Minnesota Now: March 27, 2024

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CATHY WURZER: It's Minnesota Now. I'm Cathy Wurzer. We're following the Baltimore Bridge collapse. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is here with lessons from his experience with the 35W bridge tragedy in Minneapolis. We'll get his thoughts on what should be done next in Baltimore.

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It's Disability Advocacy Day at the Capitol. We'll talk about the disabilities that aren't always visible. We'll get the final numbers from that winter storm earlier this week. State leaders are meeting to work out how marijuana sales will be implemented. We're going to get the latest on that.

We're gonna talk to a physician about our happiness rating. It varies wildly, based on your age. That, the Minnesota Music Minute, and the song of the day-- and all of it comes your way right after the news.

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LAKSHMI SINGH: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Marine traffic around the port of Baltimore is at a standstill after yesterday's collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. NPR's Jackie Northam reports the accident is expected to disrupt shipping and supply chains.

JACKIE NORTHAM: The Port of Baltimore is the largest for handling cars, light trucks, and trailers. It's designed so the vehicles can roll on and roll off the ships. Not every port in the US can do that. So car makers will have to divert to other East Coast ports.

Shipments of coal and sugar will also be affected, as will warehousing and trucking operations around Baltimore. The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is not expected to have a significant impact on global shipping, which is already under pressure from attacks by militants in the Red Sea and a drought in Panama, which has snarled traffic at the Panama Canal. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Washington.

LAKSHMI SINGH: Police had only a minute and a half to stop traffic in both directions before the bridge collapsed yesterday. Broadcastify captured audio first responders at the bridge. The exchange began with an officer warning that an approaching ship had lost steering, and asking about getting construction crew off the bridge, but it was too late.

- 313 dispatch, the whole bridge just fell down. Started-- whoever, to everybody, the whole bridge just collapsed.

LAKSHMI SINGH: Authorities are still searching for six people who remain unaccounted for.

Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continue to exchange deadly rocket fire across a Lebanon border, with as many as eight people killed in the last 24 hours. Here's NPR's Carrie Kahn.

CARRIE KAHN: Early Wednesday morning, Hezbollah militants launched a barrage of rockets into the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. According to Israel, one man, a worker, was killed when a factory building toppled in the strike. In a statement, Hezbollah said the attack was in response to Israeli airstrikes a day earlier that hit an Islamic medical society center in the Lebanese border town of Hebbariye. According to Hezbollah, seven civilians were killed.

Israel's military says their target was a terrorist cell operation. Since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7, cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah has been on the rise. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

LAKSHMI SINGH: A controversial immigration enforcement law will remain on hold in Texas. Last night, a federal appeals court denied the state's petition to implement the law, pending another review at a hearing in a week. The Republican-backed measure gives state law enforcement officers expanded authorities to arrest migrants suspected of being in the United States illegally. Critics say the law will enable more racial profiling. And the Biden administration argues enforcement of immigration law is a federal responsibility.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 291 points, or roughly 3/4 of a percent. This is NPR News.

- Support for NPR comes from NPR stations. Other contributors include Progressive Insurance. Progressive is looking for individuals in a variety of career fields who want to help build a culture of inclusiveness. More information, including application, at progressive.com/careers.

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CATHY WURZER: Around Minnesota right now, skies are partly to mostly cloudy. And depending upon where you are, it might still be snowing. Snow is in the forecast today for Northern Minnesota, with flurries in the East.

Highs today will be in the 30s. At noon in Bemidji, it's snowing, it's 15 and sunny. In Granite Falls, it's 19. And outside the Eagle View Bar and Grill in Minneiska, it's 25.

I'm Cathy Wurzer with Minnesota News Headlines. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating a police use of force incident in Chanhassen last night. It's not clear if anyone was hurt. But South Lake Minnetonka Police report officers ran a check on a car that came back with a warrant for the driver out of Illinois for an assault.

Shots were fired, with one or more officers shooting. There was a police chase that ended in that car crashing. After that, officers had to negotiate with the suspect to get them out of the vehicle. The suspect was taken into custody.

Northern Minnesota, as I mentioned, is seeing some lingering snow showers-- the last wave of the winter storm that dropped heavy snow across much of the state this week. Storm totals from last weekend through this morning included more than two feet of snow near Baxter, more than 21-inches of snow near Two Harbors. The Duluth Airport received nearly 17-inches of snow, with more than a foot at the Twin Cities airport. NPR meteorologist Sven Sundgaard says the wet, heavy snow contained a lot of moisture, which should help ease long-running drought conditions.

SVEN SUNDGAARD: We picked up anywhere from 1 to 2-inches of liquid equivalent. 2.32-inches at MSP. We're now 20/100ths of an inch above normal for year-to-date precipitation in the Twin Cities because of this storm. Duluth and Rochester now just about a quarter inch behind. So this made some real gains on what was getting to be a very dry situation.

CATHY WURZER: We'll find out how much tomorrow when a new US Drought Monitor Report will be issued.

