Stories from January 27, 2023

Saturday snow south; arctic week ahead
We’re overdue for a temperature correction this month.
Amid slight rise in MN COVID deaths, CDC says bivalent booster adds protection
Deaths have risen in recent weeks, while hospitalizations have fallen. Case-related data is mixed and COVID load in wastewater is somewhat down. Recent data from the CDC has shown that the most recent booster dose helps protect against infection, illness and death.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara is condemning the actions of five Memphis, Tennessee, police officers charged Thursday with murder in the killing of Tyre Nichols.   This is an evening update from MPR News, hosted by Hannah Yang. Music by Gary Meister.
U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón stops by the Twin Cities
Award-winning poet Ada Limón is in the middle of a reading tour right now, doing her duty as the 24th and first ever Latina U.S. poet laureate. And MPR News producer Ngoc Bui got the chance to catch up with her when she made a stop at the U of M.
How to navigate estrangement and toxic relationships
About 27 percent of American adults say they have cut off contact with a family member, according to one study from Cornell University. Guest host Catharine Richert talks with two psychologists about estrangement and how we can navigate our most complicated relationships with family and friends.
Weekend weather: Subzero temps set to grip Minnesota
Find your warmest coats, gloves, mittens and hats. This will be the coldest weekend of January 2023. Far southern Minnesota and much of Iowa and southern Wisconsin will see snow Friday night into Saturday.
Capping off a warmer-than-normal January
Minnesota has recorded the coldest temperature in the nation just twice this month.
Memphis braces for the release of Tyre Nichols arrest footage
Memphis authorities say they're planning to release body camera footage depicting the 29-year-old's death sometime after 6 p.m. CT. Cities across the U.S. are bracing for protests.
A curious Colorado bear strikes a pose for 400 selfies on a wildlife camera
Photoshoots are an unintended — but amusing — use of the cameras. The Open Space and Mountain Parks department in Boulder, Colo., set up nine of them to learn about and protect local wildlife.
Clint Smith on how to reckon with slavery as America's original sin
Clint Smith’s acclaimed book, “How the Word Is Passed,” is now out in paperback. In it, he examines how slavery has been central in shaping our country’s collective history, and ourselves.
Bundle up: Bitter cold weekend, deep freeze week ahead
Temperatures will drop through the day Friday as gusty northwest winds at 15-25 mph blow in much colder air. Lows Friday night will drop into the single digits southeast to near 20 below zero northwest.
Fresh snow, gusty winds cause difficult driving across Minnesota
Light snow and gusty winds made for a tricky morning commute across much of Minnesota on Friday, especially in western parts of the state where many school districts delayed the start of classes.
Charging documents alleged Hill and Cody Fohrenkam passed close to one another on a sidewalk in February 2022, possibly close enough to brush shoulders, before Fohrenkam shot. This is a morning MPR News update, hosted by Cathy Wurzer. Music by Gary Meister.
House Democrats' new leader Jeffries vows not to 'go off the cliff' on debt ceiling
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries insists the looming debt ceiling crisis will be resolved without his party submitting to demands by Republicans who want to tie government spending cuts to a debt limit hike.
Utah's solution to ski traffic snarl? Build the world's longest gondola
Two of Utah's most acclaimed ski resorts are at the end of a narrow canyon road that's increasingly jammed with traffic but the state's plan to fix it is sparking controversy.
Snow pushes east, wind and bitter cold fills the void behind it
Snow showers push east early Friday. Temperatures will drop from near 30 in southern Minnesota to the teens by evening with subzero air settling into northern Minnesota by evening. Wind gusts will range from 30 mph east to as high as 50 mph west Friday.
Minnesota House passes bill requiring carbon-free electricity by 2040
The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a landmark bill Thursday night requiring the state’s electric utilities to get all of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040.
Virologists defend their science as officials eye more oversight of risky experiments
Policymakers have long grappled with how to handle experiments that might generate potentially dangerous viruses. Now, officials are considering whether oversight needs to be expanded.
Migration could prevent a looming population crisis. But there are catches
“Population decline” is a mild way to describe what could be a global demographic crisis, according to experts. But while migration may be the obvious solution, politics could get in the way.
When gun violence ends young lives, these men prepare the graves
Just outside St. Louis, a cemetery for children sits on a hill. A wooden, weather-worn sign welcomes mourners to “Baby Land.” The gravediggers who made the special spot work quietly in the shadows.
You asked, we answered: What would the ‘PRO Act’ really change?
The proposal to put the right to abortion in state law has spurred emotional support and opposition at the Capitol. And it could make Minnesota the first state to guarantee abortion access through legislative action in the post-Roe era.
'40 Below' documentary follows the frozen competitors in 'the world's toughest race'
A new documentary titled "40 Below: The World's Toughest Race," features competitors from around the world in Minnesota's own infamously chilly ultramarathon, the Arrowhead 135. 
Bon appétit: Opera based on Julia Child comes to Fargo-Moorhead
This weekend, the Fargo Moorhead Opera company debuts a Julia Child-esque opera star: Mezzo soprano Holly Janz will be in the kitchen and onstage in the one act opera, “Bon Appétit!”