July 12, 2018 - MPR’s Briana Bierschbach reports on the Pink Pistols, an LGBT gun rights group with chapters in dozens of cities across the nation. It's been around in Minnesota for nearly two decades, hosting meetings at the gun range roughly once a month.
July 25, 2018 - On this program of MPR News at 11, host Kerri Miller talks with DFL candidate Tim Walz. As governor, DFL candidate Tim Walz said he would support legalizing recreational marijuana, raising the gas tax to pay for transportation projects, and would help bridge the urban and rural divide in the state. Other topics in conversation include gun control, Polymet and Twin Metals copper nickel mining, refugees, and pipeline.
August 14, 2018 - MPR’s Dan Kraker reports on unprecedented algae bloom along the South Shore of Lake Superior. Researchers are trying to figure out the cause. They suspect the bloom may be related to recent historic heavy rains and flooding that washed tons of sediment into the lake. Researchers expect to see more periodic algae blooms in Lake Superior, in part because of that increased water temperature, an effect of climate change.
August 15, 2018 - Why do women continue to get paid less? And does the lack of investment translate into fewer opportunities for development and sponsorship? MPR’s Kerri Miller interviews Gigi Marvin, three-time Olympic forward for the U.S. Women's National hockey team; and Mary Jo Kane, director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota about the gender pay gap within sports.
August 16, 2018 - All Thing’s Considered’s Tom Crann interviews Congressman Tim Walz the day after his win in the DFL gubernatorial primary. Walz defeated Attorney General Lori Swanson and State Representative Erin Murphy, with 42% of the vote.
August 28, 2018 - MPR’s Tim Nelson takes a look at Monty's Traveling Reptile Show, a Nelson Street landmark on the Minnesota State Fair grounds and longtime favorite for many fairgoers. But it's different this year. As of last April, there's no more Monty. Nelson shares a story about the passing of the torch…or maybe the heat lamp…at the fair.
August 30, 2018 - MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on allegations of harrassment and abuse at Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Carr Hagerman, the fair’s entertainment director, is facing criminal sexual misconduct charges alleging he raped a freelance photographer on festival grounds in Shakopee.
September 7, 2018 - MPR’s Elizabeth Dunbar reports on the removal of common carp from Stieger Lake in Victoria, Minnesota. The fish have become a nuisance in some lakes because they're so good at moving around and destroying the habitats of more desirable fish species.
September 11, 2018 - An MPR News Presents broadcast of the APM Reports education documentary “Still Rising - First Generation College Students a Decade Later.” A look back at two students ten years after their initial efforts to gain a higher education.
September 13, 2018 - An APM Reports documentary, titled “Hard Words: Why aren't our kids being taught to read?,” which looks at the science of teaching children to read, and the disconnect of that science with educators. It’s a battle between phonics and whole language theory…leaving millions of children unable to read.