Minnesota Now Full Show for July 13, 2022

[MUSIC PLAYING] CREW: One, two, three, four

CATHY WURZER: It's Minnesota Now, I'm Cathy Wurzer. Ukraine is about to launch an offensive against invading Russian troops, look at the latest from Brian Bonner, he's a former Saint Paul journalist who's been living in Ukraine for decades. A look back at Minnesota history when a tiny iron range town tried to leave the United States.

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Community healer Dr. Joi is back, talking about radical self-care with a leader in the movement for equity and to strengthen the Black community in Minnesota. Paul Huttner is here with a look at this week's weather, plus a detailed forecast for the weekend. Speaking of the weekend, the US Open ax and knife throwing competition is happening in Minneapolis this Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes you're just in the mood to throw an ax. We'll talk to the organizer. Plus, the Minnesota Music Minute. All that and more right after the news.

WINDSOR JOHNSTON: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. President Biden's four day trip to the Middle East is underway. Upon his arrival in Israel today Biden received a briefing on the Iron Dome defense system. He later traveled to the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem to pay his respects.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Honor those we lost so that we never, ever, ever forget that lesson, and to continue our shared unending work to fight the poison of anti-Semitism.

WINDSOR JOHNSTON: Biden is also expected to embrace the Trump-era Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries. Later in the week Biden will travel to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and will end his trip with a stop in Saudi Arabia.

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is planning to hold its next public hearing in prime time next week. NPR'S Claudia Grisales reports, lawmakers are preparing to share more information about its investigation with the Justice Department.

CLAUDIA GRISALES: Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson says their next hearing will focus on the 187 minutes Trump did not intervene in the January 6 attack. Thompson did not rule out future hearings as well.

BENNIE THOMPSON: Our goal is to complete the 187 minute hearing. If we do that, we're not certain if there will be another hearing. It's based on whether or not more information is forthcoming.

CLAUDIA GRISALES: Thompson also told reporters that the committee has shared names of their witnesses with the Justice Department and are negotiating to share more of their findings with the agency to help aid the criminal probe into the attack. Claudia Grisales, NPR News, Washington.

WINDSOR JOHNSTON: Russia continues to carry out airstrikes on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. NPR'S Jason Beaubien reports additional missiles hit the city overnight.

JASON BEAUBIEN: Air raid sirens and explosions rang out at 3:00 AM again in what's become a nightly pattern here in Kharkiv. In addition, firefighters spent much of Tuesday chasing fires from rockets that hit various locations across the city. Police say at least five people were hospitalized and 60 buildings were destroyed in the attacks.

Meanwhile, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has condemned the Russian shelling of an apartment building in Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region where dozens have died. So far in July alone the UN has verified 135 civilian deaths in government controlled parts of Ukraine, primarily from airstrikes. The UN says the actual civilian death toll is likely much higher. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Kharkiv, Ukraine.

WINDSOR JOHNSTON: Stocks are trading mixed on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow down 36 points, the NASDAQ up 51. This is NPR News.

Support for NPR comes from NPR stations, other contributors include Angie, formerly Angie's List, dedicated to helping homeowners tackle home projects from everyday repairs to dream remodels. Reviews, pricing, and booking are at Angie.com, or on the Angie app.

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CATHY WURZER: Around Minnesota right now skies are sunny, highs today mid 70s to the mid 80s. At the Duluth harbor, it's sunny and 59. It's 72 in Rochester. And outside Smoke and Beers IN Tracy, Minnesota, it's sunny and 76. I'm Cathy Wurzer with Minnesota News headlines.

The U of M board of Regents is hearing today from University of Minnesota president Joan Gable and other officials on the rising rate of crime in and around campus. Yesterday, President Gable said the school is creating a task force to address the issue. Tim Nelson has more.

TIM NELSON: The announcement comes a day after a community forum that featured students, staff, and parents expressing concern about rising crime, mainly around the Minneapolis campuses of the University. Gable said she would appoint a strategic Safety Advisory Committee that will include students, family members, staff and faculty, as well as representatives from the city of Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis and University Police departments.

The initiative comes after a notable rise in crime around the Dinkytown neighborhood and along the fringes of the East bank campus. Gable is expected to name the task force member soon and call a first meeting as soon as next week. I'm Tim Nelson.

CATHY WURZER: Police in Eagan say several people suffered minor injuries last night when someone lit and then tossed a large firework into a movie theater. Authorities say it happened just before 8:30 PM at the Imagine Theater on Cliff road when someone threw the firework into the theater and then left. Police say paramedics treated and released several people at the scene.

At least one Hennepin County commissioner is renewing her call for the resignation of Sheriff Dave Hutchinson after a Twin Cities TV station dug into his conduct since a drunk driving conviction. Fox 9 in two reports this week revealed that Sheriff Hutchinson sent racist and homophobic texts and emails in the weeks following his DWI arrest. The station also reports Hutchinson has spent more than $17,000 on meals, travel, and other items between December of 2021 and this past April.

Commissioner Kristen Robins is calling for Hutchinson's resignation and says the allegations need to be investigated and taxpayers should be repaid for any misuse of county funds. Hutchinson is not running for re-election, but has resisted calls for his resignation, saying he'll serve out the remainder of his term.

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This week's headlines on the war in Ukraine include intensified attacks on civilians in the Donetsk province, the UN's monitoring for violations against children, and US military aid that may not be as generous as expected. To explore these stories and more, NPR reporter Tim Nelson's been in touch with his longtime friend and colleague Brian Bonner.

