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Stories from August 17, 2020

National Zoo awaits birth of pandemic panda cub

National Zoo awaits birth of pandemic panda cub

Zookeepers at Washington’s National Zoo are on furry black-and-white baby watch after concluding that venerable giant panda matriarch Mei Ziang is pregnant and could give birth this week. It’s a welcome bit of good news amid a pandemic that kept the zoo shuttered for months. 
by The Associated Press

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CDC study finds Hispanics hit disproportionately hard by workplace outbreaks

CDC study finds Hispanics hit disproportionately hard by workplace outbreaks

A study out Monday found that Hispanic and nonwhite workers made up 73 percent of cases associated with workplace outbreaks in certain industries, despite representing 24 percent of the workforce in those sectors.
by Rachel Treisman

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Q&A: What's happening at the U.S. Postal Service, and why?

Q&A: What's happening at the U.S. Postal Service, and why?

The U.S. Postal Service is warning states it cannot guarantee that all ballots cast by mail for the Nov. 3 election will arrive in time to be counted, even if ballots are mailed by state deadlines. Here are some questions and answers about what's going on with the post office and the upcoming election.
by The Associated Press

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Trump rips critics, vows to win Minnesota

Hoping to win over Minnesota in the fall election, President Donald Trump on Monday pounded political opponents as a threat to the nation and portrayed himself as a law and order candidate during an hourlong campaign speech at the Mankato airport before heading to Wisconsin and vowing, “I’ll be back.” “We’re going to have an election that is all about the survival of this nation,” Trump told supporters. This is an MPR News evening update for Monday, August 17. Hosted by Dan Kraker. Our theme music is by Gary Meister.

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Poll: Most Mpls. voters see Floyd killing as part of racist policing pattern

Poll: Most Mpls. voters see Floyd killing as part of racist policing pattern

More than 8 in 10 Minneapolis voters say the killing of George Floyd by police was not an isolated incident, but rather a sign of larger problems in how the city’s Police Department treats Black people, according to a new MPR News/Star Tribune/KARE 11 poll.
by Brandt Williams

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What's it like to start a new job remotely?

What's it like to start a new job remotely?

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. What’s getting less attention is the difficulty of starting a new job when so many of them have gone remote.
by Chris Farrell and Katie Moritz

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Biden's convention: Left and not-so-left unite against Trump

Biden's convention: Left and not-so-left unite against Trump

Joe Biden introduced the breadth of his political coalition to a nation in crisis on the first night of the DNC. He gave voice to victims of the pandemic, the economic downturn and police violence and featuring both Democrats and Republicans united against President Trump’s reelection.
by The Associated Press

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130 degrees: Death Valley sees what could be record heat

130 degrees: Death Valley sees what could be record heat

Any visitors to the national park are getting blunt advice: "Travel prepared to survive." It's part of a heat wave that is forcing rolling blackouts in the West.
by Bill Chappell and Nathan Rott

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Milwaukee misses Democratic convention: 'It is a gut punch'

Milwaukee misses Democratic convention: 'It is a gut punch'

The convention was originally to have taken place in July, attracted about 50,000 people to Milwaukee and injected about $250 million into the economy of the key presidential battleground state. It would have been the first time Milwaukee, a metropolitan area of 1.6 million, hosted a presidential nominating convention.
by Scott Bauer, The Associated Press

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In Mankato, Trump rips critics, vows to win Minnesota

In Mankato, Trump rips critics, vows to win Minnesota

Hoping to win over the state in the fall election, President Donald Trump portrayed himself as a law and order candidate Monday during an attack-filled hourlong campaign speech at the Mankato airport before heading off to Wisconsin and vowing, “I’ll be back.”
by Brian Bakst

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Can air conditioners spread COVID-19?

Can air conditioners spread COVID-19?

People are worried that the virus could be spread by air conditioning systems. Here's what researchers do — and don't yet — know.
by Jessica Craig

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Wall Street's big money is betting on Biden and Democrats in 2020

Wall Street's big money is betting on Biden and Democrats in 2020

Despite the booming stock market under President Donald Trump, the finance sector is giving a bit more money to Democrats than to Republicans for the first time in more than a decade.
by Jim Zarroli

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Rain chances remain isolated this week

The week ahead remains relatively quiet, although chances for a few showers and storms increase as the week progresses.
by Nicole Mitchell

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Postal delivery scores in 5 battleground states are missing targets as mail voting increases

Postal delivery scores in 5 battleground states are missing targets as mail voting increases

Large cities in key states — Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee — have subpar delivery records; a former deputy postmaster general estimates tens of thousands of mailed ballots will be at risk for late delivery.

