Minnesota Now for September 27, 2022

[MUSIC PLAYING] TIM NELSON: It's Minnesota Now. I'm Tim Nelson. After 15 false reports of active shooters in schools last week, we talk with one of the state's top crime fighters about the investigation into who was responsible. And athletes at Division I schools are hauling in the cash after a new rule in 2021 made it OK. But what about the athletes in the smaller Division III schools? We'll find out.

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And election day is November 8th. We'll tell you about a new tool from NPR News to figure out what races are on your ballot and where the candidates stand on important issues. And finally, we'll talk with the creator of a homegrown comedy crew who wants to get you rolling in the aisles. All that, plus the song of the day and the Minnesota Music Minute right after the news.

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LAKSHMI SINGH: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. As of 5:00 PM Eastern today, no flights in or out of Tampa International Airport. The region is getting ready for Hurricane Ian. The storm made landfall this morning in western Cuba, with top sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. It's now headed toward Florida's Gulf Coast. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports forecasters say it will strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane as it churns over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before potentially making landfall near Venice on Wednesday.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT: Florida highways are packed with people fleeing vulnerable coastal areas, with some 2 and 1/2 million Floridians under evacuation orders. Governor Ron DeSantis says much of Florida's west coast will feel the effects of Hurricane Ian.

RON DESANTIS: But just understand the impacts are going to be far, far broader than just where the eye of the storm happens to make landfall. In some areas, there will be catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT: Emergency officials say search and rescue and repair crews are staged to respond, but the region could be without power, communications, or other essential services for up to a week. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.

LAKSHMI SINGH: President Biden is speaking on nutrition and hunger. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports on this week's White House conference.

ALLISON AUBREY: In advance of a daylong summit on hunger, nutrition, and health, the Biden administration has identified strategies to treat and prevent diet-related diseases. Free school meals were offered to millions of children amid the pandemic. Now, there's evidence such efforts may help prevent diet-related diseases such as obesity.

The administration's plan is to work with Congress to expand the number of children eligible for free meals. The strategy also calls for the expansion of food as medicine programs, including a pilot to test covering medically treated meals for Medicare recipients who are experiencing diet-related conditions, such as diabetes. Allison Aubrey, NPR News, Washington.

LAKSHMI SINGH: The Iranian government continues its crackdown on activists who've been staging protests since the death of a woman who was beaten and later died for wearing her hijab improperly, according to security forces there. At a news conference, Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the violence.

RAVINA SHAMDASANI: Many Iranians have been killed, injured, and detained during the protests, which erupted following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested on the 13th of September for allegedly not wearing a hijab in full compliance with Iran's mandatory requirements for how women must dress.

LAKSHMI SINGH: She says human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists are among the hundreds of people who've been arrested by Iranian security forces. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial average down 191 points, at 29,068. This is NPR News.

Vice President Kamala Harris visits the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea later this week, NPR's Franco Ordonez reports. The South Korean prime minister broke the news at the beginning of his bilateral meeting with Harris in Tokyo, Japan.

FRANCO ORDONEZ: Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the government and the South Korean people look forward to seeing Harris in person.

HAN DUCK-SOO: Your visit to DMZ and Seoul is a real, very symbolic demonstration of US proximity to the security and peace of the Korean Peninsula.

FRANCO ORDONEZ: The White House later said the visit to the DMZ will underscore the US commitment to stand beside South Korea in the face of any threats posed by North Korea. The vice president will tour sites at the Demilitarized Zone, meet with service members, and receive an operational briefing from US commanders. Franco Ordonez, NPR News.

LAKSHMI SINGH: The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, Stewart Rhodes, and four associates are on trial for seditious conspiracy in connection with last year's insurrection at the US Capitol. It's the Justice Department's most high-profile case to date linked to the January 6 attack. The defendants are the first people in more than a decade to face federal charges of seditious conspiracy under a Civil War-era statute. Hundreds of people have been charged in connection with last year's attack on the US Capitol building.

Dow Jones Industrial average down 224 points, at 29,043. The NASDAQ is down 35 points. S&P is down 23. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

SPEAKER: Support for NPR comes from NPR stations. Other contributors include Fisher Investments. Fisher Investments' team of specialists tailor portfolios to each client's long-term goals. Learn more at fisherinvestments.com. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss.

JOHN WANAMAKER: For NPR News in the Twin Cities, I'm John Wanamaker. A Minnesota program designed to increase pollinator habitat is popular with residents, but many people who apply for grants through the program don't complete the work. Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources senior ecologist Dan Shaw says the pandemic might have caused some people to change plans, while others might be overwhelmed by the process.

DAN SHAW: We've heard from residents there's some hesitancy just to get started, particularly if they're new gardeners. And I think that's one thing that we've learned, is that we need to keep it as simple for them as possible if they're just starting out.

JOHN WANAMAKER: Participants must prove they've completed the project before they can receive the grant funding. Shaw says despite the lower than expected completion rate for plantings, the program is creating a lot of interest in new pollinator habitat across the state.

Minneapolis police are investigating a homicide after a man was found dead on a sidewalk in South Minneapolis this morning. Authorities say officers responded just after 6:00 AM to the scene on the 4100 block of Fourth Avenue South. Officers found the man on the sidewalk and determined that he had been shot. There have been no arrests in the case as of last report. It's the 67th homicide case investigated by Minneapolis police this year. At this time last year, police had investigated 69 homicides.

