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.

Morning Announcements | Weather chats with Mark Seeley | Parting Thoughts

Bemidji pharmacy's first day of COVID vaccinations offers glimpse of hope — and a step toward normalcy
Minnesota’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout has hit another milestone: People are now getting vaccinated at their local retail pharmacies. And with appointments opening up at some Thrifty White, Walmart and Walgreens pharmacies, it’s one step closer to normalcy.
It was a week of bitterly cold temperatures around the state. St. Louis County in northeastern Minnesota saw several days of thermometer readings below minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.   MPR News host Phil Picardi talked with retired University of Minnesota climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley about the cold, and what to expect this weekend.
Water, electric utilities watch unpaid bills pile up during the pandemic
As subzero temperatures persist across Minnesota, utilities are watching unpaid heating bills pile up. Because of the pandemic’s impact on personal finances, most utilities have not disconnected customers for about a year despite unpaid bills. Moorhead officials have a plan to start collecting the mounting customer debt.
Walz OKs more guests at weddings, private gatherings as COVID ebbs
People planning wedding receptions and other group celebrations got some good news Friday when Gov. Tim Walz raised his limit on the number of people who can attend private indoor gatherings from 10 to 50. 
Art Hounds: Take your Valentine to look at art
Artists in the Northrup King building in northeast Minneapolis open studios Saturday evening. Plus, Art Hounds recommend an exhibition of woven art from Artistry, and the Prairie Gate Literary Festival from the University of Minnesota Morris holds its first event.
Minn. agencies roll out plan to tackle ‘forever chemicals’
The statewide “blueprint” calls for the state to enact stronger regulations, including designating PFAS as hazardous substances under Minnesota’s Superfund law.
One Minn. health care provider using AI to prioritize patients for COVID-19 shots
How should health care providers decide who gets to the front of the line for a coronavirus vaccine? The state Health Department has mostly left that decision up to individual providers, most of whom are prioritizing their patients based on age. Others are taking a more complicated approach. Experts say those choices raise important ethical and moral issues.
Mobile ‘strike team’ brings COVID vaccine to the most vulnerable
Because of their age and their close living arrangements, the nuns at St. Benedict’s Monastery are at high risk from the coronavirus. But traveling to a clinic or hospital to get a vaccination would be a challenge for many of them. So, the vaccine came to them.
DFLers debate mask law while GOP seeks to undo Walz's COVID-19 powers
Minnesota lawmakers are taking a close and mostly partisan look at the emergency orders DFL Gov. Tim Walz began issuing last year in response to COVID-19. 
Patience is a virtue: How northern Minnesota wolves ambush their prey
A study released Tuesday shows for the first time the sophisticated ambushing strategies that wolves in northern Minnesota have developed to hunt beaver. It builds on earlier research countering the traditional notion that wolves only hunt prey by outrunning and outlasting it.