The beloved Minnesota State Fair, let’s face it, creates a lot of trash during its 12-day run.

The roughly 260 people that make up the fair’s sanitation department are at work 24 hours a day during the fair. Their mission? Make sure the Falcon Heights fairgrounds are as clean and sustainable as a state fair can be.

On a recent day at the fair — hot, muggy, with relentless sunshine — a group of four Como Park Senior High School students, members of the Marine Corps JROTC, are on the prowl for trash. The crew, all sporting fluorescent yellow vests, head toward the Cattle Barn.

Lily Jastram, a freshman, pushes a large dumpster. It has a small red pouch attached to the handle and inside, it’s filled with rolls of black trash bags.

“I push it. Once they get to a trash can, they’ll take out the bag and put it in my cart. And then once we get to a dumpster at the, like, end of our route, we just take all the trash bags out and put them in the dumpster,” the 14-year-old said.

She’s standing near the Cattle Barn, and the scent of the horses and manure wafts through the air. I ask her what’s going through her mind.

“Mostly, I’m thinking that it’s hot, and secondly, I'm thinking that it stinks because we’re by all the poo, and all the bags are like dripping milk for some reason,” Jastram said.

“It’s so gross, but I’m also like thinking about how I’m gonna push the cart through all these people. But it really doesn't end up being that hard unless you’re like trying to get through a line, or someone stops in front of you.”

Cory Franzmeier, operations manager in charge of sanitation, said the JROTC members have learned through their program to work on something bigger than themselves.

“They’re able to come in and just kind of fit right in … the fair is bigger than you know any one individual so having that mentality to come in and just do that work knowing that like you're not going to be praised and thanked all the time,” he said.

In addition to these volunteers from a fundraising group, the sanitation department also partners with contractors and state fair employees who aid in the cleanup, Franzmeier said. During the day, about 160 people such as staff, contractors and fundraising volunteers maintain the grounds.

About 100 people are part of the overnight cleanup crew. Some 50 fair staffers and 50 contractors make sure all is clean by 7 a.m. when the fairgrounds open up again.

The sanitation department is responsible for 900 bins located on the fairgrounds. Some are outside of the fair, such as at the park-and-ride lots, which have about 100. The department also places barrels in nearby neighborhoods so “we’re not a nuisance to them either,” Franzmeier said.

“There’s hundreds of people out here just doing the best they can to maintain the space throughout the day,” he said.

Two of those helpful people are the Larson sisters: Kat, 28, and Izzy, 26.

A Roseville High School hockey coach of theirs suggested that they volunteer at the State Fair one summer. He connected them to the sanitation department.

For the first couple of years, the siblings said they worked multiple groundskeeping jobs, mainly cutting grass.

Kat Larson said that almost like every day each sibling had a different job.

“So it’s like when people ask, like, ‘Oh, what do you do there? It’s like, I don’t know. What did I do yesterday? It might be different than I'm doing tomorrow.’ And it's like all these different fun jobs.”

The Larsons said they bought an RV vehicle about five years ago. They spend most of the year traveling the country and perform work exchanges at farms in the south.

They said they return to Minnesota every year and are employed by the fair from late July through October.

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“We really just needed a summer job in the beginning, and then it turned into the fair, obviously every year, and it was a job that we fell in love with in the sanitation department,” Kat Larson said. “Now we’re part of the compost sustainability kind of side to it.”

As is their wont, Izzy and Kat revel in dumpster diving. They try to save furniture and stuffed animals when possible while diving through dumpsters. But their main work for the fair is collecting compost from 10 to 15 fair vendors throughout the day.

The sisters said they've seen plenty of corn husks piled up in the compost bin near the Corn Stand.

Franzmeier has given them free reign and creativity space to come up with other ways to recycle, reuse and distribute waste. Izzy Larson said being in the sustainability space has transformed them.

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“You look inside a dumpster and there’s things in there that people can use,” Izzy said. “It’s just about getting it to them or having a thought before just throwing it in the landfill dumpster of like, could this be used elsewhere?”

The Larsons this summer created a respite area called “Trash Island,” located under trees behind the sanitation building. Izzy Larson says their top priority is increasing knowledge about trash.

“Our biggest thing is just trying to create a little more awareness for the people and anybody, you know, just to have an extra thought before throwing it in to a dumpster. Like, one, where is this dumpster going?” she said.

The Larson sisters hope one day to create an educative interactive space at the sanitation building where attendees can walk through to see where waste goes.

By Rachel Cramer | Harvest Public Media

New research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows nutrient pollution increased in many streams and rivers across the country between 2000 and 2020. The dominant source was the release of old nitrogen and phosphorus stored in soil and groundwater.

“One of the key findings is that a lot of the nutrients that are in rivers today comes from past activities,” said Olivia Miller, a USGS research hydrologist and lead author of the study. “Even when improvements are made in terms of reducing nutrient sources, water quality can take time to recover.”

Nitrogen and phosphorus cycle through the environment and are essential for life.

But excess amounts in waterways feed algal blooms, which deplete oxygen when they decompose, and contribute to the massive “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. This low-oxygen area expands along the Louisiana coast each summer, suffocating bottom-dwelling creatures and pushing fish and shrimp further out.

Disruptions to fishing and spoiled beach vacations affect the seafood and tourism industries. Elevated nitrate concentrations and algal toxins also force drinking water utilities and private well-owners to invest in new technologies or look for alternative sources of water.

The USGS study aimed to understand when and how nutrients move through landscapes and river systems. Researchers looked at two sources of pollution: what scientists call "point" and "non-point" sources.

“A point source is something where you have a clear discharge point, like a pipe,” said David Cwiertny, director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa. He was not involved in the USGS study.

Point-source pollution includes waste from sewage treatment facilities and factories.

“We've done a really good job of controlling those point sources through essentially a regulatory and permitting process,” Cwiertny said. “The diffuse sources, what we call non-point source, where things run off land, that is a much more challenging source to manage.”

In Iowa, roughly 93 percent of the total nitrogen in the state’s waterways come from non-point sources.

Some stems from the natural breakdown of carbon-rich portions of the soil, nitrogen-fixing plants and atmospheric deposition. But researchers say much of the excess in Iowa’s waterways comes from fertilizer and manure applied to corn and soybean fields, paired with a lack of year-round groundcover on a landscape once dominated by tallgrass prairie.

Subsurface tile drainage, which moves water from farm fields into ditches or streams, further complicates nutrient management across the Corn Belt.

Filling in the gaps

USGS has an extensive monitoring network across the U.S., which tracks water quality and quantity, including streamflow, groundwater levels, temperature and contaminants.

The network uses real-time monitoring with sensors in some places, Miller said. USGS staff also go out to collect samples. But the cost and resources required make it impossible to monitor everywhere, she added.

“Models help us fill in those gaps,” Miller said.

The USGS researchers developed models to estimate seasonal nutrient loads to streams across the contiguous U.S. between 2000 and 2020.

The models incorporated data from the agency’s monitoring network with land use, hydrology, soil types, weather and other factors.

Based on their results, the USGS researchers estimate between one-third and half of the nutrients in streams came from “lagged, non-point sources.” This means it took longer than one season for nitrogen or phosphorus to move from soil or groundwater into a waterway.

Lagged nonpoint sources of nitrogen and phosphorus contributed 48 percent and 35 percent to the loads in streams, respectively.

The second largest source in streams was fertilizer applied in the same season. Treated wastewater played a smaller role but was the dominant source of total phosphorus in streams in the eastern U.S.

Changing stream flow also contributed to higher nutrient loads, Miller said.

“In the Midwest, for example, it got a lot wetter over our study period, and that wetting, moves more nutrients into streams,” Miller said.

The researchers found the largest influxes of nitrogen and phosphorus in streams in the Midwest and other regions of the U.S. happened in spring.

Soil and groundwater can hold nutrients for months or years before they flush out into streams and rivers, Miller said.

“Some groundwater can take thousands of years to move from the place … where it enters the subsurface to where it goes into a river,” Miller said. “If you have nutrients moving in groundwater, that could be really, really slow.”

Different paces of nitrogen molecules moving through the landscape are similar to workers leaving the office at the end of the day, she explained.

“Everyone will get home at a different time,” Miller said. “Some people will go to the grocery store. Some people might walk or ride their bike, and some people drive.”

The USGS researchers said their models help “pinpoint when, where, and why nutrients are entering rivers” and inform management decisions to shape future water quality.

Nutrient Reduction Strategies

Thirty states have published nutrient reduction strategies, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They identify significant contributors of nitrogen and phosphorus and provide a roadmap for minimizing those impacts to surface waters.

Some of the states’ strategies are connected to the Hypoxia Task Force’s goal of shrinking the “dead zone” — or hypoxic zone — in the Gulf of Mexico by curtailing pollution in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya river basins.

Earlier this summer, the task force announced progress meeting voluntary, interim targets. Data from 2025 showed total nitrogen loads to the Gulf decreased by 28 percent compared to the baseline. But total phosphorus loads increased by 13 percent.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pointed to newer research that explains how phosphorus can accumulate over months or years before showing up downstream.

“As a result, the benefits of today's reductions may take years to register in monitoring data,” the EPA press release stated.

Cassandra Glaspie, a professor at Louisiana State University, runs the annual cruise that maps the seasonal hypoxic zone in the Gulf.

During a recent webinar with environmental organization Izaak Walton League of America, Glaspie emphasized the mapping is a “snapshot.” The hypoxic zone changes in size throughout the summer, and storms can mix up the low-oxygen bottom layer.

The measurement this year was roughly 1,332 square miles, making the hypoxic zone the second smallest on record in 40 years, according to a NOAA announcement Aug. 5. The press release said it was smaller than anticipated due to Tropical Storm Bertha, which passed through the Gulf on the eve of the cruise.

Still, mapping the zone helps shrimpers plan and prepare, Glaspie said. It also provides “a finger on the pulse of the nitrate problem.”

“Even though we’re far away from the Midwest, this is your metric, too,” she said.

This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.

Nicole Fedele spends her evenings in her Minneapolis studio, using a blowtorch to heat metal for hazy, atmospheric pieces made from steel and wood.

“The steel kind of floats over the paintings, and then with strong lighting, they create this beautiful shadowing,” Fedele said.

She moved to Minnesota from New York City in search of something increasingly difficult to find there: enough space and financial breathing room to make her work. Now she has a car, an apartment, a studio and the specialized tools she needs for her artwork.

But she still does not make enough from her art to pursue it full time.

“It's day job. Close the laptop at five. Go to the studio,” Fedele said, describing her daily routine. “Work on the art until you know — I try to cut it off around 10:30 at night, 11, so I can get a decent amount of sleep,” Fedele said. “The hustle is pretty exhausting. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.”

Minnesota wages have largely kept pace with inflation, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. But those statewide numbers do not mean every worker is keeping up.

Artists, whose incomes can fluctuate with commissions, sales and project-based work, face a particular squeeze. Their living and material costs have increased, while customers have become more cautious about spending money on art.

Those pressures also ripple through the businesses artists rely on.

Mike Menasco is one of the owners of Artistic Indulgence, a custom framing workshop and gallery serving mostly local clients. The shop has provided his sole income for 30 years.

“Our framing industry, it's all across the board. Everything's gone up at least 30 percent in the past few years,” Menasco said.

Joe Mahon, regional outreach director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said discretionary spending on things like dining out or buying art, tends to decline when prices rise or the economy feels uncertain.

“That's going to be kind of a double whammy,” said Mahon. “It's not just that the cost of living has gone up for them, but maybe their incomes are even a little bit more volatile.”

For artists and arts businesses operating on thin margins, that combination can be dire.

“I'm sitting here worrying about bills coming in, and it just it cuts into that, and you just stop being creative sometimes,” said Menasco.

Fedele said the price of the steel she uses has increased by 40 percent. The cost of silver for her jewelry has also skyrocketed.

