🗳️What’s myth, what’s truth, and what do Minnesotans of color need to know about casting their ballot on Nov. 3? Sahan Journal is hosting a live community conversation tonight called Vote Without Fear at its studio in St. Paul. The conversation will explore the facts about voting security in 2026. Bring a friend, bring your neighbor and bring your questions about how to prepare for Election Day. Register here. The event will also be livestreamed on Sahan's YouTube channel.
🎂 On Minnesota Now, one of our favorite parts of the show is to hear the stories of our neighbors. For the program's 5th birthday, we want to share stories straight from you on the air on Oct. 19. Who is someone you know in your community that you admire or appreciate? Tell us by recording a short voice memo about them with your name and where you’re from. And email it to minnesotanow@mpr.org.
Coming up in Minnesota sports:
🏒 The Minnesota Wild host the St. Louis Blues at 7 p.m. tonight in St. Paul.
🏀 The Minnesota Timberwolves face the Bulls at 7 p.m. tonight in Chicago.
Weather
🌧️ Today: Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain showers. Highs in the 50s.
☁️ Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain showers. Lows in the 30s.
🌤️ Tomorrow: Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s to mid-50s.
Recent shootings have put renewed attention on gangs in the Twin Cities, especially what law enforcement leaders are calling “Somali gangs.” Here’s what we’ve learned about who’s in these gangs, what they do and how they compare to gangs in the past.
The U.S. Senate race in Minnesota has candidates from the two major parties campaigning hard to win the seat, but there are also three candidates without major party backing on the ballot.
NEWS ROUNDUP
📹 Video: Michele Tafoya on her life in public view, rooted in family. Michele Tafoya prowled NFL sidelines for years as a fixture on national television broadcasts. Now she’s hunting for votes. The Republican nominee hopes to give her party its first U.S. Senate victory in Minnesota since 2002.
🗳️ 2 rematches in the suburbs could decide balance of power in Minnesota Senate. With Capitol control on the line this fall, there are a few competitive state Senate contests gaining the most attention and party resources. Two races will pit first-term senators against their opponents from 2022.
🔎 Rep. Ilhan Omar's phone seized and relatives subpoenaed in criminal probe, AP source says. The subpoenas were issued for a grand jury collecting evidence in Minnesota as federal authorities probe potential fraud in Omar's immigration paperwork.
💵 Minnesota State approves plan to shift funding to struggling universities. Minnesota State officials said the funding shift is needed as a temporary solution while they
work on a plan to realign the entire system of colleges and universities.
🏫 Minneapolis Public Schools backs off school closure plan. After putting forward a proposal last month to close up to 16 schools in Minneapolis, leaders in the state’s fourth-largest district say they no longer plan to make the closures.
🍎 Education Secretary McMahon promotes tech training, defends budget cuts in Rochester visit. Linda McMahon is traveling the country to promote the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. In Minnesota Wednesday,
she defended her massive budget and staffing cuts.
🤖 St. Paul council members join Minneapolis in push for regulating driverless rideshare vehicles. St. Paul City Council members are joining Minneapolis in the push for regulating driverless rideshare vehicles, like Waymo and Tesla Robotaxi, but with a different approach.
⛪ Luther Seminary moving to new location in Minneapolis. The seminary had announced last year that it was planning to sell its longtime campus in St. Paul’s St. Anthony Park neighborhood. School officials said that campus no longer served the seminary’s mission, with most students attending online.
🎧 Art Hounds: St. Paul Art Crawl, dreamlike ceramics and a mental health doc. Art Hounds recommend the St. Paul Art Crawl, a retrospective of Jim Grittner’s ceramics in Duluth and a documentary screening in Fergus Falls about Minnesota’s mental health institutions.
