Minnesota Now: August 1, 2023

[MUSIC PLAYING] (SINGING) One, two, three, four!

CATHY WURZER: It's Minnesota Now. I'm Cathy Wurzer. A bunch of new Minnesota laws go into effect today. A police chief will break down new rules around buying and transferring guns. We'll talk to a reporter from Red Lakes Dispensary, which is now selling cannabis for recreational use starting today.

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10 years ago today, gay marriage became legal across Minnesota. We'll talk with someone who fought for marriage equality. Uber and Lyft drivers are asking Minneapolis to require minimum pay for ride shares. We'll find out what's in the proposed ordinance. We'll revisit a conversation with a survivor of a tragic bridge failure in Minneapolis that occurred on this very day. We'll have the Minnesota Music Minute and the song of the day and all that comes your way right after the news.

The family of Henrietta Lacks has reached a settlement with a biotech company in Massachusetts. Lacks' cells are responsible for decades of vital scientific research and advancement. From member station GBH, Craig LeMoult reports Lacks' family says the company improperly profited from stolen cells.

CRAIG LEMOULT: In 1951, doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital harvested cells from Lacks without her knowledge before she died from cervical cancer. The cells taken from the Black woman became the first human cells to be cloned. And the so-called HeLa cells are now considered a crucial tool of biomedical research. The Lacks family sued Thermo Fisher Scientific, which has sold the cells for decades without the family's consent. The family is represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

BEN CRUMP: Not only were the HeLa cells derived from Henrietta Lacks, the HeLa cells are Henrietta Lacks.

CRAIG LEMOULT: The terms of the settlement are confidential. A statement from Thermo Fisher says the parties are pleased they were able to find a way to resolve the matter outside of court. For NPR News, I'm Craig LeMoult in Boston.

CATHY WURZER: Former president Donald Trump is facing a third indictment this time in Georgia, where the Fulton County district attorney has been investigating attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn Georgia's results of the 2020 presidential election. Sam Greenglass of member station WABE reports the DA, Fani Willis, has said indictments against Trump and others are expected in the next three weeks.

SAM GREENGLASS: This first grand jury is a special grand jury. And it's basically an investigative tool that allows prosecutors to devote jurors to one case to subpoena dozens and dozens of witnesses. They heard from something like 75 people over the course of that investigation and put together a report with recommendations. After that, prosecutors then have to make a decision about whether they want to use that evidence turned up to actually charge people.

CATHY WURZER: Sam Greenglass reporting Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, also faces charges over his handling of classified documents in Florida and hush money payments in New York. Russia is blaming Ukraine for drones that attacked the same building in Central Moscow for the second time since Sunday. NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports from Kyiv. Russia also claims its forces prevented a drone attack on civilian vessels in the Black Sea.

JOANNA KAKISSIS: A top advisor to Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the Russian claims about drone attacks in the Black Sea, quote, "do not contain a shred of truth." Speaking to Reuters, Mykhailo Podolyak says Ukraine is not attacking and will not attack any civilian vessels or objects in the Black Sea. But Kyiv has not distanced itself from drone attacks in Central Moscow. Podolyak tweeted that the war is moving to the territory of, quote, "the authors of war." And Zelenskyy has said that it's fair that Russians feel the effects of the war their country started. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kyiv.

CATHY WURZER: The Dow is up 13 points. This is NPR News.

ANNOUNCER: Support for NPR comes from NPR stations. Other contributors include Indeed, a hiring platform designed to streamline the hiring process. Indeed works to help businesses attract, interview, and hire candidates in one place. More at indeed.com/NPR.

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CATHY WURZER: Around Minnesota right now, skies are mostly sunny, although there's a large area of rain and thunder from Nevis and Hackensack to just outside of Hill City. Highs today, mid 80s, lower 90s, cooler near Lake Superior. At noon at 77 in Saint Cloud, 81 in Appleton, and outside Ketter's Meat Market in Frazee, it's raining and 72. I'm Cathy Wurzer with Minnesota News Headlines.

Today is the first day marijuana is legal for recreational use in Minnesota. There have been some cannabis buyers at the Red Lake Nations Dispensary. Red Lake is the first place to sell legal recreational marijuana in the state. MPR News reporter Matthew Holding Eagle, III explains how the tribal dispensary is opening now, but it will likely take at least a year until the state issues licenses for other dispensaries.

MATTHEW HOLDING EAGLE, III: Red Lake is a closed reservation. It's governed by its own laws and processes. The tribal council recently voted to approve the sale of recreational marijuana. A release from the band stresses that people from outside Red Lake who want to buy marijuana should familiarize themselves with state law, too, because once they leave the reservation, they will be subject to those laws.

CATHY WURZER: Red Lake hopes to open two other dispensaries in the near future, one in Warroad, the other one in Thief River Falls. We'll get a report from Red Lake in just a few minutes.

Activists and the family of a Black motorist shot and killed by state troopers are in front of the governor's residence in Saint Paul at this hour, calling for the release of body camera footage that could show what led up to the fatal shooting. Ricky Cobb II was shot by a Minnesota State trooper early yesterday morning in Minneapolis on I-94. As Tim Nelson reports, this may be the first test of a new law intended to quickly release body and squad camera video of fatal police encounters.

TIM NELSON: The legislature passed a law last spring laying out new requirements for so-called portable recording system data, including the cameras that police agencies use in the field. The new law requires agencies to allow families of people who die at the hands of police to see recordings within five days of a request to view that video. The law also says the video is to be classified as public and released to anyone who asks within 14 days.

