Minnesota Now for September 1, 2022

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CATHY WURZER: It's Minnesota Now. I'm Cathy Wurzer. There's a new vaccine for the most contagious COVID strains still circulating among us. We'll get the details on its effectiveness and planned rollout from Michael Osterholm with the University of Minnesota. Then, we celebrate 75 years of the FFA at the state fair.

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Speaking of the fair, Twila Dang hosted a conversation at the fair about the barriers for some BIPOC folks to getting outdoors. We'll hear from her. As the fair winds down, the school year is winding up. We'll hear from a handful of incoming high school freshmen about their hopes, dreams, and jitters. Finally, we'll catch up with our sports experts, Wally and Eric, to get the latest need-to-know sports news. All of that and the song of the day coming up right after the news.

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LAKSHMI SINGH: Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. A federal judge in Florida is holding a hearing this hour to consider former President Donald Trump's request for an independent arbiter to review records. The FBI recently seized in its search of the Republican's Florida home.

In their filing last night, Trump's lawyers described the FBI's unprecedented search as, quote, "unnecessary." They accused the Justice Department of criminalizing Trump's possession of his own presidential records, they say. But as NPR'S Greg Allen reports, the Justice Department argues the appointment of a special master would impede its investigation.

GREG ALLEN: When she scheduled today's hearing, US District Judge Aileen Cannon said her preliminary intent was to appoint a special master. Trump's lawyers want an independent review of the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago. They say any item subject to attorney-client privilege or outside the scope of the warrant should be returned to the former president.

Lawyers for the Justice Department say Trump's representatives may have concealed classified documents and falsely claimed all sensitive material had been returned. They argue that the judge has no legal basis on which to return any of the documents. In any case, the Justice Department says a special master isn't needed because it's finished its review and has identified the privileged documents. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

LAKSHMI SINGH: Public health officials in Pakistan are worried about an outbreak of waterborne diseases in portions of the country that received historic rainfall and flooding. They're scrambling to get clean water to hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes in the extreme weather event that's being linked to climate change. Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman tells NPR the recent flooding is like nothing Pakistan has seen in recent memory.

SHERRY REHMAN: This is no monsoon. It's some monstrous, new phenomenon. Pakistan is no stranger to either monsoons or even the normal River Indus flooding in the River Indus. We've had the super floods of 2010. This is epic. It was much bigger than that. It was biblical, and it's overtaken 2010 in spades and squads.

LAKSHMI SINGH: More than 30 million people are affected by the floods. In Ukraine, a UN nuclear watchdog team has arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Here's NPR'S Ashley Westerman.

ASHLEY WESTERMAN: The International Atomic Energy Agency says its envoy arrived at Europe's largest power plant in southern Ukraine despite delays and reports of intense shelling along the route there. Ukrainian officials say Russia is responsible for the shelling. Dmítri Orlov is the mayor of Enerhodar, the city closest to the plant.

DMÍTRI ORLOV: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

ASHLEY WESTERMAN: He says you can tell the shelling is coming from nearby Russian-occupied territory because the time between hearing the shot and hearing the resulting explosion is only a few seconds.

LAKSHMI SINGH: NPR'S Ashley Westerman reporting. At last check on Wall Street, we see the Dow Jones Industrial average is down 159 points, roughly half a percent. This is NPR News.

SPEAKER: Support for NPR comes from NPR stations. Other contributors include DuckDuckGo, committed to making privacy online simple, used by tens of millions. They offer internet privacy with one download. DuckDuckGo, privacy simplified at duckduckgo.com.

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CATHY WURZER: Around Minnesota right now, skies are sunny. It's warm and humid. Highs today, mid-80s to the lower 90s. At noon in Grand Marais, it's sunny and 60. It's 80 in Brainerd. And outside the Moberg Meat Center in Canby, it's sunny and 84. I'm Cathy Wurzer, with Minnesota news headlines.

15,000 nurses in the Twin Cities and Duluth are going on strike September 12. The Minnesota Nurses Association says the strike will last for three days at 16 hospitals, making it the largest private sector nurses' strike in US history. Union President Mary Turner says nurse staffing levels have placed patients in jeopardy.

MARY TURNER: They experience long waits in the waiting rooms. They lie in their beds, waiting for their call lights to be answered. They have received outrageous medical bills from the hospitals. Nurses and patients are living with consequences of hospital executives' misplaced priorities.

CATHY WURZER: That audio is from Fox 9. Nurses have been working without a contract since June. In addition to staffing, the union says wage increases and nurse retention are concerns among nurses. Hospital administrators have said they're offering several percentage point raises to nurses, and they've tried to address the other issues.

Taxpayers are on the hook for nearly a half million dollars in legal fees related to court cases brought over Minnesota's redistricting. Brian Bakst explains.

BRIAN BAKST: The state courts drew new political maps because the divided legislature couldn't agree on boundaries for legislative and congressional districts. As part of the court process, various groups had sued to ensure certain principles were followed and the old maps wouldn't be used in new elections. Redistricting happens every 10 years after the census.

Now a special court panel has awarded the plaintiffs in the case, a combined $477,000 in legal fees and related costs. That's more than the $345,000 assessed following the 2012 redistricting. But the award granted this week is about half of what the three prevailing parties who sought reimbursement in this case were seeking.

The judgment is against the Secretary of State's office and Carver County, who were named as defendants in the case. In the past, the legislature has approved an appropriation to cover the litigation costs. I'm Brian Bakst.

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CATHY WURZER: Today, advisors to the CDC will meet to decide how to use the reformulated COVID-19 boosters approved yesterday by the FDA. The upgraded versions of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will battle the Omicron subvariants of COVID that are infecting as many as 900,000 Americans every day.