Brian is a former journalist for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press and the former editor of the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's Premier English language newspaper. Tim spoke with Brian yesterday.

TIM NELSON: Brian and I worked together for nearly a decade in Saint Paul at the Pioneer Press. I've talked to him a few times since the war in Ukraine started. He has a new job with a Polish Ngo and has been in and out of Ukraine and Poland during the past month. Today, he's back in Minnesota to speak with me in person. Brian, welcome back to Minnesota Now.

BRIAN BONNER: I'm just glad I can be here in the studio actually, considering everything that's going on, and grateful for your interest and NPR's interest.

TIM NELSON: Well, how are you doing these days?

BRIAN BONNER: Well, I took a summer break. It's a little hard getting out of Ukraine. There's no air service. So you take a 24 hour train ride to Poland, hope it's not targeted, fly in. And I'll be going back to Ukraine-- or back to Europe on Sunday.

TIM NELSON: You said it was pretty safe to take the train. But while the Russian military has been regrouping and resupplying, it looks like their attacks on civilian targets have been kind of intensifying in recent days. Word this week that missiles killed at least 33 people in an apartment block in the Donetsk Province. There was that missile attack on the mall in Kremenyuk. Is this a new phase?

BRIAN BONNER: Well, yeah, it's a continuation of the scorched Earth phase, which is basically pummel cities with artillery fire. Overnight there were attacks in major cities, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv in the South, Odessa. There's attacks almost every day. So anywhere they hit, it's the Russian tactic, which is pummel with artillery, come in with Russian forces, declare this is your land, give passports, and then claim that you're just defending yourself against attacks.

So we're in a very dangerous phase because as the Russians move East, pummeling everybody in its way, Ukraine appears set to launch a very key counteroffensive in the South to try to regain the port cities and access to the sea. So they've warned civilians to get out. And I think that's going to be the next bloodiest phase.

TIM NELSON: We've seen a lot of video on that. These missile attacks and artillery attacks are on TV a lot. But the UN announced Monday that they're going to start monitoring the war in Ukraine for violations against children, like killings, injuries, recruiting children to fight, sexual assaults, and other forms of sexual violence. What do you think they're going to find there in Ukraine?

BRIAN BONNER: Well, they're going to find a lot of war crimes if they look properly. The United Nations has a credibility problem because everything it does can be vetoed by Russia. Tons of war crimes happening on a constant basis. How much of that the United Nations is going to find or really try to find is another question. And what they can do with it is the biggest question, because you know how the United Nations works. I mean, Russia can block everything. So can China.

TIM NELSON: I read an analysis in the New York Times this weekend talking about the regular military conflict. It said that the US may not be as generous when this most recent $54 billion aid package is gone, possibly by next spring. Can Ukraine hold out until then? Or can they win? Can they hold the Russians off that long?

BRIAN BONNER: The Ukrainians are very worried about what's going to happen to Western interests and Western financial support. As I understand it, the money is thought to be enough at least through the end of the year and possibly the first part of next year. President Zelenskyy has set the goal, the Ukrainian President, of getting this war over. And by that he means regaining territory from the Russians this winter.

There's going to be a very active summer, fall military campaign from the Ukrainian point of view. They're going to give it everything they have with the new weaponry. Because I think the winter, Vladimir Putin is hoping that he will be able to use energy as a weapon, cutting off gas, oil prices will be high. He's banking on the West losing interest.

Of course, nobody is as obsessed with Ukraine Putin is and subjugating Ukraine. But that's the big question, what's going to happen if we're still where we are now in this war of attrition where it's not clear which side is winning? What's the response going to be from the West then? We just don't know.

TIM NELSON: Well, not just the West. The Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed frustration that China isn't interested in taking a side in this conflict recently. The Mexican President is in Washington after calling US support for Ukraine a crass error. I'm hearing now there's growing concern that the Nord Stream pipeline may stay shut down or be restricted after this week of maintenance. Can Ukraine keep widespread international opinion and support, even if it's not guns, as threats like recession loom here?

BRIAN BONNER: That's the key question. I think we have to think through the consequences again if Russia is able to subjugate and change the-- forcibly change the borders of another country. And the consequences, I still think, are going to be huge and bigger than the cost of supporting Ukraine.

It's disappointing that so many people are on the sidelines, so many nations are on the sidelines, like China. I hope they will come to see it as this is not the US fighting, this is the US supporting what I think is just war in this case. And I think most people view it that way. But you're right, the dangers are all over. Obviously, Putin is not an international pariah yet. And there's a lot of neutrality in Asia, in Africa, in the Middle East, in Latin America.

TIM NELSON: We were used to initially seeing this on the news every night. It's not on there as much right now. Give me a little sense of what it's like living near the front lines of this war. Are you on high alert all the time? What does it feel like to live there?

BRIAN BONNER: I think we're all still in a traumatized state. Every time I'm out of Ukraine I feel a higher degree of safety. But Ukrainians are very worried that people are going to lose interest because they're busy with the fight. Six million women and children mostly are still abroad. Six million are internally displaced. The men are at the front.

I'm seeing the destruction of the Ukraine I used to know. And I'm not talking just militarily and with human lives, but also society. People are not coming back. Mothers now have to make their choice, are they going to send their kids to Ukrainian schools come September? High school grads are going to have to ask themselves, do I really want to study at a Ukrainian University? The economy is devastated.

