Stories from April 15, 2026

NHL's disputed playoff format ought to make for a grand entrance for the Central Division this year
The postseason format the NHL brought back with the divisional realignment for the 2013-14 season to intensify the first round and double down on regional rivalries has occasionally proved controversial. This year will be no different.
Duluth musician Gaelynn Lea releases her first memoir
“It Wasn’t Meant to Be Perfect,” traces Lea’s upbringing in Duluth, her rise to fame after winning NPR Music’s Tiny Desk contest in 2016, and how she’s navigated her disability throughout her life.
A House committee voted down an effort today to initiate impeachment proceedings against two DFL officials. Republicans proposed starting impeachment proceedings against Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. They said the pair didn't do enough to combat fraud in state programs.
Minneapolis City Council considers ordinance to protect immigrant renters
The proposal seeks to limit how landlords screen tenants, including banning questions about immigration status. If adopted, the ordinance would allow for enforcement actions including fines and potential impacts to landlords’ rental licenses.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey named to Time 100 list
Frey’s entry in the magazine calls him the city’s “adopted son” who was drawn to Minneapolis after running a marathon. “His three terms as mayor have been an endurance test of another sort,” it reads.
After Artemis hype, Dark Sky Week aims to keep focus on the night sky
Voyageurs National Park is a designated International Dark Sky Park. Its nonprofit partner is hosting programs through Saturday to celebrate the night sky and share strategies for preventing light pollution.
As rural MN diversifies and grows, one expert says housing will be key to sustained growth
A new report shows many parts of greater Minnesota are diversifying and growing. However, sustained population growth looks unlikely. A rural sociologist says housing has a lot to do with these trends.
Dozens of Black pilots disappeared during WWII. Who are the men still lost?
Dozens of Tuskegee Airmen went missing in action during World War II. Most of them have not been found. Who were these men and what happened to them? In her book, “Forgotten Souls,” NPR investigative correspondent Cheryl W. Thompson tells their stories.
Morning Announcements for April 15
These are the Morning Announcements for Wednesday, April 15. Tell us what you’re celebrating!
Move over, Mr. Ripley. ‘I Am Agatha’ is a delightfully duplicitous debut
Nancy Foley’s deviously-plotted novel centers on an aging artist in New Mexico. Brutally dismissive of anyone who disagrees with her, Agatha is a perfectly engaging (if unreliable) narrator.
Understanding addiction and recovery
MPR News host Angela Davis talks about how some people who have lived with addiction support others in recovery.
Wallstedt makes 35 saves for Wild in a 3-2 win over the Ducks in a playoff tuneup for both teams
Hunter Haight got his first career goal and rookie Jesper Wallstedt auditioned for action in the playoffs with 35 saves as the Minnesota Wild finished their regular season by beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-2.
Jarren Duran directs obscene gesture toward fan at Minnesota and says fan told him to kill himself
Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran directed an obscene gesture toward a fan at Target Field as he returned to the dugout after a fifth-inning groundout in Boston’s 6-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
Jesper Wallstedt is giving the playoff-bound Wild a boost in goal, no matter how his name is spelled
Jesper Wallstedt let in a goal on a power play against the Minnesota Wild in the first period, looked up at the scoreboard to quickly analyze the replay, and realized something wasn’t right.
A proposal to boost state funding to schools for safety measures stalled in a House committee Tuesday. The broad school safety package would direct state funding to public and private schools intended to bolster security. Meanwhile, Wednesday is the deadline to file your taxes — but if you haven't finished filing, you have options.
‘I’m still heartbroken’: Sam Nordquist’s family struggles to make sense of his death
Sam Nordquist of Oakdale traveled to New York state to meet the woman of his dreams. Nearly five months later, his body was found in a farmer’s field in a rural area. State investigators say he was held against his will for about a month in his girlfriend’s apartment.
As Minnesota lawmakers work to stop grooming in schools, a question lingers: What is grooming?
State lawmakers are looking at measures to prevent grooming of children by adults in schools and other institutions. Experts say understanding what grooming is and isn’t is the first step to ending this damaging facet of child abuse.
Why this Minneapolis feminist art collective still matters 50 years later
A Minneapolis exhibition marks 50 years of WARM, a pioneering feminist art collective that created space for women artists and helped reshape the local and national art scenes.
Adult bathhouses were a part of Minneapolis nightlife. Then police and panic pushed them out
Forty years after the adult bathhouse ban was passed, the city council is considering reversing it. A myriad of components led to the ban, but for several decades, public sexual spaces in Minneapolis were an active part of downtown.