The law does allow law enforcement not to release video in cases where it would interfere with an ongoing investigation or if the video is, quote, "clearly offensive." Police have to explain such circumstances in writing. Some agencies have previously quickly released video, but this new law formalizes such releases. And Monday's shooting may be the first case to which it applies. I'm Tim Nelson.

CATHY WURZER: It is August 1st. That means more new laws go into effect in Minnesota, from legalizing cannabis to cracking down on catalytic converter thieves. There's a lot of new policies that kick in. We're going to check in with the very first place to sell cannabis in Minnesota, Red Lake Nation, in just a few minutes. But first, we want to start with changes to state gun laws. As of today, private sales and transfers of guns will be subject to a criminal background check. So how will that work? Joining us with more is Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges. Chief Hodges, welcome.

BOOKER HODGES: Thank you. Thank you for having me, Ms. Wurzer.

CATHY WURZER: Background checks are already required for gun sales at licensed dealers, but now it's also required for most private transfers of firearms. Is a private transfer just another term for buying a gun from a friend?

BOOKER HODGES: Yes. I mean, I think that some stuff can be a little bit more complex, but I think that's the easiest way to summarize it. A friend or an associate or someone who just decides that they want to sell their guns.

CATHY WURZER: So how will that background check work?

BOOKER HODGES: That's a good question. I think some people are still trying to figure that out, and I don't have the answer for that at this time. But I can tell you how normal-- like how it was done in the past. So if you went to a gun shop to purchase a weapon, they would call into the FBI Center. And they would do a background check on you to qualify if you would-- or to let somebody know if you were able to legally purchase a weapon.

In Minnesota, you also would have to go to your local police department or sheriff's office and get a permit to purchase, which would allow that law enforcement agency to do a background check to make sure that you were legally able to purchase a weapon. We have not been briefed yet-- at least, I haven't-- on how that will work for private gun sales.

CATHY WURZER: So that remains to be seen. I understand, as I've been reading this, it's a pretty expensive-- extensive law, I should say-- that's gone into effect. Friends and family, can they hand over their firearms to someone for a weekend hunting trip? Is that legal?

BOOKER HODGES: I think by most circumstances, yes, unless that person is prohibited from having a weapon. So we're still trying to figure this out. I mean, a lot of these laws that were passed are written very extensively, to say the least. So we're still trying to digest a lot of what was written and passed.

CATHY WURZER: I understand. Anyone who wants to buy a pistol or a semi-automatic military-style assault weapon has to apply for a permit to purchase or carry the weapon. Is that right? What are some of the disqualifying factors that you run into?

BOOKER HODGES: Oh, well, obviously, felony convictions or someone who has a history of violence. If you've been convicted of a felony, a lot of times, that prohibits your ability to legally possess a firearm. So those are the type of things that legally prohibit people from possessing a firearm.

CATHY WURZER: So it sounds like you feel that this is going to be maybe, depending upon some of the guidance that comes down, will you be, do you think, busier than you were before when it comes to some of the permits and some of the rules you'll have to deal with?

BOOKER HODGES: Yes. Like I said, we don't know how exactly that's going to work. But if it turns out where, say, you and I were to sell each other a weapon, right, and it's a private sale, do we go to our local police department to verify that each other is able to do that, or are we given a number that allows us to call in to the federal government that runs somebody's background check for us? We don't know that yet, how that's going to work. If it works out the first way, like I said, where you go into your local police department, absolutely we're going to be busier for that.

CATHY WURZER: Do you think these new restrictions might make an impact on gun violence and gun deaths in Minnesota?

BOOKER HODGES: That's kind of a tough question to answer. I think that law enforcement, our job is going to enforce whatever gun laws that are passed. But the impact on this, I am not sure how that's going to impact. I do think that in terms of solving cases, this new background check will help with that. And I think the public has to understand this, and I'm just going to give you a brief example.

So for instance, let's say there is a murder, and we were able to get the gun. The ATF tracks gun sales right now currently, so we could go back to the gun shop, our federal firearms dealer, and say, who did you sell this gun to? We could at least get that first person. But say they transferred it at a gun show or gave it to somebody, and by the time we get down the line, we may not be able to find out who actually had that weapon, whereas these background checks, I believe, will allow us the opportunity to be able to better track weapons outside of the first point of sale, if that makes sense.

CATHY WURZER: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I understand another change taking effect today, as I read the bill, is an increased penalty in owning or possessing or operating a machine gun. Penalties go up to about 20 years behind bars. How often do you run into something like this on the job? What kind of a law might-- what do you think of this particular portion of the law?

BOOKER HODGES: Well, unfortunately, we're running into it way more than we should, right? I mean, people are hearing about switches and those things that make these weapons fully automatic. And it's really unfortunate because those weapons are, quite frankly, made to kill large amounts of people very quickly. And when someone possesses one of those, obviously, it's a danger to the public when they possess that illegally.

So those penalties are fine, but the piece that is not in there, which a lot of us in law enforcement struggle with now to deal with, is, what type of decisions are the prosecutors going to make when they're prosecuting these, right? I mean, right now, we already have it's illegal for a felon to be in possession of a firearm. And unfortunately, oftentimes, sometimes, that's not even prosecuted. So what is going to be the prosecutorial stance on prosecuting someone who is in possession of these weapons, despite what these new laws that are passed? That's going to be the real test of how this works out.

