Morning Edition

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Morning Edition, with Cathy Wurzer in St. Paul and NPR hosts in Washington and Los Angeles, brings you all the news from overnight and the information you need to start your day. Listen from 4 to 9 a.m. every weekday.

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Art Hounds: Harmonies and bright nature
This week Art Hounds recommend: Tawnee Corning’s psychedelic paintings explore humans’ connection with nature; the Shrieking Harpies improv their way through a new musical play weekly; and the Dollys perform roots music for Saturday’s brunch.
GOP pushes to end taxes on Social Security, but many don’t pay them
Republicans in the Minnesota Senate are making a push to eliminate the state’s tax on Social Security benefits. Supporters say the move would be a big help to senior citizens. But in Minnesota, only a portion of Social Security income is taxable.
As COVID cases plummet, students take off their masks
Rochester Public Schools is the latest district to relax its masking requirements, making them mandatory only under specific circumstances. For one family, choosing to mask now is a matter of individual choice.
Latest on COVID-19 in MN: Winter surge receding rapidly
Minnesota’s pandemic path continues to brighten, with fewer than 400 COVID patients in the hospital now and known, active cases trending near a seven-month low.
Osterholm: A blueprint on moving to the 'next normal' in pandemic
A bipartisan group of scientists and health and policy experts calling themselves the COVID roadmap group are releasing a blueprint Monday on how we could move into what they call “the next normal.” A member of that group is Michael Osterholm, the head of the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
 Awash in money, Minnesota lawmakers strain for session deals
A month into the legislative session, some items deemed urgent are languishing. But it’s not for lack of money given the state’s eye-popping surplus.
Medical respite provides vital care to people experiencing homelessness
The Bob Tavani Home for Respite Care in Duluth is part of a growing number of new facilities around the country designed to give people experiencing homelessness a place to recover after they’ve been discharged from the hospital. But many are grassroots efforts run on shoestring budgets.
Art to evoke a winter’s night — or a warming globe
This week’s Art Hounds recommend “Thermal” a dance, audio and visual art installation at the American Swedish Institute; Open Eye Theatre's “Once Upon a Winter’s Night” with puppets and live music; and “The Dragon Who Liked to Spit Fire” at St. Louis Park’s Sabes Jewish Community Center, bringing a classic picture book to the musical stage.
'Devastating and appalling': Russia-born Minnesotans express outrage at Ukraine invasion
The owner of St. Paul’s Moscow on the Hill restaurant said even after posting a message of solidarity with a photo of a Ukrainian flag on the restaurant’s Facebook page, there was some anti-Russian trolling, including calls to change the restaurant’s name, but far more messages of support.