"Minnesota as a whole, has recognized that it (grooming) is harmful on its own and that it needs to be a crime. It can stop future abuse from happening. That's great,” LoPresto said. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Prosecutors allege ICE agent Gregory Morgan Jr. pointed a handgun at another vehicle on Highway 62 after a traffic dispute. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Friday.

For some immigrant families in Minnesota, life hasn't gone back to normal. One family that sheltered for three months during Operation Metro Surge is still watching their backs. Read the full story here: www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

"The bill requires parental approval for children under 16 to open a social media account and bans...infinite scrolling, push notifications, autoplay videos and targeted advertising..." www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

This legislation passed unanimously over the weekend in MN: www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Apparently, I now sometimes report on the Twin Cities housing market: www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Single moms with hungry kids have been kicked off food stamps in Arizona and elsewhere. Disabled Americans across the country are bracing for deep Medicaid cuts that they fear could force them out of their homes and into institutions. Meanwhile, in Washington:

NEW: The FBI wants to buy access to automated license plate readers (ALPRs) nationwide, which would likely allow the agency to track the movements of vehicles—and by extension people—across the country without a warrant, according to FBI procurement records reviewed by 404 Media.

More than 60 schools, parks, recreation centers, libraries and community sites will provide food, which must be eaten on site. Nonprofits across the Twin Cities and Minnesota will also offer summer meal opportunities.

Within drone range of Russian territory, survival itself has become a military skill for ordinary Ukrainians. Even children know how to deal with the deadly drones, illustrating how deeply the tactic has dissolved the line between soldier and civilian.

Minnesota is getting a set of K-12 health education standards for the first time ever: www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Pope Leo XIV denounced how investments in artificial intelligence and high-tech weaponry were leading the world into a "spiral of annihilation," as he called for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine. n.pr/3P4DKrz

Nationally, students remain nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading scores and only slightly better in math

Really important story: How California Allows Teachers Reported for Sexual Harassment or Misconduct to Keep Teaching, by LRN partner Holly McDede @kqednews.kqed.org and @mrsimon22.bsky.social

A Tennessee teenager calls her school board a group of “cowards” last week for not firing a member who hugged her and remarked that she was “hot” during a public meeting last month.

MNSPJ is partnering with the Minnesota Journalism Center and the Committee to Protect Journalists to provide training focused on digital security and safety online, particularly after the most recent wave of intense breaking news events Minnesota journalists have covered.

Minnesota senators voted Monday to prohibit federal agents from concealing their faces and to allow individuals who had their constitutional rights violated to sue. It now heads to the tied Minnesota House where it faces dim prospects.

At least two large companies, Deloitte and Zoom, are among the employers reducing support for working parents, signaling a retreat from a “golden age of benefits.” The move could particularly affect female workers, analysts said, because paid family leave has been shown to help them stay employed.

What happened in MN during Operation Metro Surge didn't just happen in the Twin Cities and the effects didn't end once federal official said the surge was over: www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Labor Department data from March showed that 1 in 3 men across the U.S. are not working or looking for a job.

Districts store all kinds of sensitive student data, which means the consequences of a cyberattack can follow pupils into adulthood. It's not just their credit that's at risk. From the NPR archives.

Minnesota officials are forecasting air quality issues this summer due to wildfire smoke and high ozone levels, with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency expecting 12 to 16 days of smoky air.

The number of people canceling or not using their permit to visit the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness rose again in 2025. The U.S. Forest Service says more than 40 percent of permits for May 1 through September 30 last year were never used.

"Both parents and teachers are operating under sustained stress while caring for young children." www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

New survey finds 80 percent of MN principals say ICE surge had negative impact on student learning: www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

I've been covering tech, and tech industry influence, in schools for more than a decade. And I've never seen this kind of rapidly scaling effort by parents pushing for more oversight of the laptops and learning apps that schools give kids. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/t...