“Just to make a tiny little simple, piece of jewelry or something could be $100 in material by itself,” she said.

Larger manufacturers can sometimes control costs by buying raw materials in bulk and storing them, Mahon said. Most independent artists do not have the money or space to do that.

Springboard for the Arts, a Minnesota nonprofit, offers resources intended to make creative careers more sustainable.

Anitra Budd, a copy editor and wordsmith, works for the organization as an artist career consultant. She hosts workshops designed to help artists turn their creative practices into careers.

“We really want artists to feel seen,” Budd said. “They get to talk to somebody who's like, ‘I know what it's like to have an uncertain income stream. I know what it's like to have somebody come into your carefully put together booth at a trade fair and say, ‘Oh, I could make that. Why are you charging so much for that?’”

Springboard also piloted a guaranteed-income program that provided payments to artists over five years. The organization also offers emergency relief funds for artists facing severe financial strain.

“It turns out, when you give creative artists the cushion, the knowledge, the certainty in their income that a portion of it is going to be taken care of no matter what, it allows them the headspace to clear their mind to actually be able to make more art,” said Budd. “And to be a more engaged member of their own communities.”

For Menasco, supporting artists and giving them room to create is not a luxury.

“It is a necessity. You need art in your life,” said Menasco. “If you didn't have art, what would make you happy?”

Winona County negotiated and paid a $128,539 ransom following a January cyberattack on its IT network, mere months before they were attacked yet again in April by different cybercriminals.

Though emergency services were never paused, Winona County administrator Maureen Holte said that both ransomware incidents forced the county to pause some of its operations, and they had to, in some situations, go back to the old-fashioned way of doing things: pen and paper.

After the January attack, Holte said the county agreed to pay the ransom amount to ensure all county services could resume and that the personal information of those in town would be protected.

“It was after careful consideration and also guidance from our cybersecurity team,” Holte said. “Winona County negotiated and paid a fee of approximately $128,000. About $50,000 was covered by insurance, and about 78,000 was out of county levy money.”

According to the state’s 2025 Cybersecurity Incident Report, attacks against federal, state, and local governments are rising in frequency and sophistication. The report indicates that 269 public entities and government contractors in Minnesota reported possible cybersecurity incidents last year.

Rochester Public Schools was targeted by a cyberattack in 2023, and just last summer, the city of St. Paul experienced a massive ransomware incident that, like Winona County, required assistance from National Guard deployment and forced the city to shutter parts of its network.

Government entities aren’t the only ones experiencing these incidents, but Israel said state and local governments have become lucrative targets. And they tend to be more vulnerable because government entities’ systems often are connected to outside partners and contractors, and they’re focused on being open and accessible to the public to provide essential services, leaving more cracks and openings for cybercriminals to exploit.

“This just comes with the nature of government,” said John Israel, the state of Minnesota’s chief information officer. “Threat actors are really good about finding those holes and finding those ways in. [Governments have] got to be right 100 percent of the time, whereas bad actors really have to just be right one time to get in and cause impact.”

Israel said that, in the past, criminal agents were more focused on breaking into an organization's system, locking it down, and charging ransoms to unlock the files. But as more organizations have gotten better at backing up their systems, cyber attackers have evolved.

Now, they are not only encrypting and locking down systems, they’re also extracting and stealing data first that they can hold hostage — threatening to release it if the organization doesn’t pay the ransom.

“We call it kind of a double extortion event,” Israel said.

Israel explained that the cybercriminals who launch these attacks are primarily financially motivated and rarely local. The perpetrators are often part of overseas groups that have made a business out of extorting entities like Winona County.

What is the status of the Winona attacks currently?

Holte said the county is still in the midst of an active, open criminal investigation in regards to the January incident, but at this point the county has given notice to all affected individuals.

The April attack is still under review, and Holte said it’s not yet clear how many people were impacted.

“Winona County remains committed to strengthening our systems to ensure that our cyber defenses are the best that they can be, so that we don't have future incidents,” Holte said.

The Trump administration has again asked the Supreme Court to allow the U.S. Postal Service's plan to restrict mail-in voting for the midterm elections.

In an emergency application on Sunday, lawyers for the government urged the high court to clear the way for new USPS rules on federal mail ballots to fully go into effect. For now, key parts of that plan are blocked by a preliminary injunction that a federal judge in Boston released on Sept. 4.

That ruling, by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, replaced an earlier temporary order, which the Trump administration had asked the Supreme Court last week to review.

The Supreme Court is not expected to issue a ruling on the administration's Sunday request until sometime after 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. That's the deadline Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has set for legal briefs from the plan's challengers, although the administration has asked Jackson to immediately pause the injunction against USPS while the high court prepares to rule.

Meanwhile, the administration has also asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the judge's injunction. Based on deadlines for legal briefs that the appeals court has set, the 1st Circuit is not expected to decide whether to pause the injunction until sometime after 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

As the legal fight over Trump's mail-in voting order continues, here's what to know about the state of voting by mail for the midterms:

Has the USPS plan directly changed mail-in voting for the midterms?

No, key parts of the plan, including requirements for states, are currently blocked by a court order. Voting by mail is still available to all voters who are eligible for it in their states, and USPS is expected to deliver mail-in ballots for the midterm election as usual.

How could the USPS plan change mail-in voting?

State election officials would be required to turn over lists of mail-in voters' names and addresses to USPS and have certain barcodes on their mail ballot envelopes, according to a revised rule for federal ballot mail the Postal Service issued in August. USPS says it would not deliver ballots to voters for election officials that don't meet those requirements.

When does mail-in voting start for the midterms?

North Carolina has to start mailing out its absentee ballots on Friday, which officially kicks off the voting season for this year's midterms. Many other states are set to begin sending out their mail-in ballots later this month.

Is it possible for the USPS plan to be carried out for the midterms?

Many election experts say it is too late for USPS to carry out this plan without causing major disruptions. A whistleblower report claims USPS has not properly tested the online portal system that would collect mail-in voters' information. The report also alleges the agency has set up a policy for verifying ballot envelopes that could result in many voters not getting their ballots in time for the midterm election or at all.

What are the legal arguments for and against the USPS plan?

USPS came up with this plan in response to a March executive order by President Trump, who said he issued the directives to USPS to stop illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens. Many studies and audits show, however, that problem is incredibly rare. While USPS claims its revised rule is an effort to regulate mail, challengers of the USPS plan argue it is illegal because the mailing agency has no authority to control voting by mail.

Hasn't the Supreme Court already ruled on Trump's mail-in voting order?

Yes, the Supreme Court ruled in August on a procedural question about one of the lawsuits. But so far, the justices have not ruled on the legality of the order or the USPS plan.

How long has mail-in voting been around in the United States?

Historians consider the Civil War election of 1864 — the year Abraham Lincoln was reelected president — as the start of large-scale voting by mail, although there are earlier examples of mail-in voting at the state and local levels going back to the 18th century.

Editor's note: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR.

Edited by Megan Pratz

Copyright 2026, NPR

With hot weather in the forecast for the holiday weekend, many Minnesotans are likely hoping to spend some time on a lake.

But much of the state is experiencing moderate to severe drought, and low lake levels are making it a challenge to launch boats at public water accesses.

“It’s worse than a typical summer,” said Nancy Stewart, water recreation consultant for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “We typically see a difference in water levels from spring to fall, but this is heading into more of a severe drought in many areas of the state.”

Conditions vary from lake to lake, Stewart said. But at many public accesses, more of the boat ramp’s planks are above the water line than they normally are.

That makes it more difficult to enter and exit the lake, especially with larger boats and longer trailers, she said.

The low-water conditions also can expose more underwater obstructions, like holes, rocks and sandbars, Stewart said.

“It definitely could damage boats, trailers, the lower unit of the motor if it’s hitting the ground,” she said.

Boaters should inspect the ramp and confirm the water level before using it, Stewart said. If it’s an option, using a smaller watercraft instead of a large boat or pontoon could help avoid problems.

While lake levels remain low, boaters also should avoid creating large wakes that can damage the shoreline, Stewart said.

Most of the state is classified as having moderate or severe drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor. A small portion of the state is listed in extreme drought.

The DNR has said it could take years for lake levels to recover.

Everyone has a hot take on what food is in and out at the Minnesota State Fair. MPR News has been monitoring local food influencer accounts on Instagram for the last 10 days of the fair to aggregate the findings.

Here is what 15 Minnesota creators said their favorites were, and some you can skip.

@foodiesalibi, 15.1K followers, Twin Cities-focused

• Must have: Al Elotay from Baba’s

• No thanks: Pickle Pie at LuLu’s Public House

@youmefoodreview, 2.3K followers, fans of small businesses, Twin Cities-focused

• Fabulous: Tanghulu from lemochi Japanese Confections

@beyondbeurreblanc, 25.1K followers, indie restaurant critic, mutual aid worker

• Best new food: Cracklin’ Corn Ribs at The Blue Barn

• Least favorite new drink: Two-Tone Bloody Mary Mocktail at Urban Glow Mocktails

@blackfoodietravelguy , 34.4K followers, Minneapolis-based

• Most overrated: The Mouth Trap Cheese Curds

@sotafoodtour, 23.5K followers, Twin Cities eats and hidden gems

• Most overlooked place at the fair: Teriyaki Chicken-on-a-stick from Chan’s Chicken on a Stick

• A bit overrated: Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar

@ralph_matthews, 28.4K followers, dives and fine dining

• New fair food not getting enough love: Peri-Peri Bowl at Afro Deli & Grill

@bigfoodie101, 32.8K followers, food and travel

• Top favorite food: Longanisa Cheese Curd Lumpia at Lumpia City

• Disappointing: Pork Belly on-a-stick at Swine & Spuds

@jyrdxn, 10.2K followers, Minnesota food and dining

• Best donuts: Amish Doughnut at Peachey’s Baking Company

@no.table.manners, 48.9K followers, food, events

• Must get: B.A.D. Wings at Soul Bowl

• Not for me: Bao Belly at RC’s BBQ

@tonycufoodandtravel, 41.6K followers, food and travel

• Waiting for it all year: Grilled Pork Chop on-a-stick at Peterson’s Pork Chops

@eatswithjason, 43K followers, new eats and treats

• Must get: Nashville Hot Chicken on-a-stick at Blue Barn

@azhahungry, 1.2K followers, food, events and staycations

• Presentation better than taste: Surf ‘N Turf Burger at Cafe Caribe

• A need, not a want: Amish Donut at Peachey’s Donut Company

@sadeinthecities, 26.8K followers, events and travel experiences

• Always hits: Coconut Lychee Colada at Union Hmong Kitchen

@voss11, 9.5K followers, content creator for 10ktakes and Twins Daily

• Best way to start the day: Caramel and Vanilla Espresso Float and Java Jive

@nextstopwitheden, 12K followers, travel and dining

• Left me speechless: Apple Fries at Minnesota’s Original Apple Fries

There are plenty of issues Republicans and Democrats disagree on, but increasingly, they're aligned on this: they want Flock surveillance cameras gone.

The widespread backlash against AI-powered license plate readers, which allow police to track people over time, is becoming more of a political issue as the midterm elections approach in races from Florida to Ohio and Wisconsin.

At a press conference late last month, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said he believes law enforcement needs public safety tools, but Flock cameras are not among them.

"I would welcome bipartisan legislation to ban these across the state," Shapiro said. "This is not something in the public interest."

Earlier this week, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans to revoke permits for license plate readers on state highways.

"I'm all about having law enforcement have tools," DeSantis said. "But I don't want to have this become a surveillance state."

Every month, Flock cameras capture billions of license plates, along with other vehicle data. Police say this tool helps them find stolen vehicles and missing people. But the technology has been abused. Officers have used it to stalk ex-partners, for instance.

Flock recently changed some of its features to prevent abuse.

But the concerns are proving sticky, and largely bipartisan. Last week, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott froze state spending for the cameras. And Senate Republicans are investigating concerns over police misuse.

Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the ACLU, says a wide swath of people across the political spectrum opposes Flock cameras. Americans have a strong distaste for government surveillance, Stanley said.

"Now you have to live your life with what sociologists call the third eye that is watching you," he said, "and I think a lot of Americans don't want to live that way."

The reasons people on the left and right oppose Flock are different.

Progressives have pointed out that the technology has been used to track immigrants and people seeking abortions.

Conservatives have warned that the cameras could be used to create a national gun registry.

Others, such as conservative commentator Glenn Beck, say it's a form of government overreach.

"You cannot allow this to happen. We are creating a panopticon," he said, referring to a circular prison design that allows a single guard to see all the inmates at once.

Many people find that unsettling, regardless of political party. Recent polling shows that more Americans now disapprove of Flock Cameras than approve of them.

Copyright 2026, NPR

The U.S. military said it hit three Iranian oil tankers, after accusing Iran of targeting its warships. The past week saw the first exchange of fire after a month of relative calm.

Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Israel has again condemned settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels accused Yemen's government of killing three people in attacks. Israeli strikes killed three people in southern Lebanon.

Here’s a look at the news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

US forces hit Iranian oil tankers

The U.S. military said in a statement said that the three Iranian tankers were part of a shadow network helping to fund Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and its armed proxies in the region.

Iranian state TV said earlier that four U.S. missiles struck a tanker about 6 miles from Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil. It said there were no casualties.

Kharg Island been repeatedly targeted during the war, including U.S. strikes on military sites there in March. The latest report comes almost a week after the U.S. resumed strikes on Iranian targets following a monthlong pause, as fighting around the Strait of Hormuz has intensified.

The U.S. military said that an American aircraft carrier and a destroyer evaded “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling in the region and no U.S. personnel were hurt.

US ambassador calls violent Israeli settlers ‘terrorists’

The U.S. ambassador to Israel has again spoken out against Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, calling their behavior an “act of terror.”

Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Saturday referred to the settlers as “terrorists,” a word U.S. officials usually reserve for Palestinian militants. He was speaking to Palestinian American residents in the village of Turmus Ayya.

“If there are squatters that come in and put up their own flags and take possession of something that does not belong to them, if they burn a car, if they torch a mosque, if they go into someone’s home and vandalize it, paint graffiti on the walls, that’s a criminal act. But it extends beyond a criminal act. It’s an act of terror,” Huckabee said.

The ambassador last month spoke out sharply after weeks of unrest in the town of Qusra, where settlers surrounded several homes including one owned by a Palestinian American. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the actions of a “handful of rioters” and the foreign ministry called the settlers’ actions “a disgrace.”

Netanyahu’s government, the most ultranationalist and religious in Israel’s history, has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank. Most of the international community views settlements as illegal.

Houthis accuse Yemen's government of killing three people

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels said government forces in western and southwestern Yemen killed at least three people. The attacks Friday in Hodeida and Taiz provinces came as Yemen’s military said it launched more than 15 airstrikes on the Houthis.

The Houthi authorities in Hodeida said a father and daughter were killed in an attack on their house in southern Jarahi district. In Taiz, shelling killed a man and wounded another, according to the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel.

Fighting has intensified recently along Yemen’s west coast near an important supply route.

The SABA news agency, controlled by Yemen’s internationally recognized government, later reported that the Yemeni military had taken control of Hais district in Hodeida, citing an unidentified military source as saying dozens of rebels were killed or wounded. There was no immediate Houthi comment.

Israeli strikes kill 3 people in Lebanon

Lebanon's Health Ministry said Israeli strikes killed three people and wounded nearly two dozen in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Israel's army said it struck positions of the Hezbollah militant group late Friday in response to a drone launched toward Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The drone was intercepted and no soldiers were injured, it said.

In June, Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-mediated framework deal under which Israeli forces are to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, but little progress has been made. Hezbollah has vehemently opposed the direct Lebanon-Israel talks.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel days after Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Israel invaded Lebanon and has since occupied a large swath of its south.

Egypt’s top diplomat discusses regional de-escalation

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Saturday called for the U.S. and Iran to return to the negotiating table. The comments came in separate phone calls with the foreign ministers of Bahrain and of Oman, which sits across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran.

Abdelatty urged prioritizing de-escalation, the Egyptian ministry said, and called for maintaining the safety of shipping through the strait, where traffic remains at reduced levels as Iran continues to assert control over the waterway.

In campaign ads airing everywhere from Georgia to Iowa, Republicans and Democrats are confronting the same enemy: data centers powering the artificial intelligence boom.

An NPR analysis of political advertising data from the firm AdImpact found that since January, campaigns and outside groups have spent more than $45 million on ads mentioning data centers in this year's gubernatorial, House and Senate races.

The two major parties driving that spending are largely making the same argument: the sprawling facilities get too many tax breaks, drive up electricity bills and need reining in.

From January to August, spending was nearly identical: over $22 million supported Republican candidates and more than $21 million for Democratic candidates, with independents driving the rest. Still, Democrats ran almost twice as many ads as Republicans — 127 compared to 67 — and spread their messaging across more states and races. The ads are clustered in states with competitive races, like Wisconsin and Michigan.

Mentions of data centers have grown from just a handful in ads from January, to 62 in June, more than 110 in July and about 164 in August, as the election draws nearer and the issue continues to heat up.

A June Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 77% of Americans are concerned about data centers raising electricity costs and two-thirds of Democrats and half of Republicans said they'd oppose a data center in their community.

This bipartisan anxiety helps explain why candidates in both parties are talking about the issue. Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising, said data centers give each side the talking points it wants.

Apart from a chance to talk about affordability, "Democrats can latch on to environmental concerns," Franz said, adding that for Republicans, criticizing data centers is a way "to go in opposition to big corporations, in opposition to a system that doesn't care about you."

Data centers are a unique issue where "MAGA Republicans and liberal Democrats" land in the same place, he said.

The convergence around affordability

Ads from both parties are tying data centers to rising energy costs.

A Believe in Wisconsin PAC ad for Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley, which the group spent $634,795 to air in August, promises that Crowley "will lower costs, make housing affordable, stop AI data centers from making your energy bills skyrocket."

Byron Donalds, Florida's Republican gubernatorial nominee, casts himself as a check on data centers, by vowing to "protect Florida families and communities from data centers that jack up utility rates and make everything else more expensive," and "fight for a ratepayer protection plan." The Friends of Byron Donalds PAC paid over $2.5 million to air the ad.

Similar ads have run in support of Democrat Rob Sand in Iowa and Republican Ty Masterson in Kansas.

A Republican Party operative spoke to NPR about this on condition of anonymity, and said the party is not commenting publicly on data centers because the views within the party vary. They said "The most popular answer that we've seen is: We could potentially have data centers as long as they pay for their own energy," adding that data centers are necessary to win the race against China "and increase jobs in local communities."

Similarly, Olivia Davis, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Governors Association said data centers are creating deep concerns around affordability and utility costs.

"That's why it's being included in paid media," she said.

Georgia and Ohio: where data centers take center stage

According to data from AdImpact, more than half of the GOP's spending on ads mentioning data centers has been in Georgia and the state has captured about 30% of total spending on data center ads.

Georgia's contest for governor is the race that has spent the most on ads mentioning data centers — $12.8 million across nine ads.

Six ads discouraged voters from backing Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones who lost the June runoff to healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson. The ads, some of which were run by Georgians for Integrity, a group that has dropped millions attacking Jones since 2025, used data centers as a bogeyman for Jones' alleged corruption.

In Ohio's U.S. Senate race, supporters of Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown have spent millions to describe his opponent, Republican Sen. Jon Husted, as the "the face of data centers," and accuse him of "giving corporations over $2.5 billion in out of control tax breaks and causing electric bills to spike by thousands of dollars."

Republicans are aware of the shifting tide. In an internal memo obtained by NPR and first reported by Axios, the National Republican Senatorial Committee singled out the Ohio race, called data centers a "sleeper issue for the entire election cycle," and warned the tech industry that a Husted loss would make politicians nationwide wary of them.

Husted isn't airing ads on the topic. He championed data centers as Ohio's lieutenant governor but has since introduced congressional legislation to protect ratepayers from the higher electric rates that data centers can cause.

In an interview with Spectrum News, Husted addressed a seeming shift in his position.

"It's not really a shift. I was always trying to hold these companies accountable by making them pay local property taxes," he said, also highlighting his push to require the companies to hire locally. "So this is very consistent for me, holding them accountable."

A local issue with national attention

The Ohio contest is a rare Senate race with heavy spending on ads mentioning data centers.

According to AdImpact data, gubernatorial races spent the most on such ads, about $32 million, with House races in second place, spending $8 million and Senate races coming in third at roughly $5.3 million.

"The federal government doesn't really play a role in permitting the construction of new data centers," said Darrell M. West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation and co-editor in chief of TechTank. "Governors are under a lot of pressure to slow the construction of new data centers just based on public opposition to them."

The issue, however, has spilled beyond gubernatorial races. In some of the country's marquee Senate contests, candidates such as Texas's Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico have said that Washington should step in.

The Republican turn against data centers is more striking because experts say that the party has positioned itself as pro-business. West said Republican incumbents and nominees "want to slow down the movement towards data centers because they can see so many of their own voters are opposed."

That leaves the party at odds with President Trump who has urged states to keep building data centers while admitting that they could "use a little public relations help."

"Trump seems oblivious to public opinion on a number of fronts," said West. "Typically, when the public shifts, politicians shift with them. Trump is not doing that on data centers."

Copyright 2026, NPR

Colson Montgomery hit a two-run homer and Erick Fedde pitched five sparkling innings, helping the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 on Friday night.

Miguel Vargas and Braden Montgomery also went deep for AL Central-leading Chicago, which had lost four of five. Kyle Teel went 0 for 3 in his return to the lineup after being sidelined by a sprained left ankle.

Josh Bell homered in the ninth inning for Minnesota. Kody Clemens had three of the Twins' eight hits.

Vargas connected in the first, and Braden Montgomery hit another solo shot in the second. Andrew Benintendi walked ahead of Colson Montgomery's 416-foot drive to right-center off Zebby Matthews in the fourth.

It was the 30th homer of the season for both Vargas and Colson Montgomery. Vargas' previous career high was 16 homers last year, and Montgomery went deep 21 times in 2025 in his first season in the majors.

Matthews (9-9) allowed four hits in five innings in his first loss since July 24. He went 5-0 with a 2.90 ERA in five August starts.

The 26-year-old right-hander also faced Chicago in his previous outing, surrendering one run in a career-high 8 1/3 innings in Minnesota's 5-1 win on Sunday.

Fedde (8-8) allowed three hits, struck out two and walked two. The right-hander pitched five innings of two-run ball in a 3-2 victory over the Twins in his previous start last weekend.

Hagen Smith pitched two innings for Chicago before Bryan Hudson handled the eighth. Grant Taylor allowed two hits in the ninth, including Bell's 18th homer, before Luke Keaschall flied to right for the final out, leaving two runners on.

A long-standing independent Native American newspaper has entered a new era after more than 45 years of publication.

The Circle was founded at the Minneapolis American Indian Center in 1980. Starting as a community bulletin, the newspaper transformed into a free monthly publication covering Native voices and stories.

The Circle announced key changes in its structure earlier this year — first, it would be under new leadership, and second, its traditional monthly newspaper would move to quarterly magazine releases.

Robert Pilot, a St. Paul resident and citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, took on the role of chief editor. Pilot is the founder and host of Native Roots Radio, a program launched on AM 950 nearly a decade ago. His background also spans teaching high school education and representing the Ho-Chunk Nation as an elected leader.

“My background is community and helping community,” Pilot said.

Leaders of The Circle say the move to a new model opens opportunities for innovation and creativity.

“I wanted to have it more like The New Yorker magazine, where people would save the art,” Pilot said. The Circle’s first volume featured Dakota artwork on its cover and Ojibwe artwork on the back cover.