Ukraine is borrowing huge sums of money just to keep going. It needs $5 billion. And it's the social fabric. It's the fact that my friends are gone. My Ukrainian friends are gone. And many of them are not coming back. And the fact that you just can't live peacefully. I mean, everybody is going to the front. You hear about so-and-so died, this many people got killed, this city-- everybody wakes up with the casualty count. And the Ukraine that I knew is not coming back.

I hope, and pray, and believe that it will fight to the end, because it understands that-- people who talk about wanting a peace deal miss a couple elements. One is, a peace deal in which Ukraine loses territory rewards aggression, and so you're just going to get more aggression. And two, Vladimir Putin can't be trusted. And three, Ukrainians would rather-- it's not the US propping them up. Ukrainians would rather fight to the end rather than surrender to Putin.

TIM NELSON: And what's next for you? I assume you're going to go back to Ukraine?

BRIAN BONNER: Well, I got a great job now editing remotely. So I can edit from wherever I have a computer and laptop. I would like to get back into Ukrainian. I haven't really written about the war. I would like to start writing about it more, because I feel-- I see that people are exhausted and not focused in. And so I think if I can make some contributions there, that'll be fine.

But I'm going to stay in journalism until the end. I'm going to stay in Ukraine. I'm going to stick with it. And I hope the world sticks with it. Because I can't emphasize this enough, we don't know the consequences, but they will be horrible if Vladimir Putin is just allowed to go on. You saw him two weeks ago compare himself to Peter, the Great.

And he would really like to reassemble the geographic territory of imperial Russia, which is not that different than Soviet Union Russia. And that includes the Baltics, Finland, Poland, big places in Asia. So his appetite is huge. People are really optimistic about a couple of things. And that is the HIMARs and the missile systems, and the air defense systems that are coming Ukraine's way.

I don't think we know all of it, because they're starting to use-- they would use systems, and then tell us about it later. So I'm hoping that that's going to be-- I'm hoping that there's a lot more being deployed now. And I hope this Southern counter-offensive is what you really want to watch for.

TIM NELSON: Well, we're glad you're back in Minnesota and safe and sound. And we hope you stay that way wherever you go.

BRIAN BONNER: Thank you, Tim.

CATHY WURZER: Nice to hear Brian's voice. That was NPR reporter Tim Nelson speaking with Brian Bonner, a former journalist for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. He's also the former editor of the Kyiv Post, which is Ukraine's Premier English language newspaper. You can hear all of Tim Nelson's conversations with Brian Bonner online at mprnews.org. They've been talking since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Let's listen to some Minnesota country music right now. For today's Minnesota Music Minute, we've got Barbara Jean with her song "Wishing Well". Barbara's from the North Shore, comes from many generations of women violin players. You can catch her next show in Lutsen at the lute song music festival this weekend, July 15.

[MUSIC - BARBARA JEAN- "WISHING WELL"]

BARBARA JEAN: (SINGING) I'm so mad about you gone, I can barely sleep. Did I do it to myself? Or did you do it to me? If I can't have you, baby, there will be lonesome melody. My heart is like a freight train barrelling down on you.

And I'm on my back to something true. Ooh, ever which way it's going to be, deep inside my heart, I know you'll always be with me.

CATHY WURZER: It's Wednesday. Happy to have Dr. Joi Lewis back with us. Dr. Joi is a community healer, speaker, and founder of Joi Unlimited and the Healing Justice Foundation, and author of the book Healing: The Act of Radical Self-care. Today Dr. Joi is talking with Shvonne Johnson. She's a teacher and author and head of the new organization based in Minneapolis called Pimento Relief Services, leading Black liberation work in Minnesota. Welcome, Dr. Joi.

JOI LEWIS: Thank you. I am always pleased to get to be here. And I am particularly feeling really grateful to get to spend some time sharing space with my amazing friend, co-conspirator, JUST amazing human being and scholar, Shvonne Johnson, who also has just been named as the first executive director of Pimento Relief Services, y'all. So it should be really a good time. Welcome, welcome, Shvonne. How you doing?

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Dr. Joi, I can't say this enough, before healing was trendy, you were healing. So being in this space with you, you already know I'm elated.

JOI LEWIS: Yes. We're going to just jump right in. Shvonne, I'm interested, as you are making this transition, you have lived several lives, you have done several things, what heartbreak are you bringing with you into this role that you want to try to work out?

SHVONNE JOHNSON: So I've been a teacher for 17 years. I've been a professor for 12 years, a community activist, an author, a poet, a daughter, an auntie. Very active in the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, but I was called to be a teacher from a child. I wanted to be a teacher when I was eight.

And so today, I actually had just stopped up by the middle school that I recently left to learn that one of my former students had shot someone and is now going to be serving life in prison. And I started working with him when he was 12. And he's now 17, I believe. So that is the most recent heartbreak in terms of-- the family structure of the African-American community has historically always saved us, during the plantation situation and post plantation situation.

And so one of the things that I bring in terms of heartbreak in conjunction with hope is the restoration of our family structures. And not just this-- sometimes you get new families. Sometimes you can pick family. And so I want, for the sake of our future and our children, for us to find our people so we can create some security, some example, some love to be an example for our children because that is our future. I do bring heartbreak, but in conjunction with heartbreak, I always have to come with love.