CATHY WURZER: Mm-hmm. Say, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you how your department is preparing to deal with the new recreational marijuana law, which goes into effect today, when it comes to traffic stops. What are you telling your officers?

BOOKER HODGES: Well, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office has recently provided training on that. So we're still trying to digest that. But basically, the legislature has decided that cannabis is legal. We, as a police department, we've always arrested people who we caught driving under the influence of cannabis. But now it's a complete game changer in terms of how a lot of people have been taught to police.

Bloomington, we've been fortunate. Like our K-9s are not trained to smell marijuana, so we don't have to retire K-9s, like some departments who have dogs that are trained to smell marijuana. Those dogs have to now be retired. But we're going to go out here. We're going to do our job. But there's a lot of ambiguity in the law and how it's written and how it's going to be enforced. So I think what I've been telling people is we just have to wait and see how a lot of this is going to play out because none of us really knows.

CATHY WURZER: All right.

BOOKER HODGES: I wish I had a better answer for you.

CATHY WURZER: Well, I'm glad you joined us to talk about this. I appreciate your time, Chief. Thank you so much.

BOOKER HODGES: Yeah, thank you.

CATHY WURZER: Booker Hodges is the police chief in Bloomington.

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OK, so we're going to talk about the new law that legalizes recreational cannabis. State sanctioned dispensaries are a way off, but the Red Lake Nation-- that's about a half hour north of Bemidji-- has the first dispensary in the state that's selling marijuana to tribal members and visitors. Melissa Olson is in Red Lake right now to give us a report from the dispensary's opening. Hey, Melissa. Are you on the line?

MELISSA OLSON: Hi, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Hi. Thanks for joining us. I appreciate it. Where are you right now?

MELISSA OLSON: Well, right at the moment, I'm at the railway station, Government Center. But I've just come from the Red Lake Nation--

CATHY WURZER: Tell you what, actually, Melissa, your line is terrible, and it's really hard to understand you. I'm so very sorry. What we're going to do here is we're going to try to get you back on a different line, if that's at all possible. If you're at the Government Center, maybe there is a land line you could use, perhaps, something like that. It's just really, really hard to understand you. And I want listeners to know where you are and what's happening at the Red Lake Nation Government Center. As I mentioned, Red Lake has a dispensary, and they are open for business today. We'll find out just exactly what's happening up there as we get Melissa Olson back on the line here, maybe with a landline if we could do that. It's 12:16 right now on Minnesota Now from NPR News. Tell you what we're going to do, let's play a little bit of music.

[WITH IOWA IN BETWEEN, "INCHWORM"]

WITH IOWA IN BETWEEN: (SINGING) I've been feeling like an inchworm, and I just wanna run. My work is never done. I wanna change my ways.

CATHY WURZER: This is With Iowa in Between, our Minnesota Music Minute for today. The Minneapolis band is playing a show Friday to celebrate their latest album, which includes this song called "Inchworm."

WITH IOWA IN BETWEEN: (SINGING) What do we have now? What do we have now? I can't speak. I don't think that you hear me. Get me out, get me out of this mess that I did not agree to. I've been screaming out loud, and still, I can't be found.

CATHY WURZER: Today marks a number of different historical anniversaries in the state of Minnesota. We will talk about the collapse of the 35W bridge, which occurred on this very date back in 2007, a bit later on in the program. Today also marks the 10th anniversary of marriage equality in Minnesota, a long fought battle that made Minnesota the 12th state to give lesbian, gay, and bisexual people equal marriage rights. We're going to listen to a little of that very first legal same-sex wedding that took place in Minnesota 10 years ago today.

RT RYBAK: I, Margaret, take you, Cathy--

MARGARET MILES: I, Margaret, take you, Cathy--

RT RYBAK: --to be my lawfully wedded wife--

MARGARET MILES: --to be my lawfully wedded wife--

[CHEERING]

[APPLAUSE]

RT RYBAK: --to have and to hold from this day forward--

MARGARET MILES: --to have and to hold from this day forward--

RT RYBAK: --for better and for worse--

MARGARET MILES: --for better and for worse--

RT RYBAK: --to love and to cherish--

MARGARET MILES: --to love and to cherish--

RT RYBAK: --for as long as we both shall live.

MARGARET MILES: --for as long as we both shall live.

RT RYBAK: And Margaret and Cathy, by the power now finally vested in me--

[CHEERING]

--by the law of the people of Minnesota, it is hereby declared that Margaret and Cathy are legally married.

CATHY WURZER: That is the sound of Margaret Miles and Cathy ten Broeke's wedding, midnight at Minneapolis City Hall, 10 years ago to this day, the first legal same-sex wedding in the state of Minnesota. They were married surrounded by a-- obviously, you could hear that-- a crowd of people by former Minneapolis mayor RT Rybak, who married 46 other couples in City Hall in the wee hours of that morning.

One Minnesotan who fought for those rights is Monica Meyer. Monica worked with Minnesotans United for All Families and Out Front Minnesota, which are LGBTQ equality nonprofits. And we're pleased that Monica is on the line right now. Gosh, do you remember that day? Where were you, Monica?

