MPR News PM Update
 
Happy Friday! Today is July 16.

We're heading in to what looks like one of the best weekends of summer you can have in Minnesota. Expect highs in the 80s and plenty of sunshine. Be sure to get out and enjoy it, we're still predicting a heat wave next week.
Angie Hall Sandifer fastens a ribbon to the brim of a hat in order to hide a wire that gives the hat its shape in her studio and home in Aug. 2020. Evan Frost | MPR News File
After a tough year, Minnesota's Black women entrepreneurs look for ways to expand opportunity
For Black women entrepreneurs, the path to success can be filled with more obstacles than for people of other races. This was true before the COVID-19 pandemic and early data emerging shows the problem has worsened.

Early data gathered by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research showed 40 percent of Black businesses across the country shuttered almost immediately with the start of the pandemic. Many of those businesses were in hard hit industries like leisure, hospitality and retail.

Learn more about efforts to uplift Black women-owned businesses in the full report.
 
Over the last five years, the number of Minnesota law enforcement agencies that equip officers with body cameras has nearly doubled.

However, many small police departments can’t afford to use body cameras. And the lack of footage of fatal police shootings in some rural cities has fueled skepticism and mistrust of law enforcement.

Read about some recent cases where no video was available in the full report by Hannah Yang.
 
In an effort they hope will boost ridership, Metro Transit is adding more staff to help with safety. 

"Our communities are facing real challenges of crime, homelessness, untreated mental illness and chemical dependency,” said Wes Kooistra, the general manager of Metro Transit. “The investments we are announcing today represent our latest effort to be a stronger and better transit service to help our riders feel welcome and safe."

Read more about the changes in the report by Peter Cox.
 
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