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Stories from March 4, 2021

Climate change threatens winter recreation

Climate change threatens winter recreation

It’s cross-country skiing season and Minnesotan Jessie Diggins is on a roll. But the snow conditions she was brought up on are rapidly changing.
by Paul Huttner

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Effort to replace MPD moves forward

Effort to replace MPD moves forward

A proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new agency passed a hurdle in a City Council committee Thursday.  
by Brandt Williams

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Prosecutors: Officer was on Floyd's neck for about 9 minutes

Prosecutors: Officer was on Floyd's neck for about 9 minutes

As the trial approaches for a Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in George Floyd’s death, prosecutors are putting the time Derek Chauvin’s knee was on Floyd’s neck at about nine minutes, which has fluctuated before. 
by The Associated Press

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North Dakota House expels lawmaker accused of misconduct

North Dakota House expels lawmaker accused of misconduct

The North Dakota House has expelled a lawmaker accused of threatening and sexually harassing women at the Capitol. The resolution to expel GOP Rep. Luke Simons was approved 69-25 on Thursday.
by The Associated Press

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Now even the Vikings are taking the field in COVID vaccination effort

Now even the Vikings are taking the field in COVID vaccination effort, as they open their practice space to administer thousands of shots through Tuesday. This is an evening update from MPR News, hosted by Tim Nelson. Music by Gary Meister.

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Minnesota’s reckoning with race and policing was many years in the making

Minnesota’s reckoning with race and policing was many years in the making

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the murder and manslaughter trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s killing touched off a worldwide reckoning on racial justice and law enforcement, building on the outrage that had grown with each high-profile police killing in recent years.
by Jon Collins

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Powell: Higher inflation temporary, no rate hikes in sight

Powell: Higher inflation temporary, no rate hikes in sight

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested Thursday that inflation will pick up in the coming months but that it would likely prove temporary and not enough for the Fed to alter its record-low interest rate policies.
by The Associated Press

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Balmy March: A shot at 60 next week?

Balmy March: A shot at 60 next week?

Highs could reach the 60s in the Twin Cities and much of southern and western Minnesota next week.
by Paul Huttner

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Marriage and divorce during the pandemic

Marriage and divorce during the pandemic

During the pandemic, married couples have struggled to find balance between work, parenting and other responsibilities. Some marriages have ended in divorce. But the pandemic has brought other couples closer together.
by Angela Davis and Katie Moritz

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Capitol Police chief appeals for National Guard to stay

Capitol Police chief appeals for National Guard to stay

The acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police is appealing to congressional leaders to back her request to keep National Guard troops protecting the building and lawmakers for another two months
by The Associated Press

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Digging into your gardening questions

Digging into your gardening questions

Outdoor planting season is just around the corner. Two experts share their advice on planning and tending to spring gardens.
by Kerri Miller and Marcheta Fornoff

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Scotch whisky, English cheese prices could ease as U.S. halts tariffs

Scotch whisky, English cheese prices could ease as U.S. halts tariffs

Scotch whisky and other goods have been subject to a 25 percent tariff. The levies cost companies hundreds of millions of dollars in lost exports, according to the Scotch industry.
by Bill Chappell

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Don't swat this bug. It might be a robot on a rescue mission

Don't swat this bug. It might be a robot on a rescue mission

Scientists are trying to build a tiny drone with the agility of a mosquito. These light but strong flying robots could be used in critical situations, such as finding people in a collapsed building.
by Avery Keatley, Noel King and Steve Inskeep

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Highs in the 50s and 60s by Sunday

Highs in the 50s and 60s by Sunday

The snowpack across Minnesota continues to disappear quickly due to mild temperatures that turn even warmer over the weekend. Rain and snow chances return next week.
by Nicole Mitchell

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40s or warmer for most of Minnesota Thursday

Snow cover across Minnesota erodes even more Thursday, thanks to sunshine and highs in the 40s and 50s.
by Nicole Mitchell

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Takeaways: What hearings have revealed about Jan. 6 failures

Takeaways: What hearings have revealed about Jan. 6 failures

Many questions remain unanswered about the failure to prevent the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But after six congressional hearings, it's clear that the Capitol Police were unprepared and overwhelmed as hundreds of Donald Trump's supporters laid siege to the building. It's also clear that no one wants to take responsibility for it.
by The Associated Press

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U.S. traffic deaths spike even as pandemic cuts miles traveled

U.S. traffic deaths spike even as pandemic cuts miles traveled

Pandemic lockdowns and stay-at-home orders kept many drivers off U.S. roads and highways last year. But those who did venture out found open lanes that only invited reckless driving, leading to a sharp increase in traffic-crash deaths across the country.
by The Associated Press

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Vaccinations to top confirmed cases in MN

After months of grim milestones in the COVID-19 pandemic, Minnesota will reach an especially bright one on Thursday: The count of Minnesotans now completely vaccinated will top the total number of known COVID-19 cases in the entire pandemic. This is an MPR News morning update for Thursday, Mar. 4, 2021. Hosted by Cathy Wurzer. Our theme music is by Gary Meister.

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'Home is Not a Country' imagines the lives we could have led

'Home is Not a Country' imagines the lives we could have led

Safia Elhillo's novel follows a first-generation Muslim American girl who, bullied at school, longs for the homeland she's never really known and the alter ego who represents a more confident self.
by Nayantara Dutta

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COVID reflections: How one rural hospital has been managing in the pandemic

COVID reflections: How one rural hospital has been managing in the pandemic

On Morning Edition, we’re checking back in with some of the people we talked to in the early days of the pandemic, to find out how things are going now. One of those people is Rick Breuer, the CEO of Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet.
by Cathy Wurzer and MPR News Staff

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March 4 update on COVID-19 in MN: Vaccination pace accelerates; disease data steady

March 4 update on COVID-19 in MN: Vaccination pace accelerates; disease data steady

After months of grim COVID-19 milestones, Minnesota reached a bright one Thursday: The number of Minnesotans now completely vaccinated is greater than the total count of known COVID-19 cases in the entire pandemic.
by MPR News Staff

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'Vaccine hunters': Online community helps people find COVID vaccine appointments

'Vaccine hunters': Online community helps people find COVID vaccine appointments

Members of a Facebook group called Minneapolis Vaccine Hunters help people across Minnesota find and sign up for vaccination appointments each day. Since it launched Feb. 1, the group has grown to more than 20,000 members.
by Peter Cox

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Art Hounds: Three ways artists support each other

Art Hounds: Three ways artists support each other

As we approach the one-year anniversary of performance spaces going dark under the coronavirus pandemic, Art Hounds this week recommend three different spaces — two virtual, one physical — where performers, songwriters and visual artists can come together.
by Emily Bright

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House approves major election and campaign finance reform bill

House approves major election and campaign finance reform bill

The For the People Act would dramatically overhaul the U.S. voting system and seek to limit the amount of dark money in politics.
by Alana Wise

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With Biden's backing, Democrats revive George Floyd police reform bill

With Biden's backing, Democrats revive George Floyd police reform bill

House Democrats have passed the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing. The sweeping measure bans chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for law enforcement while easing requirements for prosecutors to pursue misconduct charges.
by The Associated Press

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'Exit counselors' strain to pull Americans out of a web of false conspiracies

'Exit counselors' strain to pull Americans out of a web of false conspiracies

With disinformation spreading on an unprecedented scale, experts in cult deprogramming are turning their focus to those who have fallen down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories.
by Tovia Smith

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