Duluth officially has a new police chief after a city council vote last night. The Duluth News Tribune reports the vote to confirm Mike Ceynowa was unanimous. Ceynowa has worked for the Duluth Police Department for more than 20 years, most recently as deputy chief of patrol. He replaces former police chief Mike Tusken, who stepped down to head up the law enforcement program at Fond Du Lac Tribal and Community College.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards says he's, quote, "willing to do whatever it takes to make it right" with the LGBTQ community after making homophobic comments on social media. The Associated Press reports Edwards addressed the issue at the Timberwolves' Media Day yesterday. The NBA fined Edwards $40,000 for the now deleted Instagram video.

Yesterday was the first time he spoke about it in person. Edwards apologized for the comments and said, quote, "I'm working to be better." Minnesota's first preseason game is October 4th. The Wolves open the regular season at home on October 19th. This is NPR News.

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TIM NELSON: Welcome back to Minnesota Now. I'm Tim Nelson. Calls at 15 different Minnesota schools last week reported an active shooter or a gun on campus. They were in Saint Paul, Austin, Mankato, Rochester, and Cloquet, among others.

State officials investigated and say the calls were a hoax, that no threat was found and no one was in danger. Those kind of hoax calls, intended to provoke a police response, are called swatting. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating who's responsible for those calls. Drew Evans is superintendent of the BCA, and he's on the line. Welcome to Minnesota Now.

DREW EVANS: Thanks for having me, Tim.

TIM NELSON: So tell me a little bit about the status of your investigation and who's working on it.

DREW EVANS: Well, as you noted, and the number is up to 17 confirmed incidents across the state of Minnesota that we've been able to confirm so far. And we think that there certainly could be more that were not reported in. Our Minnesota Fusion Center tracks this type of information and works to be an information sharing hub with the local jurisdictions that receive these calls and are investigating. And the FBI is investigating the matter, as well, because unfortunately, we've seen this type of activity occur in different states across the United States.

TIM NELSON: So obviously, one of these hoax calls can be really alarming for students and staff and families. But I mean, just the sheer scale here kind of feels alarming. You know, I know local authorities are the one that show up in the parking lot and go in to look, but is there like a critical mass here, where there's enough chaos that it starts to have a wider impact on state or regional resources? You mentioned the Fusion Center there.

DREW EVANS: Yeah. So as you noted, I don't think there's anything that would create the level of fear of a call like this in a parent if you have a child in one of the schools across Minnesota. And this happened now in at least 17 different communities across Minnesota. Law enforcement showed up, armed, trying to determine whether or not something happened.

As we say, this is a hoax, but this is a really disturbing hoax. This is one that's designed to create fear in our communities. So as we've tracked this particular threat-- and we saw similar but different types of threats in the past year, when individuals were calling in bomb threats, you may recall, in some of our colleges and universities-- the individual or entity that's doing this certainly is trying to create fear in our communities.

TIM NELSON: You also mentioned some other places in the country. I've heard of these fake shooting calls in Arkansas, California, and Texas. You, I would suspect, are talking to your colleagues around the country. Are there any indications these are connected or have some wider purpose?

DREW EVANS: We're trying to uncover the purpose, but we do believe they're connected, or at least some of them are connected, and that one individual or entity is responsible for making the bulk of these calls, which obviously creates grave concern as to what their purpose and what their motivation may be.

TIM NELSON: Now, I know your agency is no stranger to internet crimes. You have the Internet Crime Against Children Task Force that does digital forensics and investigations. Is that know-how helping you address this? I can imagine there's some voiceover internet protocol and virtual private networks that make these hoax calls harder to track down. It's sort of an internet phenomenon, right?

DREW EVANS: That's exactly right. They are challenging. We have both our Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and we also have some cyber capabilities. But we also rely heavily on our federal partners, such as the FBI, who have the most robust capabilities, to really peel back the onion and work through, just as you noted, voiceover internet protocol, and try to determine where a call like this may have originated. And then we can start to identify who may be responsible for the calls.

TIM NELSON: And we heard some reports that these may have been originating or may have bounced in from overseas last week.

DREW EVANS: Yeah, there's some indications that this did start from overseas. And we're continuing to work on that. People do have the ability to mask where a call may have originated from. So that's part of the process. And it's really a tedious process, often, to really go through all the logs, all the information and evidence available to try to determine exactly where it was. But indications are it may have originated from overseas.

TIM NELSON: And sort of turning back to Minnesota, I can imagine law enforcement agencies and officers, they have kind of some of the same weaknesses as all of us do. They may get lulled by false alarms. And now, as you said, we had the bomb threats earlier, and now these shooting calls. How does law enforcement stay ready to respond and really take all these seriously? We saw the deadly results of delay in Uvalde earlier this year.

DREW EVANS: Yeah, I think that's the most important message for everybody-- in law enforcement, we talk with our partners, and I know they stand at the ready to address these issues across Minnesota-- is that every threat is taken seriously until we know it's not. That's the most simple way to think about this. And we also tell all of your listeners, parents, administrators, students that if something seems suspicious, even if they don't know if it's real or not, that that either gets reported to local law enforcement, or they can report it through our See It, Say It, Send It app so that we can address every potential threat to ensure that there isn't a threat to the safety of our children across Minnesota.

TIM NELSON: You talked a little bit about the parents and students responded-- you know, seeing these and doing something about it. What about when they happen? You know, I know that there's-- you saw the shooting incident at the Richfield High School on Friday. This seems to be more alarming all the time. In the moment, do you have suggestions for what parents and students can do to help?