MONICA MEYER: Oh, I was at City Hall. And I mean, I think every step along the way of winning marriage equality was-- each milestone, it was really-- I don't even think-- I don't even know how to explain the experience, but just that people were so happy and happy-crying and hugging strangers, and just, I think, just really feeling so excited and so excited to be in community. And so excited about the fact that Minnesotans voted against a ban on same-sex couples getting married and that we were able to achieve marriage equality so quickly after that. Yeah, it was just beautiful. It was so gorgeous.

CATHY WURZER: Gosh, do you remember back in the '90s, I mean, when the first polls started to come out about same-sex marriage? '96 is when Gallup first polled about same-sex marriage. 27% supported legalization of same-sex marriage, only 27%. And then the tide turned. What do you think led to that on the public, how the public viewed same-sex marriage?

MONICA MEYER: Well, I think at that time, there were definitely elected officials who were really doing quite a bit of fear mongering against LGBTQ people and same-sex couples. And we had people really pushing for defining marriage to exclude same-sex couples and to ban it. So we had the Defense of Marriage Act that was in Congress and also in most states across the country.

And I feel like it was a little bit of a newer issue for a lot of people in the United States but I think for those of us who were working for equality, we really knew like, OK, we really have to start talking about who we are, not only as coming out as LGBTQ, but also coming out as people in love and people who have children, and also coming out about the discrimination that same-sex couples faced, the fact that up until we got marriage in Minnesota in 2012, we had zero legal protections.

And I think when I was working at Out Front Minnesota, the calls we would get were just heartbreaking. I mean, it would be someone in an emergency hospital room calling to say, what can I do? My partner's been in an accident. I have no idea what's going to happen to her. And I'm being told I'm not family. Or someone desperately calling, saying my mom passed away, and they're not letting her partner accept her body.

And so anyway, all that to say, it was devastating, the stories. And then on the other side of that, it was just, I think we were able to really, because of the constitutional amendment in Minnesota and the work done before that, but we were able to talk to Minnesotans about love. We were able to talk to Minnesotans about who they knew who was LGBTQ. And really, it was a campaign that was based on talking about love.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, when it comes to lawmakers, they can be kind of tough to deal with, right? So there's the public, but let's talk about the organizing that went into the lobbying of lawmakers to make marriage equality a reality. What was that like?

MONICA MEYER: Well, we were coming off of-- so picture back at the time, so we came off of the big win of defeating the ban, the ban of same-sex couples getting married. And then we had to talk to legislators about how Minnesotans voted to knock down this terribly discriminatory constitutional amendment, but then now is the chance and the opportunity to really go from having zero legal protections for LGBTQ people and their families to having all of the benefits of marriage for people who chose to get married.

And it was really based on, again, firing up Minnesotans to talk about what love means, to talk about what kind of state we want to be, and what kind of state we are, one that doesn't discriminate, one that doesn't want to discriminate against LGBTQ people. And it really was based on Minnesotans talking to their elected officials that really helped us win marriage equality at the Capitol so quickly, and then able to have marriages start on August 1.

But it really was based again on Minnesotans saying, what kind of state are we? Are we one that's going to discriminate people based on who they love and who they are? Or are we a state that's going to come out on the side of love and justice? And Minnesotans decided love and justice.

CATHY WURZER: But I remember, though, some in the community, the LGBTQ community, kind of questioned why the institution of marriage was so important. Do you remember that?

MONICA MEYER: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: So there was kind of a divergence of opinion within the community. Why was it important to you?

MONICA MEYER: Well, it was important to me because I really just-- as an organizer with Out Front Minnesota, as the executive director, I got to hold so many of people's stories of why they wanted to get married. I worked on health care benefits for the same-sex partners of state employees for years before that because that was some of the only legal protections and only legal way to get health insurance. And I just held the stories of the children who said, what's wrong with my family? Is our family illegal? Should we not be a family? Is there something wrong with us?

And so I really held that to my heart and said, we have to fight. Even if marriage isn't the main issue for everyone, the constitutional amendment was put on the ballot by people who really wanted to discriminate against LGBTQ people. We're going to get marriage because it will actually get benefits and rights. And it will help move, I think, Minnesotans to come out on the side of understanding and supporting LGBTQ people.

So to me, it's always about both and throwing everything you can at getting equality. But really, I really saw that as the perfect opportunity to really have Minnesotans wrestle with what kind of state we want to be, come out on the side of love. I think it's one of the only times that I've ever seen, though, where you go from having zero benefits to, overnight, having all of the benefits of an institution that has been around. We used to sit before marriage, and we'd talk about how many rights and responsibilities there were with marriage, and try to look at which ones we could get to that would really help protect and honor LGBTQ people and their families.

CATHY WURZER: So final question here for you. Since it's been 10 years since LGBTQ Minnesotans got the right to marry, what is the next frontier when it comes to rights?

MONICA MEYER: Well, I think we're living it right now. I think in Minnesota, it's incredible that Minnesotans and elected officials work together to pass a trans refuge bill that really provides protection for trans people and their families and trans children to come to Minnesota for care and for support, and that we have a welcoming state. We banned conversion therapy. I think there's a number of ways that we're showing the country how we can be welcoming and affirming and respectful, and that trans people and their families can find justice.

That, really, there were over 460 anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation introduced across the country last year-- this year, I mean, sorry. And over 350 of those bills were against transgender people. And a lot of those bills were against transgender children. And so I feel like this is the time when we are asking Minnesotans, we're asking people to really fight for, again, being a welcoming state, one that's about love and justice, and this time, for trans people.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Monica, thank you for your time.