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Once unwanted, historic bridge now pursued by suitors

Once unwanted, historic bridge now pursued by suitors

For roughly 30 years, the Kern Bridge sat unused, unstable and unwanted. But fans of the bowstring-arch bridge never stopped trying to save it from collapse. Last year, funding was obtained to dismantle it and put it in storage in the hopes that someone somewhere might want to reassemble it as a pedestrian bridge. Turns out there was.

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Monday stays comfortable and sunny

Quiet weather dominates Monday’s forecast with mostly sunny skies and comfortable temperatures
by Nicole Mitchell

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Will there still be funny hats? National party conventions go virtual

Will there still be funny hats? National party conventions go virtual

Minnesota delegates to the Democratic National Convention are ready for a busy week, even though concerns about COVID-19 turned the convention into a virtual event.
by Tim Pugmire

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'It's not religion': In 'The Runaways,' Bhutto examines the lure of extremism

'It's not religion': In 'The Runaways,' Bhutto examines the lure of extremism

"I was really trying to look at why a 19-year-old boy would give up everything ... in order, quite literally, to take up arms against the world," says novelist Fatima Bhutto.
by Steve Inskeep, Simone Popperl and Milton Guevara

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Politics slows flow of U.S. virus funds to local public health

Politics slows flow of U.S. virus funds to local public health

Congress has allocated trillions of dollars to ease the coronavirus crisis. A joint Kaiser Health News and AP investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing. Others, like Minnesota, were slow to do so.
by The Associated Press and Kaiser Health News Staff

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President Trump makes campaign stop in Mankato

The Republican incumbent will deliver a speech Monday afternoon at the city’s airport, on the same day Democrats kick off their national convention. MPR News morning update for August 17, 2020. Hosted by Cathy Wurzer. Our theme music is by Gary Meister.

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Aug. 17 update on COVID-19 in MN: Testing tops 1M; 567 new cases

Aug. 17 update on COVID-19 in MN: Testing tops 1M; 567 new cases

“We’re at a place where things are stable, but the concern is we’re stable at a high rate of cases,” Kris Ehresmann, the state’s infectious disease director, told reporters Monday.
by MPR News Staff

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Pandemic electric bills are searing hot, as families stay home

Pandemic electric bills are searing hot, as families stay home

With lights out in many offices and millions of people plugging in at home, residential power bills are soaring, even as overall electricity consumption slumps during the recession.
by Scott Horsley

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The nudge and tiebreaker that took women's suffrage from nay to yea

The nudge and tiebreaker that took women's suffrage from nay to yea

Tennessee was the final state needed to ratify the amendment that secured some women the right to vote. At the last moment, a young state legislator switched his vote to yes after his mom asked him to.
by Melissa Block

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Back to life: COVID-19 lung transplant survivor tells her story

Back to life: COVID-19 lung transplant survivor tells her story

After six weeks on a ventilator, she was dying of COVID-19. But doctors took a gamble and gave Mayra Ramirez a double lung transplant. Now she shares what it's like to come back from the brink.
by Christine Herman

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Walz pressured over Line 3 pipeline project, as appeals deadline nears

Walz pressured over Line 3 pipeline project, as appeals deadline nears

The administration of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faces a deadline this week to decide whether to try to overturn the approval of the Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project, and pressure is coming in on all sides.
by Dan Kraker

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APM Marketplace special: Reset the economy to end systemic racism

APM Marketplace special: Reset the economy to end systemic racism

Reset the economy to end systemic racism: Kai Ryssdal speaks with experts about what it will take to begin to end the systemic racism that has defined our society and our economy for the last 400 years.
by Marketplace Staff

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5 questions ahead of the Democratic National Convention

5 questions ahead of the Democratic National Convention

The Democratic convention, which begins Monday, will be a more widespread TV production than past years. How will that affect the Democrats' message against President Donald Trump?
by Domenico Montanaro

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One week after election, Belarus sees giant protests against 'Europe's last dictator'

One week after election, Belarus sees giant protests against 'Europe's last dictator'

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Belarus to demand change on Sunday, as incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko defended election results that international observers have decried as illegitimate.
by Rachel Treisman

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Iowa 'hurting' after storm, seeks nearly $4B in disaster aid

Iowa 'hurting' after storm, seeks nearly $4B in disaster aid

Iowa homes, cornfields, utility companies and government agencies have losses estimated at nearly $4 billion from last week's derecho, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Sunday.
by The Associated Press

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