DREW EVANS: Well, again, before anything happens, if we a particular threat, if you know a student's bringing a gun to school, if you think somebody is a threat, report that. It can be to a trusted adult in the school. It can be to law enforcement. It can be through our app, for example. But we need to follow up on that.

When it is happening, in the incident, follow the directions that have been provided. All of our schools work with our children for these unfortunate events. And they need to follow the directions that are provided. And then law enforcement needs to have that robust response, which is drilled throughout the state ongoing. And it's really important for our school districts to have ongoing relationships with the law enforcement so both sides know what's going to happen if one of these events ever were to occur.

TIM NELSON: Great advice. Well, thank you so much, Drew. Drew Evans is the superintendent for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. And we'll have continuing coverage of these swatting incidents throughout the state on our website, at nprnews.org.

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(SINGING) I haven't cried in so long, and I've got so many songs swimming inside me. Switch the radio on. Craving to conjure something bittersweet.

It's our Minnesota Music Minute. This is the song "Fill into Me," by Minneapolis-based singer songwriter, Anju. She says music is her medicine and her sanctuary. You can find more of her music on bandcamp.

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ANJU: Where I wrote on a stone, and prayed the Lord would let it flow. This is Sunday. This is August. I know something's about to end. I reach for my roots. I rearrange. And I mend. It's been raining so hard. It must be clearing out. But I haven't felt so fully since I sang into the clouds.

TIM NELSON: And this is Minnesota Now. I'm Tim Nelson. N-I-L, those three letters spell a revolution in college sports. As of July 1st 2021, the NCAA allowed student athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness. Suddenly, you started hearing stories of Division 1 athletes signing million dollar NIL deals, some even before the ink on their high school diploma was dry.

But what about the humble Division III student athletes? For a lot of them, their sports careers end at graduation. Is it possible for them to build a brand, make an impact, and maybe even earn a little dough before they hang up their cleats for good? Greg Peterson is Athletic Director at Bethel University in Arden Hills.

August 31 of this year, Bethel became only the second Division III school in the country, and the first in Minnesota, to launch a platform that will enable their student athletes to capitalize on their name, image, and likeness. Greg joins me now. Thanks for coming on Minnesota Now, Greg.

GREG PETERSON: Hey, thanks for having me. It's good to chat.

TIM NELSON: Now, for those who aren't familiar with it, tell me a little bit about what changed in 2021, when the NCAA let name, image, and likeness deals get cut.

GREG PETERSON: Right, essentially what happened is the NCAA said that a student athlete could then, after that date, they deregulated the policy. So now a student athlete could make or could get compensated for their name, image, and likeness. So essentially, they could do advertising based on their individual personality, their individual brand. And that would not conflict with their athletic eligibility.

TIM NELSON: So things like autographs and sponsorships, things like that?

GREG PETERSON: Correct, yeah. And you saw it at the Division I level, where it really has gone-- really just blown up. And it could be a social media influencer. It could be running a sports camp. It could be advertising for a local business or organization. So really, the opportunities are almost endless. But I think what you're seeing at the Division I level is really astounding and is really surprising a lot of people, that its gone to the extent that it has.

TIM NELSON: Now, obviously those athletes have a lot to bring to the table. Their games are televised. They have huge followings on social media. Even here in Minnesota, we're seeing some high school athletes that are getting deals, local booster kind of things, local pride kind of arrangements. But small private colleges, I went to one.

They tend to have those town gown divisions. Bethel, as a Division III school and a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member, they don't get a lot of attention off campus. Are the schools like Bethel really seeing much interest, or are students interested in participating?

GREG PETERSON: Well, I think what was really interesting for me is we went into this process. We put together a working group starting in May with several people from our athletic department, really trying to do a deep dive and see, is this something that we want to jump into with both feet? Do we want to stay completely out of it, or do we want to just kind of tap our toe in the water, or what do we want to do?

And what we really found is that, one, this isn't going away. It's ever-changing. We're required to be in compliance with the NCAA. And really, one thing that really surprised me is how many opportunities our student athletes could potentially have. But I think a Division III athlete isn't necessarily going to have the same types of opportunities as a Division I athlete.

One thing that really caught my attention in the midst of the conversations that we had is, if we were to have a student athlete who if, as an example, if they're really an accomplished musician and they had a YouTube channel where they play their music or performed, and if they had enough followers where they got compensated for that, previously, they would have to choose between doing music or competing in intercollegiate athletics. Now they can do that. So I think those kinds of things are the kinds of opportunities a Division III student athlete is going to have.

They're not going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. But it might be smaller organizations where they do some exchange for product, or they do $100 for a social media post, or run their own athletic camp. So I think that what we see nationally at the Division I level isn't necessarily the same way it's going to impact Division III. But I think it will have an impact for students that really choose to jump into it.

And that's something that we've really emphasized with our student athletes, is they can jump into it at whatever level they want. They can touch their toe in the water. They can go in full with both feet, or they don't have to be involved at all. It's really up to them.

TIM NELSON: And as I understand it, you've got now kind of a formal portal for this activity, the Royal Exchange. Who built it? How does it work?

GREG PETERSON: Yeah, so we partnered with a third party vendor. They're called Influencer. And when we were in the midst of our working group, one thing we did find is that there are a lot of organizations and firms out there that are getting + with this. So we connected with several different firms. And really, Influencer stood out for us because of a variety of reasons.

They do a really good job of integrating marketing opportunities. And we, in our department, we talk a lot about, how do we use athletic excellence to make kingdom impact? And I thought this was a great opportunity for us to allow our student athletes to have a way to just be excellent in another area of our lives. And that's something that we as a department talked about. But then with Influencer, we also are required to be in compliance with NCAA rules.