Michael Osterholm is on the line with us. Osterholm is an epidemiologist and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Thanks for being here. How do these reformulated vaccines work?

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: Well, they actually work the same way as the vaccines that were used up until now except for the fact that they include specific changes to the spike protein, this material that we try to develop the antibodies against, which will then prevent the virus from actually entering our cells. And now it is reformulated to include the mutations that we have seen with this virus' BA.4, BA.5 mutations. So it's exactly the same vaccine, with the exception of accounting for that.

CATHY WURZER: These vaccines have been tested in mice, and as you know, the director of the CDC says waiting for more human trial data could lead to an outdated vaccine at a time when we're at a risk of a fall surge. Some in the medical community have questioned that approach, suggests that folks wait for more data. Where are you on this?

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: Well, let me cut through the fog of vaccine right now because I think this has really been an unfortunate situation where the public is being whipsawed back and forth. The most important message that anyone can take away from this interview is it's just the need to get vaccinated, regardless of which vaccine you get. The data are clear and compelling now that if you are vaccinated and with at least two boosters, meaning four doses in total, you have a significantly lower risk of serious illness, hospitalizations, and deaths. And so that's the most important thing.

First of all, the prediction that we're going to have a surge potentially this fall is not based on any meaningful data. As you know, I've been talking about all along the inability for us to actually predict what's going to happen with this virus. So I would be worried about this moment, not something this fall. And we're still seeing in this country 500 deaths a day due to COVID, makes it the number four cause of death overall. And so the most important message is stay current.

The second thing is this vaccine that's coming out is safe. It's no different than the other vaccines that we've had to use to date. The challenge, is it going to work better?

Is it going to really stop the infections more effectively than the previous vaccines? And I think that is open to question. And so to me, if I have a choice, right now, I'll take either vaccine as long as I can get a vaccine to keep myself currently vaccinated.

CATHY WURZER: And another challenge to the resources for a vaccine rollout this fall are not what they were even last year.

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: Cathy, we have a perfect storm in the world of vaccines that I've not seen in my almost 48 years in the business. First of all, we've surely got the situation that we have two different vaccines for the purposes of COVID. And by two, I don't mean the Pfizer and Moderna. I mean, you have the previous used vaccine, which is the one you have to use if you're starting somebody for the first time in being vaccinated because they're a higher dosage vaccine, then the boosters we have now. So we've got to keep both those vaccines separate.

And you're right, rolling out a campaign. We're in the middle of trying to vaccinate for monkeypox with this intradermal method, a type of administration. It's much more complicated. We've got polio challenges right now in this country, where we have many pockets of under-vaccinated people where we're now concerned polio virus is spreading. Right here in the state of Minnesota, only 23% of young Somali children are vaccinated against polio.

Then on top of that, we're rolling out a vaccine for the flu season. If the Southern Hemisphere was any indication of what might happen here during their winter, through March, April, and May, in Australia-- they had one of the worst flu seasons they've had in many years. And this is also something we're trying to do right now here in Minnesota, is roll out flu vaccine.

All of these vaccines are challenging us tremendously, trying to get them all done, and there are no new resources. The feds have not provided additional new resources. So health care providers and the state and local health departments are trying to get vaccination done with no new support whatsoever.

CATHY WURZER: As a person then listening to our conversation, what do you suggest folks do? Contact their doctor, just try to get vaccinated as quickly as possible? Especially when this COVID booster is out, what's the timing of that for most folks?

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: Well, you will be able to get the new vaccine dose as early as next week. So that part is, if you want to get it, you should get it just like you've gotten your previous vaccines, at clinics, contacting local and state public health agencies for what they're doing to provide vaccine. The most important message, again, is get it. If it's been at least four months since you've been vaccinated before, you need it right now.

With the new vaccine, you can get it as early as two months after the last dose. I think waiting a little bit longer is better. We have a significant amount of activity right now in Minnesota, right here. I know of more friends, colleagues and acquaintances that are infected with this virus now than at any time I've known since the pandemic began.

So now is the time to get it. Don't wait, even weeks. Again, this could be what could keep you out of the hospital, could keep you from becoming seriously ill, and keep you from dying.

CATHY WURZER: When we were talking, you and I, back in July, you told me that COVID is one of these situations where the public is done with it, but the virus is not done with us. I know you've said that a number of different times. I'm wondering, has the public's lax behavior around the virus heightened the need for better vaccines in this particular case?

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: We clearly need better vaccines and however-- I guess the real question is, what does "better" mean? I think the vaccine that we have coming may have a slight advantage over the one we had previously. What we really need are completely different vaccines that ultimately will stop you from getting infected, means you don't transmit the virus and surely then keeps you from becoming seriously ill.

Right now, we don't have those. These vaccines are powerful tools in keeping people from getting seriously ill or dying, but we clearly need new and better vaccines. Our group happens to be leading an international effort to come up with a roadmap for these new, better vaccines, but they're not forthcoming now. They're at least several years off at the earliest.

So in the meantime, we're going to have to learn how to live with this virus in this boosting situations. As I've also said to you, we cannot boost our way out of this pandemic. Only 26% of Americans, 65 years of age and older, have had all their boosters, two booster doses. Why? Why can't we get the remainder vaccinated? The most important reason why we continue to see these 500 deaths a day are people who are just not vaccinated.

CATHY WURZER: By the way, before you go, with about a minute left, are you still wearing a mask, a well-fitted mask?

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: I absolutely do. It's actually not just well-fitted. I wear an N95 respirator. I'm fully vaccinated, and when I'm in public settings, I do that. I'm in private settings. When we entertain a few people for dinner, we test for several days a day before they come. No one with symptoms, including even sniffles, can come. And so far, we're managing the pandemic in that regard. It can be done. But it surely means that you can't just ignore the virus. It's here, and it is taking a toll.

