MPR News AM Update Newsletter

Good morning, Minnesota. Happy Friday!

Here's the latest news from across the state to start your day.

WEATHER

Another heat advisory covering northwestern and west-central Minnesota as well as the Twin Cities metro area takes effect Friday into Friday evening. Heat indices during this period are expected to reach the upper 90s to low 100s.

Most of day will be dry, and we’ll enjoy another hot, sticky day with temperatures in the 90s.

Get the latest weather news on Updraft.

Fourth of July 2025: Where to watch fireworks and celebrate across Minnesota

From big-city riverfront displays to small-town parades and daytime fireworks, here’s a list of when and where to celebrate Independence Day in 2025.

St. Paul residents raise money to support local LGBTQ+ community after flag vandalism

Residents in the Highland Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods of St. Paul are raising money for LGBTQ+ pride flags and yard signs after dozens of flags were ripped off homes and destroyed.

NEWS ROUNDUP

🚚 St. Paul food truck festival to bring Native American foods to Harriet Island Regional Park. The Native American Food Truck Festival will have cultural foods, vendors and live entertainment. More than 70 vendors will be at Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul on Saturday.

⚖️ Prosecution moves forward after alleged Hortman assassin waives hearings. Vance Boelter made another brief appearance in a St. Paul federal courtroom Thursday, where he waived his right to the hearings that had been scheduled. Boelter is charged with killing former DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark.

🍻 Iconic Palmer’s Bar in Minneapolis announces it will close in September. The sudden announcement on Palmer’s Facebook and Instagram pages came just a couple hours after a post on the music lineup for the bar’s annual three-day Palmfest in late July.

🏛️ Minnesota education agency employee out after sex-crime conviction surfaces. Agency officials confirm that Wilson Tindi's employment ended last week, although the department hasn’t said if he was fired or he resigned. The departure came after Alpha News, a news site that caters to the political right, posed questions to the agency about Tindi's 2016 conviction on fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charges for which he served time in a county workhouse.

📜 Lawsuit challenges new Minnesota law requiring prescription drugs for county jail inmates. Supporters of the law say it's needed to ensure inmates are provided with the medicine they need. They cite situations where, they say, inmates were denied medicine prescribed to control chronic health issues.

MUST LISTEN

🎧 Guide to summer birdwatching: What to look and listen for. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with Sharon Stiteler, also known as “the Birdchick,” about summer birdwatching — what to look for, where to go, and why this season is more active than you might think.

🎧 Minnesota counties worry about cost shifts from Trump's big bill. In Minnesota and 10 other states, county governments manage these programs. St. Louis County estimates that the cost shift to St. Louis County will be more than $10 million for SNAP and $6.4 million for Medicaid.

🎧 How a community saved a Bemidji wedding after disastrous storm. In our series Thank You, Stranger, we talked to Jessa Solheim, an owner of Bluebelle Event Venue, and the bride, Amy, about how the community came together to make sure the Chandlers could tie the knot.