Social Issues

Church whistleblower pressed superiors to take action on problem priests
In the past two weeks an MPR News investigation has reported extensively on the handling of clergy sex abuse by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. A key source in those stories is a former high ranking church official who says she pushed for the church to change its ways and then resigned when it didn't. Jennifer Haselberger has now become a central figure in this unfolding story.
The court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Philip Morris USA Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and Liggett Group LLC. They wanted the court to consider overturning a $2.5 million Tampa jury verdict in the death of smoker Charlotte Douglas.
David Brooks on character, virtue and success
David Brooks speaks at the Aspen Ideas Festival about "The Inverse Logic of Life." Brooks says the key to actual happiness and a life that matters is to balance the material life and the spiritual life. To have a rich inner life, humility is a central virtue.
Police to review priest's hard drive for pornography
Joe Ternus of Hugo says he reached out to St. Paul police today to tell them that he made a copy of a large part of the Rev. Jonathan Shelley's computer hard drive before he turned over the laptop to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Ternus said he had forgotten he had made a copy of Shelley's hard drive until MPR News contacted him earlier this week.
Walking back a pedestrian mall
Many U.S. cities are converting urban cores into walkable oases. But in Frenso, Calif., city leaders want to lay down roadway on a six-block pedestrian mall once touted as a national model for pedestrian-friendly downtowns. Built during urban renewal in the 1960s, the Fulton Mall has lapsed into decay, its mostly empty 1920s-vintage office buildings attracting little revenue in this city of 500,000 in California's agricultural heartland.
As Minnesota's 'corn rescue' grows, tons of produce reach food banks nationwide
More than a million pounds of Minnesota sweet corn is expected to feed hungry people across the nation this fall, the result of an effort by hunger relief groups and food companies to capture corn that would otherwise go to waste.
A spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush was an official witness at the same-sex wedding of two longtime friends in Maine.
Young Somali-Americans try to repair community's image
With the intense glare of news outlets on Minnesota, where the nation's largest Somali-American population resides, many members of that community try to repair its image and raise awareness about the challenges they face.