Minnesota Now Minnesota Public Radio

At the end of May, a Minneapolis kayaker will embark on a journey from the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. Devin Brown would be the first Black woman to solo the length of the river.

She’ll be talking about the journey in a panel discussion on Thursday alongside Eddy Harris, an author and adventurer who has paddled the entire river twice. He wrote a memoir called “Mississippi Solo” reflecting on his first trip in the mid-1980s.

Brown and Harris joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the upcoming journey from source to sea.

The largest school district in the state broke through an impasse over diversity efforts in its budget. We talked with Anoka-Hennepin’s superintendent about what happened in a meeting that stretched for more than five hours last night.

A suite of newspapers serving the southwest suburbs and nearby communities will shut down in the coming days, leaving a void in local coverage. We talked to a past reporter at Shakopee Valley News about the impact.

We met a kayaker who is about to paddle the length of the Mississippi River, source to sea. She’d be the first Black woman to complete that journey solo.

Plus, we learned how much rain to expect this weekend and how to get ready for gardening season.

The local news landscape is shrinking. On Thursday, the Chaska Herald, Chanhassen Villager and Jordan Independent will print final editions.

On Saturday, Shakopee Valley News, Prior Lake American, Savage Pacer and Southwest will shutter. The group of papers encompasses Southwest News Media. And their sister publications in Hutchinson and Litchfield will also shut down.

The result? A news desert.

And southwest Minnesota isn’t the first. Research by Northwestern University finds that suburbs around the country have seen some of the most dramatic losses of newspapers in recent years.

Amanda McKnight was a reporter at Shakopee Valley News for six years and is currently the communications manager for the city of Shakopee. McKnight joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to discuss the impact of these publications shutting down.

Anoka-Hennepin school board members reached an agreement early Wednesday to avoid a budget showdown over objections raised by one board member about district equity initiatives. 

“The budget needed approval so we can keep the basic, fundamental core operations happening,” said Cory McIntyre, the district superintendent. He said the board agreed to consider equity initiatives separately from the budgeting process.







Anoka-Hennepin students walk out, defend diversity measures







Board treasurer Matt Audette had vowed to vote down the district’s 2024-25 budget. In a Facebook post from April 12, he said he and members Zach Arco and Linda Hoekman could not “in good conscience” vote in favor of a budget that funded culturally responsive teaching, social-emotional learning, restorative justice practices and equity initiatives.

“It is time to put a stop to the spreading of divisive, one-sided views, training and learning that go against the values and beliefs of many families, students and staff in our community,” Audette wrote.

But after meeting more than five hours, McIntyre said board members in the state’s largest school district agreed to “decouple” the budget process from the process of evaluating the policies Audette objected to. Instead they will funnel questions about curriculum, programming and policies through committees dedicated to evaluating them.

“They’re complex topics. They’re not easily solved. That takes more conversation and discussion,” McIntyre said. “I think they have a commitment to do it well, and they’ve kind of, they’ve delinked it or decoupled that from the actual budget that we need to stay open.”

Minnesota districts are required to adopt an annual budget by July 1. Had the members not approved the budget, McIntyre said it’s possible the district would have had to shut down.

“That would be very disruptive, and really a distraction from the kinds of things they want to spend their time on,” McIntyre said. So I think that we got to a better understanding around that by the end of the night. That just takes a lot of dialogue.”

Gardeners—and their parched yards—are looking forward to the rain this weekend. We brought in our resident gardening expert Meg Cowden to share some wisdom, like when to reseed your patchy lawn and how to maximize a small garden space.

Cowden is the author of the book “Plant Grow Harvest Repeat " and founder of the website Seed to Fork and the gardening advice group — Modern Garden Guild.

April showers will continue this weekend, along with the blustery winds that have become characteristic of this spring.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with some wind mileage numbers, rain forecast for later this week and severe weather chances next week.