JOI LEWIS: Absolutely I love that, thinking about our family of origin, but then also kinship. And I call everybody my cousins, right? So you're my cousins, if you're out there listening. And I say that a little bit in jest, but not so much. Because it really is about connecting back to our own humanity and to each other's humanity. And when we see that kinship, that fictive kinship, to know like, I care about you in the way that I would a family member. And so this restoration that you talk about is necessary.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Yeah, we're family that we haven't met yet.

JOI LEWIS: That's right. That's right. There has been so much going on. And I would love for you to just share with us a little bit about your new role in this the first executive director of Pimento Relief Services, and that work, and how it will impact folks here in Minnesota.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: One of the things that's really powerful is that there already is an established name, Pimento, in the city.

JOI LEWIS: And I will also say this, if you have not been to Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, I'm going to tell you right now you're missing out in good fun and good music. And you just feel like you just made it home. So I want to invite folks to check it out, patio, all of that.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Yeah. Yeah. Shortly after George Floyd was executed, the founder, Tommy Beavis, of Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, immediately jump to action in terms of providing food, in terms providing services, in terms of providing space for folks who are on the ground to convene just to process the tragedy. People started to say, this is needed work. And so Tommy then established Pimento Relief Services in 2020.

Our mission is economic, political, and social liberation for Black people everywhere. And given the historical oppression and degradation, specifically of people of African descent, current and past, the work is necessary. And we need all hands on deck. As tragic as the loss of brother George Floyd was, it sparked a movement for the world, in terms of the healing that has always been necessary, but not necessarily directly addressed.

JOI LEWIS: Yeah, and just to be clear, at that time it was just the Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, which was amazing. But it became like a headquarters. I mean, this thing was quite something to see. People needed places to be able to put their food in freezers, and folks just kept coming. And it was a situation. There were hundreds and hundreds of volunteers.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: It's thousands and thousands of people that were fed from donations given by community, and Tommy's brilliance, and generosity, and connection to the community, to be honest, as well. We have been hired as consultants for various corporations throughout the state to work specifically around the work of liberation in the Black community.

JOI LEWIS: Because you have quite a bit ahead of you taking on this new role, want to encourage you to make sure that you are in fact taking some time for the radical self-care.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: One of my-- I'm a historian by trade, as well. And so one of the things that Stokely Carmichael used to say is, the most radical thing for any oppressed peoples can do is love themselves and each other. What does that mean? I'm going to go to sleep when I'm tired. What does that mean? I'm going to drink my water. And in a day where it's hustle and bustle and move, move, move, it's almost frowned upon to sit at a certain time and eat your lunch because there's work to be done. But, no, radical self-care means, I'm going to sit down and eat. I don't know about you. You're welcome to join me. But I'm going to make time to nourish my body, because I got to keep moving.

JOI LEWIS: Yeah. I'm glad to hear that, because you have quite a bit ahead of you taking on this new role. And I want to encourage you, encourage other folks to make sure that you are in fact taking some time for the radical self-care. I am having a little slower pace right now, giving myself a little self-imposed timeout to kind of slow down. And it's good. I can see my mind sort of going like, you got to do this, you got to do that. And so I'm going to invite you all to join me where you can. Maybe you can't take off like full days or do anything like that, but you can take a pause. You can take a little visual trip.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Yeah. Yeah.

JOI LEWIS: I so enjoy sharing space with you, Shvonne, and learning more about your work ahead. And thank you.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Thank you, Dr. Joi.

CATHY WURZER: Dr. Joi is a community healer, speaker, and founder of Joi Unlimited and the Healing Justice Foundation, author of the book, Healing: The Act of Radical Self-care. Dr. Joi spoke with Shvonne Johnson. Shvonne's an author, a teacher, and the first executive director of a new organization based in Minneapolis called Pimento Relief Services, which is leading Black liberation work in Minnesota.

This conversation was edited for length. You can hear the entire conversation online. It includes a fantastic meditation led by Dr. Joi, by the way. In fact, you can find all the meditations she's shared on Minnesota Now over the past several weeks by going to our website, mprnews.org.

CREW: Programming on Minnesota Public Radio is supported by Luther College, announcing a new law and values major and a new counseling minor to prepare students for lives of impact in a complex, changing world. More at Luther.edu.

CATHY WURZER: I am still seeing so many great photos and video of that shelf cloud that swept across the Twin Cities. Did you see that at all? Of course, if you're in Duluth, you obviously didn't, but you may have seen some of the photos on your social media feed. It was really a remarkable cloud formation. It's dubbed the hand of God-- or it was dubbed the hand of God by a couple of observers, because it looked kind of like that with this hand coming out of the sky.

It looked threatening, kind of ominous. It was not. Kind of a combo, you had the sunset yesterday, and it was a dying thunderstorm. So it wasn't a wall cloud, which is indicating tornadic activity. It was a shelf cloud. So it kind of is the leading edge of rain cool, dry air moving out of a thunderstorm. We'll have to ask Paul Hunter about. This he can describe it better than I can.

But fans at Target Field saw it, took pictures, posted that. Andrew Krieger of our staff did a really nice job taking some video and some stills shots of this. It was really something. So check it out by going to mprnews.org. Click on the updraft blog. we talked about that there. It's well worth seeing. John Wanamaker, were you outside yesterday? Is that what you said? On the patio?

JOHN WANAMAKER: Yes, I was. We were eating dinner on a patio. And it was light at first, and then the winds picked up very quickly, and the umbrellas had to come down, and we had to get off the patio. It was a quick storm, definitely.

CATHY WURZER: But interesting, right? Hey, by the way, you got a news update, I know.

