, although Martin County voters rejected a request for an auxiliary gym. School leaders in Pine City, Fergus Falls and Duluth are regrouping after their referendums failed.
In Duluth, the district was asking to raise $5 million in property taxes each year to fund technology and security upgrades as well as new technical educational programs. It failed by 453 votes, according to preliminary results from the district.
In Fergus Falls, the district asked to raised property taxes to build a new school for grades 3 through 5. It failed by 921 votes.
School board chair for Duluth Public Schools Jill Loflad and Fergus Falls Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Drake joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.
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It’s crunch time at the Minnesota State Capitol and lawmakers less than a week to pass a few major bills — including one that would fund building projects around the state. We talked with House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth about Republican priorities during these final days.
A rural hospital plans to close its inpatient psychiatric unit. We found out how this fits into the bigger picture of mental health care shortages around the state.
We got some perspective on political disinformation — from another continent.
Apple lovers, rejoice! There’s a new variety in town and it’s now available to grow at home.
The Westminster Dog Show has been running for nearly 150 years. We met a Minnesotan who is one of this year’s judges.
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Tuesday is the final day of the 148th Westminster Dog Show, where the top dogs from across the United States compete for the title of Best in Show.
This year, there’s a judge from Bloomington representing Minnesota dog lovers. Barbara Selton has been judging for 15 years, and on Saturday she was one of the judges for the Masters Obedience competition.
She joined Minnesota Now with her reflections on the show so far.
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Time is ticking at the state capitol. The session ends in less than a week, and there are still several big bills still on the line.
Republicans who are in the minority in both chambers will have a voice in many deals in these final days. House Minority Leader Representative Lisa Demuth joined Minnesota Now to talk about the legislative priorities for the GOP.
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If you’ve ever wanted to grow an apple tree in your yard, there’s a new tree on the market: The Triumph apple tree is now available to home gardeners.
It’s an offspring of the Honeycrisp apple and it also is disease resistant. Right now is the perfect time to plant a tree.
To share more about this new apple tree variety is David Bedford, an apple breeder with the University of Minnesota.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.
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On Tuesday evening there will be a public hearing on the closure of an inpatient psychiatric ward in central Minnesota. Lakewood Health System plans to close its 10-bed unit in its hospital in the small town of Staples.
It is the latest loss of services in an industry that is already struggling to keep up with demand. The state reports 80 percent of counties are experiencing a shortage of mental health care.
Sue Abderholden, executive director of Minnesota’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to discuss the situation.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves are proving they are a Minnesota sports team. After an explosive start in the playoffs, they are now tied against the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Western Conference semifinals.
Denver beat Minnesota in game four 115-107 Sunday.
The back-to-back Timberwolves losses after wins on the road bring back a familiar feeling for Minnesota sports fans of hope mixed with worry of being let down.
Back in March, Hanif Abdurraqib has described that feeling perfectly in an online essay for ESPN in March.
He also was featured in a Timberwolves playoffs hype video.
Abdurraqib is the author of a new book called “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension.” Abdurraqib joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the plight of being a Timberwolves fan.
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Canadian wildfires are making for a hazy day on Monday. We heard from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency about tips to stay healthy.
Did you catch the northern lights over the weekend? The solar flares responsible for the aurora also disrupted spring planting for some farmers. We learned more.
A new report finds that Minnesota charter schools had a $132 million loophole when it came to avoiding corruption laws. We talked to a reporter about what went wrong.
Fishing season is here — and an organization is getting young, old, and disabled fishers to cast their lines.
And the Timberwolves are keeping us on the edge of our seats in the semi-finals. A poet joined MPR News to talk about the rollercoaster of the fandom.
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Minnesotans were out in force to see the northern lights this weekend. But at the same time, several farmers were sitting frustrated in their fields as the powerful geomagnetic solar storms interfered with GPS in their planters and tractors. 404 Media first reported about the disruptions.
Patrick O'Connor in Blooming Prairie had to stop planting after he couldn’t connect to GPS.
He spoke with MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer about the impact of the solar storm on peak planting season.
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Fishing season is officially here. Maybe you were one of the hundreds of people who got out on the water this past weekend for the fishing opener.
The opener is the start of a busy season for one local organization: Let’s Go Fishing makes sure that people who don’t always get the chance to sink a line can do so.
Since 2002, it has served 190,000 seniors, youth, veterans and disabled adults. Today, 18 chapters exist throughout Minnesota. Mark Rangistch is a board member with Let’s Go Fishing and joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.
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