Minnesota Now

Hundreds of cheese makers from across the world are gathering in the dairyland — Madison, Wisconsin — for the World Championship Cheese Contest. Taking place Mar. 3-5, it’s a prestigious competition that honors the best every type of cheese imaginable. Among the competitors is Prairie Farms Dairy, which manufactures cheese in Faribault. But it’s not your ordinary manufacturing plant. The cheese is aged in caves. Minnesota Now host Nina Moini spoke to the head cheesemaker at the plant, Francisco Zepeda.

A national Latino philanthropy organization created a new fund to support Latino communities in states that are experiencing a heavy immigration enforcement presence. Its first focus is Minnesota. Christian Arana is the Vice President of civic power and policy with the Latino Community Foundation, based in California. He recently visited Minnesota to help oversee distribution of the new fund and joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about it.

Tense exchanges played out Wednesday in a congressional hearing on fraud in Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz and Keith Ellison testified. MPR News reporter Dana Ferguson shared what she heard in Washington.A Minnesotan was among the soldiers killed in an air strike in the Middle East. We learned about Nicole Amor. Plus, a national philanthropic organization is creating a new fund to support Latino communities impacted by the ICE surge. A judge will soon decide whether to hold the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota in contempt for violating court orders in immigration cases. And we talked to the “big cheese” who is creating award-winning cheese in caves in southern Minnesota.The Minnesota Music Minute was “Not Today” by Guytano and “Closer to Fine” by Indigo Girls was the Song of the Day.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison testified before a congressional oversight committee Wednesday on fraud in state programs. The hearing drifted into debates over immigration law. There were heated moments and plenty of terse exchanges. MPR News politics reporter Dana Ferguson was at the hearing in Washington, D.C. and joined Minnesota Now with details.

People across Minnesota and the country are mourning an Army Reserve member from White Bear Lake who was one of six service members killed in Kuwait amid the ongoing war with Iran. MPR News reporter Estelle Timar-Wilcox joined Minnesota Now to share more about Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, who was killed in an airstrike on Sunday, according to the military.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testified before U.S. senators Tuesday about the tactics of federal agents in Minnesota. We heard more about what she said during the hearing.Plus, Google has identified itself as the company behind a proposed data center in Duluth.And state lawmakers are considering a ban on immigration enforcement agreements between local law enforcement and federal agencies. More on the bill and the arrangements it seeks to outlaw. We also heard more about the results from a survey looking at the impact of the federal surge on local businesses.And scholars from across the country met in the Twin Cities this week to talk about what ethical research looks like in a time of funding cuts and artificial intelligence.

A new survey is providing a clearer picture of the challenges businesses across the Twin Cities are facing due to the two-month long surge of federal agents. Neighborhood Development Center, or NDC, heard from more than 130 businesses and shared the results with a state Senate committee in February. Almost two thirds of respondents said the impact has been “high or critical.” Nearly 80 percent saw emergency financial assistance as the top priority. Natalia Mercado, director of business services with NDC, shared more of the findings with host Nina Moini.

Over the past year, thousands of federal science grants have been cut or reshaped by the Trump administration. At the same time, artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how studies are designed, analyzed and written. So, what happens to the ethical guardrails meant to protect patients and public trust when both funding and technology behind scientific research are shifting at the same time? National experts will convene Wednesday to answer that question at a research ethics conference through the University of Minnesota.Susan Wolf, conference organizer and regents professor of law and medicine at the University of Minnesota, gave a preview of the gathering.