The Circle’s most recent release nods to the Minnesota State Fair on its cover, showcasing imagery of popular fair foods. The overall theme, however, focuses on the start of the school year, which overlaps with the fair.

In addition to a quarterly magazine release, Pilot says daily news will be shared on the outlet’s website.

“There's so many people that are doing things and have been doing things for a long time that don't get noticed,” Pilot said. “We want to amplify that and amplify just what's happening in Indian Country.”

David Cournoyer is a board member of The Circle. He says the publication’s long-lasting relationship within the community has contributed to its longevity. Contributors and leadership are often seen in the community, fostering a foundation of trust.

“I think The Circle can say, 'We're not going anywhere.’ And that's a big deal,” Cournoyer said.

Pilot adds that he feels a sense of resurgence within the Native community, in which organizations and concepts are being revisited with inspiration from younger generations. While Pilot has stepped up as chief editor of The Circle for now, he hopes to move aside and let upcoming generations lead the way.

“I'm so excited to be able to, in a couple years, hand this off to somebody younger,” he said.

Alongside physical releases of The Circle, a digital copy will be available for download on the publication’s website.

“If you miss the magazine or if you're in a different state and you don't subscribe to it, you'll be able to see what's happening,” Pilot said. There is no charge to access the magazine in either physical or digital form.

Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.

Two months after lightning sparked wildfires that grew to cover tens of thousands of acres in the Boundary Waters, the national team managing firefighting efforts is ending its work in Minnesota.

On Monday, command of the firefighting effort will be transferred back to the Superior National Forest and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

That’s as recent rain has kept fire activity to a minimum. As of Friday, the remaining large wildfires were listed at 97 percent contained.

Crews have spent time using boats and helicopters to haul thousands of pounds of firefighting equipment and supplies back out of the wilderness. They’ve also spent time creating a fuel break along the Echo Trail, as a way to help contain future wildfires.

Authorities said that Friday “will be the first day since early July that no operations are needed in and around the BWCAW. Forest Service personnel will continue to patrol impacted areas by ground and air.”

Given the size of the wildfires, authorities have previously said that they expect them to continue smoldering until there’s snow on the ground.

Nickie Johnny, incident commander with the national team, shared a message to Ely and surrounding communities in a social media video posted Friday, as the team prepared to leave Minnesota.

“We are the last team here, and have done our best to close out all the land-use agreements and repair all the public lands that we have used. As you have already noticed, there are fewer and fewer firefighters, equipment and vehicles around the towns,” Johnny said. “We’d like to thank the towns of Ely, Cook, Winton, Crane Lake and Buyck, and all the other surrounding communities, for your support and your patience.”

As of Friday, the number of firefighters and support personnel working on the fires had dropped to fewer than 200 — down from well over 1,000 earlier this summer.

Most of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is back open to visitors, after the fires forced a temporary closure in July. The Superior National Forest said some additional entry points near Ely and Crane Lake will reopen next week.

A Department of Justice lawyer says Homeland Security Investigations agents didn’t violate a court order when they conducted surveillance in and around a Minneapolis church earlier this spring.

During a remote hearing held Friday, Richard C. Giles said the government should not be held in contempt. He said agents didn’t violate the order barring immigration enforcement action at University Baptist Church in Dinkytown, because they weren’t enforcing immigration law at the time.

Giles said the intent of the operation was “to protect federal officers.”

He added that the person they focused their attention on at the church, Cam Kennedy, is a “non-alien” and therefore was not the target of any immigration related enforcement.

In a court filing from earlier this week, Giles wrote that agents believed Kennedy “was planning a meeting at University Baptist Church to plan acts of violence against federal officers and employees.”

Kennedy and 14 other defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges that they conspired to impede or injure federal immigration enforcement agents.

University Baptist Church is part of the Alliance of Baptists and the American Baptist Churches USA, which both won the temporary injunction in the District of Massachusetts in February 2026 against the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies forbidding the department from taking “immigration enforcement action” at any of their churches. That injunction, signed by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, includes banning “arrest, seizure, search, interrogation, questioning, interview or investigation.”

Federal reports released in the conspiracy case against 15 anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota last month show that an undercover federal agent attended a training session of what the government described as a left-wing martial arts group in University Baptist Church’s gymnasium on May 28.

Alliance attorney Kevin Friedl wrote in a motion filed earlier this week that the government’s argument that agents weren’t enforcing immigration law is wrong.

“This argument is sophistry: Even in DHS’s telling, its immigration agents surveilled the church to investigate people believed to be thwarting immigration agents’ ability to enforce the immigration laws as part of a massive immigration enforcement operation. That investigation was plainly taken at least ‘in part’ to enforce the immigration laws.”

Judge Saylor said he’ll consider arguments, but didn’t offer a timeline for when he’ll make a ruling about the churches’ motion seeking to hold the government in contempt.

Reporter Jon Collins contributed to this story.

A group of Minneapolis doctors and gun violence prevention advocates are calling on the state to pass stricter gun laws after Wednesday’s shooting that killed three people.

Speaking to the press at Minneapolis City Hall Friday, several doctors who responded to the shooting said the violence is taking a toll on medical staff.

Mitch Radin is a doctor at Hennepin Healthcare who leads the organization’s critical incident support team.

“What happened at that apartment building was tragic,” Radin said. “What I want people to understand is that for those who responded to that scene and for those who received those patients at our hospital, gun violence, including mass casualty incidents, is something they are being asked to confront with increasing frequency.”

Advocates said the suspected shooter should not have been allowed to have a gun, after reportedly threatening several people with it months before the shooting.

Investigators identified the suspected shooter as 35-year-old Carlton Neal Johnson II, a resident of the Shoreline Plaza apartments where he opened fire. The state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension called the shooting a case of domestic violence that started during a custody handoff of a child.

Johnson shot and killed two residents of the building. He shot and injured several others, including the mother of the child, two employees and two police officers. Johnson was killed by Minneapolis police in an exchange of gunfire, according to the BCA.

Police and county prosecutors were already familiar with Johnson. He had previously made threats against other residents in the apartment, according to law enforcement officials. That prompted managers at the Shoreline Plaza apartments to start the process of evicting Johnson earlier this summer — but he was still living in the building at the time of the shooting.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said they investigated reports of Johnson making threats in June but said there was not enough evidence to charge him. Prosecutors said there also was not enough evidence to order his guns taken away under the state’s red flag law.

That policy allows law enforcement and members of a person’s household to petition a court to issue an extreme risk protection order, allowing law enforcement to temporarily take someone’s firearms, if they believe that person to be a danger to themselves or others.

State Sen. Scott Dibble said that red flag law could use updates to make it easier to enforce, and to make sure law enforcement moves quickly to confiscate weapons.

“This tragedy tells us that we must strengthen that ERPO law, how it is used, make sure law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, families, communities have effective tools to intervene before threats become funerals,” Dibble said.

DFL legislators attempted to enact more gun legislation this year. The Minnesota Senate approved a bill in May that included new restrictions on assault-style weapons and sales of “ghost guns” without serial numbers. It also included school safety and mental health funding. It passed narrowly along party lines in the Senate but didn’t pass the House.

Maggiy Emery is the executive director of Protect Minnesota, a statewide gun violence prevention advocacy group. She said first responders need the help of stronger gun laws to prevent violence.

“We cannot ask these people to simply absorb this forever,” Emery said. “We cannot continue to normalize the trauma of children being shot at school. We cannot continue to normalize police officers being shot while responding to a shooting.”

Tim Kummer, an emergency physician who responded to Wednesday’s shooting, had advocated for that bill, too. Speaking Friday, he said it’s still needed.

“Being back up here one year after Annunciation, knowing really nothing has changed, it does make me wonder: Do those who can make a change actually care about the toll that this takes on us?” Kummer said. “I don't know what it'll take for something to change, but… it should not take another year. It should not take another mass shooting. It should not take one more victim.”

And he said responding to those violent incidents takes a toll on the mental health of his colleagues.

“None of us are okay,” he said.

Dibble said the Legislature will likely revisit gun laws this year. He said it’s too early to know exactly what those proposals might be — and what might have a chance of passing.

A federal indictment unsealed Friday includes new details about a shooting in which an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent wounded a young Venezuelan man after firing a round through the closed door of his home during the Trump administration’s immigration operation in Minnesota.

Agent Christian Castro is charged with making materially false statements to the FBI following the Jan. 14 incident. Julio Sosa Celis, 24, suffered a gunshot wound to his leg.

Castro fired the shot after chasing a vehicle driven by Sosa Celis’ roommate Alfredo Aljorna that ended at their north Minneapolis duplex.

Two days after the shooting, federal prosecutors relied on Castro’s narrative to charge Aljorna and Sosa Celis with assaulting a federal agent. Prosecutors dropped the charges in February after video from the city’s Milestone surveillance cameras showed that the men had not assaulted anyone.

Federal prosecutors had considered more serious civil rights charges against Castro but ultimately chose to present only the false statements case to a grand jury in Minneapolis, which returned the indictment on Wednesday. While the government moved quickly to charge Aljorna and Sosa Celis, the charges against Castro come more than seven months after the incident.

The government alleges that Castro told six separate lies to an FBI agent, including that an unknown man grabbed a red broom and began hitting him with it; a third, nonexistent man struck Castro with a black snow shovel; Aljorna hit Castro with a red broom; Castro tried to block strikes from the broom; fired while on his back “in the general direction of the men” as they were running toward the house; and had tangled with Aljorna on the ground for three minutes. The video shows Castro fighting with Aljorna for just 11 seconds, and Castro is seen shooting at the door from a standing position.

The indictment notes that Castro joined ICE in September 2025 after serving about eight years as a Border Patrol agent. In a statement to MPR News on Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security said that Castro has been suspended without pay and that “[l]ying under oath is a serious federal offense.”

Castro, 52, turned himself in to federal authorities in Texas, where he had spent three months in jail awaiting extradition on state-level assault charges from Hennepin County. Castro was released from jail Aug. 27 after Gov. Greg Abbott did not approve an extradition request from Minnesota, and a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, declined to force the Republican governor’s hand following a lawsuit by DFL Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Castro made his initial appearance in a McAllen, Texas federal courtroom on Friday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan Alanis ordered Castro’s release on $75,000 unsecured bond and is requiring Castro to turn in his passport and submit to GPS location monitoring. Castro is scheduled to appear in Minnesota federal court on Sept. 18.

While the federal case will likely take priority, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said that it will expedite Castro’s return to Minnesota.

“Despite Gov. Abbott’s best efforts to shield Mr. Castro, we will see him soon,” Moriarty, a DFLer, said in a statement.

The case marks the first time a federal agent has been charged in federal court in connection with Operation Metro Surge. Authorities have given no indication whether they plan to file charges against the agents who fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January.

In a statement to MPR News on Thursday, Sosa Celis’ attorney Robin Wolpert said that the charges against Castro are inadequate.

“Mr. Castro has been indicted for making false statements,” Wolpert writes. “But he made them to cover up the fact that he shot my client through the door of an occupied house without a self-defense justification. Although the evidence strongly supports civil rights charges, the federal government has grossly undercharged this case. Mr. Sosa Celis wants Mr. Castro to be held fully accountable for his crimes.”

The ACLU of Minnesota said in a separate statement that it plans to help Sosa Celis seek financial damages from the federal government.

For nine years, Cristina Flores helped patients navigate a healthcare system that was often difficult to access, especially for people without stable housing, transportation or insurance.

At Minnesota Community Care’s La Clinica on St. Paul’s West Side, Flores worked as a medical case manager until she left the organization in 2025.

During her time at the clinic, as more people experienced homelessness near downtown St. Paul and tested positive for HIV, Flores and her fellow case managers recognized their approach needed to change.

Instead of waiting for patients to come to La Clinica, they brought care directly to them.