JOHN WANAMAKER: I do. Ukraine's foreign minister says grain exports from his country's ports won't resume without security guarantees for ship owners, cargo owners, and Ukraine as an independent nation. Military officials from Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first government's first face to face talks in months today.

Surging prices for gas, food, and rent shot US inflation to a new four decade peak in June, further pressuring households and likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Consumer prices were up 9.1% compared with a year earlier. That's the biggest yearly increase since 1981, and up from an 8.6% jump in May.

Right now stocks are mixed. Their reaction initially was down, but right now the Dow off about just under one third of 1%, the S&P even, the NASDAQ is up slightly. President Biden visiting Israel for the first time since taking office. In a four day trip to the Middle East, Biden will hold talks with Israeli, Palestinian, and Saudi Arabian officials. Biden received a formal welcome at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport and was briefed on Israel's Iron Dome and Iron Beam air defense systems.

Biden is spending two days in Jerusalem for talks with Israeli leaders before meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday in the West Bank. He then heads to Saudi Arabia. Sri Lanka's president has fled the country, plunging a country already reeling from economic chaos into more political turmoil. Protesters demanding a change in leadership trained their anger Wednesday on the prime minister and stormed his office. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife left aboard an Air Force plane bound for the Maldives. He made his prime minister the acting president in his absence. This is NPR News.

CATHY WURZER: Thank you John. 12:30, it's been a warm and muggy summer week. And, of course, I was talking about that wild video with the cloud that looked like a tidal wave creeping across the Twin Cities. Well, here to talk about all of this and more, NPR'S chief meteorologist Paul Huttner. Hey, Paul.

PAUL PUTTNER: Hey, Cathy. Good to hear you, I guess-- see you, as always. And what a night. What a photogenic sky last night.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh. Very cool. And I did-- I think I probably screwed up with the shelf cloud versus a wall cloud. So that was a shelf cloud. How did it form?

PAUL PUTTNER: Yeah. You nailed it, by the way, in the description. It was a shelf cloud. And shelf clouds form usually at the leading edge of thunderstorms, that rain cooled air, that kind of downdraft at the front edge of the storm causes condensation. So it makes that very sort of definite shelf cloud lowering at the front edge of the cloud with the gust front. So that's what we saw kind of rotate into the Twin Cities last night.

And it was just an awesome scene, of course, with the sunset behind it and the gray to green skies. Interesting to note that that storm was really just borderline severe. They issued a warning for it, but I checked the reports, there were no large hail or high winds above 58 miles an hour, which is severe criteria. But just an incredible, what we call UFO style shelf cloud rolling into the Twin Cities last night.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah. I did not know that we are nearly halfway through meteorological summer.

PAUL PUTTNER: Yeah. Saturday, July 16, roughly the halfway point, the midpoint of June, July, and August, which we call meteorological summer. And, Cathy, it's been warm. June was 3 degrees, 3.3 warmer than average in the Twin Cities. July running 2.4 degrees warmer. Most of Minnesota were about 2 to 3 degrees warmer than average. But we're dry in many areas. Rain, we're about an inch below average in the Twin Cities for July.

And interesting to note that we've had 30 days of 90 degree or warmer temperatures. That is already average for the entire year. So we're running ahead on the heat. And that one day, of course, of 100, which everybody remembers in the Twin Cities, that was the first day in four years, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: I'm wondering about the heat wave then coming up. Doesn't it start-- what? Friday, Saturday into next week?

PAUL PUTTNER: Yeah, we'll ramp up a little bit this weekend. I think Sunday is the first day when you're really going to say, OK, it's hot out there. Here's what's happening, there's this big heat dome over the Western US. It's 100 AS far North as places like Idaho, Washington state. And the core of that heat is going to just kind of topple East toward Minnesota early next week. The real core of it, 100 plus, I think Kansas, Nebraska, parts of South Dakota. Western Minnesota could see 100 next week. Will be on the Eastern edge of this. Twin Cities,

I think probably four days of 90s. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, around 90 Sunday, 94 Monday, maybe 96 Wednesday. The European model today coming out with 98 to 99 degrees for next Tuesday in the Twin Cities. So about four days of 90s, but those dew points, upper 60s, low 70s. Cathy, I'm going to have to issue a weather lab Wurzer weather warning. Peak Wurzer weather next week.

CATHY WURZER: Yes, it will be. It will be. And it may be hot enough even for Wurzer. I don't know. Say, let's talk a little bit about the crispy lawns and the lack of rain, in terms of the crops now. You drive by, they look OK. They look OK, but I know some areas really do need the rain. So when you look at your crystal ball there, what about rain?

PAUL PUTTNER: Well, I'll tell you what, it's interesting because it's patchwork as usual in summer in Minnesota. So Southern Minnesota has had good rains in the last 10 days, two to five inches, that's tier of counties from Mankato South. That's Blue Earth County South to the Iowa border. But you get North of that, one to two inches Southwest Twin Cities, Carver County.

My untrained suburban kid eye says the corn looks good here in Carver County, but I think you get West and North, it is trending dry, especially highway 12 West of the Twin Cities and then North into Central Minnesota. So we need about an inch a week this year to stay on average. It looks like our best chance is Thursday night, Friday morning for those areas to get some thunderstorms that could potentially dump an inch of rain.

Cathy, with that heat coming in next week over all the forecast models saying maybe an inch of rain or so or less over the next week to 10 days, so we may be trending into kind of a dry pattern here. We want to get some more rain for those farmers, especially during this critical time in late July.