A bill that would ban Minnesota municipalities from signing immigration enforcement agreements with the federal government got a hearing Tuesday by a state House committee. If passed, the legislation would prohibit and terminate any agreements with the federal government that gives authority to state, county and local agencies to enforce civil immigration law. A new national ACLU report shows that since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, the number of local municipalities with these so-called 287(g) agreements has grown tenfold. In Minnesota, nine counties have signed agreements.The bill’s lead author, State Representative Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul, and Julio Murphy Zelaya from the ACLU of Minnesota joined Minnesota Now to talk more about the legislation and the report.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended her department's immigration enforcement tactics in front of a Senate committee on Tuesday and pushed back against criticism from Democrats who say she wrongly disparaged two protesters killed by federal officers in Minneapolis earlier this year.It was Noem’s first congressional appearance since the shooting deaths of the two protesters galvanized widespread opposition to how the Trump administration is executing its mass deportation agenda, a centerpiece policy of President Donald Trump's second term. At the time, Noem portrayed the protesters, two U.S. citizens, as agitators, although accounts from local officials and bystander video contradicted assertions from her and other administration officials.In one exchange, retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called her leadership a “disaster” and skewered her handling of the immigration crackdown and her management of emergency response.In the hearing, which stretched nearly five hours, Noem defended her agency’s treatment of immigrants caught up in enforcement activities, and blamed activists and others for attacks against officers.“I want to address the dangerous environment that our ICE officers face on the streets today," Noem said. “They are facing a serious and escalating threat as a result of deliberate mischaracterizations of their heroic work and rhetoric that demonizes our law enforcement.”Since the deaths in Minneapolis, the administration has taken steps meant to tone down tensions, including drawing down the operation there. But the administration has continued pressing restrictions against both legal and illegal immigration, has been buying up warehouses for immigration detention and persisting in federal enforcement in areas around the country. Noem said about 650 investigators remain in Minnesota as part of a broader fraud probe.The immigration tactics of Noem's department have triggered a clash in Congress over its routine funding, which remains unresolved, although a spending bill passed last year granted it a significant infusion of cash for the Republican administration’s mass deportation policy. Noem called the partial shutdown “reckless” and blamed Democrats for a move she said put national security at risk.Her appearance in front of the Judiciary Committee also comes after a weekend shooting at a bar in Texas that is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, leading to concerns that the escalating conflict in Iran could have repercussions for security in the U.S.Noem blames chaotic situation for her characterization of killed protestersIn what was initially billed as an effort to root out fraud in Minnesota, Homeland Security sent hundreds of officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to the state. They were met by protesters who organized marches, patrolled neighborhoods for ICE activity with whistles and ferried food to immigrants too afraid to leave their homes.Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by an ICE officer on Jan. 7, setting off intense protests demanding an end to the operation. Then on Jan. 24, Customs and Border Protection officers opened fire on another Minnesota resident, Alex Pretti, who had been filming enforcement operations.Those deaths led to cries for accountability and transparency. Noem, whose initial comments portrayed both Good and Pretti as the aggressors, has come under withering criticism by Democrats and some Republicans, who have called for her to resign.Democrats repeatedly questioned Noem about her initial comments and called on her to apologize.“You and your agency rushed to brand these victims as, quote, domestic terrorists,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee. “We have ample video evidence and eyewitness testimony proving you are wrong. Your statements caused immeasurable pain to these families.”Noem said she was relying on information from people on the scene and blamed “violent protesters” for contributing to the chaos officers encountered.“I was getting reports from the ground from agents at the scene, and I would say that it was a chaotic scene,” she said.After public outrage over the deaths, Trump sent border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to take control of operations. Homan has since announced a drawdown of the ICE and CBP officers who had been sent to Minnesota to carry out what had been dubbed Operation Metro Surge, although he’s been adamant that the president’s mass deportation agenda will continue.Noem also faced some Republican criticismRepublicans largely kept the focus on the large numbers of migrants who came into the country under former President Joe Biden, portraying Noem as the leader of a cleanup effort of the former administration’s mess.But she did come under some harsh questioning by members of her own party. Tillis, who called on Noem to resign following the shootings in Minneapolis, criticized her for erroneously arresting American citizens, for failures in her disaster recovery agency and for how she shot her own dog.“What we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Miss Noem, a disaster," Tillis said. “What we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained that turn out are American citizens.”Tillis, who has already announced that he is not running for another term., added: “We’re beginning to get the American people to think that deporting people is wrong. It’s the exact opposite. The way you’re going about deporting them is wrong."Another Republican, Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana, also pushed her to explain why her department paid more than $200 million for an ad campaign she appeared in last year encouraging migrants to leave the country voluntarily and questioned whether Trump knew about the price tag ahead of time.Noem, who is set to appear Wednesday in front of a House committee, defended those ads, saying they were effective and went through the regular department bidding process.“Well, they were effective in your name recognition,” Kennedy said.

War is escalating in the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched a major military attack against Iran over the weekend ... the strikes have killed more than 500 Iranians. More reaction ahead from one Iranian Minnesotan.A local group says they're hearing widespread stories of Minnesotans being unable to pay their rent as a result of the surge of federal agents in recent weeks. How they're providing support.And we'll meet a Minnesota GOP leader and Trump backer who's trying to reconcile his political beliefs in light of the Trump Administration’s massive immigration enforcement surge.Plus, a new design competition begins Monday, allowing students to submit ideas for a future George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis.Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Plumes” by HEYARLO and our Song of the Day was “Mississippi” by The Cactus Blossoms.