CATHY WURZER: And before you go, by the way, you mentioned that you're not sure about a fall surge.

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: Yeah, anybody that predicts what's happening with COVID more than three to five weeks out probably also has a bridge to sell you. So be careful. And I keep hearing my colleagues say this. But as you know-- you've been following us over the months that we've been involved with this pandemic. How many times have people made predictions for which it didn't come true?

A famous one that was made by people like Deborah Birx and others this past spring, that we're going to see another major summer hit in the southern Sun Belt states and everyone get ready, never happened. And as you may recall, I suggested we don't know that would happen. And it didn't. So I think we have to be very careful of this virus. We just don't know what the next shoe to drop is.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Dr. Osterholm, thanks. Have a good day.

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: Thank you, you too. Bye bye.

CATHY WURZER: Mike Osterholm is an epidemiologist, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the U of M.

[MUSIC - MILOE, "WINONA"]

MILOE: I fell down, tripping over mistakes I can't see. You'll find out it catches up before you know it. All I know, It's simply as it goes. It's simply as we know It's simply as we go where we go.

CATHY WURZER: It is your Minnesota Music Minute. This is Minneapolis indie-pop rocker Miloe with Winona, a single he released in 2020. If you liked this song, you can catch him at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon at the MPR booth at the state fair.

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MILOE: We go where we go. Double seater, my mind reader, cut the gun in half because I need her. Careless driver, my Winona Ryder, I'm taking it back. I want to find her.

CATHY WURZER: I'm glad you're with us here on Minnesota Now from NPR News. I'm Cathy Wurzer. You may be familiar with the distinctive blue corduroy jacket with the fancy gold emblem, that means its owner is a member of the Future Farmers of America. There are roughly more than 300 FFA chapters in high schools and colleges across Minnesota, and many of the young adults involved are at the state fair in Saint Paul right now, showing off their prized crops, landscapes, and livestock. TJ Brown is the Minnesota State Fair FFA superintendent. He's on the line. Hey, TJ. How are you?

TJ BROWN: I'm good. How are you?

CATHY WURZER: Good. Thank you. Say, when did FFA start then, in the '20s?

TJ BROWN: Nationally, it started in 1928. Minnesota, I believe, was 31. Don't quote me. I should probably know that, but don't quote me on that.

CATHY WURZER: It's OK. And I've always wanted to know, what was behind the founding of FFA?

TJ BROWN: That's a great question and a history lesson. At that time in our country, there was a big push for vocational education. And so that created ag education, actually, in, I think, 1917.

And then, FFA started about a decade later, which was just the student organization tied to those high school classes. So that is one thing that makes FFA very distinct from 4-H. FFA is distinctly tied to high school, such as the school's concert band or the football team.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, OK. And I bet it was probably boys only for a long time?

TJ BROWN: It was boys only for a very long time. 1969 is when they officially started allowing girls. There's quite a bit of rumors and folklore about girls who had participated earlier with brother's names and stuff like that, but officially 1969.

CATHY WURZER: Because there is a growing number of farmers who are Black, Indigenous, folks of color, do you see more BIPOC youth joining FFA chapters now?

TJ BROWN: Yeah, for sure. Just in the last couple of years, we're starting to see an uptrend there, too, which is great and very much needed. And honestly, it was a thing-- I mean, just completely transparent, it was something FFA was faulted with for quite a few years. But in a sense, it's a reflection of where these chapters are at and the schools that they're located in.

And so you get to greater Minnesota and you get to a lot of these places that was a reflection of the population, but we're seeing this growth, especially in those BIPOC populations because we're starting to get more and more chapters in more diverse schools, which wasn't the case, for sure, just five years ago. Minneapolis and both St. Paul school districts have added agricultural education programs just in the last three years at a number of their high schools, actually.

That, coupled with other suburban ones and some larger towns out in greater Minnesota, have brought back FFA chapters. Mankato, which is where I live, just started an ag program four years ago and hadn't had one for 30 years. But that totally opens the door to a whole different set of students that haven't been involved in FFA. Certainly, at state convention and stuff, you're starting to see a better representation of Minnesota's population from that standpoint.

CATHY WURZER: Now let me ask you about the show, the FFA Livestock Show. Because it's the event most familiar to folks, I think, and it's a huge event.

TJ BROWN: That's correct. The first FFA show at the Minnesota State Fair was 1948, so that's why we're celebrating the 75th show this year. It wasn't too far into the '50s that they recognized that we had the largest FFA show in the nation, and we've held that title ever since, give or take, every year, about a thousand students and anywhere from about a thousand crop samples, about 200 ag mechanics projects, and roughly 2000 head of livestock.

CATHY WURZER: And we're talking about everything, sheep, beef, dairy, hogs, goats.

TJ BROWN: Yeah, that's correct, beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, swine, and goats. We are looking at adding poultry and rabbits next year to the show, to the lineup.

CATHY WURZER: Now, I have to tell you that I have shown horses at the state fair, right across the street there from the cattle barn. And it has always amazed me to watch the kids come in with their livestock in the wee hours. It's like a little city. And the kids descend, and it's pretty amazing to watch.

TJ BROWN: Yeah, that's a shocker for most people. They don't realize that in those barns, if they go to the fair multiple times, the livestock change over. There's actually three different sets of livestock. The first weekend of the fair is when 4-H primarily is there with all of their livestock, and then roughly about 1:00 AM, open class is there with all of their livestock. And then, we'll switch out again for FFA.

CATHY WURZER: OK, so we have all these kids. I have always wanted to know this too. Where do the kids stay? 4-H has their building. Where do the FFAers stay?