And Influencer does all of that. So this platform takes care of every compliance piece that we're required to be a part of. So that was really a big deal for us because to be candid, we really don't have the bandwidth in terms of personnel to stay up to date with the changes and track every different relationship that's going on between a student athlete and a potential organization that they're going to work with. So that was really a big deal for us.

And then the third thing that really was just really a big selling point for us is that it becomes a platform where the student athlete and the organization or the firm, they work together right through the platform. And we don't have to be involved. And actually, the platform isn't involved. It's just a way to really promote a communication between a student athlete and the organization.

TIM NELSON: But does Bethel have any relationship or any participation in this process to provide any content or look over these deals and relationships?

GREG PETERSON: Well, we don't have to-- we're really staying out of it as much as we possibly can. From an NCAA standpoint, we cannot-- we are not allowed to broker deals. So we can't pair a student athlete up with an organization or with a business.

We have to stay completely out of it. So what this does, it essentially provides a platform for student athletes to go and promote themselves and connect with businesses on their own. So that was really an important thing for us because it allows us to be in compliance with the NCAA and stay out of it, while simultaneously giving opportunities for our student athletes to take advantage of it to whatever extent they want.

TIM NELSON: Now, you talked a little bit about these small deals, a $100 social media post, or something like that. Are there any Division III athletes that are really making this work?

GREG PETERSON: So there are. And it's on a different scale. But there are some stories of people who, there's a student athlete out east who, he's really kind of jumped into it trying to promote himself. And that's one thing that I think is really almost a side benefit to it, is for a student that really wants to jump into it, I think it can almost be viewed as part of a holistic education where they're learning how to promote themselves, build their brand, their own personal brand.

They're having opportunities to communicate and sell themselves to businesses and organizations in a way that they might not have as part of just a regular four year college experience, so--

TIM NELSON: Part of a great college education there.

GREG PETERSON: Yes, right, exactly. It's just becoming bigger and bigger.

TIM NELSON: Well, thanks for that update. And thanks for being here, Greg.

GREG PETERSON: All right, well, I appreciate you having me on. Take care.

TIM NELSON: Greg Peterson is Athletic Director at Bethel University in Arden Hills.

CREW: Programming is supported by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community, a sovereign tribal nation in Scott County, now hiring. Learn more about the tribe at shakopeedakota.org, and at its public exhibit in Shakopee.

TIM NELSON: Did you wake up a bit chilled today? It was 45 degrees when I took out my dogs for a walk at 5:00 this morning in St. Paul. Lots of places in northern Minnesota were below 30 degrees last night. Still a little chilly out there, 56 in Saint Paul, 53 in St. Cloud, 48 in Bemidji, Worthington at 60. Highs are going to be in the 50s today for most of the state, and warmer later this week.

And a quick programming note, tomorrow at noon, there's another public hearing scheduled for the January 6 committee in their case against former President Donald Trump. We'll have live coverage and analysis here on MPR News. Coming up today on Minnesota Now, we've got an uplifting song of the day for you, the state's top business stories. And we'll hear about a comedy show in Minneapolis that's trying to be the Saturday Night Live of the North. But first, John Wanamaker, standing by with the news. Hey, John.

JOHN WANAMAKER: Hey, Tim. Hurricane Ian has been hitting Western Cuba with rains and winds as it swirls toward the Florida coast. The US National Hurricane Center says Ian hit Cuba early today as a Category Three storm, with sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. Authorities in Cuba evacuated more than 50,000 people. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis says an estimated 2 and 1/2 million people are under evacuation orders.

Florida is already getting heavy rain from Ian. It's expected to intensify into a Category Four hurricane before its most damaging winds hit the Peninsula on Wednesday. Explosions rattle the Baltic Sea before unusual leaks were discovered on two natural gas pipelines running underwater from Russia to Germany. Some European leaders and experts are pointing to possible sabotage during an energy standoff with Russia, provoked by the war in Ukraine.

The leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline overshadowed the inauguration today of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland. The Polish Prime Minister called the events an act of sabotage, while his Danish counterpart said she couldn't rule it out. The Nord Stream pipelines are not bringing gas to Europe amid an energy standoff with Russia, but are still filled with gas.

Officials say about 98,000 Russians have crossed into Kazakhstan in the weeks since President Putin announced a partial mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine. Kazakhstan and Georgia, both once part of the Soviet Union, appeared to be the most popular destinations for those traveling by land. Russia's defense ministry has said that only about 300,000 people with prior combat or other military service would be called up. But records have emerged from various Russian regions that recruiters were rounding up men outside that description.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid period opens October 1 for the 2023-24 school year. If you plan to attend college next year, you might want to fill out the FAFSA application as close to the opening date as possible. Many institutions award financial aid on a first come, first served basis.

Karen McCarthy, Vice President of Public Policy and Federal Relations from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators recommends students fill out the applications as soon as they can. The FAFSA is a free government application that uses financial information from you and your family to determine whether you can get financial aid from the federal government. This is MPR News.

TIM NELSON: It's Minnesota Now. And I'm Tim Nelson. Elections are underway in Minnesota. Early voters have begun to cast ballots for November's election. And here's an interesting fact. More legislators are retiring this year than at any time in the past 50 years. So there's going to be a lot of new names on the ballot. MPR reporter Sarah Thamer has been looking at the candidates. And she joins me now. Hi, Sarah.