MONICA MEYER: Thank you so much. This was great to talk about. Thank you.

CATHY WURZER: Monica Meyer is the former executive director of Out Front Minnesota.

ANNOUNCER: Support comes from our partners at Maplewood Toyota, actively supporting the news and community involvement heard here each day. Maplewood Toyota thanks NPR for their continued commitment to diverse programming. Maplewood Toyota. We are who you are.

CATHY WURZER: Let's get a news update right now from Sarah Thamer. Sarah.

SARAH THAMER: Hi, Cathy. General Motors is recalling nearly 900 vehicles in the US and Canada with Takata airbag inflators that could explode and hurl shrapnel in a crash. The recall covers certain Chevrolet, Camaro, Sonic, and Volt vehicles, as well as the Buick Verano, all from the 2013 model year. The company says in documents posted Tuesday by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the driver's front airbag inflator can explode in a crash due to a manufacturing defect. The inflators are among a group made by Takata that is under investigation by the agency, but has not previously been recalled.

Angus Cloud, the actor who starred as the drug dealer Fezco "Fez" O'Neill on the HBO series Euphoria has died. He was 25. Cloud's publicist, Kate Bailey, said Cloud died Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given. In a statement, Cloud's family said he had intensely struggled with the recent loss of his father. Cloud hadn't acted before he was cast in Euphoria. The part made him the breakout star of one of the buzziest shows in television. He was recently cast to co-star in Scream 6.

Police say a swimmer who got swept out to sea by a powerful current was rescued off New York's Long Island after treading water for five hours. Suffolk County Police say 63-year-old Dan Ho went swimming at a beach in Babylon at around 5:00 AM Monday and was pulled out by the current. Police say Ho treaded water with no flotation device for five hours. Then he found a broken fishing pole and tied his shirt to it to try to flag down a passing boat. Two men in a fishing boat spotted Ho and pulled him onto their boat. Ho was treated for hypothermia.

Officials say at least 16 workers are dead in the collapse of a crane at a highway construction site in Western India. The crane was being used for the construction of a bridge on the highway in Thane, a city just outside of Mumbai. At least three injured people were rushed to a hospital.

CATHY WURZER: You might remember Uber and Lyft drivers went to the Minnesota Capitol during the last legislative session, demanding better pay. That effort failed. Well, now the drivers are pushing for an ordinance in Minneapolis that would create minimum payment levels for rideshare drivers.

DRIVER: Now Uber has a thing called trip radar. Example is me and my fellow drivers standing next to each other. We get the trip details of the same ride, but different amounts. And they're considered independent contractors. That's one of the main issues we've seen recently. Deactivation is a big problem. You get deactivated for declining rides that are not profitable. Yet they call you an independent contractor. The activation means you are out of work. You have no way to support your family. And this is why we, as the drivers, will like the city of Minneapolis to stand by us because this is for the working class, and stand against these multi-billion dollar companies.

CATHY WURZER: There's a hearing on that August the 8th. Alfonzo Galvan's been covering the story. He covers work, labor, small business, and entrepreneurship for the Sahan Journal. Alphonzo, welcome.

ALFONZO GALVAN: Hi. Thanks for having me, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Absolutely. Thanks for taking the time. Say, for folks who are not familiar with this, what is in the proposed Minneapolis city ordinance?

ALFONZO GALVAN: So the proposal is trying to guarantee higher or increased wages for some of the Uber and Lyft drivers. It's kind of an extension of that failed bill that was vetoed by the governor a couple of months ago. And it's actually been in the works since January, I believe, through the city council. And it just recently came back up.

CATHY WURZER: OK. So how would these minimum levels be set in the city of Minneapolis? Have they figured that out yet?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Yeah, so they are trying to set a minimum wage for the rideshare drivers. So Uber, Lyft is going to be probably the majority of drivers. The proposed ordinance would set the minimum compensation at $0.51 per minute and $1.40 per mile, while transporting a customer. And of course, those amounts would increase annually propositional to the city's minimum wage.

CATHY WURZER: So $0.51 per minute. How does that stack up with what the drivers are making now?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Well, it really depends on who you ask. If you ask Uber and Lyft, drivers are getting paid substantially more than they themselves claim to be making. And I think that's really where the argument lies, where they want a little bit more transparency, how much they're paid and how that's calculated.

CATHY WURZER: Now, there was a news conference about this. Members of the Minnesota Uber and Lyft Drivers Association were there. What do we know about this group?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Yeah, so MULDA's been around probably almost a year now. And what they're trying to do is secure those increased wages, better protections for their drivers. They're trying to do that just via either legislation at the state level or a city ordinance, like they're trying to do in Minneapolis.

CATHY WURZER: Mm-hmm. Has this been done, do you know, in other cities around the country?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Yeah, it's been done in a couple cities around the country. The most notable one I guess that we can compare it to is Seattle. So Seattle, they passed a city ordinance back in 2020, I believe. And that just secured a minimum wage for drivers. Eventually, I think at the start of this year, they kind of did away with the ordinance because they had state legislation come through and handle that. So it is an example of a city taking action before the state, which is kind of what Minneapolis wants to do.

CATHY WURZER: So I remember that debate on the state level. And Uber and Lyft, the companies were not, obviously, happy about it. I think, if I recall, Uber threatened to pull out of Minneapolis or other large cities. What response have you heard from the two companies so far?

