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A light rail train passing a tent encampment

Minneapolis made little progress on homeless encampments in 2022. Why?

Eager to improve the city’s response to encampments, new Minneapolis City Council members have been gridlocked, in part due to Mayor Jacob Frey’s recent expansion of power. Instead of creating a formal policy, the city is sending more police officers and establishing perimeters while closing camps.
  • Part 2Minneapolis has increased police presence at encampment clearings
  • Part 3Minneapolis City Council too gridlocked to change homeless encampment approach
  • Part 4Is providing a portable toilet an endorsement of a homeless encampment?
  • Part 5Avivo Village shines as solution for unsheltered homelessness in Minneapolis
Uliana Welter of Team Kwe works on their sculpture

Snow sisters: Team Kwe, the only all-women Indigenous snow sculpture team in the U.S.

On a freezing January weekend, an all-woman Indigenous snow carving team makes it mark in a psychically demanding art form.
  • North Star JourneyA celebration of communities in Minnesota
A person climbs an icy cliff face

Winter Play: Ice climbing on the North Shore

As part of MPR News’ Winter Play series, reporter Dan Kraker tried ice climbing for the first time on a cliff north of Two Harbors, an experience he found challenging, rewarding and — when it was over, at least — fun.
  • Winter PlayDog sledding in Southern Minnesota
  • Winter PlayCruising snow-covered trails on a fat tire bike near Brainerd
Ilhan Omar

Republicans set to oust Rep. Omar from Foreign Affairs panel

Newly empowered House Republicans are preparing to oust Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Republicans want to remove the African-born Black lawmaker from the panel over comments she has made critical of Israel.
A woman make a hair

In a Minneapolis salon for natural hair, women wonder if CROWN Act will help

Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign the CROWN Act, which bans discrimination against people based on their natural hair texture and style. But some say the fight to destigmatize hair is far from over.
  • 2020Black Minnesotans say they’ve faced pressure to change their hair
Person talks at podium and signs a bill

Walz signs bill guaranteeing abortion access in Minnesota

The measure putting the right to abortion and other reproductive options in state law was a top priority for Democrats at the Capitol, and health care providers celebrated its enactment on Tuesday.
  • You asked, we answeredWhat would the ‘PRO Act’ really change?
  • RelatedMinnesota, seen as abortion haven, still funds ‘crisis pregnancy centers’
  • Also at the CapitolMN bill aims to create legal refuge for trans youth seeking gender-affirming care
  • LegislationMN Senate votes to ban discrimination based on hair, OKs Juneteenth holiday
A mourner sits next to a candle display during a vigil for Tyre Nichols on Jan. 30 at Regency Community Skatepark in Sacramento, Calif. Nichols was an avid skateboarder and used to frequent the park.

Tyre Nichols will be laid to rest in Memphis on Wednesday

The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy, and Vice President Kamala Harris is set to attend at the invitation of Nichols' family.
Edward Kennedy 1993

Former Minnesota Sen. Dave Durenberger dies at 88

Durenberger served 16 years in the U.S. Senate, earning a reputation as an expert on health care and environmental policy. “He was a counterintuitive policymaker who didn’t follow the usual partisan cookbooks,” said former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, once a Durenberger intern.
Biden Classified Documents

Biden lawyer: FBI searching Biden's Rehoboth Beach, home

The FBI is conducting a planned search of President Joe Biden’s Rehoboth Beach, Delaware home as part of its investigation into the potential mishandling of classified documents. That's according to a statement from Biden's personal lawyer.
Super Bowl LV

Tom Brady retires, insisting this time it's for good

Tom Brady has announced his retirement. Brady won a record seven Super Bowls for New England and Tampa. He is the most successful quarterback in NFL history and one of the greatest athletes in team sports.
A court sketching of a man

Fate of last ex-cop charged in Floyd murder lies with judge

A defense attorney says a former Minneapolis police officer who held back bystanders while his colleagues restrained a dying George Floyd is innocent of criminal wrongdoing and should be acquitted. But prosecutors argue Tou Thao “acted without courage and displayed no compassion” even though he could see Floyd’s life slowly ebbing away.
Vice President Harris (center) marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 6, 2022,  in Selma, Ala., to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

It's Black History Month. Here are 3 things to know about the annual celebration

The annual celebration started out in 1926 as Negro History Week and expanded to Black History Month in the 1970s. This year's theme is "Black Resistance."
As soda consumption has dropped in the West, companies are making an effort to woo new customers in other places. This Coke bottle ad is in Mozambique.

Junk food companies say they're trying to do good. A new book raises doubts

As the marketing of soda and fast food ramps up around the world, the companies involved forge partnerships to help the poor. The new book 'Junk Food Politics' casts a critical eye at their efforts.
Kentucky GOP Rep. James Comer and other House Republicans speak at the U.S. Capitol in November. This week, Republicans are holding their first hearings as part of investigations into the Biden administration.

House Republicans are launching their first investigations into Democrats

Now in control of the House, Republicans will hold hearings on border policy and pandemic relief spending.
President Joe Biden, right, talks with Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Calif., left, after an event in the Rose Garden of the White House in July 26, 2021. The president and the House speaker are preparing for their first official visit at the White House on Wednesday, ahead of a looming debt crisis.

Biden and McCarthy set to meet to talk about the debt ceiling stalemate

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet Wednesday to discuss, among other things, how to avoid a default on the U.S. debt.
A sign calling attention to drug overdoses is posted in a gas station on the White Earth reservation in Ogema, Minn.. A new study shows that early deaths due to addiction and suicide have impacted American Indian and Alaska Native communities far more than white communities.

Native Americans left out of 'deaths of despair' research

During the time that deaths from addiction and suicide among white Americans rose by about 9 percent, deaths among Native Americans shot up by about 30 percent, a new study shows.
Two people hold each other and candles at a vigil

White House: Harris will attend Tyre Nichols' funeral

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to attend the funeral of Tyre Nichols, who died three days after he was beaten by Memphis police officers just minutes from his home, the White House said Tuesday.
Heavy traffic on a highway

Report: Minnesota’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped, but work still needed

Transportation remains Minnesota’s biggest source of greenhouse gases, followed by agriculture. Emissions from electricity generation continued to fall as utilities shuttered coal plants and relied more on wind and solar energy.
People in a meeting room

MN bill aims to create legal refuge for trans youth seeking gender-affirming care

Minnesota legislators began reviewing a bill that protects access to health care for trans youth, a move that the author says is a historic first. At the Tuesday hearing, several parents of trans youth spoke in support of the bill.
  • RelatedMinneapolis issues order to protect those seeking gender-affirming health care
Woman and man sit closely in front of camera

'It Hurts' so good: Bad Bad Hats release 10th anniversary edition of first EP

A Twin Cities favorite: Bad Bad Hats are not shy to embrace the nostalgia of their early recordings. So much so that the “It Hurts (10th Anniversary Edition)” EP includes demo tracks laced with kazoos, happy-go-lucky whistling, never-heard-before verses and ultra-scratchy guitar tracks.
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