TJ BROWN: Yeah, so there's 600 beds above the cattle and the hog barns and four different rooms, and people in campers, and then a few that don't have room do the hotel thing. But for the most part, everybody is in these dorms above the barns, which is great fun and a good memory. But it's literally World War II surplus army bunks, three high. We don't put anybody in the third bunk anymore. But communal bathrooms and showers, those buildings were built as public work projects back in the '20s or earlier, and it's largely unchanged up there.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, my goodness, and we should say that you know firsthand about this because you were an FFAer in high school.

TJ BROWN: That's correct. I started showing, entering my ninth grade year and all the way up into college and every year enjoyed staying in those dorms. Each room holds almost a couple people. And so some kids' alarms are going off at 4:00 AM to go milk cows, and other people are rolling in at 11:00. You don't get a whole lot of good sleep for those four days, but it is an experience and a memory.

CATHY WURZER: Well, tell me what it feels like to be in these kids' shoes right now. I mean, for some of these kids, they've worked, what, more than a year with their animals.

TJ BROWN: Yeah, if it's a breeding animal, you're right, a year or possibly longer that they've been working with those livestock, training them, fitting them, washing them, grooming, feeding very precise rations. Show livestock are babied beyond belief, probably far more so than people who are way too caring of their pets. Show livestock takes that to a whole new level.

And so when a young person has spent hundreds, if not a thousand, hours caring for that animal to get to walk into the ring for 30 seconds, maybe up to 10 minutes to ops to be evaluated-- and all that's based on one person's impression, a judge. We try to bring in very good, national caliber judges, but it's still one person's opinion. And it's still a subjective art of judging livestock.

That whole year's worth of work is riding on that opinion and see what ribbon we're going to get and what premium we're going to earn. And it's suspenseful, and there's a whole lot of emotions. We see kids crying with joy, crying with sadness.

Sometimes, it's hard to see, but it happens. It's just one of those really awesome life-learning experiences, just crowds going nuts. And that's awesome because you know how much work the kids put into it, and it really does ramp up level of responsibility and teach us a lot of life skills.

CATHY WURZER: So did you win a ribbon at the fair?

TJ BROWN: Yeah, I won a few back in the day.

CATHY WURZER: Good for you, OK. So you know what you're talking about. Say, what do you say to young folks to prepare them for winning or losing? And I ask that because I know you've been an FFA instructor since you left being an FFA youth.

TJ BROWN: Yeah, that is nothing you really get prepared for in college when you're learning to be a teacher, how to deal with that. But you're just trying to help them see the bigger picture, always try to look at the positives, assure them that this is just a glimpse in time. But it's teaching them skills and foundation for the rest of their life.

CATHY WURZER: Say, before you go, I bet you, if you were to ask a thousand kids, they'd probably have a thousand different answers. But do you think the big prize is the Supreme Champion, especially on the breeding side for each animal?

TJ BROWN: Yeah, for sure. On the breeding side, there's no doubt it's the Supreme Champion. So Monday morning of Labor Day will be when we award the Supreme Champion in each of those livestock species. So that is for sure the thing that most people turn out to the award show to see.

In the regular livestock show, people only compete with their breed and against their like breed, the same animal, and we choose the winner of each breed. But then, we bring back the champion from each specific breed, like a dog show, where you end with golden retrievers competing against a bulldog and is competing against the Chihuahua and a Saint Bernard--

CATHY WURZER: Like a best in show, yeah.

TJ BROWN: Yeah, best in show. They have no similarity whatsoever. But who's just the best overall characteristic of their type, that's the really big award, the big title, the big banner. That's Monday morning and at, I believe, 10:00 AM in Compeer Arena. That's what most people turn out for. They want to see that.

CATHY WURZER: And then, after the show and after the fair ends, you go on vacation.

TJ BROWN: Yeah, I go right back to work.

[LAUGHTER]

CATHY WURZER: OK.

TJ BROWN: Yup.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, I appreciate your time, TJ. It sounds like it's an awful lot of fun, a lot of work but a lot of fun.

TJ BROWN: Yeah, absolutely.

CATHY WURZER: TJ Brown is the Minnesota State Fair FFA superintendent. He mentioned going back to work. He's also a teacher of agribusiness at South Central College in North Mankato. By the way, that big switch over in the barns happens-- looks like Friday. The FFA competitions start Saturday. And there will be presentations this weekend honoring 75 years of the FFA at the Minnesota State Fair. You can catch that on the small stage outside the Miracle of Birth Barn.

SPEAKER: Programming is supported by Carlson Capital Management, an integrated wealth management firm with one key responsibility, serving as financial stewards, helping clients use their wealth to accomplish their goals, employee-owned and Minnesota-based. Connect with a fiduciary advisor at carlsoncap.com.

CATHY WURZER: Let's get a news update right now with Mr. John Wanamaker. John.

JOHN WANAMAKER: Cathy, a UN inspection team has arrived at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It reached the site Thursday amid fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces that prompted the shutdown of one reactor and underscore the urgency and danger of the task. The 14-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency reached Europe's biggest nuclear plant in a convoy of SUVs and vans after months of negotiations to get inside the complex and take steps to prevent a disaster on the continent.

A federal judge in Florida is set to hear arguments this afternoon on whether to appoint an outside legal expert to review government records seized by the FBI last month in a search of former President Donald Trump's Florida home. Lawyers for Trump say the appointment of a special master is necessary to ensure an independent inspection of the documents. They say a review would allow for highly personal information, such as diaries or journals, to be separated from the investigation and returned to Trump. The Justice Department says an appointment is unwarranted because investigators have completed their review of potentially privileged records and identified, quote, "a limited set of materials" that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information.