CATHY WURZER: By the way, speaking of late July, mid to late July, is this the time of the year when we get more nighttime storms?

PAUL PUTTNER: We do, and it's called nocturnal thunderstorm season. What happens, Cathy, is as the nights start to get a little longer, we get all this heat near the surface, the air cools aloft more at night. And we can get this unstable atmosphere where these storms can pop up after midnight, 2, 3, 4 AM. And we often get these overnight storms, or sunrise surprise as we like to call them. So we're hopeful. We'll watch for that as we head through the next couple of weeks. By the way, the next two weeks, the hottest two weeks of the year climatological in Minnesota. So get ready for it. Here it comes.

CATHY WURZER: And I love nighttime thunderstorms. The only problem, of course, if they are severe, then they gets a little dicey, obviously, as you know.

PAUL PUTTNER: That's why you have a no weather radio or your phone nearby, hopefully.

CATHY WURZER: That is correct, my friend. All right, I hope you have a great rest of the day. Thanks much.

PAUL PUTTNER: You, too. Pleasure to talk with you, Cathy.

- Likewise. Chief meteorologist, Paul Huttner. By the way, he joins Paul Huttner every afternoon on All Things Considered right here on NPR News.

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CREW: Programming is supported by the McKnight Foundation, advancing a more just, creative, and abundant future, where people and planet thrive. Online at McKnight.org.

CATHY WURZER: So we're going to launch a new Minnesota history segment on the show right now. Listener Bill Palmer even gave us a name for it, Minnesota, now and then. Back then, some 45 years ago, on this very date, July 13, 1977, the tiny town of Kinney Minnesota on the Iron Range sought to gain independence from the United States. True story. Imagine the United State of Kinney Minnesota.

The Mesabi Daily News headline read, move over Monaco, here comes Kinney. The Kinney city council had voted to secede from the United States because of a dispute over a federal grant. Here to tell us the details is Jennifer Kleinjung, she's the former education coordinator at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm, Minnesota, formerly known as the Iron World Discovery Center. Jennifer, welcome.

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: Hi. Thanks, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Kinney is a really small town. Even in the 70s I think it only had about, what, 500, 600 people?

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: Yep.

CATHY WURZER: Kind of like a map dot. So to think it would declare its independence is kind of funny. I understand a lot of this revolved around a federal grant. What was the deal with that?

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: Well, the story of that the tiny town of Kinney had a failing water system. The infrastructure for its water system was really in trouble. They couldn't get decent water pressure, actually, to put out a fire that had happened in the home of Mayor Mary Anderson's-- family home had burned down because of lack of water pressure. The citizens in Kinney had mineral deposits in their water that was turning their laundry orange and brown.

And the city government had been trying their hardest to apply for any federal grant, any state, local grant, any kind of option for getting money to fix the failing water system, because that was money their city government just didn't have. And what you're referring to as the secession of Kinney really was a final straw after Mayor Mary Anderson and other city officials had tried everything they could.

And at one city council meeting on July 12, 1977, in frustration the comment was thrown out there, you know what, I bet it would be easier if we were a foreign country to get foreign aid from the United States that would fix our water system, instead of being the tiny town of Kinney in Northeastern Minnesota. And kind of an offhanded remark, a joke actually turned into something that city attorney Jim Randall-- drafted a letter addressed to the Secretary of State Cyrus B. Vance at the time, that then on July 13, 1977, was actually sent via registered mail to the US Secretary of State, saying, we declare that we are seceding from the Union. If necessary, we're willing to declare war and surrender real quick. Because our mayor is a nurse in a nearby hospital, and many of our council members work in the nearby mines and can't get the time off of work. But declaring our independence. It was amazing.

CATHY WURZER: Yes Oh, my goodness. I want to go back to Mayor Anderson for just a moment, because the range is full of characters. And Mayor Anderson, she was an outsized force on the Iron Range, kind of a memorable character. Tell me a little bit about her.

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: Most definitely. Mary Anderson is something of a political legend up on the Iron Range. She was the first woman mayor of the town of Kinney, and actually led a government, at the time in the 70s, as of 1976, that was run by women, this small town.

And she owned and operated the local bar, Mary's bar, that was definitely a hot spot, particularly in the 80s, for politicians of all levels to kind of come and launch campaigns, including Paul Wellstone. I believe Dukakis stopped by there. She was very connected to Governor Perpich at the time. And I would say is something of a kingmaker.

I view Mary Anderson and Veda Ponikvar definitely in the same league, just as women of the Iron Range who were larger than life, who knew how to get things done, and weren't afraid to think outside the box.

CATHY WURZER: Vida, of course, was a longtime newspaper editor on the range. She was a force to contend with. So getting back here to the secession effort, if I'm not incorrect, didn't Jeno Paulucci-- for folks who remember that name, he was kind of the frozen food king out of Duluth. Jeno gave Kinney a used Ford to replace the city police car, which I think no longer ran, and gave them 10 cases of frozen pizza. He was part of this whole thing too, I think.

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: Yes, He was part of the story. It was actually really fabulous. Because the letter was sent in July of '77. There was no response. There were crickets. And then as you were saying, quoting that article that came out in the Mousabi Daily News the following February.

You know, nothing was really said until that following February when that article ran and then that kind of initiated everything, including Jeno giving the city of Kinney, or the Independent Republic of Kinney, I should say, its first foreign aid, which was a 1974 LTD for use as their squad car, and 10 cases of frozen pizza mix.

