MPR News AM Update
 
An excessive heat warning continues in southwestern Minnesota and expands Tuesday and Wednesday to include all of southern Minnesota, the Twin Cities and parts of central Minnesota. Get the latest weather news on Updraft.

🎙️Coming up on Morning Edition: Our series "Getting to Green" continues our look at Minnesota's transition to clean energy. With the number of solar farms expected to grow, researchers are studying the environmental benefits of planting native vegetation under solar panels. Reporter Kirsti Marohn visited a solar project northwest of the Twin Cities where scientists are looking — and listening —for answers.

🎧 Coming up at 9 a.m.:  MPR News host Angela Davis talks with Minnesota's Teacher of the Year, Michael Houston, about his impact, both inside and outside the classroom, and how he plans to use his platform to positively shape students and fellow teachers in Minnesota.

And we want to hear from you, too. If you’ve had Mr. Houston as a teacher over the years, what do you remember about him? Did you or your child have a teacher who made a real difference? What did they do to make a positive impact on your life? And if you’re a teacher in Minnesota, what are you doing to connect with your students? Call 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828 during the 9 a.m. hour.
 
Meet the producer behind the Minnesota State Fair's famous roasted corn

Of the hundreds of foods available for purchase at the Minnesota State Fair each year, few can be considered nutritious. Jerry Untiedt contends that his homegrown roasted corn is one of them.

With Untiedt’s help, the roasted corn in the building facing the Grand Stand is consistently one of the best selling foods of the Great Minnesota Get-Together, selling close to 250,000 ears each year.

But Untiedt says getting the veggies from his farm in Waverly, Minn., to the fairgrounds in St. Paul is no easy task. Abundant heat and a lack of rain have made this year’s preparation especially challenging.
 
Listening to the birds and the bees to make solar farms more biofriendly

Researchers are using listening devices and cameras at three Minnesota solar farms to learn how planting native grasses and flowers benefits birds, bees and other wildlife.

Argonne National Laboratory, an Illinois-based research center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, has been collecting data at solar farms owned by Enel Green Power in Mankato and Atwater since 2018.

“We're trying to get data from all different kinds of sites that have planted different seed mixes, or some that haven't really planted at all, that just have grasses growing on the site,” said Heidi Hartmann, program manager of land resources and energy policy at Argonne.
 
What else we're watching:
'It's very preventable': Minnesotans bemoan kids' unintentional shooting deaths. Earlier this month, two children in Minnesota were unintentionally shot to death — a 12-year-old in St. Paul and a 3-year-old in Hinckley. They’re among the dozens of kids killed unintentionally by firearms nationwide every year.

Video: Mountain lion takes a backyard stroll in Duluth. Nathaniel Smith expected to see a bear when his home webcam pinged him at 3 a.m. Monday to tell him something was in his yard. Instead, he saw a mountain lion darting between his grill and the patio furniture.

To deal with Minnesota's PCA shortage, some get creative. Minneapolis resident Jen Onsum has taken it upon herself to stand out from the crowd with fun clothes and funny posts on social media to attract a Personal Care Attendant, or PCA, to work for her.

Gun violence is down in Minneapolis, but auto sears may be causing more widespread injury. “Once you pull the trigger, the weapon becomes very unwieldy,” said New York Times correspondent Ernesto Londoño. “In addition to the people who are the intended target of gun violence, bystanders are increasingly in harm’s way.”

Monster hunters are conducting the largest search of Loch Ness in more than 50 years. Researchers and monster hunters are gathering in the United Kingdom's Scottish Highlands this weekend to look for the eternally elusive Loch Ness Monster, the biggest search for the legendary beast in more than 50 years.

— Sam Stroozas, MPR News
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