Wander & Wonder

Duluth man walks up to 12 miles a day checking in on people living on the streets
Nathan Kesti walks up to 12 miles a day around downtown Duluth, offering “compassionate accountability” to people who don’t have a home, and who are often struggling with addiction and mental health issues. 
Photos: Minnesota’s old school buildings stir memories of a small-town past
In some communities, the kids are long gone but the old school buildings still stand, holding on as local landmarks and links to the past. Here’s a look at some of the ones we found across Minnesota.
Minnesota town ball traditions built on family ties, love of the game 
Every summer in hundreds of cities and small towns across Minnesota, generations play town ball at the local baseball field. Players range in age from teenagers to men sliding into middle age. In Bluffton, the family ties run especially deep.
Minnesota man on a mission to save honeybees, shrink pesticide use
Steve Ellis is a nationally recognized expert in the business of bees. From his Grant County farms he’s fought for decades to protect them from what he believes are deadly pesticides harming their health. For him, beekeeping has always been more than a business.
Minnesotan taps Ojibwe culture, Anishinaabe spirit to turn wood into art
Donovan Dahmen creates large collages of wood at his home in Grand Portage. He sees his art as a way to share knowledge of Ojibwe culture and spirituality. “I believe the wood tells me what it wants to be,” he said.
‘Someone’s got to help’: Minnesota volunteers give injured, orphaned animals a chance
Trained wildlife rehabbers work to save injured and orphaned wildlife. Most get no pay. They scrape by on grants and help from local volunteers, doing the work for the joy of giving animals a chance to return to the wild. 
‘Loon lady’ turns passion into action to protect Minnesota’s iconic bird
Sheila Johnston started photographing loons as a hobby. Watching the loons struggle to survive made her a passionate advocate for Minnesota’s state bird, but one experience drove her to action.
 Meet the wedding painter: Minnesota artist captures real-time wedding scenes on canvas
Artist Shanna Cramer uses paint brushes, oils and canvas to capture precious scenes on wedding days. In an era of instant video and photography, she finds young people embracing her old-soul approach. 
Minnesota artist weaves human hair into wearable art, reviving an ancient craft
Artist Karen Keenan discovered she had family ties to the centuries-old practice of turning human hair into art through an intricate process of braiding and shaping. Now she wants to revive the once-popular Swedish art form by teaching it to others.
For these Duluth teens, a diploma, solar panels and life lessons learned
Seven years after a group of Duluth middle schoolers first began advocating for solar panels on their school, they’re graduating from high school. They got it done, but they also learned some lessons on politics, policy and perseverance.
Volume Button
Volume
Now Listening To Livestream
Headshot of 1A host Jenn White
On Air
1A with Jenn White