Democrat Mary Peltola has won the special election for Alaska's only US House seat, topping a field that included Republican Sarah Palin. Peltola will become the first Alaskan Native to serve in the House and the first woman elected to Alaska's house seat, which was held for 49 years by Republican Don Young. Young died in March. This was the first statewide-ranked choice voting election in Alaska.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has paid tribute to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev but will not attend the weekend funeral for Gorbachev. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin's working schedule wouldn't allow him to attend Saturday's funeral, adding that the Russian leader on Thursday visited a Moscow hospital where Mikhail Gorbachev's body was kept, laying in flowers at his coffin. Asked if Gorbachev will be given a state funeral, Peskov said the funeral will have, quote, "elements" of a state funeral, such as honorary guards, and the government will help organize them. This is MPR News.

CATHY WURZER: Thank you, John. During the fair, there are a lot of great conversations at the MPR booth, which is at the corner of Judson and Nelson at the fair. Yesterday, Wednesday, MPR's Twila Dang hosted a discussion at the fair about all the reasons outdoors experiences in Minnesota are historically dominated by white, wealthy, and male Minnesotans.

Did you know only about 5% of state park visitors are people of color even though people of color make up about 20% of Minnesota's population? Twila was joined by Anthony Taylor and Asha Shoffner. Anthony is an advocate for Black folks getting outdoors, and he's the founder of Slow Roll Minneapolis. Asha is founder of Fiwygin Outdoors and BIPOC Outdoors Twin Cities.

Here's a little bit of that conversation. We start with Anthony talking about one of the reasons he feels BIPOC folks are not getting outside.

ANTHONY TAYLOR: What I really like to tell people is that, and I really think about it, outdoors, nature, and adventure are the best space for human development. It is the best space for being connected and finding yourself. And so really, it's presenting a different opportunity.

So it's not me saying, "You should go to Ely and spend a month in the Boundary Waters." That's not that's not where we start. It is much more important for us to create an experience. When that happens outdoors, you create some small, positive, emotional connections in that experience that are related to beauty or connectedness or what matters to you, being closer to your children, loving your body, I mean, those things.

And then, what happens is you-- then, we start a progression that takes you further and further away from that first step, but each one of those is really built on a positive experience. And so what happens is you wind up building some new excitement for it.

TWILA DANG: So, Asha, I'm going to point out that you made me feel infinitely better because I told you my definition of outside was to go stand on my deck. And I was like, I was out on the deck. That's outside, or as close as I get to it. Can you share what you said to me and then elaborate?

ASHA SHOFFNER: Yeah, I said that counts as being outside. You are outside. And I think that, to Anthony's point about-- it's a progression. When we start saying like, oh, no. That's not outside. That doesn't count. That's not enough. That wouldn't feel good.

TWILA DANG: Absolutely.

ASHA SHOFFNER: But if we can validate people's experiences of where they're at now-- I mean, it might even just be opening a window. If you can't go outside because it's raining but you can open a window and listen to the rain and feel the breeze, it's a stretch, but it still counts as outside.

And it's those small moments that I think can then-- if you really soak into them and feel into them, then maybe the next time, it's like, well, I'm going to take a walk around the block. I might eat dinner outside on the deck. Those small moments, I think, are really important too.

TWILA DANG: And they add up. They definitely add up. So I think I found myself, like a lot of people, using the outside as an alternative to being indoors, especially with the heavy COVID protocols and especially early on in the pandemic. Do you think that the pandemic motivated people to go out in nature more?

ASHA SHOFFNER: I mean, I think of Crosby Farm Regional Park in St. Paul, where I go pretty frequently. In the winter even, there were people down there. The parking lot would be full. Everybody was trying to get out because that was where folks could see each other. And there's a lot of folks that I know who didn't like the outdoors but wanted social connection who now fell in love with the outdoors and are doing a lot more things outdoors as a result of it. So in that way, I think the pandemic literally pushing people out outside, I think it worked.

ANTHONY TAYLOR: It absolutely did. Outdoors, all of a sudden, became the only safe space, the only place we could get the thing we really want, which was human connection. And so it actually served-- we were forced to experience the real reason we go outdoors, that outdoors isn't about the trip or about the vehicle. Is it a bike? Is it a canoe?

No, it actually is about human connection. And that's what happened, is we looked to outdoors for what we really go outdoors for, which is human connection and physical activity and that ultimate sense of well-being. And the big thing with the pandemic that we will all point to is it focuses on our emotional well-being. And so what we discovered or rediscovered is that outdoors, with people is balancing. It is emotional supportive.

TWILA DANG: So let's talk a little bit about that outdoors and how it fits in the larger spectrum of Minnesota. In 2020, the DNR and Explore Minnesota, together, created the Minnesota Outdoor Recreation Task Force, and they were trying to consider this particular problem. In the final report, and they released the group last year, there was a startling statistic.

It's estimated that Minnesota is leaving more than $16 billion on the table because BIPOC communities and those with disabilities and other marginalized groups don't go outdoors. That's a lot of money for a state that leans heavily on outdoor recreation for its economy. Asha, you were on the task force. Is there anything you'd like to add to understand that statistic?

ASHA SHOFFNER: There's a lot of work to be done, and it has to be done in a way that doesn't feel tokenizing or exploitive of BIPOC and marginalized communities. A big part of it is equipment, including clothing. If outdoor brands aren't making snow pants that will fit a pregnant person, for example, how are you going to go outside and stay warm enough to do something outdoors in the winter?

And folks with larger bodies, it's changing, but there hasn't been a lot of equipment for folks with larger bodies. It's unfortunate. It really sucks that they're missing out. Yeah, and I think it takes a lot of on-the-ground community work to help make and push for those changes.