ALFONZO GALVAN: So back when the bill was on the governor's desk, Uber did threaten to pull out of the majority of Minnesota and said we can only service the Twin Cities metro area because wages would just be too high. It wouldn't be affordable for riders, and drivers would make less money. They said they'd be willing to meet with drivers and try to get an increased wage, just try to meet them somewhere in the middle.

According to the MULDA representatives, they haven't heard from Uber and Lyft. They've obviously tried a different avenue to which get their increased wages. But Uber and Lyft, so far, have kind of said that they want to wait out to see next year's proposed legislations through the state level. They're part of a task force under the governor to suggest new legislation for rideshare companies.

CATHY WURZER: Boy, there was some consternation in greater Minnesota when Uber mentioned that they'd have to pull out, or they were thinking about pulling out because as you know, I mean, gosh, transportation in rural areas is pretty thin anyway.

ALFONZO GALVAN: Yeah, definitely. I know a lot of people are worried. Uber and Lyft, yeah, a very big majority of their business in Minnesota is done out of the Twin Cities. Many of those small towns, they say, oh, you won't be able to get a ride there. They're most likely not there already. But it would hinder their outreach to some of those communities.

CATHY WURZER: So, in your reporting, who have you talked to in the city council? Who is in support? Who's against this? What's the likelihood of it passing?

ALFONZO GALVAN: Well, that's the big question right now that I have. So far, I know three members of the city council are in support of this ordinance, including Robin Wansley, who brought it forward, and Jason Chavez, who's also pledged to support.

ROBIN WANSLEY: This policy gives the city of Minneapolis the opportunity to mitigate the harmful and exploitative workplace conditions that these drivers are subjected to every single day, and to give them the protections that they need, as any workers are deserving of. And it's critical that we support workers like the drivers that are standing behind me because Minneapolis is a pro-worker and pro-union city. Point blank, period.

ALFONZO GALVAN: And so far, no other word from other members of the council. We do have a public hearing, I believe, on August 8. And the 2nd and 3rd of August, they do have info sessions with drivers and just general public, just to educate them on the ordinance and how it would affect drivers and riders.

CATHY WURZER: So a story that continues, Alfonzo. I appreciate your time here today. Thank you so much.

ALFONZO GALVAN: Thank you again for having me, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Alfonzo Galvan is a reporter with the Sahan Journal. That's an independent nonprofit digital news site that's dedicated to reporting for immigrants and communities of color in Minnesota.

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CATHY WURZER: One of the new state laws taking effect today August the 1st, of course, is something that most people are talking about. It's the law that legalizes recreational cannabis in the state. Now, state sanctioned dispensaries are a way off, but the Red Lake Nation-- that's about a half hour north of Bemidji-- has the first dispensary in the state that's selling marijuana to tribal members and visitors today. Melissa Olson is in Red Lake, and she's at the dispensary's opening. She was seeing customers come in and go out, and she's joining us right now. Melissa, are you with us?

MELISSA OLSON: Hi, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Ah, you sound much better. Excellent. Where are you right now?

MELISSA OLSON: I've just come from the Red Lake Nation dispensary, about a quarter of a mile from here, where we just about, ooh, over an hour ago, witnessed the first sale of recreational cannabis. Charles Goodwin, an employee of Native Care Dispensary, purchased cannabis when the shop opened up. Following that, a line of about 80 people started to file into the store. Just before heading to the Government Center here, I talked to Red Lake Nation Secretary Sam Strong.

SAM STRONG: Feeling great. Super excited. It's going to be a great day. We have tons of people here, tons of pre-orders. Really great excitement. People are really happy to be here. A good experience thus far. And so we're looking forward to serving all our great customers here. So they're just starting to go in the door. It's been a long time coming, so.

CATHY WURZER: So it sounds like there was quite a line up there. What are you hearing from folks who were standing in line?

MELISSA OLSON: Yeah, I talked to one man who'd been standing in line since about 7:30. By 11:00, that line stretched the length about half a city block. And people were just really celebratory, just having a good time. One person came as far away from Fergus Falls, another from Saint Cloud, another from Saint Paul. And they just talk about feeling very excited for this first day of legalization.

CATHY WURZER: What are tribal community members saying?

MELISSA OLSON: Oh, they are beyond excited. I talked to several Red Lake citizens who really do hope people make the drive to Red Lake to visit the dispensary. Many of them talk about what a beautiful place Red Lake is and how much they love it. And they really hope that Minnesotans and people from all over will get to know their community in the process.

CATHY WURZER: Mm-hmm. So getting back to those folks in line, I'm thinking you probably talked to a few of them.

MELISSA OLSON: Yeah, I talked to several people in line, many of whom talked about waiting years for the legalization of cannabis in Minnesota, many who feel very strongly about the medical benefits of cannabis. I talked with John Webster. He'd come all the way from North Dakota and arrived early to be basically second in line.

JOHN WEBSTER: Well, I had a medical card back in Maine, but the requirements here in North Dakota are much stricter for a medical card. So I was thrilled when I saw about the law that was passed for today, for the recreational marijuana to be sold. So, like I said, it's like Christmas.

CATHY WURZER: So I'm just curious. Can you tell in terms of demographics, is it a fairly young crowd? Is it a more older crowd? Can you tell who's in line?

