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

Here's the latest news from across the state to start your day.
Friday brings a few clouds to our skies especially in the afternoon hours. Northeast Minnesota is waking up to a frost advisory this morning.

Mostly sunny skies return for this upcoming weekend. A slight chance of a passing shower arrives Memorial Day. Highs this weekend will run mostly in the 60s with some 70s in the northwest parts of Minnesota.

Get the latest weather news on Updraft.
‘Stop Killing Black People’: How a Minneapolis designer branded a movement

Graphic designer and activist Terresa Hardaway created the bold “Stop Killing Black People” typeface as a protest tool during the George Floyd uprising, turning expressive, hand-drawn lettering into a widely distributed visual language of abolition that rejected commercialization and embraced mutual aid.
 
A longtime grocer, now retired, continues to build connections between Hmong immigrants

For 18 years, Terry Yang ran Bubai Foods in Walnut Grove with his brother. Yang said he sees the services and products that he provided as a form of service to both the Hmong community and everyone who walked through the store’s front door.
 
Siblings reflect on 5 years of serving George Floyd Square and south Minneapolis

Jeanette Rupert, Jeanelle Austin and Butchy Austin grew up around 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis and all took action in different ways following the murder of George Floyd. They shared with MPR News how their activism has impacted them and their communities in the time since.
🌿 13 Minnesota cities and counties want to open government-run cannabis dispensaries. Anoka broke ground Thursday on what it hopes will be a city-run cannabis dispensary, while Osseo and St. Joseph are waiting to receive a license first.

⚖️ U of M grad student released from ICE custody after judge's ruling. Doğukan Günaydın had been held in the Sherburne County Jail after being arrested by immigration authorities. A federal judge ruled this week that his detention violated his procedural due process rights. He was released Thursday. 

🏥 Rochester’s DMC at 10: Billions invested, jobs created, but progress is uneven.
A plan to transform Rochester’s downtown is ten years old. It’s created jobs,  new apartments and hotels but local officials say there’s still work to be done.

🔋 Two Native-led renewable energy nonprofits team up to fight ‘energy poverty’ in Minnesota. A merger between two Indigenous-led nonprofits, Native Sun Community Power and 8th Fire Solar, looks to reshape energy sovereignty for tribal lands in Minnesota and address “energy poverty.”

🏞️ Billboards blasting budget cuts at Voyageurs National Park greet drivers in Duluth. The billboards were put up by the group More Perfect Union, a liberal advocacy group that placed 300 billboards in more than 40 cities across the country to highlight cuts to funding and services at national parks. The group put up an additional billboard highlighting Voyageurs in Hermantown, which borders Duluth.

🕯️ George Floyd’s uncle says his nephew’s death changed his life. Selwyn Jones was living in small town South Dakota when the footage of his nephew being murdered made it to his TV screen. Since then, he has poured himself into activist work.

🏛️ Minnesota lawmakers prepare for working weekend after blowing self-imposed deadline. Some working groups dribbled out details of their budget bills Thursday after meeting in private to craft them. The largest pieces of Minnesota’s more than $66 billion budget remained unfinished.

🔍 Feeding Our Future investigation expands with search of St. Paul nonprofit. Agents were seen removing computers and other items from NVF’s Vandalia St. offices early Thursday afternoon. According to its website, NVF was founded “to create pathways to success by motivating disadvantaged youth in Minnesota through coding and digital literacy classes.”

🎞️ British filmmaker captures global backlash to George Floyd’s murder in new documentary. The feature-length film features both prolific cultural figures in the UK and people central to the story in Minneapolis. Director Kwabena Oppong joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer on Morning Edition to talk about the creation of “Backlash.”

🌲 Two sites in St. Paul will be renamed to reflect cultural significance to Dakota tribes. The city of St. Paul announced Wednesday the renaming of Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and Indian Mounds Regional Park  to Waḳaƞ Ṭípi, meaning “dwelling place of the sacred” and Wicaḣapi, meaning “cemetery.”

🚨 Coon Rapids police officer fatally shoots man. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating after a police officer shot and killed a man in Coon Rapids on Wednesday. Authorities said the man refused commands to drop a knife, then moved toward police officers.

📝 Inmate advocates demand input ahead of Stillwater prison shutdown.
T.O.N.E. U.P. Inc., an organization that helps people leaving incarceration, said they want a current inmate and former inmate-led coalition to be established as part of the transition planning.

💰 Marketplace: After George Floyd's murder, big banks invested millions in small, Black-owned banks.
In the year after his murder, big banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo announced plans to invest millions of dollars in small, Black-owned banks across the country, to help those banks make more loans to small businesses in underserved communities.

🎥 Watch: Paige Bueckers’ childhood basketball coach sees her play in WNBA for the first time. Paige Bueckers’ childhood basketball coach, Tara Starks, got to see her play at her first WNBA game back in her home state of Minnesota.
🎧Graffiti artist reflects on painting iconic, haunting George Floyd mural 5 years later.  Created by Minneapolis-based graffiti artist Peyton Scott Russell, the interpretation of Floyd’s selfie has made its way around the globe. Russell joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer on Morning Edition to talk about what drove him to pick up a can of spray paint and create “Icon of a Revolution” back in May 2020.

🎧  ‘This is a dark day:’ Rep. Kelly Morrison slams newly-passed House budget bill. Every House Democrat voted against the bill, including U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison, who represents Minnesota’s third district. Morrison spoke with MPR News host Emily Reese about it.

🎧 Treating the young mind. We hear from experts about the safety of medicating kids and new advances in therapy. We also explore how school often plays an enormous role in a child’s development and safety.

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