Stories from April 19, 2022

State officials say good preparation limiting impact of avian flu
Elected officials say efforts are underway to help poultry producers who lose their flocks both financially and through access to mental health support.
Minnesotans have mixed feelings about the end of the travel mask mandate and DFLers in the state house say they want to spend $7 billion of the state’s expected $9 billion surplus. This is an evening update from MPR News, hosted by Tim Nelson. Music by Gary Meister.
NASA advisers call for a visit to Uranus, plus more science during moon landings
NASA should send probes to the ice giant planet of Uranus and to a moon of Saturn where conditions could be right for life. Those are some of the recommendations in a new report to the space agency.
Stephanie Trudeau discusses the upcoming book, The Dylan Tapes: Friends, Players, and Lovers Talkin’ Early Bob Dylan, with host Cathy Wurzer.
Dr. Nathan Chomilo, Medical Director for the State of Minnesota's Medicaid & MinnesotaCare programs, discusses racial health equity.
Dr. Jay-Sheree Allen, a physician at Mayo Clinic and host of the podcast Millennial Health, discusses child abuse and prevention.
Opera singer and director Denyce Graves on why ‘Carmen’ matters today
On Wednesday, MPR News host Angela Davis spoke with opera star Denyce Graves about what it's been like to be a Black woman singing her way to the top of a traditionally white, European musical art form and returning to Minnesota to direct the Minnesota Opera’s production of “Carmen.”
Hy-Vee drops plans for five more stores in Twin Cities metro area
Grocery retailer Hy-Vee says it is abandoning plans to build new stores in Farmington, Chaska, Blaine and West St. Paul, as well as a second store in Maple Grove. Some of those plans dated back to 2016.
Officials celebrate start of U.S. Highway 14 expansion project in southern Minnesota
Work to expand another 12 miles of U.S. Highway 14 to four lanes in southern Minnesota is underway. It's the last leg in a decades-long effort to create a four-lane transportation corridor between Rochester and New Ulm.
After a weeklong break, state lawmakers are back in session Tuesday, with five weeks to go in this year’s legislative session. 
Audio postcard: Pasqueflowers prove spring really is coming
Earlier this week, wildflower chasers Phyllis Root and Kelly Povo went looking for delicate, fuzzy purple pasqueflowers at River Terrace Prairie Scientific and Natural Area, near Cannon Falls. They sent along some signs of hope.
Racial trauma expert Resmaa Menakem on 'The Quaking of America'
Over the past few years, Minneapolis trauma expert and author Resmaa Menakem has been in the national spotlight. Tuesday at 9 a.m., MPR News host Angela Davis spoke with Menakem about his latest book, “The Quaking of America.”
From the archives: Don Winslow on the war on drugs
As we anticipate a conversation with novelist Don Winslow this Friday, we throwback to the last time he spoke with MPR News host Kerri Miller. In 2019, they discussed the conclusion to his trilogy that detailed the drug cartels and the lives of the investigators who pursue them.
Minnesota airports, transit systems drop mask mandates in wake of federal court ruling
Airlines, MSP Airport, Metro Transit and several other public transit agencies around Minnesota have stopped requiring people to wear face coverings, in the wake of Monday's federal court ruling striking down a national mask mandate.
Enjoy Tuesday’s sunshine, rain develops Wednesday
It’ll still be on the cool side of normal Tuesday but with brighter skies and light winds. Highs will be mainly in the 40s with some pockets of 30s north. Showers start to develop north Tuesday night and fill in east and south into Wednesday morning.
Brighter Tuesday; more rain, warmth ahead
It’s a chilly start after a night of clear skies and lighter winds. We’ll see a warmer afternoon Tuesday with increasing clouds. Rain showers move in Wednesday midday.
Cleanup continues in Taopi, near the Iowa border, after a tornado last week destroyed nearly half the homes in the community. Officials said 10 of the town's 24 homes are total losses. This is an MPR News morning update for Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Hosted by Cathy Wurzer. Our theme music is by Gary Meister.
Russia ratchets up battle for control of eastern Ukraine
Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war.
Munson loan swells fundraising for open congressional seat
State Rep. Jeremy Munson leads all candidates in fundraising for the special Republican primary for the open congressional seat of the late U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, including his widow Jennifer Carnahan, but only because Munson lent his campaign $200,000 of his own money.
Hobey Baker winner gets 6-month ban for prohibited substance
Minnesota State Mankato goaltender and Hobey Baker Award winner Dryden McKay has been given a six-month ban for an anti-doping violation after leading the Mavericks to the Frozen Four national championship game.
Despite effective treatments, HIV drags on. Experts warn COVID may face the same fate
HIV remains a problem in the U.S. because people don't use life-saving prevention and treatments. COVID is heading down the same path. Here are insights from people fighting on the frontlines of HIV.
A Ukrainian family finds solace in America but cannot escape heartbreak
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Eka Koliubaieva and her two daughters fled to the U.S., where a Virginia couple took them in after learning about the family's plight from a Facebook post.
Latest light rail plan puts Blue Line in heart of north Minneapolis
Twin Cities transit officials have released their preferred route for the Blue Line extension from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park, even as they scramble to come up with another $500 million to complete the beleaguered Southwest Corridor light rail project.
Global finance meeting focuses on war-driven food insecurity
Russia and Ukraine produce roughly 14 percent of the world's wheat supply, according to the United Nations, and the war has resulted in soaring food prices and fears about food security globally.