Each week, Flores traveled two miles from La Clinica to MCC’s Downtown Clinic, located within Catholic Charities’ Dorothy Day Residence and the St. Paul Opportunity Center. There, she coordinated care for patients who often had few other ways to access it.

Flores helped patients get tested for sexually transmitted infections and HIV, resolve insurance issues, obtain medications and contraceptives, and stay connected to ongoing care.

Now, the Downtown Clinic is gone.

MCC, the state’s largest federally qualified health center, which provides affordable healthcare to everyone regardless of health insurance status or ability to pay, closed two of its community health center sites in early July: the Downtown Clinic and the St. Paul Wellness Hub.

The closures come as MCC faces mounting financial pressure and prepares for expected cuts to Medicaid, the joint state and federal health insurance program for low-income individuals and people with disabilities.

For patients already facing barriers to healthcare, the changes have created another obstacle in accessing services.

Both the clinic and Hub offered a comprehensive range of medical services, including routine exams, urgent care, immunizations, preventive screenings, lab draws, X-rays, simple medical procedures, and chronic disease management. The Hub also had a pharmacy, allowing patients to pick up medications without traveling to MCC’s La Clinica or Eastside Clinic.

“It’s just a huge loss to the community,” Flores said. “It was something that was very beneficial to the homeless community.”

A safety net under strain

Federally qualified health centers, know as community health centers, offer primary care and a variety of services to individuals who have limited access to healthcare, including uninsured and underinsured patients, immigrants, migrant workers, and those living in public housing or experiencing homelessness.

Services are either free or based on a sliding fee scale. Community health centers receive federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, as well as reimbursements from programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which is referred to as Medical Assistance in Minnesota.

Renee Leinbach, interim president and executive officer at MCC, said the organization is under increasing financial pressure as patient revenue becomes less reliable and expenses continue to rise.

MCC consolidated its downtown services to its La Clinica location, a move expected to reduce overhead by eliminating rent for the two closed sites.

“It’s exceedingly challenging from a financial standpoint to be in safety net healthcare,” Leinbach said. “There’s never much of a margin in it, and that’s on a good day. And it’s not actually a really good day for us financially.”

MCC, she said, has had to make tough choices to remain financially viable.

“We’ve got to make some very serious and difficult decisions just to make sure we’re still here,” Leinbach said. “And some of that includes really challenging decisions, like closing clinics.”

About 14 percent of MCC’s total revenue originates from a federal subsidy, while Ramsey County contributes less than 1 percent and the state contributes less than 2 percent. The majority of the organization’s revenue comes from patient care, according to Leinbach.

At the same time, MCC has to maintain enough staff to serve its patients. Personnel account for roughly 75 percent of the organization’s expenses.

“It’s a very careful balance in making sure that you have everybody that you need to care for your patients to the best of your ability without sort of breaking that financial bank,” Leinbach said.

MCC served about 30,000 unique patients across all its health centers in 2025, totaling more than 80,000 visits. About one-third of those patients were uninsured, Leinbach said, while others had insurance but faced high deductibles.

And the financial strain extends beyond MCC to all 19 Minnesota community health centers.

Leinbach noted that community health centers throughout the state experienced double-digit negative margins in both 2023 and 2024.

MCC is also preparing for Medicaid cuts expected to begin in October and accelerate in January. Leinbach estimates that about 6,000 MCC patients could lose insurance as a result of H.R. 1, President Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill that was signed into law last July. Minnesota health officials project that in total 140,000 Minnesotans could become uninsured and potentially turn to community health centers for care.

“It’s a pretty bleak future, actually, for community health centers that really depend on Medicaid as their primary revenue source, which we do,” Leinbach said.

Moving care farther away

The financial pressures come as MCC is trying to keep patients connected to care.

Patient visits at La Clinica have decreased, which Leinbach said was partly related to immigration enforcement activity. Encampment closings in St. Paul have also displaced some patients, making outreach more difficult, even as MCC has continued to send mobile health teams to people living outside or in shelters.

MCC has served the community for more than six decades. About 85 percent of the patient population consists of people of color, and 98 percent have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

For many, getting to a clinic is not simply a matter of scheduling an appointment. Transportation remains one of MCC’s biggest challenges following the downtown closures.

Rising medical costs are also causing some patients to delay care, said Jennifer Vickers, a nurse practitioner and director of healthcare for the homeless and substance use disorder clinic at La Clinica.

“They just don't have the funds to allocate towards that, so they come to us sicker,” Vickers said. “And when that happens, they're already past that preliminary baseline and then those healthcare costs just start snowballing.”

Vickers said the closures have made the situation worse. The clinic received about 500 MyChart messages from patients asking where MCC staff would be after the move.

Maintaining that connection matters, she said, especially for patients who have experienced medical trauma or developed distrust of the healthcare system.

“For a lot of our patients, this is the stablest place they have,” Vickers said. “They know us. They know our faces. They know our staff.”

A broader warning

The challenges facing MCC reflect the broader pressures community health centers are experiencing throughout the country.

Johnathan Watson, CEO of the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, said these centers play a crucial role by combining medical, behavioral health and dental services in one location, making healthcare more accessible to underserved communities.

He noted that if clinics close or reduce services, it will potentially lead to more avoidable emergency room visits and expensive inpatient care.

Watson said multiple factors have contributed to declining community health center revenue. People are visiting healthcare providers less frequently than they used to, Medicaid work requirements are going into effect, Congress did not extend tax credits that had helped people afford private insurance, and immigrant communities in the Twin Cities are experiencing a significant “chilling effect” around accessing healthcare.

“It is that classic case of supply and demand,” he said.

For Flores, the consequences of losing the downtown clinic are personal.

She recently ran into a former patient at El Burrito Mercado. He told her how difficult it had been to find a clinic, a pharmacy and someone who could understand him without relying on an interpreter.

It was a reminder of what Flores said is lost when care becomes harder to reach.

“If you know the history of La Clinica and how it was built, then you know it wasn't ever about money” she said. “It was for patients who didn't have insurance, who didn't have access.”

Minnesota officials can fine technology companies that enable creation of AI-generated nude images of real people in violation of a new state law, after a federal judge declined to put it on hold as a lawsuit proceeds.

The ruling by Judge Donovan Frank goes against xAI, the company associated with Elon Musk that now is under the SpaceXAI name. It sued in July claiming Minnesota was infringing on free speech. The case itself is still pending, but the decision permits state regulators to impose fines of $500,000 per violation in the meantime.

“The state has enacted, democratically and nearly unanimously, a civil statute aimed at protecting the public from the undisputed harm stemming from AI-nudification technology and the resulting proliferation of photorealistic sexualized images,” the judge wrote.

He acknowledged the constitutional issues “are complex, particularly when considered in the context of this new technology and the risks that it poses to the public.” He said the matter will be fully examined as the case proceeds.

Frank’s ruling notes the financial and psychological harm to people who are portrayed in the fake images of their intimate body parts. AI has also been used to create child sexual abuse materials. He said xAI waited too long to bring its lawsuit, which was filed just ahead of the Aug. 1 effective date.

Attorney General Keith Ellison said the ease of generating the images creates the potential for harm, particularly when it relates to child sex abuse materials.

“That repulsive behavior is not welcome in Minnesota,” Ellison said Friday. “My office and I will continue to vigorously defend the law and the Minnesotans it was designed to protect from xAI’s lawsuit.”

Attorneys for the company filed a notice it would seek review of the injunction by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In prior arguments to the court, xAI said it would suspend features for Minnesota users out of concern it would be fined.

A state motion to dismiss the company’s lawsuit is pending.

Federal prosecutors are seeking a sentence of five years in prison for former Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn, after he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a child solicitation sting operation.

The sentence prosecutors are seeking goes beyond the sentencing guidelines, which call for him to be imprisoned for 15 to 21 months.

In a court filing this week, prosecutors said Eichorn poses a danger to the public, particularly to children, and that “a significant term of imprisonment is necessary to punish the defendant’s crimes, and to account for the inestimable damage he attempted.”

Eichorn, a Republican from Grand Rapids, was indicted on federal charges last year for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. He had contacted a phone number in an online prostitution ad. The person who answered said they were a 17-year-old girl, but they were actually an undercover detective. Eichorn asked the person for photos of herself, and made a plan to meet her for sex. He was arrested on his way to the meeting location.

Eichorn resigned from the Legislature shortly after his arrest.

After reaching a deal with prosecutors, Eichorn pleaded guilty in May to lesser charges of attempted possession of child sexual abuse material. He had previously pleaded not guilty to the coercion and enticement charges, which would have carried a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years.

Eichorn’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 23.

Tamara Sawyer fled her home Sunday after she was subjected to harassment and doxing after a piece she had entered in the Minnesota State Fair Crop Art Competition went viral. Sawyer told MPR News that her photo, home address, email, phone number and employer were shared online. The number “86” commonly means to remove or get rid of something, but some critics interpreted Sawyer’s use of it alongside “47” as a call to kill President Donald Trump.

“It was all veiled death threats, like, ‘Oh, let's 86 Tamara Sawyer. Here's her address,’ Sawyer said. “I'm not worried about 99.9 percent of the people. The ones that I'm worried about are the ones that mistakenly think I threatened their president, and now they're going to come pay me a visit and either kill me or hurt me or terrorize me or whatever, and that is terrifying.”

Sawyer said she had no intention of threatening the president. She said she was expressing her desire to see President Trump impeached and removed from office for sending thousands of federal immigration enforcement agents to Minnesota for Operation Metro Surge.

This is the first time Sawyer had entered anything in the fair. The Minnesota State Fair has declined to comment for this story.

Sawyer’s crop art submission said “8647” using mung, black and red beans as well as ground white corn. Sawyer said she was using the phrase "86” as the term that’s commonly used in restaurants and bars: to indicate that a menu item is no longer available, removing something from an order or eject an unruly patron.

“If you're at a restaurant and a customer doesn't want onions on their plate, the term for that is ‘86 the onions.’ It doesn't mean you go kill the onions; it's don't put them on the plate,” Sawyer said. “It was a direct meaning of ‘Impeach Trump.’ I don't want him dead. I actually want him impeached, and I want him in jail, and I want him to see the damage that he’s done.”

Each crop art piece displayed at the fair must have a legend card with the seeds and plant parts used. Sawyer said her card was difficult to see because the artwork hung high on the wall. The card explained the meaning of the artwork.

The grits that make up the slab of ice represented federal agents, and the different beans represented different communities targeted by ICE, Sawyer said.

“The mung beans represent the Asian population because they were definitely targeted. The black beans represent the Black and brown populations,” Sawyer said. “The red beans did represent blood. That's one thing that they had correct online. However, it did not represent President Trump's blood. It represents the blood that was spilled on the streets of Minnesota by crimes perpetrated by ICE, so that was hugely symbolic.”

The inspiration for the piece was two-fold. Sawyer was part of a group of community members who patrolled their neighborhood observing ICE activity.

“I did that for weeks, and what I saw on the news, and what I saw myself was very upsetting and heartbreaking,” Sawyer said. She got the idea for the design from the image former FBI director James Comey shared on his social media of shells on a beach spelling out “8647.” Comey has been indicted by the Justice Department for threatening the president.

Sawyer said she first learned about the backlash when a friend texted her on the first Friday of the fair with a link to a Facebook post by Alpha News about her crop art. That night she tried to shut down all of her social media but someone had already taken a screenshot of her LinkedIn page. Sawyer, a public employee, said the crop art was done in her personal time.

On Saturday, Aug. 29, Sawyer said that Marta Shore, the fair’s crop art and scarecrow superintendent, contacted her to see whether she was OK. Then her artwork went viral on X and other social media, and that’s when the doxing began.

On Sunday, Sawyer called Shore to request removal of her artwork because she was no longer feeling safe. Shore acted immediately, Sawyer said, and removed the piece from the wall, and people took photos of her doing it. Those photos also went viral.