ANTHONY TAYLOR: Well, I think that the thing about the dollar amount and the whole conversation, when you're working in historically marginalized communities, one of the strategies that I share is solve cost last. Because what happens is that when you solve costs first, you really actually further marginalize communities because you think that you equate marginalization with poverty.

And so what happens is then you leave out-- the real reasons people aren't participating are related to their emotional well-being, are related to the social experiences they've had, is based on the lived experience they've had that are making them make conscious decisions not to.

And that's what's left out of the report for me, is that in some ways, it doesn't really get down to those pieces of it. And I think that's where we are. I believe that communities of color-- and I'll say my work, specifically, in the African American and African communities.

Those communities have significant resources that they're not investing in a choice to be in a park. It's not like they don't know where the park. They're choosing not to go to the park. So our energy has to go into inspiring or enlisting and people to make those decisions on behalf of their family.

All my white friends love you, love Wiji, love [INAUDIBLE] and love all the-- they are choosing to be outside because they believe there's a long-term, real benefit for the development of their children or their families or themselves. And we have an answer to that for marginalized communities. And in truth, they don't feel safe. They literally don't feel safe.

And I think that's real. And until we acknowledge that, that's what it is. And again, you are our opportunity because you can choose to do whatever you want to do. You can choose whatever you want to do, and going to Portugal feels more feasible than going to Ely.

TWILA DANG: I mean, that's not a lie. Shit, yeah. I agree with that. I agree with that. But I mean, let's actually talk about that for just a second because I think that's something that sometimes gets lost in this conversation, the idea of what that feels like to have safety around your space and where you are.

I think as people of color, we tend to have to be hypervigilant about our safety when we're in majority white spaces and that so many of us have equated nature as a majority white space winds up leaving us feeling like, under the best intentions, this just might not be for me. I think sometimes, majority audiences don't understand what that genuinely feels like, when we say we don't feel safe in spaces, where we're in the absolute numerical minority.

ANTHONY TAYLOR: And I will say that-- actually, I love in Asha's introduction, where she talked about being acclimated to white spaces. And I am acclimated to white spaces, and so one of the things I have to remember is that not everyone is. And there's an acclimation. There's a way you get used to it.

And I think that outdoors has not been a safe space for Black people relative to being in places that are unregulated, that are private. And I think that is really critical for people, if you're not familiar with that, to really acknowledge that. And sometimes, what I say to my white, male friends who want to have this conversation, I go, go home and talk to a woman in your life who's ever just had to walk out of a parking lot.

There's a real consideration that you make based on vulnerability, and I believe that historically marginalized communities, African American, Latinx communities, women, people who are living with disability, all of them have an increased level of vulnerability in these spaces that are unregulated and private and majority white and majority male and feel violent towards them.

And it's really important to consider that as we design invitations and design experiences. And that's what I mean by handling money last. Because you make it free, but all that's real. There's still no participation. And that's a real aspect of what it feels like.

CATHY WURZER: That was NPR host Twila Dang talking with outdoors advocates Anthony Taylor and Asha Shoffner at the state fair. You can hear the full version of that conversation at mprnews.org.

SPEAKER: Health care reporting is supported by UCare, dedicated to offering Medicare plans for every lifestyle and budget. You can get help from a UCare Medicare de-complicator to find a plan that's right for you, ucare.org/medicare.

CATHY WURZER: School starts next week for many young Minnesotans, and with it, a new class of ninth graders will enter high school. Producer Gretchen Brown spoke with five members of the class of 2026 from five different metro area high schools about their hopes, dreams, and jitters as the semester begins.

[MUSIC - PAT DONAHUE, "HIGH SCHOOL"]

PAT DONAHUE: Well, sometimes, I dream I wake up in the morning and find myself back in my teens, one of life's uglier scenes.

NAYELI VICENTE: My name is Nayeli, and I'm going to go to Washburn. I think when I went to third grade and I took a class with people who spoke English that were not bilingual, I was very nervous because my English wasn't very good. And I felt like-- it was like, I don't know, I didn't belong there because a lot of people looked different from me, and they spoke differently.

And it was very nerve-wracking, I remember. And I know that I try to be nice to people, nicer than usual. I know that there is support out there and that I can still relate to other people who aren't exactly like me.

I'm very nervous. And I feel like the first thing that I have to do is get myself a schedule, so I can get myself working. Even though it's going to be a new school, I have some cousins that go there, and I feel like they could show me around too.

I feel like I'm going to get a career in the future that has to do with science and mathematics because I think those are my strong points in comparison to things like literature, very nervous about how I'm going to be able to achieve certain things. I don't know if I'm ever going to earn a scholarship.

I feel like it's a really big deal. Everybody talks about it. It's like a dream to have, basically. I'm excited about what this is going to bring for me. You just have to accustom yourself to it. So I think I'm going to be fine.

[MUSIC - PAT DONAHUE, "HIGH SCHOOL"]

EVAN BIERSCHEID: I'm Evan Bierscheid. I'm forgetting my own age. 14, right?

SPEAKER: Yup.

EVAN BIERSCHEID: Yeah, OK, 14. And I'm going to be attending Roseville Area High School, or RAHS, as it's known. It's nice because I'm not necessarily excited to go back to school, but I've had a long enough time where I can definitely do-- I'm not dreading it or anything.

GRETCHEN BROWN: Do you know what classes you're going to be in?

EVAN BIERSCHEID: It's the normal, science, math, social studies, English, and then band, public speaking, and a couple of other music-related classes. Of course, dream, I would love to be an artist. But more realistically, I'd be perfectly fine-- producer or studio musician or sound engineer, one of those roles where you're still kind of hands on with it.

This is basically the first time since kindergarten where I'm going into a new environment that I don't really know. It's going to be a little weird being the younger kid again. Wow, some of you are literal adults, and I'm 14.