MELISSA OLSON: Yeah, yeah, I sure can. Actually, the first people in line were really an older crowd. I would say I saw people-- that first 10 people in line were maybe a mix of people over the age of 60 and just a few younger people in their 20s. And I would say that was pretty true as I sort of walked down the dispensary and just chatted with people. It's really a mix. But lots of older folks in line today to purchase recreational cannabis.

CATHY WURZER: So as you said, the tribal community members are pretty excited. Why did the Red Lake Nation go all in on selling legalized cannabis?

MELISSA OLSON: Yeah, I've been talking to people at Red Lake for the past several days, and many of them talk about striking a balance between public health concerns and economic opportunity. They feel strongly cannabis is an important tool in fighting the opioid epidemic, insofar as cannabis has been used to treat people trying to recover from addiction. They also talk about their own sovereignty. Red Lake is a self-governing community, and they have an opportunity to get a jumpstart in the cannabis business. And they are hoping it will bring tourism and business to the reservation.

CATHY WURZER: By the way, is Red Lake growing its own? I mean, I know you had a chance to tour some of the operations. So tell us a little bit more about that.

MELISSA OLSON: Red Lake is growing, processing, and packaging most all of its cannabis. We didn't get a chance to go tour the growing facility. They limit the number of people who can come in, just because it helps them keep the facility really clean. We did get a chance to go inside the dispensary this morning just before they opened up. It's a newly remodeled building in the center of town. There's lots of cannabis flower inside glass cabinets. There's a beautiful mural that overlooks the entire store. Staff are on hand, wearing cool merch. Just really excited for the first day of business.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Melissa, thank you so very much for the report.

MELISSA OLSON: Yeah, thanks, Cathy. You're welcome.

CATHY WURZER: We've been talking to NPR News reporter Melissa Olson. She is live from Red Lake, Minnesota.

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Well, it's 12:47 here on Minnesota Now. If you're of a certain age, I bet you remember where you were on this very day, August the 1st, in 2007. It had been a warm day. The afternoon rush hour was wrapping up. It was 6:00 PM when the eight-lane 35W Bridge in Minneapolis snapped and fell into the Mississippi River below. 13 people died as dozens of cars made a free fall into the water. 145 people were injured.

Lindsey Walz was among several people who were rescued from the river. She was driving home from work when the bridge collapsed. I met Lindsey at the 35W Bridge Remembrance Garden near the area last year to talk about how she survived and recovered from the shocking disaster.

Gosh, it's been 15 years. Do you remember what you were doing in the hours before everything happened?

LINDSEY WALZ: Yeah, I worked at a group home with adolescents, and I was the independent living skills coordinator. And so that particular day, Wednesdays, we always had an ILS group. And it was actually a really good group. Everyone was in a good mood. I left a little bit later than I usually do and then started my drive home.

CATHY WURZER: And you were on the bridge.

LINDSEY WALZ: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: Do you remember what you were thinking or feeling in those moments?

LINDSEY WALZ: Yeah, like traffic came to a stop. I was going southbound, and traffic was stop-and-go starting about the quarry. And that alone was weird, not a typical day at all. And so I almost got off at the university exit, right before the bridge, decided against it for various reasons. Got to the middle of the bridge when it actually collapsed. I heard a big clank is what I call it, which I think was probably a beam snapping. And it was pretty much immediate that my car started to free fall into the river.

CATHY WURZER: I just can't even imagine what you were thinking and feeling.

LINDSEY WALZ: Lots of swear words.

CATHY WURZER: [LAUGHS]

LINDSEY WALZ: And then my only rational thought was like, I was driving on concrete so I'm going to land on the concrete. And I just assumed that my body would be done as soon as it landed. And I didn't really conceptualize falling into the river and then what that would have in store for me.

CATHY WURZER: I don't remember. Were you conscious at that point?

LINDSEY WALZ: Yeah, so I stayed conscious the whole time. My car immediately filled with water. And so I had to find my way out through murky water. And everything was closed up. All the windows were still intact that I had felt. And it really was some kind of miracle, I guess, that something gave way at some point in my search for a way out. I kind of stopped looking for a way out and started to just move into accepting that this was it, and this was where I would die. And then I started to float and floated kind of beyond the confines of my car.

I have a mermaid on my arm because they're magical, and that's the best that I can come up with for how I got out of my car that day, was magic. And so I swam to the surface. Hoped I was still alive. At that point, I didn't really know. I was like, maybe I'm dead, and I'm just having some afterlife experience. And luckily, when I got to the surface, one of the construction workers who had fallen with the bridge as well, he saw me and encouraged me over to the concrete and pulled me out of the water.

CATHY WURZER: And you were severely hurt.

LINDSEY WALZ: Yes, so I had a broken back. The swim, everything that I did afterwards was pure adrenaline. I didn't feel anything. And then as I started to sit on the bridge, waiting for help, my back started to really get painful. And so that kept me in the hospital for five days. And then my PTSD was definitely my biggest injury, the most invisible, but the most significant for me.

CATHY WURZER: And to that, I'd like to apologize to you to actually bring up some of these memories because I know that's painful.

LINDSEY WALZ: So on the subject of memories and stuff, I think it can be painful, but it's always with me. So it's not like bringing it up changes that fact. And for me, one of the things that I've noticed, especially in the last five-ish years, is that there's occasions where I go, maybe I don't have PTSD anymore. And then something happens. The universe reminds me invariably that I do. And that can be just like sitting at a cafe, and the movement of like stage that's like a little rocky or whatever, my body goes into high alert. And just different things like that come up day to day that I have to attend to. Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: How do you do that?

