Minneapolis city council members want to defund the police department; new agenda items for special legislative session

MPR News political editor Mike Mulcahy looks ahead to Tuesday’s primary election in Minnesota. He’ll discuss the races to watch and how politics and voting has changed during the pandemic.

Six months after Gov. Tim Walz first declared the peacetime emergency, where is Minnesota in the response to the pandemic and what will the next few months bring? On this week’s Politics Friday, MPR News host Mike Mulcahy talked with Walz, discussing some of the pressing issues in Minnesota and taking listener questions from around the state. 

The front-runners in Minnesota’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts took part in telephone debates on Politics Friday.

Is there really such a thing as a "shy Trump voter"? Who is contacted to take part in pre-election polls? And are they reliable or not?

Many middle-income families are frustrated by the cost of higher education, feeling they earn too much for financial aid, but not enough to pay for it themselves.

Pensions are a major sticking point between Boeing and its striking machinists union. Many workers want the company to restore the pension plan they lost a decade ago, but Boeing hasn’t budged.

Over 200,000 people canceled their subscriptions in the first few days following news that The Washington Post would not endorse any presidential candidate.

Shoppers complain that Starbucks isn’t fancy enough — but they also say it’s too expensive. The new CEO, Brian Niccol, is ordering up big changes.

Older homes are the only ones many Americans can afford, but they are costly to fix and maintain, especially for seniors. A patchwork of programs to help are underfunded and have years-long waitlists.

Boeing overcharged the Air Force nearly $1 million for spare parts on C-17 cargo planes, including an 8,000 percent markup for simple lavatory soap dispensers, according to the Pentagon’s inspector general.

A Washington D.C. based company announced it will build a $5 billion sustainable fuels production facility in Moorhead. The plant is expected to create 650 jobs and be operational by 2030.

Warren Buffett is now sitting on more than $325 billion cash after continuing to unload billions of dollars worth of Apple and Bank of America shares this year and continuing to collect a steady stream of profits from all of Berkshire Hathaway’s assorted businesses without finding any major acquisitions.

What would a McDonald’s be without its temperamental McFlurry machines? We may be closer to finding out.

Xcel Energy wants to build the roughly 170-mile power line from Garvin in Lyon County to Becker in central Minnesota. It would connect solar and wind energy from southwest Minnesota to the electrical grid.

Gen Z does a good job taking sick days, unlike their older coworkers. MPR News host Angela Davis talks about how the mix of generations in today’s workforce is redefining how we work.

A strike by 33,000 Boeing factory workers is coming to an end after more than seven weeks. The aerospace giant's unionized machinists voted on Monday to accept a company contract offer that includes a 38 percent wage increase over four years.

A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” is on the auction block nearly two decades after a thief stole the iconic shoes, convinced they were adorned with real jewels.

The price of bitcoin has hit a new high as investors bet that Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election will be a boon for cryptocurrencies. 

Molson Coors says move will consolidate operations at company’s main Milwaukee Brewery in early 2025.

The billionaire businessman has spent weeks campaigning relentlessly for Donald Trump. That dedication could lead to major benefits for him and his companies.

If you feel like your drive to work has gotten longer recently, it’s not just you. New research shows that the return of traffic has led to fewer jobs being reachable within 30 minutes by car.

An NPR investigation finds thousands of veterans were pushed into high-cost mortgages by a program that was meant to help them. A rescue plan being rolled out by the Department of Veterans Affairs is excluding many vets who need help.

Many veterans who’ve started small businesses tell a similar story: Their military service prepared them mentally for the task, but they were at a disadvantage when it came to the financial part.

City officials said the $40 million program will help alleviate medical costs for debt-strapped residents.

Rolf Nordstrom, president and CEO of the nonpartisan nonprofit Great Plains Institute, and Gregg Mast, executive director of Clean Energy Economy Minnesota, weigh in on what the election results will mean for the energy transition already underway.

A Christian falsely charged with blasphemy in three cases was released on bail this week after prosecutors failed to produce evidence against him, his attorney said.

This year’s International Day of Prayer for the persecuted Church comes as worldwide tensions have turned up pressure on Christians, challenging the global Body of Christ to keep pace in aid and supplication.

A U.K.-based Christian group has called on the Mexican government to protect clergy after a priest was assassinated in Chiapas State. Fr. Marcelo Pérez Pérez, who was shot to death after officiating Mass, had been a prominent advocate for peace and human rights in the region.

Buffer zones around abortion facilities went into effect in England and Wales, a development that pro-life advocates contend criminalizes silent prayer and offering pregnancy help information to women and families in need of resources. 

Fulani herdsmen kidnapped four Christians in an attack on villages in north-central Nigeria.

The Africa Mission Association is on a mission to help churches in Africa establish mission associations in all 54 countries from the current seven in the continent.

Fulani herdsmen killed six Christians on Friday and Saturday in Benue state, Nigeria, after slaughtering 15 Christians in a nearby village two days earlier, sources said.

Christian leaders in Pakistan have condemned Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s objectionable remarks about Christianity during his various public sermons in Pakistan when touring the country on a month-long state-sponsored visit in October.

Rioters in the same city where Anne Frank hid during the Holocaust hunted down Israeli soccer fans, beating them and forcing them to say “Free Palestine” in an outbreak of violence that many have likened to Kristallnacht during the Nazi regime in Germany. 

One of the challenges to supporting persecuted Christians abroad is that many in the West don't realize just how much their brothers and sisters in Christ suffer for their faith, according to the head of a leading advocacy group.

Some 12,000 Christians, young, old, male and female, and of various ethnicities, walked through the center of the city of Dublin in excited solidarity for the faith at the first ever “March for Jesus.”

Muslims in Sudan’s River Nile state drove 34 displaced Christians from their homes, sources said.

Angola’s Criminal Investigation Service claims that the murder of an American missionary was orchestrated by his wife in a plot involving an alleged illicit romance and financial promises. Authorities say that Jackie Shroyer, 44, enlisted the help of three Angolan men to kill her husband, Beau Shroyer, in a remote part of the country.

An archaeological team’s excavation of an ancient city has uncovered “surprising” revelations about an early Christian church in Egypt, specifically, the discovery of 17 human remains and the story the bodies tell.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the Church of England and the global Anglican Communion, has announced that he will be resigning amid outrage over an abuse cover-up scandal.

A British man has been found guilty of sexual assault and other crimes for tricking a pregnant woman into drinking a liquid that contained abortion drugs to induce a miscarriage, unbeknownst to the victim.