SARAH THAMER: Hi, Tim.

TIM NELSON: So you've been working on some tools to get more election information in the hands of voters. Tell me what you're up to.

SARAH THAMER: So yes, we have. We've been doing it for a handful of elections. We're basically just trying to put the election in terms of what voters want to know, rather than what politicians want voters to know. So the MPR audience has responded favorably. And they've given us really good feedback. So these are tools that really put that information about the election in one place at your fingertips, super easy and accessible.

It's good for people who have been voting for 50 years. But it's also really good for first time voters, people that are just getting familiar with the ballot and maybe doing their candidate research. So we've got all the information on how to vote, where to vote, and candidate profiles. It's all on our website. That's mprnews.org/election.

TIM NELSON: Great, so let's break this down a little bit here. If you want to vote, let's start at the beginning. You have to register. Is it too late to register in Minnesota?

SARAH THAMER: It is not. That's a good question. So you can register to vote on Election Day any time until October 18. After that, you do have to wait until election day on November 8. And you can register to vote on Election Day.

TIM NELSON: And as I said, there's early voting happening already. A lot of different ways to do that in Minnesota. How do people go about it?

SARAH THAMER: Well, you can go in person. And you can find your polling location on the Secretary of State website. Information on how to vote absentee is also on the Secretary of State website.

TIM NELSON: Now, there are more than 200 races across the state. I understand there's a new tool that tells voters exactly which races they're voting for. I guess that's handy if you're hearing about a lot of different candidates in your social media feed. But they aren't actually in your district. Tell me more about that.

SARAH THAMER: So we are really excited about this tool. For the first time, we're partnering with an outside organization to help voters build their own ballot. So if you go to our website, you can input your address. And then you get a list of all the races that will show up on your personal ballot.

That way, you can know what candidates are running in your district. And the system also gives you a unique URL that you can save and bring with you wherever you're voting. You can also, if you feel so inclined, share that URL on social media with your friends, if that's your thing.

TIM NELSON: Handy to have right on your smartphone there.

SARAH THAMER: Exactly.

TIM NELSON: And as I said, there's a lot more lawmakers leaving, more than any other time in the last 50 years, so a lot of new names out there. You've been working on a guide to help people get to know these folks.

SARAH THAMER: Yes, it's the MPR Voter Guide. We've been very busy with it. But it's going to be such a crucial tool during this time. So we take a deep dive into the issues that are coming to the forefront in the campaign. And we highlight the position that every single candidate takes on those issues. For example, we learned abortion and public safety are two big issues voters are focusing on right now. So we're laying where each candidate stands on those particular issues.

TIM NELSON: A lot of races in Minnesota, hundreds of them. You're going to cover all of these?

SARAH THAMER: So we do want to be the voter help guide or help desk for Minnesota. But to answer your question, no, we are starting with offices that seem the most important to Minnesotans we've heard from. So there are thousands of candidates and hundreds of races. There's really no way to get detailed information on every single race.

But as we get questions from the audience, it will point us to what we will need to know to add to our guide. So you can reach out to us on our website, mprnews.org/election. You can also submit a question there. You can also send an email to ask@mpr.org. And if you want all of this information emailed to you, we have a great newsletter on our website. That's our free Capital View newsletter.

TIM NELSON: So the Governor's race is getting a lot of attention. Legislators are sending me a lot of mail to my mailbox. Are you tracking other statewide offices here in the state?

SARAH THAMER: We are. So the Attorney General and Secretary of State races are really important. Right now, the two endorsed candidates for the Secretary of State race are very different. And keep in mind, Kim Crockett and Steve Simon have very different views on the integrity of our election. The outcome of that race could change our election system dramatically.

TIM NELSON: And how do you mean for people to use this voter guide?

SARAH THAMER: Well, for those of us who like to be prepared, check it out ahead of time. You can also check in over time, as we'll just be adding more information as the campaigns continue. So that way you'll feel really prepared to head into the voting booth. And plus, you don't have to do any digging. But some of us are procrastinators. And you can just bring your phone with you into the voting booth, pull up our website, and read right there.

The information is well organized. That was intentional. So you can find what you need quickly. And again, you don't have to do any digging. So it's perfect.

TIM NELSON: Now, you've said voters are already getting in touch with MPR News to ask about these elections. What kind of questions are you getting?

SARAH THAMER: We're really seeing a range of different kinds of questions from voters that are specific to the process, like how do I vote early? And how do I register to vote? But then there are more candidate-centric issue based questions, including what are candidates going to do about our changing climate? And who will uphold our legal marijuana laws? So it really ranges from the issues and candidates.

TIM NELSON: There's a lot of elections where the candidates seem so similar, it's kind of hard to tell the difference between them. Are we in this kind of election this year?

SARAH THAMER: That's a great question. And right now, what we're seeing is that it really depends on the issues we're talking about, as well as the candidates. As I mentioned earlier, we have seen vastly different views from some candidates when it comes to election results and integrity. But we've also seen similar views on other issues like prioritizing public safety. Again, it really all depends.

TIM NELSON: And lastly, Sarah, this is a good time to introduce you here. You're one of our newest reporters on the Race, Class, and Communities team. Welcome to MPR.

SARAH THAMER: Thank you so much. It's been so great to be here. And our team, Race, Class, and Communities, is doing really important work. And we know that elections can impact everyone. So whether it's people who are part of our immigrant populations here in our community, or people who are maybe just new to voting altogether, we know that not everyone is well-versed in elections.

