Good morning,

Welcome to Thursday, Aug. 5. It's raining in parts of Minnesota, which seems almost miraculous in the face of this drought. More rain today as a mild system works across the state, bringing scattered rain and a few storms.

Here's what's happening:

Cattle on pastures in Caribou Township, Minn., about a mile from the Canadian Border | Dan Gunderson, MPR News

'Building a herd takes years'

One of the less obvious ways drought affects farmers is challenges in feeding cows. A lack of rain means brown, struggling pastures that farmers rely on for feeding cattle.

Reporter Dan Gunderson has a look at how this is playing out in one Minnesota farm way up north where rancher Cody Schmalz and his dad manage 600 beef cows and their calves on pastures in Caribou Township, about a mile from the Canadian border.

In coping with the drought, Schmalz turns to other strategies to stretch his hay supply and find more elsewhere.

Read the story.

Fans gather to see The Suburbs perform at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on July 2. | Darin Kamnetz, MPR News file

How will First Avenue enforce its new COVID policy?

Yesterday I spoke with a St. Paul teacher named Jillian Kobilka who is among the many fans excited to see live music again — and even more thrilled that mega-venue First Avenue is requiring concertgoers to either be vaccinated or test negative for COVID. She's got tickets to see electronic musician Marc Rebillet in September.

While places like New York City are making sweeping vaccine mandates, First Avenue is one of the first major businesses in Minnesota to make this call. This brings up a whole host of questions, like how will people prove they're actually vaccinated? And what if someone tries to cheat the system?

We asked, First Avenue answered.

Senate DFLers seek independent investigation

Minnesota Senate Democrats are seeking an outside look into the handling of sexual harassment allegations from a former aide to a senator who said she was harassed by another legislative staff member. They say the situation exposed potential loopholes in a recently revamped policy.

"Since one of the issues that has been raised involves the role of Senate HR itself, we do not think that an internal evaluation will be sufficient to address the concerns raised and to instill confidence in the results of the investigation," the senators wrote.

Brian Bakst has the full story.