MPR News
A woman gets a shot in her left arm.

It's been one year since the pandemic began. Here's a look back at the heartbreaking, chaotic year

More than 489,000 cases and over 6,500 deaths have been reported in Minnesota in the year since COVID-19 was confirmed in the state. Here are key dates in the state's fight against the coronavirus.
A man holding paper talks to another man.

Latest on COVID-19 in MN: A year after 1st case, hope percolates

One year ago today, Minnesota confirmed its first COVID-19 case. After nearly 500,000 known cases and more than 6,500 deaths, Gov. Tim Walz says the state may be able to “break the back” of the pandemic in the next four weeks.
  • Looking at the numbersCOVID in Minnesota Today
A person waits after getting a COVID-19 shot.

State data shows disparities in race, ethnicity of who's getting COVID-19 vaccine

For people of color in Minnesota age 65 and older, the percentage of people receiving vaccinations is trailing slightly their share of the state's population. That's even as communities of color have seen higher rates of serious illness and death from COVID-19.
  • Early data reveals striking racial disparitiesIn who's getting the COVID-19 vaccine
  • APM Research LabLimited vaccine data shows uneven access by race
  • VideosAll COVID-19 information you need in Spanish, Somali, Hmong and English
The Capitol is seen at dusk

Senate passes $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package

An exhausted Senate narrowly approved a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Saturday as President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies notched a victory they called crucial for hoisting the country out of the pandemic and economic doldrums.
Workers install security fencing outside a building.

Appeals court says judge in Chauvin case ‘erred,’ must reconsider additional murder charge

Citing its own opinion last month in a separate police killing case, the Minnesota Court of Appeals says the district court needs to reconsider the addition of third-degree murder charges against former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin.
  • The Derek Chauvin trialWhat you need to know
  • Years in the makingMinnesota’s reckoning with race and policing
  • TimelineThe killing of George Floyd and trial of Derek Chauvin
  • #AskMPRNewsHow will MPR News cover the trial of Derek Chauvin?
Demonstrators hold a sign.

After Floyd’s killing, police reform efforts not fast or far enough for some

As the Derek Chauvin trial looms, police reform efforts by state and local leaders inspired by George Floyd’s killing move forward — though not fast enough or far enough for people calling for immediate and transformational change.
  • EarlierEffort to replace MPD moves forward
  • From WashingtonWith Biden's backing, Democrats revive George Floyd police reform bill
  • Last summerMinneapolis announces changes aimed at reducing police use of force incidents
Then 2nd Lt. Emil Kapaun, U.S. Army chaplain, circa 1943.

Army chaplain's remains identified after 70 years

The remains of Emil Kapaun, the Catholic priest and Korean War prisoner of war, have been identified, the Pentagon said Friday. Kapaun was given the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2013.
A man wearing a mask.

Research: Scanning wastewater could offer advance warning of COVID — or other viruses

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Minnesota researchers say their effort to learn whether surveying a community’s sewage could help detect the prevalence of COVID-19 — and possibly predict surges of the virus — appears promising.
  • From SeptemberU researchers testing campus sewage for COVID-19
  • NPRHow what you flush is helping track the coronavirus
Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a press conference.

Gov. Walz to head to Mankato for State of the State address

For the second consecutive year, Gov. Tim Walz won’t make the address in the state House chamber. That’s due in large part to the pandemic and restrictions on large gatherings.
Pedestrians pass a sign on a bus stop

Europe staggers as infectious variants power coronavirus surge

Fast-spreading variants of the coronavirus are powering another uptick in infections in Europe. The surge underscores just how treacherous the virus is, and is leading to new restrictions across the continent.
The late Rep. John Lewis stands on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., in 2015, where he was beaten by police on "Bloody Sunday."

For the first time in 56 years, a 'Bloody Sunday' without John Lewis

Sunday's anniversary of the day marchers were beaten by police in Selma, Ala., will honor the late civil rights icon. Some 56 years later, former state Sen. Hank Sanders says Lewis’ work isn't done.
Two people pose for a photo

StoryCorps: She found 'layers to forgiveness,' in befriending the man who killed her brother

Tony Hicks was 14 years old when he killed Tariq Khamisa during a robbery. At StoryCorps, Tariq's sister Tasreen tells Tony that meeting him 20 years later "made a lot of room in my heart for light to come in."
An image captured by the navigation cameras of NASA's Perseverance rover shows tracks on the surface of Mars during the rover's first test drive on March 4.

In first test drive on Mars, Perseverance rover makes a short but significant trip

The NASA rover traversed some 21 feet of terrain this week, in its first test drive since landing on the red planet. It also captured photos of its touchdown site and the wheel tracks it left behind.
Former National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman arrives at the inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden on the West Front of the US Capitol on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C. Gorman says she was tailed Friday night by a security guard who said she looked "suspicious."

'This is the reality of Black girls': Inauguration poet says she was tailed by guard

Amanda Gorman, who became a sensation after her poem at Joe Biden's inauguration, says a security guard outside her building told her she looked "suspicious." After the encounter she wrote: “This is the reality of Black girls: One day you're called an icon, the next day, a threat.”
A woman walks past a closed flower shop in Berlin on Thursday. A research group noted more than 1,200 new words in German inspired by the pandemic.

Pandemic inspires more than 1,200 new German words

Germans have a knack for stringing lots of words together to create new words. From Mundschutzmode to Coronamutationsgebiet, the pandemic has spawned a plethora of them.
Genevieve Villamora, 44, says she suffered hair loss after recovering from COVID-19: Her hands would be covered with hair after a shower. It was "traumatic because as a woman so much of my femininity and self-image is linked to my hair," says the Washington, D.C., restaurateur. Her hair loss began to lessen four months out from her recovery from COVID.

Coronavirus FAQ: Does COVID-19 make your hair fall out?

The number of people searching online for information about hair loss has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. What's going on?
Trump supporters clash with police outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Social media companies are under scrutiny for allowing their platforms to be used to spread falsehoods about the 2020 election and to allow violent extremist groups to organize January's insurrection.

Trump is no longer tweeting, but online disinformation isn't going away

While removing former President Donald Trump from social media has led to a significant decrease in election-related disinformation, online falsehoods about the election and vaccines continue to flourish.
Jack O'Callahan and Mark Pavelich

'Miracle on Ice' star Mark Pavelich dies at treatment home

The member of the “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team has died at a treatment center for mental illness. 
A kid helps her parent doing dishes.

Are we raising unhelpful, bossy kids? Here's the fix

In some cultures kids roll their eyes when asked to do chores. In others, they'll pitch in without even being asked. Researchers have identified two key practices to raise helpful children.
A man crosses a nearly empty street in San Francisco, on March 17, 2020. Despite a reduction in driving last year, road fatalities increased, according to the National Safety Council.

'Tragic': Driving was down in 2020, but traffic fatality rates surged

A report estimates that traffic deaths rose 8 percent last year compared to 2019. When measured by number of miles driven, fatalities surged by 24 percent, the highest in nearly a century.
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