And I believe there were even used tires included in that foreign aid delivery, which was pretty epic. So actually the Independent Republic of Kinney does celebrate as an official holiday-- March 5 every year is Jeno Paulucci Pizza Day.

CATHY WURZER: I did not know that. Now, do they make passports?

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: They did. Yes. When the media coverage really took off in late February, March, April passports, were created. And I believe around 1,600 were issued. They were sold in Mary's bar in Kinney, and also sent to particular people, a lot of who's who of state and local politicians. I

Believe Governor Perpich which was passport holder number six. I know Jim Oberstar was a passport holder. There were passports sent to Twin Cities television stations.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, of course. Of course. You wouldn't happen to have seen any of these passports?

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: I did not see any of the originals issued, but in 2007, when I was the education coordinator at iron world, there was an effort to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the secession. So the city of Kinney reissued passports. And I am the proud holder of passport 4,063.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, see how it's grown? It's grown.

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: Exactly. There are a lot of citizens of the Independent Republic of Kinney out there. You just have to go looking.

CATHY WURZER: Now, this is a pretty innovative publicity stunt. Did Kinney ever get the funding for the water system? I don't remember.

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: They did. They did. It took a while. The interesting thing is, as I mentioned, it took a while for the media to kind of catch up and get the story. But within a month of the story breaking in the Mesabi Daily News, a grant did come in from the IRRRB, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation board, for $60,000, that started that water system repair work. And then it was followed up the following December with another grant of a little under $200,000. And the water system was fully repaired.

CATHY WURZER: So I'm assuming that the water is no longer orange in Kinney and everything is OK.

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: That's the idea.

CATHY WURZER: OK, I'm glad to hear that. Jennifer, you did a beautiful job explaining this. It was really a lot of fun talking to you.

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: Yeah. Well, it's my favorite story from iron range history. So happy to chat about it whenever. Happy Kinney Independence Day.

CATHY WURZER: And thank you. And to you as well, Jennifer. Take care of yourself.

JENNIFER KLEINJUNG: You, too.

CATHY WURZER: Jennifer Kleinjung is the former education coordinator at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm, Minnesota, that was once known as the Iron world Discovery Center. If you want to know more about the Kinney secession effort, you can go to the Minnesota Historical Society online. And by the, way we did a story-- of course, we did. We're NPR News.

We did a story how many years ago now? Several. About the time Kenny Minnesota seceded. that's a hard word to say-- seceded from the Union. Check it out by going to mprnews.org.

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I'm Cathy Wurzer. It's Minnesota Now here on NPr news. I'm betting you've heard about the latest craze where folks can get a beer or two, pick up axes, and throw them at targets. It's become such a popular thing. And there are people who are so good at catapulting axes toward targets, it's become its own sport. There are now more than 6,000 throwers in 28 countries, which has led to the world ax and world knife throwing leagues.

Tournaments are broadcast on ESPN. And, in fact, the US Open ax throwing tournament is this weekend in the Twin Cities. Mario Zelaya is the CEO of Bad Ax Throwing in Toronto, Canada. He's the commissioner and CEO of the World Ax Throwing League, and the founder and CEO of the World Knife throwing League. He's on the line. Mario, welcome.

MARIO ZELAYA: Thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it.

CATHY WURZER: I'll admit, Mario, I've not watched nor participated in ax throwing. So you're going to be schooling me and some of our listeners. What other sports might ax throwing be comparable to?

MARIO ZELAYA: I would say it's very similar to bowling and very similar to throwing a soccer ball over your head.

CATHY WURZER: So help me out. You take ax in hand, you step up, ready yourself to throw it. What are you thinking about? What does it feel like?

MARIO ZELAYA: There are certain athletes that are part of the World Axe Throwing League that see sports psychologist to help them cope with nerves, high pressure scenarios, especially when you're on TV, a lot of the stuff is on the line. The lights are shining on you. You're on ESPN. You're on national TV, and you're competing against what may be the finals or the semifinals to be the best axe thrower in the World.

CATHY WURZER: Baseball players, as you know, are picky about the weight of their bats. They put pine tar on them. Hockey players carefully sculpt and prepare their sticks. What do ax throwers do?

MARIO ZELAYA: It's funny, because you look at an ax and you think, it's very basic. There's a handle and there's an ax head. But a lot of the higher end ax throwers, they will care about how smooth maybe the finish is on the wood handle. So some of them might care about the material. Some of them like to maybe create a little notch for their pinky. So that lets them know that they're holding their ax at the exact same place every single time.

Others, which we're moving towards manufacturing in World Ax Throwing league ax is creating square handles. They also look at the ax heads. Axes for throwing are specially manufactured not to chop wood. You just want it to stick. And in order to get that ax to stick on the board, they have to be very, very thin. The axes are very, very, very different.

CATHY WURZER: I understand that you put together the safety standards, the formalization of the rules, the rules of the. Game really now, honest, did you just make these up to begin with?

MARIO ZELAYA: Yes, we really did. And there's so many elements to the rules, and the creation of the rules, the modification and the enhancements of the rules. It's a very tough mental exercise. You can't really do a great job of creating a great set of rules without being a great thrower yourself or having a great understanding of the game.

And so early on, we created a very basic version of our rules. And while I say they were basic, there still was a lot of thought. You know, how many throws each thrower would have. We had the foresight to know that maybe the left target has a bit softer wood than the right one, because there's differences in wood.