So it's been really good to put this guide together. Here are the issues. You don't have to dig for them. Just visit this one link. It's very easy and convenient. So it just makes the process more equitable, too, which is very important. I also wanted to mention that we'll also have the voter guide translated in Hmong, Spanish, and Somali.

TIM NELSON: Fantastic, thanks, Sarah.

SARAH THAMER: Thank you so much for having me.

TIM NELSON: And Sarah Thamer is a reporter for MPR News, as you heard. All the voting info that she's working on and the upcoming election is on our website, mprnews.org/election.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

So let's listen to some new Minnesota music, shall we? Today's song of the day comes to us from Ben Scruggs and Chris Bertrand. They host a show called Keeping It Local out of KMSU in Mankato. As the name suggests, they highlight the original music scene in Mankato and Southern Minnesota. And they've got a new treat for us today.

SUBJECT 1: We've got a real day brightener for you today.

SUBJECT 2: That's right. Our song of the day is bound to pull even the grumpiest toad from the deepest melancholic muck. From Rochester, Minnesota, it's Jeremy Jewell, with his song, Everybody Loves You.

SUBJECT 1: Everybody Loves You invokes the poetic stylings of Pablo Neruda. There's a similar call for a wide-eyed, youthful approach to life, for the glorification of little things, and the joy surrounding them. Grand odes for all, and may all be grand, so long as you attend.

SUBJECT 2: We've got your invitation right here. It's tender and inciting, like an eager parent cooing to their newborn child. Here is Jeremy Jewell with the title track from his 2021 release, Everybody Loves You.

[MUSIC - JEREMY JEWELL, "EVERYBODY LOVES YOU"]

Open your eyes, little baby, just open your eyes. Today will be a beautiful day. And every day will be a beautiful day. Open your ears, little baby, just open your ears. Today, I will sing to you. And someday, we will sing together. Everybody loves you. You love everyone. Everybody loves you. You love everyone.

Clap your hands, little baby, just clap your hands and listen to the music that you make when you clap your hands. Stamp your feet, little baby, just stamp your feet. Do you see that you are dancing? And dancing makes everyone smile. Because everybody loves you. You love everyone. Everybody loves you. You love everyone.

Reach to the sky, little baby, just reach to the sky, and know that there is nothing that can keep you from reaching so high. Smile at your mom, little baby. And smile at your dad. You'll see that they are smiling too. Their smiles are so big because of you. Everybody loves you. And you love everyone. Everybody loves you. You love everyone.

SUBJECT 2: Once again, that was Jeremy Jewell, with his song, Everybody Loves You.

TIM NELSON: And thanks guys. That's Ben Scruggs and Chris Bertrand, hosts of Keeping It Local out of KMSU in Mankato.

CREW: Support comes from Michigan Technological University, where biologists, chemists, and engineers are using bacteria to convert plastic waste into usable products, including lubricants and edible protein powder. Find more information online at mtu.edu.

CREW: Staying informed and connected across Minnesota is more important than ever. That's why we make sure we are available wherever you are. Download the MPR News app and take us on walks outside, or just from room to room in your house. It's free.

TIM NELSON: Hennepin County plans to convert the former Luminn Hotel in downtown Minneapolis into housing for people who make below 30% of the area median income. That's one of several hotels the county has bought to create more accommodations for low income residents. Kelly Busch is a reporter with the Minneapolis Saint Paul Business Journal. And she's back to talk about that story and a few other business stories that have caught her eye. Kelly, welcome back.

KELLY BUSCH: Hi, Tim. Thanks.

TIM NELSON: So let's talk about the Luminn Hotel first. The County acquired a number of hotels in the area in 2020 to use as extra shelter for un-housed people so they could socially distance for COVID. Is this something that's happening a lot in the local real estate landscape?

KELLY BUSCH: Yes, so right now, Hennepin County is undertaking a big initiative to turn five properties in the metro area into independent living buildings. So in all, the five buildings will bring a total of 170 independent living units to the Twin Cities. And these are properties that the County already owns. And they range from former hotels, like you mentioned, to apartment buildings.

And these properties are located in Minneapolis's Stevens Square and Windom neighborhoods, as well as near the U of M campus. And the last one in question, which you've already brought up, is the former Luminn Hotel building in downtown Minneapolis. And this is what we focused our reporting on at the Business Journal this past week. And here, the County is converting the former hotel's 55 rooms into single room independent living units for people making at or below 30% of the area median income.

TIM NELSON: And can you tell me a little bit more about the building, and when we can expect it to open, and people to move in there?

KELLY BUSCH: Yeah, the downtown building was constructed in the early 1910's when it was known as the Federal Plaza Building. And that's a name the County plans on retaining for use of its new project. After opening in the early 1910's, the building was later used as a charter school and office space. And to jump us to present day, work began in 2015 to turn that building into the Luminn Hotel, which was geared toward extended stays.

Then the pandemic hit. And in late 2020, the County stepped in and bought the building for $12 million, and had plans to use it as a shelter for COVID positive people. Now with the County's plan, crews are working to convert the hotel rooms, which were kind of prime for conversion already-- they already have bathrooms and kitchenettes. So most of the work involves installing new HVAC systems, checking for code compliance, and making just small updates to ensure the building is comfortable for residents. So if all goes according to plan, the building will open by the end of the year.

TIM NELSON: And we got news last week that the medical marijuana company, Vireo, sued Minnesota over its new THC laws. Now, they were one of the founders of the medical cannabis industry in Minnesota. Why are they suing the state that set up the business?