“It just slammed me,” Sawyer said. “I didn't expect to see it on social media, and I didn't expect to see it in all these other places, and it hit the news magazines and the newspapers, that same photo, and that was really painful.”

Sawyer added, “I mean I was excited. I'd never put anything in the fair before, and this was really cool. And it was my statement against ICE. And then here I'm getting all these death threats, and now I'm seeing the picture of her on the ladder taking it down.”

Sawyer was not the only fair artist to respond to Operation Metro Surge. There were so many artworks on the topic that cropart.com created a new section just for tributes to what they are calling the “Minnesota Resistance.” In fact, artists and crafters across the fair responded to the surge, from the Fine Arts exhibition to the Creative Activities building.

There were also other political works. A piece that said, in stark black and white, “Fauci Lied” hung directly below Sawyer’s artwork, and another piece depicted President Trump as Jesus.

Crop Art

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Sawyer said her family, friends, employer, the fair and the crop art community have all been “extremely supportive,” so she is already planning the crop artwork she will submit next year.

“I’ve contacted a friend of mine who's really good at drawing, and she is drawing it up. I will be back next year,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer, however, said she hoped that the fair would update rules to shield crop artists from harassment.

“The protections that I'd like to see to protect crop artists would be the option to opt out of having their name on the piece or using a first name only to give them some anonymity,” Sawyer said. She said the city listed for each artist should also be optional.

In the meantime, Sawyer said she is not ready to return home.

“I need my life back, and I don't know when I’ll feel safe enough to go home,” Sawyer said. “I'm trying to take some steps, and do some mental health healing and other stuff, but it has totally disrupted my life at this point, and I don't feel safe going home.”

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is retiring at the end the year, bringing to a close her seven-plus years at the helm of the league and a stewardship that has been transformative and at times tumultuous.

Engelbert is the second-longest tenured WNBA president or commissioner, and she helped negotiate a lucrative collective bargaining agreement this past spring that resulted in the league's first set of million-dollar player salaries.

“Cathy has presided over the WNBA through the most significant period of growth in the league’s 30-year history,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday when announcing Engelbert's decision. “We are grateful for Cathy’s leadership and unwavering commitment to the advancement of women’s basketball.”

Engelbert, who turns 62 in November, told The Associated Press that she has been thinking about retiring for months.

“When I first came to the league I intended to do this for 3 1/2 years,” she said in a phone interview. “The 7 1/2 years exceeded that time. This is a really good time given the financial transformation journey we've been on. Getting the collective bargaining agreement done, getting a long-term media rights deal done, getting expansion done.”

Engelbert insists that the decision to leave was solely her own and that she did not feel any pressure to step down from NBA or WNBA stakeholders.

Engelbert: Several unidentified successors on league's radar

The commissioner said she has been working on a succession plan over the last few years. While she didn’t give any specifics on who might be considered for the position, Engelbert did say there are both internal and external potential candidates on the league’s radar.

“It’s a good time to hand it off to the next leader to take the ‘W’ into a better phase,” she said. “I’m proud of the team we built and everything we accomplished. A leader knows when it’s time to drop the mic and move on after building a powerhouse team in the league office.”

Engelbert said she has mixed emotions about leaving.

“I love women's basketball and am not going anywhere yet. We'll run a real succession process in the remaining four months. If we don't find someone I'll stay on," she said. "I had no transition. I walked in the door and I was by myself as no one transitioned me into this role.

"Hopefully I can help this next leader transition in especially considering the elevation of this league."

The WNBA has grown at an exponential rate during Engelbert’s tenure as commissioner, with record television ratings, strong attendance, a new long-term media rights deal and expansion to 18 teams by the end of the decade.

“I was brought in as a business leader to transform the business,” she said. “I look at revenue and merchandise, viewership and attendance,” she said, noting how they've all improved. “A great leader senses when it’s time for someone else to come in. When I came in, this league was facing questions about our long-term viability and sustainability.”

Turmoil and tension part of Engelbert's tenure

Engelbert said the growth of the league has “blown away her expectations” since she stepped into her role after leaving her previous position as president of Deloitte in 2019.

Besides the new CBA, the list of things she is most proud of includes getting charter travel for players, keeping the league going during the coronavirus pandemic, the historic media rights deal and exponential increase in the value of of WNBA franchises. In 2019, the average value of a WNBA franchise was $10 million; in 2026, it is about $460 million.

Along with the financial gains, however, turmoil and tension have accompanied the WNBA’s growth.

Players say they have seen more social media vitriol directed toward them over the last few years and some don't feel the league has done enough to ensure their safety. The league also has been at the center of discussions about transgender athletes playing in the league.

Engelbert has repeatedly said the online attacks of players are unacceptable and she backs league initiatives to protect players. She also said there should be no confusion on the transgender question.

“We have no current eligibility issues in the WNBA," Engelbert said, adding that “if we did, we would have a thoughtful policy discussion with the (players' association) and the players.”

While there was a strained partnership between the commissioner and players during the recent CBA negotiations, Engelbert insists she has a good relationship with them.

Talks between the commissioner and players have been complicated.

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, vice president of the WNBA players’ union executive committee, said before the All-Star Game that there is a respect for Engelbert among the players, just not much of a relationship.

What's next in Engelbert's future?

Engelbert said she is ready to do what most retirees plan: spend more time with family.

She also admitted that the online hate she receives has affected her family as well, though she did not share details of the impact.

“There have been some hard parts of that on my family with the vitriol and hate I get online,” Engelbert said.

Her retirement will make her mother happy.

“My mom is turning 90 this year, and she said that ‘it would be good if you were retired to spend more time with me,'" Engelbert said, laughing. “I have two children, one I barely see.

"I’m one of eight kids (and I) have five brothers. They always say can you retire so you can spend more time with us."

Come Jan. 1, her family will get its wish.

Javon Tracy set the program record with two punts for touchdowns and Darius Taylor rushed for three first-half scores as Minnesota opened with a 59-7 romp past FCS opponent Eastern Illinois on Thursday.

Drake Lindsey completed 19 of 24 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown to tight end Pierce Walsh, who posted his first career score with six seconds left before halftime to give the Gophers a 35-7 lead.

Backup quarterback Max Shikenjanski and deep reserve Xavier Ford each had rushing touchdowns in the second half and Daniel Jackson made his first college field goal on a night full of highlights for the home team, as head coach P.J. Fleck's 10th season started with ease.

Tracy, who also had five receptions for 98 yards in the first half, fielded four of the nine punts by Cade Cox and totaled 167 return yards in assuming the role held last season by safety Koi Perich, who transferred to Oregon.

“His vision is so good,” Fleck said.

Taylor had 56 yards on 14 rushes and 31 yards on three catches, becoming only the second running back in program history to reach the 100-reception mark for his career. After an uncharacteristically lackluster 2025 season running the ball, ranking last in the Big Ten, the Gophers are determined to not only re-establish Taylor as one of the conference's premier rushers but find ways to get him the ball in the air.

“It’s really cool to just be a part of an offense like this,” Taylor said.

The Gophers matched their second-largest margin of victory under Fleck, behind the 66-0 win over Northwestern State last season. They beat Western Illinois 62-10 in 2022. All three of those teams are in the second-tier FCS. Minnesota’s last such loss was to North Dakota State in 2011.

Tyren Buggs caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Cole LaCrue in the second quarter for the Panthers (1-1), who beat Murray State 28-14 in their opener last week.

Javon Tracy sets program record

Tracy set Minnesota’s single-game record with two punt return touchdowns in the season opener against Eastern Illinois, an 87-yard runback for a score in the first quarter and a 69-yarder in the third quarter on Thursday night.

Tracy had the first punt return touchdown for the Gophers in eight years when he fielded a 55-yard kick near the right sideline late in the first quarter and sprinted along a wall of blockers untouched into the end zone.

The fifth-year wide receiver, an Indianapolis native who's in his second season at Minnesota after transferring from Miami (Ohio), then caught a 48-yard kick early in the third quarter near the right sideline. He made two stutter-step moves to evade would-be tacklers before veering left and racing down the field to give the Gophers a 42-7 lead. Starting safety Kerry Brown delivered a key block at the 36-yard line to clear the path.

“It was easy for me,” Tracy said. “Everybody else did their job.”

Tracy didn't find out until last week that he would start as the primary punt returner, a decision by the coaching staff that proved prescient.

Fleck's hire of new special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato also looked sharp on this night.

“It’s one game and it’s two returns, but it’s the way the players play for him, it’s the detail, it’s the schemes, it’s his energy, it’s his meetings,” Fleck said, “just how he’s brought the entire team together.”

Da Prato, who's in his 23rd season as a coach and will turn 45 next month, received a game ball from Fleck as a representative of all of the new assistants on staff.

“He's so passionate about the game,” Tracy said. “I'm not sure how old he is, but he acts like he's 21.”

Tracy also caught five passes for 98 yards, all in the first half. He had a 55-yard reception in the second quarter to the 1-yard line, running a corner route for a leaping catch at the 37 before breaking four tackles. The play was called a touchdown on the field, before a replay review ruled that Tracy's knee touched the turf before the goal line as he tried to duck-walk across the plane while the last defender dragged him down.

In tribute to his new role on special teams, Tracy racked up 60 yards after the catch.

“That’s the part of my game that I value the most, making guys miss,” Tracy said.

The last Minnesota player with a punt return touchdown was Demetrius Douglas on Nov. 24, 2018, at Wisconsin. The last Big Ten player with two punt returns for scores in the same game was Penn State's Daequan Hardy on Oct. 14, 2023, against Massachusetts.

The Big Ten record book has three others who've logged two punt return touchdowns in a game: Kevonte Martin-Manley for Iowa against Western Michigan on Sept. 21, 2013; Garcia Lane for Ohio State against Purdue on Oct. 8, 1983; and Earl Girard for Wisconsin against Iowa on Nov. 8, 1947.

Midwest Dairy’s All-You-Can-Drink Milk stand has operated at a loss since it opened at the Minnesota State Fair in 1955. That’s by design: Minnesota dairy farmers subsidize the stand to keep milk cheap and get it into the hands of fairgoers.

More than 1,500 Minnesota dairy farmers sponsor the stand as a promotional opportunity, allowing Midwest Dairy to keep prices low, according to CEO Corey Scott.

“The opportunity to get milk in fairgoers’ hands is far more important to us than the dollars it takes,” Scott said.

When the stand opened, it charged 10 cents for a bottomless 12-ounce cup of milk, but prices increased. And two years ago, Midwest Dairy increased the price from $2 to $3.

“If you look at our pricing structure, we raise the price about once every decade, which is pretty remarkable,” she said. “If you look across the fair, that’s pretty unheard of, we’re still the most economic item to get here at the State Fair.”

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Scott said the booth sells hundreds of thousands of cups every year and serves 20,000 gallons of milk throughout the fair. All the milk is provided by dairy farmers in the state, including Sauk Centre’s Kate McAndrews, who said she has produced over 12,000 gallons of milk for the stand over the last 20 years.

“We’re very happy to subsidize or to work with the farmers of Minnesota to help make that very affordable for consumers here at the fair,” McAndrews said.

McAndrews said it was a “wonderful” feeling knowing thousands of people are consuming milk from her farm.

“To think that people seek that out and that they want to go back for another beverage or two, but then also to know that what they’re drinking is so healthy — it is just pure milk, so that’s probably the best feeling of all,” she said.

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Most of the staff who run the booth are unpaid volunteers, Scott said. These include co-workers and friends, Erica Elwell and Mary Hedges, who have volunteered at the stand for nearly 12 years.

“I love milk, I love what it does for people, and I’m super excited to be a part of that, so that's something that I feel good serving and that I enjoy,” Elwell said.

Hedges said she loves seeing people she recognizes come back year after year to the stand.

“And I do really like when the teenage boys try to see how many cups they can drink at a time and kind of egg each other on; that's always fun,” Hedges said. “We even had one kid today that was just like chug, chug, chug, and I think he had up to eight cups right in a row.”