PAT DONAHUE: Just that I'm not prepared for. Back in high school, I'm glad I'm not there anymore.

ANNA PENZ: My name is Anna Penz, and I am starting at Cretin-Derham Hall High School.

LUCY BRADFORD: I'm Lucy Bradford, and I'm going to be starting at Highland Park Senior High. So our parents went biking together before we were born and stuff. And then, maybe when you were three years old--

ANNA PENZ: When I was three years old, I moved across the street from her.

GRETCHEN BROWN: So you've basically known each other your whole lives.

SUBJECT 1: Yeah.

SUBJECT 2: Yeah.

SUBJECT 1: Preschool, we went to school together and then-- We've just kind of always gone to different schools. I know, going from elementary school to middle school, all the teachers are like, you guys are going to middle school. This is a big deal.

And then, you go to middle school, and it's the exact same almost, where it's very chill. So I think it'll be pretty similar, where everyone builds it up so much and then it's just pretty normal.

SUBJECT 2: Yeah, I mean, I have the first-day jitters and whatever. I feel like people have been saying this a lot, or at least on social media, from what I've seen, but I'm going to try to focus on my academics this year. Because I know if you don't do well freshman year, it's really hard to get back from that.

SUBJECT 1: So just kind of start well.

SUBJECT 2: Yeah, should focusing on starting well and not focusing on the socials or on other people, just trying to focus on myself, or at least the first few months and seeing how it goes. My mom thinks that I'll probably go into something that has to do with history because I loved that since I was very, very young. And so I think there are classes I can take for that, but that's not really what I'm focused on right now.

SUBJECT 1: Yeah, I have no idea what I want to do, but I'm just kind of trying a bit of everything, see what I like.

[MUSIC - PAT DONAHUE, "HIGH SCHOOL"]

PAT DONAHUE: Well, my teacher's waiting to tell me I'm late, and I can't seem to find my report.

NIKKI KRSNA: I'm Nikki, and I'm going to Wayzata High School next year. I'm excited. I get to meet a lot of new people. I really like to have my social network really wide and have different people of different backgrounds. So that'll be really fun in high school.

GRETCHEN BROWN: Are you a little nervous about navigating it at all?

NIKKI KRSNA: Yeah, a little bit. I might walk into the senior's classroom on the first day of school. I would have to say it's a pretty hard year since I'm doing math the whole year. Because I have math the first thing in the morning, so doing math at 8:00 AM. My brain's not functioning then.

GRETCHEN BROWN: Are you going into high school thinking about what you want to do after high school?

NIKKI KRSNA: That's still kind of a field of exploration. One thing I hope high school is it's not going to be like the movies. I so really hope so because it's very dramatized in there. But I'm really excited to go into high school.

[MUSIC - PAT DONAHUE, "HIGH SCHOOL"]

PAT DONAHUE: Back in high school, I'm glad I'm not there anymore.

GRETCHEN BROWN: Oh, I hope the first day goes well for all of you. You can find photos of these incoming freshmen and more on our website, mprnews.org. And the song you heard throughout the piece, I love it. It's called High School by St. Paul musician Pat Donahue.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CATHY WURZER: It's a fine time to be a ball fan in the state of Minnesota. The Twins are still alive even with yesterday's loss. The Loons are hot. I'm going to get the details from our sports pros Wally Langfellow, Eric Nelson.

Wally is the founder of Minnesota Score, a magazine, and the co-host of Ten Thousand Takes sports talk show on radio and TV. Eric Nelson is the other host of Ten Thousand Takes and the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL. Hey, you guys. How are you doing?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Good, Cathy. How are you? Good. Thank you for asking. Hello.

ERIC NELSON: Cathy, good afternoon.

CATHY WURZER: Hello, Eric. How are you?

ERIC NELSON: Great, great.

CATHY WURZER: Well, I know you both are very excited about the Gophers football team kicking off the season tonight at home against New Mexico State. Let me ask you this, what is the deal with the former U of M head coach Jerry Kill, who's now coaching New Mexico State? What's the deal with his comments about PJ Fleck?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, it goes back to his assistant coach, who eventually became the head coach, Tracy Claeys, when Claeys was head coach after Jerry Kill left because of-- for health reasons. Claeys then took over. And after PJ Fleck was hired, he made a comment that they needed to change the culture of University of Minnesota football, in other words, that there wasn't a good culture. There were bad things that happened under Tracy Claeys as well.

And not only did Tracy Claeys take umbrage with that, but Jerry Kill did. And it's kind of been going back and forth ever since then. And Jerry, he has pulled no punches on this. And so he is back in town.

Ironically, he gets his first head coaching job since leaving the University of Minnesota, and his very first game is against the University of Minnesota. Tonight is a game that the Gophers should win. They're 38-point favorites tonight.

CATHY WURZER: Wow.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Before you get too wowed by that, though, let's not forget, a year ago, they lost to Bowling Green. And they were favored by 31 points over Bowling Green at Huntington Bank Stadium. So this is a game that they should win.

They have a very veteran team. Mo Ibrahim is back. Tanner Morgan is back, literally in his sixth year because of COVID and redshirt and all that. So they have got a veteran team, and they should win tonight.

CATHY WURZER: Eric, what do you think?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, well, I was at that Bowling Green game last season, and Minnesota has a knack for playing down to their opposition. And they did that day. It was really one of those "I can't believe what I just saw" moments, where Bowling Green hung around and eventually won the football game.

And I remember vividly leaving Huntington Bank Stadium and going out to the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis to coach my kid's youth team, and they were pretty cocky going into that game. They were playing their archrival, Champlin. We're Brooklyn Park.