And so how do you make it even? You do five throws on each side, you tap axes, and you switch. And so it's really difficult to think of all the scenarios. And that's why the rules have basically evolved. Because the sport itself is actually quite young.

Bad Ax Throwing was founded in 2014. The World Ax Throwing League was founded in 2017. And so there were earlier versions of the rules that we used within Bad Ax Throwing. But for the World Ax Throwing League itself, WATL, I mean it's really only five years old.

CATHY WURZER: Wow. Now, how in the world did you get involved in ax throwing? You're in Canada. Is there something to being a Canadian?

MARIO ZELAYA: Yeah, I think that's got a part of it-- a part to do with it, where ax throwing, similar to knife throwing, both of them have been around for a very, very long time. No one really commercialized it. And no one really took the concept of doing this backyard activity into an indoor organized activity event. And that's what we were really great at doing.

CATHY WURZER: There's something, I have to be honest with you, Mario, of throwing axes indoors and there's alcohol involved. I have trouble with that, looking at how that scenario might play out. No, I'm presuming that you have rules on that.

MARIO ZELAYA: Yes, we do. And so there's two things that actually help with safety. One is we're not a place where people come to get intoxicated. The drinking is more of like a secondary add-on.

And the other thing that helps too is we have a zero tolerance rule for intoxication. And so all of our staff has the state level training and the designation to serve. Since the existence of ax throwing from 2014 in North America, there hasn't been a single major insurance claim. And the type of injuries that have happened are really more paper cuts. But, yeah, overall, it's extremely safe, and it's extremely fun.

CATHY WURZER: Now, you mentioned, this will be broadcast on ESPN, the tournament will be. Any Minnesota or upper Midwest people we need to watch?

MARIO ZELAYA: Yes. So there is David Lewis and Austin Lewicki. They're both local from the Minneapolis area. They both then have done a phenomenal job of growing the sport in the Minneapolis area they actually throw at a Bad Ax Minneapolis. And so those are the two that I would say locally I think will do very well.

CATHY WURZER: I'll have to watch for them. Now, because it is on ESPN, which is a big thing, obviously, do you have a goal to hold the tournaments, say, in stadiums in the future?

MARIO ZELAYA: Yes. So because we have two Bad Ax Throwing facilities that are quite large in the Minneapolis area, we're able to sustain this for one last time to be hosted at a venue level. But I don't think we'll ever be able to-- the sport is growing too fast. We have way too many competitors. I think there's going to be over 400 competitors alone.

And there's likely going to be more 500, 600, 700 plus people with family, friends, and other venue owners that will be attending the event, we want to basically only look at conference centers or stadiums. It's growing at such a rapid phenomenal rate that there's no single city, no single venue that exists right now that can kind of hold the capacity. And I think we're reaching our limits right now with this weekend's US Open in Minneapolis.

CATHY WURZER: All right. We look forward to watching, and thank you for the conversation. Best of luck.

MARIO ZELAYA: I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.

CATHY WURZER: That was Mario Zelaya he is the CEO of Bad Ax Throwing based in Toronto, Canada. He's also the commissioner and CEO of the World Ax Throwing League, and the founder and CEO of the World Knife Throwing Lead. The US Open ax and knife throwing competition happens this weekend in Minneapolis. If you are listening and if you're a competitor, best of luck. Best of luck to you.

The things you learn if you listen to Minnesota Now. We heard, of course, earlier about the situation in Ukraine, and efforts to heal the Black community in Minnesota, the impending heat wave, the history of the Declaration of Independence from the United States from the little iron range town of Kinney, Minnesota, and the US Open of ax throwing this weekend in the Twin Cities. We leave no stone unturned for stories of Minnesota interest.

CREW: Support comes from Envision Distinctive Eyewear, encouraging appointments to shop for new eyewear at one of their four Twin Cities locations. Appointments help ensure personal service and create a safe way to shop. Schedule online at envision-optical.com

CATHY WURZER: We have a nice day going on outside. I hope you get out and enjoy it. Take us with you when you do. Temperatures generally in the 50s and 60s, except for Grand Marais, where it's 55 degrees. No surprise there. The air conditioned big lake is helping out.

59 degrees at the Duluth harbor too. 75 in Fargo-moorhead at this hour. 75 in the Twin Cities. 75 in Rochester. Worthington, 77. 79 in Appleton. And it's 75 in Austin and Albert Lea. Very nice day to day. Highs, mid-70s, mid-80s. Cooler, of course, near Lake Superior. A little bit warmer tomorrow. We'll have the local forecast in a moment. And thank you for listening to Minnesota Now here on NPR news.

And support for Minnesota Now comes from True Stone Financial Credit Union, dedicated to giving back to the community since 1939. Full service banking is available at 23 locations and online at truestone.org. True Stone is an equal housing opportunity lender insured by NCUA.

Well, looks like we're going to get to about 82 for a high today. 75 right now at the airport. North winds, 5 to 10. Sunshine. Clear overnight. A low of 62. A little warmer tomorrow, mid 80s.

Tomorrow night, showers and thunderstorms are likely. Some of the storms could get a little heavy. So have a way to get your weather warnings late at night. Friday morning, chance of rain. And then sunshine Friday afternoon. A little steamy, highs in the upper 80s Friday.

Saturday, upper 80s. Close to 90. And then Sunday the heat hits. Highs will be in the lower 90s on Sunday. We'll be in the 90s into next week.