Bill Bibisheimer has been buying the stand’s bottomless 12-ounce cup for 40 years. He said he drinks five to six cups of milk every year.

“When I first started coming here, it was a dime,” he said. “I remember when it went to a quarter and then 50 cents; I remember it was two bucks, now it’s three.”

Although he remembers it being 10 cents, the price increase never deters him from what he said is a “State Fair tradition.”

“My two daughters were here with their kids just a little bit ago, so it becomes a tradition at the fair,” he said. “People come to the fair; they either want, you know, be it fried pickles or corn or turkey on a stick. Well, this is my thing right here. I will not come to the fair without stopping here; it’s just a ritual thing.”

You have until Labor Day to grab your glass.

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Newly released data shows that Minnesota has been losing hospital-based obstetrics services at a faster rate than most states in the country, increasing the health risks facing people who are pregnant.

The data analysis by University of Minnesota’s Rural Health Research Center, a national authority on maternal health care access, found that, in 2010, 77 percent of Minnesota hospitals had labor and delivery services. By the end of 2024, 29 hospitals had closed their obstetrics units, leaving just 56 percent of hospitals with labor and delivery units statewide.

Minnesota is one of only eight states and the District of Columbia that lost more than 20 percent of hospital-based obstetric services in that timeframe. It’s part of a nationwide trend of hospitals closing birthing centers across the U.S, especially in rural areas, where labor and delivery units tend to be too expensive to staff for the relatively few babies delivered each year.

University of Minnesota public health professor Katy Kozhimannil, who coauthored the paper, said these closures have dangerous consequences.

“The loss of hospital-based obstetric services is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, especially in the more remote rural communities and rural counties,” Kozhimannil said. “And this is important because preterm birth is one of the leading causes of infant mortality.”

One reason hospitals in Minnesota are closing down birthing centers at a higher rate than other states is because more hospitals here had labor and delivery units to begin with.

But across the state, and the entire country, obstetrics units, especially in rural areas where birth rates are lower, increasingly cannot pay for themselves. Kozhimannil explained that a greater proportion of patients treated at rural hospitals tend to be on Medicaid, which doesn’t pay as much for labor and delivery services as most private health insurance plans. And rural hospitals also deliver fewer babies overall, so there’s less revenue coming in to pay for fully staffed labor and delivery services.

“There are fixed costs associated with [running an obstetrics unit,]” Kozhimannil said. “Having the beds available for those services, having an operating room in case you need to do a cesarean delivery, and having clinicians, doctors, and nurses and midwives that are there and able to provide the services that are needed during childbirth — the cost of providing all of that needs to be paid every single day, regardless of how many births there are.”

Many of the most recent obstetrics unit closures in Minnesota are concentrated in rural areas. Over the last two years, Mayo Clinic Health System closed its labor and delivery units in its Fairmont and New Prague hospitals in southern Minnesota. Essentia Health closed its obstetrics unit at its hospital in Fosston in northern Minnesota in 2024. And late last year, Mayo Clinic announced it would no longer provide labor and delivery services at Owatonna’s hospital.

According to an MPR News analysis of the University of Minnesota’s rural research center county-level data, 707,000 Minnesotans — nearly one in eight residents in the state — live in a county with no hospital-based obstetrics services.

Kozhimannil said her research shows that pregnant people living in areas without hospital-based obstetrics services also have less access to other prenatal and postpartum services, including breastfeeding and lactation support, midwifery care and doula services.

The situation is particularly concerning in rural Minnesota.

However, even after these hospital-based labor and delivery unit closures, Kozhimannil said Minnesota still has more of them than many other states. As of 2024, more than half of Minnesota’s hospitals still had obstetrics-based services, which is more than the national average. In neighboring North Dakota, for example, 71 percent of its hospitals do not provide labor and delivery services.

In spite of the obstacles present in rural areas, some hospitals are not only able to keep labor and delivery services going, but have thriving birthing centers. For example, Allina Health ended labor and delivery at its Faribault clinic but shifted its physicians and nurses to its nearby Owatonna hospital after Mayo Clinic ended its coverage of the Owatonna maternity ward last November.

And last year, United Hospital District (UHD) in Blue Earth, just north of the Iowa border, more than doubled the number of babies it delivered compared to five years ago. UHD makes it work by cross-training its staff so they can work in other medical units when they’re not needed in labor and delivery, which helps the rural hospital reduce the otherwise high staffing costs.

Northfield Hospital + Clinics and CCM Health in western Minnesota told MPR News they are having similar success with increasing numbers of baby deliveries.

But to prevent more hospitals in Minnesota and across the country from closing labor and delivery services, and to ensure that rural families in particular have access to this essential maternal care, Kozhimannil said that the current health care system needs substantial change.

“The loss of obstetric care in any community is deeply important to the people who live there. If it's a fundamental piece of public health infrastructure, we should be paying for it in that way,” Kozhimannil said. “That, I think, is a broader challenge than any one patient or clinician or community, but together it's a conversation that I think we can start to have.”

MN Shortlist is the MPR News weekly roundup of arts and culture recommendations. This week’s picks include a woodsy art exhibition at a Shoreview museum, art show for the 40th Duluth-Superior Pride and more.

‘Meet Me in the Forest’ at the Cafesjian Art Trust Museum in Shoreview — Through Feb. 27

After a record-hot sweltering summer, nothing sounds better than stepping into the cool, dark woods. The promo image for the “Meet Me in the Forest” exhibition is a glazed ceramic painting called “Trauma” by artist Amanda Michelle Smith. It’s an enticing rabbit hole, an artwork that feels part “Alice in Wonderland,” part psychedelia, and all woodsy fairy tale. Wild, dark and sweet nature beckons in the exhibition’s artworks from oil paintings to glass sculpture, the latter of which the museum is known for. “Nature in this exhibition isn’t just a backdrop or landscape, but instead a main character in these stories artists want to share with us,” said co-curator Jill Ahlberg Yohe in a statement. The show is also part of the nationwide initiative “Handwork: Celebrating American Craft” for the U.S. semiquincentennial. (Alex V. Cipolle)

National Park System artist-in-residence at Grand Portage National Monument — Through Sept. 12

Grand Portage National Monument and the Grand Marais Art Colony invite the public to two free upcoming events with inaugural artist-in-residence Sofia Vanderlan. The Artist-in-Residence Program, which started this year, brings in local artists to create work inspired by the monument’s landscape, collections and Ojibwe cultural heritage.

Vanderlan, a descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, is a beadwork artist. She will hold a demonstration at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Grand Marais Art Colony. Vanderlan says she is excited to honor her family and heritage through sharing her artistic knowledge.

“Beadwork is a way for me to express joy,” she said. “My goal when I create pieces is for people to feel that as well and also find belonging in a way with the pieces that I create.”

Vanderlan will do art demonstrations at the monument 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, and Tuesday through Friday Sept. 8-11. (Chandra Colvin)

‘Nina Simone: Four Women’ at Pillsbury House + Theatre in Minneapolis — Sept. 5-27

Nina Simone wrote the song “Four Women” in 1966, at the height of the civil rights era. Here, the singer and activist tells the story of four Black women, which inspired the 2016 play of the same name, set in the aftermath of the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, when four girls were murdered. Ten years after its premiere at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, the Pillsbury is presenting “Nina Simone: Four Women” with its original director Faye M. Price, a founding member of Mixed Blood and Penumbra theaters in the Twin Cities. Theatre artist and jazz vocalist Thomasina Petrus is reprising her role as Sephronia.

After living through the police murder of George Floyd, and everything after, Petrus says that Simone’s song is prophetic for our own time.

“Here we are in the climate we're in now, very racially charged. A lot of the same things are happening in newer clothes and in more contemporary places,” Petrus said. “It just kind of makes you crazy a little bit that these songs are still so relevant now, today, because it begs the question: How far have we come? And who isn't doing their work? Who isn't doing the work that it takes to change things?” (Alex V. Cipolle)

40th Anniversary Duluth-Superior Pride art shows — Through Sept. 21

Duluth-Superior Pride runs through Sunday, Sept. 6, marking its 40th anniversary. Events include a festival on Saturday at Bayfront Festival Park, a Sunday art crawl in downtown Superior, and a series of art shows and performances. Two Duluth galleries are launching group shows featuring local artists to celebrate the occasion: Prøve Gallery opens “The Queerest Art Show Ever” with a reception at 6 to9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, and the Zeitgeist Arts Atrium will feature “Portraits of Pride.” That reception, including a spoken word performance, is Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., so it’s possible to attend both. “Portraits of Pride” will remain on view through Sept. 21. Find a full listing of events here. (Emily Bright)

Little Thistle Brewing Co. Book Fair in Rochester — Sept. 5

It's almost fall which means curling up with a good book, a blanket and a cup of coffee. On Saturday Little Thistle Brewing Co. in Rochester is hosting a book fair where, of course, a coffee truck by Sugar & Steam Coffee will be on site but also a tap room full of brews. It is the second annual fair, but the first that assistant taproom manager Modesta Headle has planned. Literary vendors include Garden Party Books, Once Upon a Crime, Cream & Amber, Griot Books, Safe & Pink Feathers mobile bookstore, Bookaneer and the Rochester Public Library (you can register for a library card while you browse!)

Headle said she recently got back into reading and has used it as an outlet to relax when she feels overwhelmed by current events. Last year Little Thistle hosted a Pizza Hut BOOK IT! inspired program that was overwhelmingly popular, so Headle got to thinking after she saw other breweries host events that Rochester bookworms might appreciate another get together.

"Highlighting local businesses is a big one for me, and also bringing the community together. Everyone that is here has one thing in common: We love to read,” Headle said. “It's just a great way of bringing communities together and vibing with each other.”

There will also be blind dates with a book available to purchase, the Taco Lab food truck for lunch and treats from Bites by Kara. The fair runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m (Sam Stroozas)

World premiere of “Mothership” at Penumbra Center for Racial Healing in St. Paul — Sept. 8-Oct. 4

Penumbra is launching its 50th theatrical anniversary with the world premiere of a play that looks into the future, and to the stars. Billed as an Afrofuturist parable, “Mothership” follows five people who escape a broken planet on a sentient ship. This play about healing was co-written by Twin Cities therapist Resmaa Menakem, who is best known for his New York Times best-selling book, “My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies,” and playwright Kristen Calhoun. The show runs from Sept. 8 through Oct 4. There will be post-show discussions with Resmaa Menakem on Sept. 17. and Oct. 1. (Emily Bright)

As we head from summer into fall, significant drought remains stubbornly entrenched across Minnesota.

Most of the state is classified as having moderate or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor — with a small portion of the state even listed in extreme drought.

There are clear impacts of drought, such as poor crops and increased fire danger. But the affect that drought has on Minnesota’s trees can be less obvious — and take longer to become evident.

“It’s actually pretty problematic,” says Laura Irish-Hanson, a horticulture educator with the University of Minnesota Extension.

“It’s not just a stress in a single season that impacts them. It can compound over years, so we can actually see drought stress, in particular, start showing up in trees five, six, seven years down the road.”

The result, says Irish-Hanson, can eventually lead to trees dying in some cases. It also becomes a problem looking ahead to this winter.

“When the ground is dry, the soil is dry. It cools down … more quickly than if there’s moisture in the soil. And tree roots in particular, and our perennial plants, the root systems: They’re way more susceptible to cold damage than the above-ground parts,” Irish-Hanson said.

As for this year’s fall color, Irish-Hanson says the drought means it might be for a shorter window and a little earlier in some parts of the state. The dry conditions are causing leaves to feel thinner, more dry and papery.

“Those leaves are generally going to kind of turn a dull yellowish color and go more quickly to a brown before they drop off from the trees,” Irish-Hanson said.

The total effects will depend on the species and how bad the drought is in specific areas. But there are some trees more susceptible than others.