KELLY BUSCH: Right, so Vireo Health of Minnesota is just one of two distributors of medical marijuana in Minnesota. And it's suing the state and local governments over the sudden legalization of hemp-derived THC edibles, which I'm sure as your listeners will remember, happened at the end of the last legislative session. And so last session, cannabis products derived from hemp were legalized by the Minnesota legislature.

However, the use of products made from marijuana are still tightly regulated here in the state. So Vireo, being one of the makers of marijuana-derived products in Minnesota, decided to sue. So in its lawsuit, Vireo claims that Minnesota law is unconstitutionally discriminated against the company. Specifically, it's arguing that it's facing unfair regulation over, essentially, the same product. Vireo says its products are chemically similar to the now legal products because both come from the same plant species.

TIM NELSON: So is Vireo asking the court to block these products from other people, that other people are offering?

KELLY BUSCH: Yeah, Vireo doesn't seem to be asking the court to block hemp-derived THC. It's more so asking the court to just let it sell its products in the state. It's worth noting that Vireo could sell its own hemp-based edibles right now. But the company said in the lawsuit that it would have to drastically change its business to do so.

TIM NELSON: And I want to go back downtown. There's been some news lately about that Dayton's Project building in Minneapolis. What's going on there? It sounds like it's filling in a little more.

KELLY BUSCH: Yeah, it is. We got word last week that Prudential Financial signed a lease at the Dayton's Project. It's for a new office that reaches 28,000 square feet. So it's kind of on the larger side of office leases. And Prudential is going to be consolidating staff from its Plymouth campus to the site, which is a site that it recently sold to developers for a whole new other development that's going to be happening there in the coming years. But in downtown, Prudential will be based out of the building starting next year.

Its new office is going to be client-facing and will accommodate at a maximum, 200 to 300 people. But on a daily basis, it's just going to be around 100 people because of hybrid work schedules and whatnot. And Prudential liked the space because it wanted a unique original office space with high tech options and good amenities. And it was looking for an office within walking distance to food options, which you have plenty of in downtown.

TIM NELSON: So is this a sign that business is coming back downtown, that people are going to be back in the Skyways now?

KELLY BUSCH: Yeah, it's really difficult to say how much of an impact the lease will have on downtown entirely. Downtown's return is still in flux. Companies are still figuring out their hybrid work models and how much office space they actually need with their remote workers. Still, the experts that we talked to and continue talking to at the Business Journal tell us that any new leases in downtown is positive for the city.

It runs opposed to a lot of notions that some people hold about downtown being dead because it's going to bring just a few more people back to downtown. The Business Journal will keep reporting on downtown activity. So you'll have to stay tuned to see how it plays out. You can find more of a reporting on local business news at mspbj.com.

TIM NELSON: Great, thank you so much.

KELLY BUSCH: Yeah, you too.

TIM NELSON: Kelly Busch is a reporter with the Minneapolis Saint Paul Business Journal.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

And this is Minnesota Now. I'm Tim Nelson. Chicago has the Second City. New York has Saturday Night Live. And Minneapolis, Britney Parker is betting on Locally Grown Comedy. Parker is the writer, producer, and creator behind the filmed comedy and musical sketch show, as she calls it. Welcome to Minnesota Now, Brittany.

She's not there right now. We'll get her back on the line here in just a second. Looking a little bit at the weather right now. Here in the Twin Cities, it's 49. Up on the Iron Range, it's 34 in-- not the Iron Range. Up in the Iron Range, it's 31 in Hibbing. It's 47 in Alexandria. Over in St. Cloud right now, it's 45. And I understand Brittany's back on the line.

BRITTANY PARKER: I am. Sorry about that.

TIM NELSON: Excellent, so tell me a little bit-- I understand back in high school in Apple Valley, you were voted the most likely to be on Saturday Night Live. Were you one of those people already performing all over the place?

BRITTANY PARKER: Oh, I would love to say that I was shy and this came out of nowhere. But I've been doing professional theater since I was about nine. I attended Eastview High School in Apple Valley. And my best friend Scott and I were voted most likely to be on Saturday Night Live, which, while going towards the stage to get that award, we both tripped over something, which just, classic physical humor right there, so.

TIM NELSON: And obviously doing a lot of things, what got you going on sketch comedy?

BRITTANY PARKER: Yeah, so I've been very active in the arts scene here in Minneapolis and nationally. So I've done stand up comedy and improv, musical theater, film. And I've just really enjoyed comedy-based arts. Sketch comedy has always been something I've been very interested in as a writer and comedian. Involving other people from the arts community to make these skits and these sketches has been a passion of mine. And I finally put it into fruition, so.

TIM NELSON: Excellent. You're a Minnesotan, as you said-- went to high school in Apple Valley. You went to college in Duluth.

BRITTANY PARKER: I did, yeah.

TIM NELSON: I understand you've done all kinds of things: stand-up, musical theater, film, and also working at a Minneapolis casting agency. Does your day job have any comedy?

BRITTANY PARKER: So it's so funny that you say that because I actually am a part-time casting associate with one of the best ladies in town. Her name is Lynn Blumenthal. A year ago, a different writing partner and I created a pilot called Breakdown, which was actually about working in the casting office and all the shenanigans we ensue and are a part of there. So pretty much on the daily, there has got to be something that gets us laughing, whether it's an email sent to the incorrect person, or an actor sends an audition tape that they haven't quite edited out correctly. And you see them cursing or something during an audition. That just recently happened to us. So it's got its own comedy, for sure.

TIM NELSON: A steady stream of characters, I guess, right?

