Stories from March 4, 2021

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