At least 50 residents in Minnesota group homes have died since late 2022 under circumstances serious enough to trigger state maltreatment investigations. Marcus Schmit, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of NAMI, said to combat this, there needs to be stricter punishment.

How much do you know about grooming and how to recognize it and prevent it? Listen to this conversation on MPR News as we discuss the pattern of manipulative behaviors to gain a child’s trust in order to sexually abuse them. www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...

The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it executed search warrants in Minneapolis as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. In a statement posted to social media on Tuesday morning, DHS said that investigation related to “the rampant fraud of U.S. taxpayers dollars.”

Federal agents outside the Metro Learning Center daycare in south Minneapolis. It's pretty quiet but they referred me to the FBI for questions. They've been here for an hour, observers say.

On @mprnews.org @angeladavismpr.bsky.social talking2 experts about how to prevent predatory grooming. SafeSport recommends resources for parents: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://uscenterforsafesport.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2021_HPCourse_Grooming_062625_v7.2.pdf

The Minnesota Senate is considering reversing a ban on seclusion rooms for children in grade three and under until 2036. The solitary rooms were used in Minnesota for decades as a last-resort response to student behavioral issues in the classroom.

The executive director of World Press Photo said this image shows the inconsolable grief of children losing their father in a place built for justice. It is a stark and necessary record of family separation following the U.S. reform policies. n.pr/4d0E5EA

gorgeous

These stories of MN children detained by ICE, as reported by @bzosiad.bsky.social , are horrifying. sahanjournal.com/immigration/...

MN educators have been talking about creating a health insurance pool for years. @mprnews.org 's Molly Castle Work reports on the effort at the MN leg to make this a reality: www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

SCOOP: Two weeks ago, the head of the CDC delayed publication of a report showing covid vaccine cut likelihood of ER visits and hospitalizations by half. Now that report is no longer allowed to be published in CDC’s flagship scientific journal. My latest. 1/2 www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

School safety is shared area of Minnesota lawmaker focus, but parties split on solutions www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Breaking News: The Supreme Court will consider whether Catholic preschools in Colorado that decline to enroll families with LGBTQ parents can get state funding.

Jeffrey Epstein had a special obsession with Harvard, which he sought to infiltrate more than any other American institution. New documents reveal what professors did to helped him get inside the university gates.

BREAKING: Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarity is bringing the first charges against a federal officer stemming from Operation Metro Surge. Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. faces two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon after he pulled a gun on Hwy. 62 on a driver and passenger. Charges here:

Minnesota lawmakers working now to write a law to prevent grooming of children by adults in schools are parsing through the same questions district administrators, sports officials, caregivers and others have struggled for years to answer: What is grooming and how do we stop it?

Terminating civil rights agreements could have ripple effects far beyond those cases or even transgender students as a group. “Once you open that door to something that is unprecedented, where does it end?" one longtime OCR employee asked. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/14/t...

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said Monday they will pursue information from the Department of Homeland Security that they need for their investigation into the arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, an American citizen.

'Success Sequence' Urges Marriage, Then Parenthood. These States Want Schools to Teach It: The decades-old concept is getting new attention, largely from Republican lawmakers.

Thanks for this. The detention of children--in both ICE and criminal system-- has happened across administrations. But right now, it seems to be in hyperdrive. New numbers: 6,200+ kids detained by ICE in Trump’s Second Term, Up 10x since Biden left office www.themarshallproject.org/2026/04/06/i...

Several Twin Cities schools are welcoming students back to in-person learning after many were to afraid to attend class during Operation Metro Surge. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

A librarian in Tennessee was fired this week for refusing to move over 130 books with LGBTQ+ themes to the system’s adult section. Battles over access to children’s books with LGBTQ+ themes have played out through libraries across the U.S.

The company behind Facebook and Instagram has lost two major court cases and appears to be scaling back on the virtual reality Metaverse. n.pr/4cm8Q6C