Social Issues

How will Minneapolis respond to homelessness after SCOTUS says sleeping outside can be a crime?
In Minnesota’s largest city, public camping is illegal — but it doesn’t come with criminal consequences. Enrique Velázquez, Minneapolis director of regulatory services who oversees the city’s response to homeless encampments, says that is not likely to change.
In Ely, an experiment to improve political conversations has come with ups and downs
The community of Ely has lots of issues dividing people there. So late last year, residents embarked on an experiment to have more productive conversations about contentious issues. Today, two participants say they’ve started doing things differently in their own lives to reduce polarization.
With Minnesota law change in effect, adoptees can access original birth records
Thousands of birth records become available to adopted people on Monday. Adopted people 18 years and older can apply to the Minnesota Department of Health to receive their birth records and additional information related to their adoption.
Russian trans man who fled to Minnesota reunited, remarried to his husband
Erik and Ivan Beda were forced by the Russian government to divorce when Erik transitioned in 2023. It led to their separation at the border when they fled to the U.S. Two-and-a-half months later they reunited and remarried thanks to Minnesotans who have rallied behind them.
The high cost of medical whistleblowing
MPR News guest host Euan Kerr talks with University of Minnesota bioethicist Carl Elliott about his new book, “The Occasional Human Sacrifice: Medical Experimentation and the Price of Saying No.”
U of M faculty vote ‘no confidence’ in interim president, provost over Holocaust center hiring
The University of Minnesota’s Faculty Senate took a vote of no confidence Wednesday in Interim President Jeff Ettinger and Provost Rachel Croson, after the president paused the hiring process for the new director of the U’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 
Marshall Pride provides a cathartic homecoming for small town drag performers
Drag shows are now a staple of the entertainment scene in the Twin Cities and other larger Minnesota towns. Some of the performers grew up in rural Minnesota. Some of those small towns host drag shows of their own, and these performers are taking the opportunity for a cathartic homecoming. 
Lino Lakes City Council votes to back 1-year development moratorium, halting Muslim-oriented project
Opponents of the development have concerns about residential density and argue that the development would put too much stress on local infrastructure. Those backing the project say opposition to the project is linked to Islamophobia.