LINDSEY WALZ: How do I do that? That's a really good question. A lot of the time, it's about reminding myself that I am safe, like that time that I was sitting on this little rickety stage at a cafe. I thought, for the first moment, that it was an earthquake, that the ground was shaking. And I was like, oh, my gosh, there's an earthquake happening. Nobody else was responding or reacting, so I was about to grab my stuff and get out of the building. And then I realized that the person next to me was nodding their head.

And so that simple, just minute movement of the body in that person shook the ground enough for my hypervigilance to go into high alert. And so I had to, like, OK, that's not an actual threat. I'm not in danger. And then calm my body back down and just remind myself, again and again, that I was OK.

And sometimes it's required strategies that are a little kooky. Like, when I drive over bridges, sometimes I still put my finger on the window, so that if it falls, I'll be able to get out. Like, I've just got my game plan. [LAUGHS] So it's really about that day to day, is like, is this a real threat? Is this something that I have to pay attention to and keep myself safe? Or is this just life, and my body is freaking out right now and I have to calm it down?

CATHY WURZER: Well, you've had to kind of learn how to live life as a survivor.

LINDSEY WALZ: Yeah, I mean, just a couple of months after, I remember saying things like, oh, I'm going to be good. I'm fine. And I was just a shell of a human being at that time. Like, I wasn't feeling anything. I wasn't feeling joy. I wasn't feeling sadness. I was just existing, breathing, eating, but not much else. And I didn't really unpack and grieve and really feel the emotional impact until five years after the collapse. And I really believe that it was when my body was able to, that my body could finally do that and process it in a way that wasn't so enormous.

CATHY WURZER: How does it feel to be here right now today?

LINDSEY WALZ: It's OK. I really wanted there to be a memorial. As a person who didn't lose a loved one, I don't have a place to go, in the same way somebody might have a gravesite or another memorial for their loved one. I didn't have a place. And so having this here is just a nice place for me to feel connected and to feel like I can grieve in that way, in this ambiguous loss kind of stuff.

CATHY WURZER: You obviously, as a survivor, have a second lease on life, right? What have you done with that?

LINDSEY WALZ: Mm. [SIGHS] Second lease on life is right. I really did think I should have died that day. And so it really felt like I had to do the most with my life. And part of that is survivor's guilt. I've had to deal with a whole heck of a lot of survivor's guilt, like feeling like I had to prove that I was worthy of still being here.

But I had this dream of opening a youth center, and I really wanted to do that. And that day, when I was sitting on the concrete, waiting for help, I thought about that place, and I thought about making that happen. And I did five years later. On the fifth anniversary of the collapse, I launched that organization, which was called Courageous Hearts. It didn't survive the pandemic, so I've had to grieve that. But it was really an important place for me to create space for conversation about the hard things of life, and we used creativity to do that.

It was a really special place. And I also just do trainings and bring people into conversation about trauma. I think that my experience is unique in that it's public, and it's concrete, like literally concrete and figuratively concrete. And it's easy for people to access the understanding of, oh, wow, that would be really traumatic. And I try to use it to help others see within themselves the spaces where they've maybe had pain and hurt and trauma.

CATHY WURZER: So we are looking at a 15-year anniversary today. I can't believe it's been 15 years. I'm sure you can't either, in a sense. What do you want people to remember on this day?

LINDSEY WALZ: I think the thing that's always been really important to me about telling my story or just sharing is making sure the story remains human, that it's a human story. For so many years afterwards, it became a brick and mortar story. It became about building bridges or making sure our infrastructure is in place. And yes, 100% really important. And I just hope people take-- I know a lot of people who drive over and still say a prayer for people who were impacted that day. And I think just remaining a presence among people and in their hearts is just the only thing I could really ask for.

CATHY WURZER: That was my conversation with Lindsey Walz at the 35W Bridge Remembrance Garden. It was last year. She survived when the bridge gave way into the Mississippi River 16 years ago today. Wow, I was one of the first reporters on the scene, and that scene was unreal. The National Transportation Safety Board said the collapse was caused by problems with the original bridge design. And by the way, steel from the bridge is sitting in the University of Saint Thomas as a reminder of the importance and responsibility of the engineering field. If you'd like to see more and hear more with Lindsey Walz, you can go to our website, mprnews.org. Click on the Archive section.

Before we go, quickly, a look at what's happening weather wise. I was just noticing on the National Weather Service radar that some pretty decent showers and thunderstorms are moving across portions of the region, specifically northern Minnesota, around Nevis, Baxter, Brainerd, going over just across Lake Mille Lacs right now. Some pretty decent-- probably looks like that's a pretty decent storm cell right around East Gull Lake, so take cover if you're in that area. Thank you so much for listening to Minnesota Now here on MPR News.

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

In the Twin Cities, partly sunny skies, 81 degrees. High today, around 88 or so. South winds at around 10 miles an hour. Overnight low should be around 68 degrees. If you like hot weather, tomorrow is your day. 93 degrees under sunshine tomorrow, lower 90s on Thursday, a little cooler on Friday with a high of 85. And then, because we do need the rain, we're going to get it on the weekend. Saturday, there's now a decent chance of showers and a high of around 82 degrees on Saturday. Sunday, there's also a chance of showers. Enjoy the day. It's 1 o'clock.