A low-pressure wave will slide northeast into Minnesota Thursday morning. Showers and a few thunderstorms will move into southwestern Minnesota after midnight. The rain will arrive in the Twin Cities by morning rush hours Thursday. Get the latest weather news on Updraft.
Coming up on Morning Edition: Hear from a University of Minnesota professor widely recognized as an advocate for bees who is retiring after more than 30 years at the U. And it was on this date in 1986 that Ann Bancroft became the first woman to ever reach the North Pole. We dip into archival audio of Bancroft speaking with MPR News upon her return to Minnesota.
Coming up at 9 a.m.: Eighty-six percent of Americans think it has become harder to date someone from the opposite political party, according to a 2020 poll from market research firm YouGov. MPR News host Angela Davis is talking about it as part of our Talking Sense series — a yearlong reporting project helping us navigate difficult political conversations.
And we want to hear from you, too. Have you dated or married someone with different political views from your own? How did you manage to see eye to eye? Call 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828 during the 9 a.m. hour.
A University of Minnesota professor who is a widely recognized researcher and advocate for bees is retiring after more than 30 years. Marla Spivak created the U of M Bee Squad and the Bee Lab, and was awarded a McArthur Genius grant.
“Something about bees captured people’s hearts. I’m so appreciative, and so are the bees. But it was very unexpected.”
Bobby Arnold doesn’t like being put in a box. The 18 year old is a Johnson High School senior, football player and published poet. He recently released his first book, a series of poems focused on Black mental health and masculinity: “The Falling Uprise.”
“We don’t prioritize our mental health, you’re told ‘You’re a man, you can’t cry, man up,’ and those phrases hold so much hurt,” Arnold explained. “Society has taught us that being a man means not to cry, but I want to break that. If you suppress your emotions and blow up and face jail time … it’s better to have cried.”
Dominic Burris, who is 18, and an unnamed 17-year-old boy appeared in court this week. Results of their certification studies — which would determine if they should be tried as adults — will be read in June.
Some of the victims of the Nudieland shooting and their families attended the hearings remotely, but did not speak. Family of each suspect declined to comment to MPR News.
What else we're watching:
Minnesota child care providers say state licensing needs an overhaul. Officials agree. Family child care businesses in Minnesota are closing faster than new ones can open, even as demand grows. Observers say the state’s system to license new providers needs to be remade. State officials are working on it, but change comes slowly.
