Audits, shrimp boil and moonshine: Minnesota stories this week
Between daily updates on investigations into Russia and the uncertain future of health care in America, it can be hard to keep up with current events around the nation, let alone Minnesota.
That's where MPR News comes in. Here are five things that happened in the state this week you should know about.
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1) Minnesota's teacher shortage: real, complicated
Filling critical jobs in high-need teaching areas has become a serious struggle across the state from small towns to suburbs. The challenges are nuanced, and not easy to solve.
2) Audit: Rochester Art Center in deep financial trouble
Rochester heavily subsidizes the art center, but city officials were surprised to hear that auditors recently cast "substantial doubt" about the center's ability to survive. Contributions, corporate sponsorship and memberships are all in decline.
3) Shrimp boil and a triple sausage bloody mary: Here's the new food lineup at Target Field
It's tough to say what the Twins will be like this season. But at least we know what the hottest foods will be at Target Field.
4) 107-year-old northern Minn. woman leaves behind stories of moonshine, priests
Elsye McGuire's early life reads like "Little House on the Prairie" — if it were written for adults, and Pa ran an illegal moonshine still in the swamp behind his house. Elyse died in January at 107, but her daughter Mollie Crooker recently sorted through her writing and compiled 250 pages into a book to pass on to the next generation.
5) Environmental lawsuits pile up as PolyMet mine crawls forward
Three lawsuits have been filed in the past week alone, challenging recent federal decisions advancing what would be the state's first ever copper-nickel mine.
Bonus — A must listen: Health Partners CEO on the future of health care
HealthPartners president and CEO Mary Brainerd will retire from her post in June after 15 years at the head of the health giant.
During an interview with MPR News host Tom Weber she discussed her career, the state of health care in the U.S., and health care policies being discussed both in St. Paul and in Washington.