Stories from May 19, 2023

Debt negotiations resume after snag as the country gets closer to a possible default
Negotiators between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's team paused talks on Friday. There's a little more than a week before the country runs out of money to pay its bills.
Frost in parts of northern Minnesota early Saturday, then a nice weekend
We’ll have some very chilly temps late Friday night into early Saturday. There’s a frost advisory posted for a portion of northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. Temps rebound nicely for Saturday afternoon and the remainder of the weekend.
Bias motive not suspected in St. Paul mosque fire
The man who allegedly set fire to a St. Paul mosque this week is facing arson, burglary, and drug charges, but the Ramsey County Attorney's Office said there's no evidence of a hate crime.
Politics Friday: A pair of first-term senators reflect on their first session, and the debate over legal marijuana
MPR News host Mike Mulcahy talks to Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis, and Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten, DFL-St. Paul. Later, a conversation with Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, and Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R- Fergus Falls.  
Feeling burned out? Here’s how a Minnesota doctor sang about it
What do you do when work starts to feel like a grind? One Twin Cities doctor wrote a musical about it. MPR News guest host Chris Farrell talks about finding meaning at work and ways to handle burnout. 
Attorneys representing the family of a man killed by Minneapolis police in December of 2019 say they've reached a $700,000 lawsuit settlement with the city.  This is an evening MPR News update for Friday, May 19, hosted by Hannah Yang. Music by Gary Meister.
Family members of Chiasher Vue, allege that officers unlawfully detained Vue's four children by keeping them in locked, unheated squad cars for four hours while police tried to get Vue out of the house and surrender.
Jim Brown, all-time NFL great and social activist, dead at 87
One of football’s first superstars, Brown was chosen the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1965 and shattered the league’s record books in a short career spanning 1957-65.
Walz signs ‘red flag’ orders, universal background checks for guns into law
The provisions are part of a larger public safety budget bill to boost funding for police officer recruitment, reduce prison time for inmates if they participate in rehabilitation programs and create an Office of Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls.
Arts Briefs: Miniature golf, Elvis and puppets
This week’s arts briefs include Monkeybear's Harmolodic Workshop, hip hop dance with Cypherside and The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Duluth. Also in Absolute Bleeding Edge: folk music with blips and bloops.
Experts say Read Act is a major investment in literacy education
The education spending bill Minnesota lawmakers passed this week includes $70 million on a policy provision meant to change the way educators teach reading in schools throughout the state.
Voices across time: Theater Mu ignites intergenerational conversation
Theater Mu is hosting the AAPI Generations Conference, an event celebrating 30 years of fostering Asian American and Pacific Islander theater, promoting intergenerational dialogues, and encouraging inclusive participation.
Ageless echoes: The Karen story of Muyehpen finds new life
Exposed Brick Theater is staging "Muyehpen," the first English adaptation of a Karen legend, to keep the story alive and shed light on the persecution of the Karen community.
Air quality improves; cool, breezy Friday; beautiful weekend
Air quality has drastically improved for most of Minnesota. We’ll continue to see improvement but elevated smoke lingers aloft. Friday will be cool with temps warming this weekend along with sunshine and dry weather.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is set to sign a public safety bill that also includes a couple of gun control measures. And a marijuana legalization bill awaits a final Minnesota Senate vote after the House gave approval to adult-use cannabis. This is a morning update from MPR news, hosted by Cathy Wurzer. Music by Gary Meister.
Cool, breezy Friday; warmer and brighter this weekend
Friday will be cool and breezy, but the air quality should improve, especially later in the day. Highs will be in the upper 50s southeast to upper 60s northwest. The weekend will be warmer and dry with sunshine.
After convention chaos, Minnesota DFL committee gives initial nod to ban those engaged in violence
The executive committee of Minnesota's Democratic Farmer Labor Party gave initial approval to bylaws that will permanently ban people who engage in or incite violent acts from participating in party activities.
Our bodies respond differently to food. A new study aims to find out how
The NIH will track the diets and lifestyles of 10,000 people to see how genetics, biology and the microbiome impact people's health. The study will use AI to tailor individual diet advice.
Kia and Hyundai agree to $200M settlement over car thefts
The settlement covers some 9 million owners of Hyundai or Kia vehicles. Affected models have been the target of thieves, fueled by a deadly trend that spread on social media.
Recreational marijuana bill on edge of becoming Minnesota law
The Minnesota House passed the final version of a marijuana legalization bill that would permit possession starting in August. Retail shops won’t open for at least a year.