I said, look, guys. Dial it down. I just watched a team that was favored by 31 points lose at home. So there's no given whenever you take the football field.

And the acrimony between Jerry and TJ is real. And I think a lot of us who will be there tonight-- I'll be there. Will there be a post-game handshake, a post-game punch? Will they ignore each other? That's what this focus is.

Jerry said, when he left the U of M and all those comments came out from PJ about the culture, he would never set foot into Huntington Bank Stadium again. Well, here he is because the job he took has Minnesota on the schedule. It'll be a body bag game if Minnesota plays up to capability, body bag meaning New Mexico State comes in and gets a huge check but leaves in a body bag because they're not as good as Minnesota. But I wouldn't assume anything.

CATHY WURZER: OK, we'll see what happens. Vikings, by the way, Wally Langfellow, so are we down to the number of individuals we need on the team at this point, with all the cuts have been made?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: They've made some cuts. There's still some moving around from players onto the practice squad. They made a trade.

But I think that the big news is that they have let go now 7 of the 11 draft choices that were made last year by Rick Spielman, who, of course, at the time general manager, is now gone. And this year, 7 of those 11 draft choices are now on waivers. They have been cut, including quarterback Kellen Mond, offensive lineman Wyatt Davis, and then most recently, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, wide receiver.

So what this says is that the new regime, with Kevin O'Connell and company, they really don't think much of what Rick Spielman gave them as far as that draft class from last year. And let's not forget, you live and die on your draft in the NFL. And right now, the new regime does not think much of what Rick Spielman left them with regard to last year's draft class.

ERIC NELSON: Yeah. and, Cathy, Kellen Mond was taken in the third round of the 2021 draft out of Texas A&M. So for Minnesota to flat out cut him, that's a huge loss of draft capital. And he's already signed with Cleveland. So the Browns feel like they can maybe coach this kid up.

But in the NFL, sometimes, one team's trash is another team's treasure. Minnesota just made a trade today for Jalen Reagor from the Philadelphia Eagles. He did not pan out with Philly. He was taken one pick ahead of Justin Jefferson in the 2020 NFL draft, and he really was a bust for Philadelphia.

But the Vikings are hoping a new zip code, a new coaching staff can revive Reagor's career. He has a lot of upside. This will be interesting to follow. And remember, Minnesota lost Bisi Johnson for the season with an injury. As Wally mentioned, Ihmir Smith-Marsette has been cut. So Jalen Reagor has another opportunity here in Minnesota to prove he belongs in the NFL.

CATHY WURZER: Twins, I'm still a little worried about the Twins, Wally, in terms of can they still hang on into the postseason?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, I mean, obviously, we have a whole month to go. They trail Cleveland by a game and a half. They still have eight games with Cleveland, three here and five in Cleveland. I'll be at most of those eight.

[CHUCKLING]

I know.

CATHY WURZER: Do you have a life?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, I'm going to Cleveland, so what can I say? Look, the come off a five in one homestand. They won five out of six. They had a five game winning streak until last night, gave up a grand slam last night to Xander Bogaerts, and they ended up losing it 6-5. They made a comeback but couldn't finish the comeback in the ninth inning, unfortunately.

So they find themselves a game and a half out coming into the weekend. They travel to Chicago. And really, Eric, as you know, this is a Chicago team that is down, not quite out because there's still a month to go.

ERIC NELSON: Yeah. But clearly, the White Sox are in desperation mode. They have been one of the catastrophic failures in this season so far. They were viewed by some, Cathy, as a potential World Series team. They're not even playing 500 baseball.

But they're only five games behind Cleveland. There's a whole month ago. I'm sure they are looking at this series with Minnesota as, "Hey, we've got to win two minimum and hopefully three."

But they also have a sidebar going on. Their Hall of Fame manager, 77-year-old Tony La Russa is out indefinitely because of medical reasons. He's been replaced by their bench coach Miguel Cairo. So is it the White Sox's last stand? Well, you can't say that. But I will say this. If they don't win the series, they may fade away into the sunset.

CATHY WURZER: So before we go, I'm just going to say, Thursday Night Lights. I know a lot of people love the fact that high school football starts tonight. And I know, Wally, you're going to be watching carefully here throughout the next few weeks, and we'll be talking about that. How about next week? We'll talk high school football next week. How's that sound?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: We'll do that.

CATHY WURZER: All right.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: I've Edina Minnetonka tonight. I'm interested to see how that plays out.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Hey, Eric Nelson, thank you. Wally, we'll talk to you later too.

ERIC NELSON: Thank you, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Talk to you guys later.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Will do.

CATHY WURZER: Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Magazine, the co-host of Ten Thousand Takes sports talk show. And Eric Nelson's the other host of that show. He's also the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL.

That's it for us on Minnesota Now this week, if I could pronounce it. Our senior producer is Melissa Townsend, producers Gretchen Brown, Ellen Finn, and Britt Aamodt. Technical director is Maury Jensen. Thanks to you all for listening.

This is MPR News, 91.1, KNOW Minneapolis, St. Paul. Support from Minnesota Now comes from TruStone Financial, a full-service credit union working to improve the financial well-being of its neighbors since 1939, serving individuals and businesses at 23 locations and online at trustone.org, equal housing opportunity insured by NCUA.

Well, we're up a couple of degrees from last hour. It's now 82 at the airport, a little muggy, yeah. It's a summery feel to this first day of meteorological fall. That's easy for me to say. High today, 88, close to 90, and the humidity will hang around through tomorrow, tomorrow's high also 88.

Cooler on Saturday, into the Labor Day holiday weekend. Saturday looks nice, 72. Sunday, sunny, with a high of 75, rain-free. Labor Day Monday through Wednesday of next week, a little bit warmer, sunny skies, no rain, highs in the low 80.