MPR News Minnesota Today
Good morning, Minnesota. Happy Wednesday!

Here's the latest news from across the state to start your day.
🌧️ Our soggy system lingers Wednesday with showers becoming more scattered and generally lighter. Temperatures will be cool again and rain showers should taper off completely Wednesday evening and overnight.

⛅ Clouds break up overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning leading to partly cloudy skies Thursday and Friday. That will allow temperatures to pop back up into the 60s across the state.

Get the latest weather news on Updraft.
Red tape, rising costs slow efforts to rebuild businesses burned after Floyd’s murder
Five years after George Floyd’s killing set off nights of destruction, vacant lots and broken buildings remain along Lake Street and other Minneapolis business districts. Some business owners say money woes and city zoning rules have made it hard to rebuild.
 
How a caterpillar native to Minnesota made its forests fuel for wildfires
The wildfires that have scorched 45 square miles of forest in northern Minnesota were driven by unusually hot, dry weather and fierce winds. But a native insect called the spruce budworm also played a key role in creating a forest primed with flammable fuel to feed a raging wildfire after it has killed trees across more than 2,000 square miles of northern Minnesota forests.
 
The country’s first Hmong male news anchor is making sure he’s not the last
In 2021, Chenue Her made history by becoming the first Hmong male news anchor in the U.S. when he joined “Good Morning Iowa” in Des Moines. In 2024, Her made a homecoming to Minnesota when he joined the anchor desk at FOX 9.  
🌿 Tribal cannabis dispensaries to open across Minnesota with White Earth Nation tribal-state compact. The state of Minnesota and White Earth Nation have finalized a cannabis compact, laying out an agreement for tribally run dispensaries outside tribal lands.

🗳️ Earlier absentee deadline, added election safeguards part of bill approved by Minnesota lawmakers. A broader state and local government bill also makes changes barring  polling places from being in a place where cannabis products are served or sold. 

🥎 Conservative group, softball players sue over Minnesota’s trans athlete policy. The lawsuit argues state policy that allows transgender athletes to compete on female teams violates federal law. Plaintiffs include three softball players from Maple Grove and Farmington high schools.

🏒 Emily Clark’s OT goal lifts Charge over Frost 2-1 in final series opener. With the win, the Charge take a 1-0 lead in the Professional Women’s Hockey League best-of-five championship series for the Walter Cup. Game 2 is Thursday in Ottawa.

🏀 Rested Timberwolves look listless in 114-88 loss to Thunder in Game 1 of Western Conference finals. Minnesota hadn’t played in nearly a week and it was the Timberwolves who lacked energy as the Thunder rolled to a 114-88 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night.

🛒 Target sales fall sharply in 1st quarter and retailer warns they will slip for all of 2025. Sales at Target fell more than expected in the first quarter and the retailer warned they will slip this year as consumers, worried over the impact of tariffs, pull back on spending. 
🎧The Aging Mind. Studies show that 1 in 4 older adults live with a mental illness such as depression, anxiety and substance use disorders. But many older people don’t get the help they need. And America’s aging population is expected to double by 2050. Join Call to Mind host Kimberly Adams for “The Aging Mind,” a one-hour broadcast special.

🎧 Andrea Jenkins says Minneapolis should ‘recommit’ to investment in George Floyd Square.
As Minneapolis leaders work to implement court-ordered police reforms, they are also trying to figure out what’s next for the site where George Floyd was murdered.

🎧 Listen to today's headlines on our Minnesota Today podcast.
 
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