AM Update: Native students’ success, struggle at the U

A person standing in front of a mural of a man
Megan Red Shirt-Shaw, a graduate student in education at the University of Minnesota, stands outside the Minneapolis American Indian Center. The community center is one of several sites in Minneapolis designed to preserve indigenous traditions.
Courtesy of Caroline Preston | The Hechinger Report

Good morning and welcome to Thursday. Here’s what you need to know today.

We might get some snow today. A chance in northwest Minnesota and in the Twin Cities this afternoon. Metro snow chances increase at night with about an inch of accumulation expected. Statewide highs in the 20s and down to minus 5 in the northwest at night.. Metro highs near 30, with 10 to 15 mph winds. More on Updraft. | Forecast

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The U of M’s Twin Cities has boosted its graduation rate for Native students. However, many students say the school still has a long way to go to make Native students feel welcome on campus. “You’ve got your moccasin on, and you’ve got your office footwear on,” said a U alum who grew up on a reservation.

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No, we still don’t have full Iowa caucus results. But we are getting close. Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are almost tied for first place with 97% reporting. Amy Klobuchar remains in fifth place behind Joe Biden.

It’s getting even more expensive to live in the Twin Cities. The market is stacked against buyers, who’re facing a $280,000 median home price. That’s a nearly 6 percent increase from last year. It continues a 5 percent or more increase in the median home price since 2012, as Martin Moylan and Jiwon Choi report.

Minnesota doctors are braced for coronavirus. Still, they say the public risk associated with the virus is low. The flu, however, is already deadly and worth great public attention. “It's sort of strange to think that we just sort of accept the fact that every year 30,000 people in the U.S. will die from influenza.”

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