Design students in Minnesota can submit ideas for a future George Floyd memorial near the intersection of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis. Floyd’s aunt, Angela Harrelson said in a statement about the contest, “when it comes to honoring George’s legacy, we’re calling on the best of the best to help bring that vision to life.” After Floyd was murdered by police in 2020, the site became an organic memorial, as people made art and left offerings there. Late last year, the Minneapolis city council approved a plan to reconstruct the area known as George Floyd Square. The student design contest will run until mid-May. One or more of the winning designs could become a permanent installation. Two of the people behind the design competition joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini. Niall-Julian Universe is with the nonprofit Rise and Remember, and Anjali Ganapathy is director of undergraduate studies in architecture at the University of Minnesota.

We’ve made it to March, and for college basketball fans, that means one thing: tournaments are around the corner. The Big Ten women’s tournament starts later this week, followed by the men’s. And March Madness tips off a couple weeks from now. Joining Minnesota Now to talk about where Minnesota teams stand, plus other sports updates, are sports contributors, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.

Rent was due Sunday, and for some Minnesotans paying it wasn’t possible. Others scraped by, struggling after weeks of economic disruption tied to the recent ICE surge. In some families, a breadwinner has been deported. In others, people have stopped going to work out of fear, or workplaces have temporarily shut down. Over the past few months, staff at HOME Line say they’ve heard story after story like these. The organization is a nonprofit that provides free legal help and advocacy for Minnesota tenants. Jess Zarik is co-executive director of HOME Line, and she joined Minnesota Now to talk about what her team has been hearing, and what she expects in the weeks ahead.

Minnesotans are reacting to war in the Middle East after the United States and Israel launched a major military strike against Iran this weekend, hitting targets across the country that killed the country's supreme leader and multiple government officials. The offensive resulted in widespread destruction, civilian casualties and retaliatory strikes across the Middle East. Parham Alaei is the co-founder of the Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran, a group that organizes Iranian Americans advocating for democracy in Iran. He joined Minnesota Now host Nina Moini to talk about his reaction to the war.

The federal government is withholding a quarter billion dollars in Medicaid funding to Minnesota — and said the state has 60 days to address fraud before that money returns. One mental health leader shared what the pause will mean for his work.There is a push for Governor Tim Walz to enact an eviction moratorium before March rent is due to ease the impacts from the ICE surge. We looked at what would be required for the governor to make that decision.Plus, some people are getting released from ICE custody without crucial documents. We heard one man's story.Plus, writers gathered to reflect and celebrate Ramadan at an event organized by Mizna, a group that promotes the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists.And a doctor who trained in Minnesota skied in the Olympics for Mexico. She shared more about her journey.

Olympians from all over the world are heading home and adjusting to life after competing in Italy. For one new Olympian, regular life includes treating patients as an emergency room doctor in Miami. At this year’s games, Regina Martinez Lorenzo became the first woman to compete for Mexico in Olympic cross-country skiing. She raced in the 10k freestyle event. She got her start with the sport here in Minnesota while she was going to medical school. Regina Martinez Lorenzo joined Minnesota Now to talk more about her journey from Minnesota to the Olympics.

On Thursday, a community of writers came together to break the Ramadan fast, also known as Iftar, and held a public reading at Baba’s Hummus House in Minneapolis. The event was organized by Mizna, which promotes the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. Two artists shared more about the gathering on Minnesota Now — Nikki Luna, a Lebanese-American genderqueer poet and organizer of the event, and Nader Helmy, a Cairo-born, Minnesota-raised writer.

Advocates are scrambling to raise money for rent for the month of March that's due in just a few days. It's for the families that are still in hiding and are losing income from the Minnesota ICE surge. A coalition of unions in Minnesota is calling for a rent strike in solidarity with those families starting March 1, and many others are asking Governor Tim Walz to enact an eviction moratorium and rent relief payments for people unable to work during the surge of federal agents in the state. Advocates said they have crowdsourced hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the people in hiding, but that it is not sustainable for the long term. Governor Walz said that he can't enact a statewide eviction moratorium without declaring a peacetime emergency. And so far, he has been unwilling to make that move. Professor Larry Jacobs, the founder and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, joined MPR News host Nina Moini for a conversation about what’s at play in the governor’s decision making.

State leaders are responding to a move by the federal government to withhold about a quarter billion dollars in Medicaid funding. The Trump administration says the state has 60 days to share a plan to address fraud or the freeze could be extended. But Governor Tim Walz and members of his administration say they’ve been taking such steps. State Medicaid Director John Connolly said the state will have to pay the federal government a quarter billion dollars for services already provided, which is a hit to the state budget. Connolly says the Trump Administration has threatened to withhold more money.The funding pause affects 14 categories of services funded through Medicaid. Late in 2025, the state began reviewing providers of those services. It has suspended or delayed some payments. The programs include, in part, treatments for substance use disorder and mental health conditions. Marcus Schmit, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, spoke with host Nina Moini about what the funding threat could mean for mental health care in the state.