“We love sugar maples, but they aren’t particularly great with drought … and so we might not see as robust colors from them for as long an amount of time, if you’re in an area with severe drought,” she said.

So, what can we do? If you have trees in your yard or in your care, water them. Irish-Hanson says watering for a long time infrequently is more effective than running a sprinkler for a few minutes every day.

And if you’re looking to line up your travel plans with the fall colors, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has a helpful guide here. The DNR will also release a 2026 prediction for fall colors on Sept. 9.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with lying to investigators about the events leading up to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown turned himself in Thursday to federal authorities, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Christian Castro was taken into federal custody on charges of making false statements to investigators about the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.

The federal charges follow Castro's release from jail last week after Texas’ governor refused to immediately sign an extradition warrant to hand him over to Minnesota authorities, who have charged him separately with assault and false reporting of a crime related to the same shooting.

Federal authorities had initially accused Sosa-Celis and another man of beating an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel during the confrontation. But federal prosecutors dropped charges against the men after video evidence showed the officers may have lied about the encounter, and officials opened an investigation.

Charges stem from nonfatal shooting during Operation Metro Surge

Castro is the first federal immigration officer to be prosecuted by the Trump administration related to actions taken during the massive Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities that began in January 2026. No attorney is listed for Castro in the case brought by Minnesota and it was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

Thousands of officers were sent to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area by the Department of Homeland Security in what was its largest immigration enforcement operation ever. The shooting deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers drew condemnation and raised questions over officers’ conduct, prompting changes to the operation.

Earlier this week, a federal prosecutor working on the case told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and other victims that Justice Department officials blocked the prosecutor’s push to bring a more serious civil rights charge against the officer for the shooting, ProPublica reported on Wednesday.

But the person familiar with the investigation disputed the prosecutor’s characterization, saying the civil rights probe is continuing and there has been no final decision on whether to bring additional charges. The prosecutor, Matthew Evans, has been fired and is under investigation for alleged obstruction of a grand jury probe, the person said.

An automatic email response from Evans' Justice Department account said he was on leave. Other attempts to reach him were not immediately successful.

An attorney for Sosa-Celis said the Justice Department has “grossly undercharged this case," adding that Castro's statements were made to “cover up the fact that he shot my client through the door of an occupied house without a self-defense justification.”

“Mr. Sosa Celis wants Mr. Castro to be held fully accountable for his crimes,” said the attorney, Robin Wolpert. The American Liberties Union of Minnesota said Thursday that Sosa-Celis also plans to seek damages from the federal government.

Castro is also facing charges from Minnesota authorities

Castro was initially arrested in May in the Minnesota case, and he was held in custody in Brownsville, Texas, a city bordering Mexico, while Minnesota officials sought his extradition. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to immediately sign off, citing continuing investigations of fraud in government social service programs in Minnesota, which Trump used to justify his immigration crackdown there.

Minnesota officials had sought to stop the sheriff in Cameron County, Texas, from releasing Castro, out of fear that he would flee to Mexico. According to a lawsuit filed by Minnesota, Castro had a conversation with a woman, while he was incarcerated, where he spoke about marrying her and buying a house in Mexico after his release.

But Castro was released a week ago after a federal judge refused to order Texas to extradite him.

The Department of Homeland Security previously called Minnesota’s prosecution of Castro “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” saying only federal authorities have jurisdiction in the case.

Castro was placed on leave during the federal probe

Castro was suspended from ICE without pay in February while federal authorities conducted the investigation.

“The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct,” ICE's acting director at the time, Todd Lyons, said then. “Violations of this sacred sworn oath will not be tolerated. ICE remains fully committed to transparency, accountability, and the fair enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.”

Minnesota officials alleged that Castro, 52, fired through the front door of a home and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh.

Castro and another officer had chased a different man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, to the Minneapolis apartment duplex where he and Sosa-Celis lived. Minnesota prosecutors said the officer then falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

After decades of fighting to obtain justice, 145 people who were sexually abused by Catholic clergy and staff in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester will be paid $30 million in a settlement agreement reached with the largest insurer of the diocese.

"This is a breakthrough and powerful moment in time in getting justice for survivors,” said Jeff Anderson, whose law firm, Jeff Anderson & Associates, represented the sexual abuse survivors.

Anderson told MPR News the settlement with the United States Fire Insurance Company covers incidents of abuse dating back to the early 1960s, and some of the survivors began filing claims against the diocese back in the early 1980s.

“I am so proud to stand with these courageous survivors — to have first put it to the bishops, and now to the insurance industry that has refused to abide by their obligations to the survivors and to the bishops themselves,” Anderson said. “Today is a powerful day in that journey, and it feels like it's closing a circle that began in 1982.”

Crum & Forster, United States Fire Insurance Company’s parent company, did not respond to MPR News’ request for comment Thursday.

The scores of lawsuits filed against it forced the diocese to file for bankruptcy in 2018. The diocese then agreed to pay $28 million to the 145 abuse survivors in a settlement reached back in 2021, but that agreement did not include any payment from the Catholic diocese’s largest insurer, United States Fire. Anderson said United States Fire and other insurance companies have gone to great lengths to avoid paying claims in these and other similar lawsuits, and he accused them of dodging their financial obligations.

But after years of legal wrangling, recent jury verdicts in favor of three of the survivors tipped the scales and led U.S. Fire to agree to a settlement ahead of another trial on the abuse cases that was slated to begin Sept. 28.

Anderson said this win marks a breakthrough not only in Minnesota but across the country. He said for years, the insurance industry has been sidestepping its responsibility in these cases. Now, new precedent has been set that could shift how these kinds of cases are tried moving forward.

“Every insurance company in the country and every survivor with whom we're working have been watching this case to see what would happen, and now that it's happened, there is a real reckoning,” Anderson said. “It's a long time in coming, but it is the long arc of justice. This is historic.”

The Diocese of Winona-Rochester’s Vicar General William Thompson told MPR News that now that United States Fire Insurance has honored its obligations, all future litigation stemming from its bankruptcy has been concluded.

Thompson said the diocese is committed its “Safe Environment Program,” which works to ensure the safety of children, vulnerable adults and young people who have been entrusted to its care in its parishes, schools, religious education classes and other ministry programs.

“All are invited to pray for the healing of those impacted by sexual abuse and to work toward that healing to the best of their ability,” Thompson said.

The three survivors who came forward to fight for this insurance settlement in court include two men who were abused by Fr. Joseph Cashman while they were students at Lourdes High School in Rochester in the 1970s, and a man who was 13 when he was abused by a volunteer, Eugene Herbert — known as “Brother Gene” at St. Mary’s Parish and School — in the early ‘70s.

The man who police say shot and killed two people and injured six others, including three police officers, was in the process of being evicted from the apartment building where the shooting occurred.

According to court records, Loring Towers, now known as Shoreline Plaza, filed an eviction complaint against Carlton Johnson II in June.

The complaint cited multiple instances of violent and threatening behavior since the beginning of the year, including assaulting a resident on the apartment premises, walking around the apartment block with a gun "displayed on his person" to multiple staff members while other residents were present, threatening a resident with a gun, and telling residents he planned to kill someone.

In June, a resident of the apartment building who lived a floor above Johnson filed a restraining order against him, claiming that he had been physically assaulted and threatened with a handgun by Johnson.

"I'm afraid to enter and exit my apartment in fear for my safety and wellbeing," the other resident wrote in the request for the restraining order.

The eviction case was still ongoing when the shooting occurred. A trial date was set for Sept. 11.

Johnson died during the shooting. Authorities have not yet released information on his cause of death.

What began as an apparent custody handoff of a child ended in a mass shooting Wednesday in Minneapolis that left three people dead, including the shooter, and several wounded, including police officers, state investigators said Thursday as they provided new details on what happened.

Calling it a case of domestic violence, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension superintendent Drew Evans identified Carlton Neal Johnson II, 35, as the shooter and said Johnson was killed by Minneapolis police as they pursued him to the 9th floor of the apartment building and exchanged gunfire with Johnson.

Three officers were injured, including two wounded by gunfire. Authorities said they are all expected to fully recover.

While the investigation continues, Evans told reporters the situation Wednesday began outside the Shoreline Plaza apartments, formerly known as Loring Towers, as a standard child custody exchange between parents. As they met outside the building, Johnson shot the mother of the child in the leg; the child escaped with people in the area and was not physically harmed, Evans said.

After that, Johnson went back into the apartment building where he shot two employees of the complex on the first floor. Both survived but one has “critical” injuries, Evans added.

Johnson took the elevator to the ninth floor where he has an apartment and shot and killed two other people who were residents of the building.

Evans identified the victims who died as Dale Henry Spry, 63, and Muse A. Afrah, 61.

Officers responded after getting a 911 call just after 4:30 p.m. They entered the building and followed the sound of gunshots up the stairwell. They found Johnson and killed him during two exchanges of gunfire, Evans said.

The wounded officers are Joseph Michnowski, who has been with the department since 2021, and Yahye Ahmed, a Minneapolis officer since November 2024. Mayor Jacob Frey said Thursday afternoon that Ahmed has been released from the hospital.

Frey and Bill Peterson, the city’s interim police chief, praised the speed of the police response and the bravery of the officers who confronted Johnson.

Officials on Wednesday had said initially that those officers had to deal with a smoke-like “haze” as they encountered Johnson. Frey said Thursday that it was likely caused by an exploding fire extinguisher.

The mayor added that a police officer likely saved the life of the woman initially shot in the custody exchange, providing a tourniquet and getting her rushed to the hospital.

Suspect was known to police

Minneapolis police on Wednesday said Johnson was known to them.

Court documents show Johnson was facing eviction from his apartment for lease violations, including the alleged assault of a resident on March 23. On June 11, Johnson allegedly walked around the building brandishing a gun and “entered the management office and openly displayed the firearm” to building staff members, writes attorney Laurel Pugh.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office on Thursday afternoon said Minneapolis police responded to a June 25 call about Johnson “displaying a firearm to another individual” and that officers determined he had a legal permit to carry and didn’t take the gun out of his waistband.

Prosecutors later found “insufficient evidence” to charge Johnson, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said in a statement, adding that prosecutors also found “insufficient evidence” to proceed with an “extreme risk protection order” for the June 25 incident.

A trial on Johnson’s eviction suit had been scheduled for Sept. 11.

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Asked about the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office conclusion that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to pursue an extreme risk protection order or charges on the gun display incident against Johnson, Peterson didn’t second-guess the prosecutors.

Johnson’s record prior to the recent incidents were largely driving violations and parking citations, he added.

“Based on the information we had, we were taking the right steps, I believe, to prevent something like this from happening,” he said of police referring charges, but he noted “hindsight is 20-20” and this was not of case of prosecutors dropping the ball.

Most residents can return to building

Peterson said the building used to have problems that brought the police but he said that in recent years it had stopped being a problem property.

During his time serving as inspector for the 1st Precinct, Peterson said that he worked with building management to clean up problems.

At the building Thursday, resident Deng Tutlem came by to see if he could get inside, after spending the night in a hotel across the street. He said he lived next door to the suspected gunman, and was home when the shooting started.

“We were just sitting, having a good time at home, and then we heard that pop, pop, pop, pop,” Tutlem said.

At one point he opened the door of his apartment to look outside, and he said a police officer yelled for him to close it.

“And then all of a sudden, they just came in and knocked and evacuated us,” Tutlem said. “We don’t know what is going on right now.”

Tutlem said he knew Johnson often carried a gun in the building, and had asked him before not to bring it near Tutlem’s apartment.

Frey told reporters Thursday afternoon that city officials were responding to help residents of the building and the neighborhood, including emotional support. He said all residents are back in the Shoreline Plaza except for those on the ninth floor.

Watch: BCA and Minneapolis provide updates on mass shooting in downtown apartment building

MPR News reporter Estelle Timar-Wilcox contributed to this report.