BRITTANY PARKER: Absolutely, and I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of them, and have infused them into Locally Grown, which is my sketch comedy company, so.

TIM NELSON: And what inspired that? What got you started on Locally Grown?

BRITTANY PARKER: Well, you know, I have been lucky enough to play in a lot of the different arts outlets that Minneapolis has, whether it's music, or improv, or stand-up, or theater, film. And I meet so many wonderful people that, for some reason, haven't been able to play with the other performers or artists in other realms. And I wanted to be that catalyst. I wanted to be that platform that got to meld everybody together and really showcase what Minnesota, specifically Minneapolis, has.

I've also been working in other cities: Chicago, LA, New York. And some people seem to be a little surprised by how many incredible arts outlets we have in Minnesota. So I wanted to create a platform that showed that off, whether it was behind the scenes or in front. But I wanted to let the whole world know that Minnesota has just a lot of talent and a lot of opportunities.

TIM NELSON: So what does this-- what's this look like? Like I said, it's a filmed comedy, musical sketch show. What is that, like, Saturday Night Live? How does it operate?

BRITTANY PARKER: Sure, it's Saturday Night Live. But it's pretty much weekly, every night live. We upload a lot of content on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook. We shoot one weekend every six to seven weeks. During that weekend, we film about five to six sketches along with a musical guest. We've had Kat Perkins from The Voice who was our first musical guest, Gabriel Douglas from 4onthefloor.

We just had Annie Enneking from Annie and the Bang Bang, will be on our episode three. So we film these sketches. And then we put them on our platform. We usually release one a week. And again, we're just trying to get people to see all the talent and all the humor that we have in Minnesota.

So you can find us on Instagram or Facebook or TikTok or YouTube. And each platform also has different content. So we have the sketches and musical guests on all of the content. But we also have an onset photographer. And we have social media people that help us do TikToks. And it's really fun.

TIM NELSON: You talk a little bit about that on your website, the sort of rotating cast and crew from the Twin Cities, all these diverse creators. It also says you're a female-led company. Tell me about how that impacts the writing and the feel of the show.

BRITTANY PARKER: Well, one of the things that I've noticed, being able to be in a lot of the different outlets that Minnesota offers in stand-up, improv, theater, and film, et cetera, is we do tend to have a lot of male-identifying producers and writers, which has produced wonderful art. But I'm just now getting to see more female-identifying and nonbinary creators suddenly come out into the field, which is awesome.

So for us, it allows us to talk about a wide range of things, and not just through the scope of someone who's male-identifying. So we have female writers. We have non-binary actors. We have a diverse crew and cast, whether that means diverse in abilities, or age, or body type, or gender, or sexual orientation. And so because of that, it allows us to not only talk about all these things, but it allows us to reach these audiences that maybe don't see themselves in comedy very often.

TIM NELSON: And can you keep this going in the Twin Cities? I mean, the bright lights and big city often beckon.

BRITTANY PARKER: Sure, sure, well, I have worked in other cities. But I tend to keep coming back to Minnesota just because we just have a lot here. And we also have the ability to live by a lake and explore the city, and not just have to work to survive. We're able to work and enjoy the many things that Minnesota offers, whether it's restaurants, or outdoors, or whatever.

And so I'm hoping to stay here right now. We have two episodes completely out with all of our sketches. We're about to release episode three. We're about to shoot episode four in November. We've just partnered with a smaller production company who will be backing us for the next two episodes. So people are slowly but surely interested in us, and like that we're keeping things homegrown, locally grown, if you will.

TIM NELSON: And live, right? I think you've got an event coming up October 3 at the Parkway?

BRITTANY PARKER: We do, yeah. We have an event on October 3 at Parkway Theater in Minneapolis. Doors open at 7:00. We start at 7:30. We have local rapper, Tuvok The Word, who's performed with another local rapper named Nur-D. Tuvok will be performing the theme song he wrote for Locally Grown. We'll be showing some sketches, some that we've released, some that we haven't. We'll do a Q&A. It'll be a bar and food and raffle. It should be a good time.

TIM NELSON: Sounds like a great time. Well, thanks so much, Brittany. Brittany Parker is the writer, producer, and creator behind Locally Grown Comedy. The Parkway Theater event, as she said, is Monday, October 3, 7:30 to 10:00 PM at the Parkway Theater. You can find out more at locallygrowncomedy.com.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CREW: Get the morning's top stories or an afternoon wrap up in your inbox every weekday. Our email newsletter will start your day with a forecast and a snapshot of the top stories from overnight. And in the evening, we'll put the day's headlines into context. Sign up at mprnews.org/newsletter.

TIM NELSON: And thanks for listening to Minnesota Now. I'm Tim Nelson, in for Cathy Wurzer. You know we love hearing from listeners. If you have ideas for the show, or Minnesotans we should talk to, or a feedback for what you're hearing on the air, send us a note. We're at minnesotanow@mprnews.org. You can tweet me, too. I'm @TimNelson_MPR.

And speaking of Twitter, I just saw this tweet from the National Weather Service in Duluth. They say we have confirmed that there were on and off snow showers falling this morning along the Gunflint Trail in Cook County. Snow season is here. Nothing accumulated, but signs of things to come. Oh, man.

Looking out the window here in Saint Paul, the sun is out. We've got blue skies. Still a little cool out there, 57 degrees in the Twin Cities, 53 in St. Cloud, 54 in Moorhead, and 59 in Albert Lea. Highs in the 50s today, but colder overnight. Then we're going to start warming up. Have a great day.