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Of course, we've been following the news of the bridge collapse in Baltimore. You just heard the latest update-- that six people are presumed dead, and there is now an effort to recover their bodies. All six are believed to have been construction workers on the bridge at the time of its collapse in the wee hours of yesterday morning.

As recovery efforts continue, there's now also a conversation about how quickly the bridge can be rebuilt. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with CNN this morning about the response in Baltimore, and how lessons can be learned from the 35W tragedy in Minneapolis.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: I've never seen anything quite like this. But there have been experiences in the US that we are drawing from, including the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse where really the federal government and the whole country stepped up to get that reconstructed. We're learning from that and a lot of other moments in US history as part of the playbook on what to do next.

CATHY WURZER: One of the Minnesota leaders who helped the Twin Cities navigate that time, including rebuilding efforts, was then-governor Tim Pawlenty. He is on the line right now. Governor, good to hear your voice.

TIM PAWLENTY: Good to be with you and your MPR audience, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Thank you. Almost everyone who remembers the 35W bridge collapse says they had the same horrible kind of sick feeling when they watched the video out of Baltimore yesterday. Where did your thoughts go yesterday morning?

TIM PAWLENTY: Well, a lot of flashbacks to that feeling of shock, grief, and then trying to understand immediately what happened in an initially confusing situation. But now we understand why the bridge collapsed in Baltimore. And it's different than Minneapolis, in the sense that we didn't know why the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis for many months afterwards, and there was a lot of speculation and things flying around. The NTSB eventually determined the Minneapolis bridge fell because of an original design flaw dating back to the 1960s.

Here in Baltimore, they know why the bridge fell. And the focus is going to shift from what happened on the bridge to what happened on the ship. But of course, immediately your thoughts go to the people who've lost lives-- their families, people who've been injured and directly impacted by this.

CATHY WURZER: I recall there were huge logistical challenges that took a lot of coordination with recovery efforts. But I'm wondering in the Minneapolis situation, how important was the communication piece of what happened in Minnesota, and now in Baltimore-- to keep folks abreast of developments, but also to keep in mind the gravity of the situation?

TIM PAWLENTY: Yeah, an avalanche of things happening all at once. Of course, the need to take care of the families who may have lost loved ones, or did lose loved ones, the first responders needing to coordinate at a local and state and federal level. You can imagine not just the state folks, but people like the FBI, the National Transportation Safety Board, Homeland Security, the military got involved at some point with Navy divers, and it goes on and on. But there's just an enormous amount of things that have to be coordinated to make sure the rescue, now the recovery, takes place. But then communicating as leaders about the impact, emotionally, but also the plan going forward to get the community healed and the infrastructure rebuilt.

CATHY WURZER: Give us a sense of the balance between allowing for enough time for recovery, an investigation, with getting the wreckage removed and the preparations in place for a new bridge, and grieving for those who are affected.

TIM PAWLENTY: Yeah, you have to do it all at once, Cathy. You don't want to appear misfocused or mis-sequenced. And so we put a lot of emphasis, along with Mayor Rybak and many others, on making sure proper respect and mourning and condolences were expressed, both ceremonially and authentically in person, to the victims.

But then also simultaneously working very diligently to move forward with the reconstruction and the rebuilding. And the main reason for that, having to move so quickly, is because in a place like I-35W bridge or in this case in Baltimore, you can't have that bridge out very long without having dramatic economic impacts for the state, for the region, and potentially for the nation.

CATHY WURZER: I was trying to remember back in 2007, lawmakers voted just a couple of days after the collapse to spend $250 million to rebuild that bridge. And I remember the vote was unanimous in Congress. Now, do you think in this day and age Congress can come together to help Baltimore?

TIM PAWLENTY: Yes. And I hope, notwithstanding the terrible polarized political environment nationally, that Americans rally towards each other in these moments of crisis. Today it could be Baltimore, tomorrow it could be some other community.

But when something like this happens, the federal government is and must be an important partner. In our case in Minneapolis with the bridge, they paid for most of-- not all of it. The number that they authorized included $50 million for the National convention that was taking place, and for security money. But they did pay for the vast majority of it, not all of it. And we appreciated that, and it made a real difference.

And the timing of it, Cathy, it was one of the fastest-- maybe the fastest-- large infrastructure project built in modern history in America. From the time of construction to completion, one year-- which is almost unheard of with large infrastructure projects these days.

CATHY WURZER: Talk us through that, because that really was a record. And I can only imagine the conversations that had to occur to get that going.

TIM PAWLENTY: Yes. And of course, having prompt action by the federal government was a key part of it. Prompt action by the Minnesota legislature was a key part of it-- again, on a bipartisan, nonpartisan basis, which we're grateful for and it made a big difference.

But then when it got down to the nuts and bolts of the bridge itself, the bid process was accelerated. They used a process known as Design Build. So you could begin building, or at least preparing to build the bridge, at the same time they were designing it in real time, which made a huge difference. And we did get some regulatory waivers that allowed some things to move more quickly than normal.

And it wasn't that standards were compromised. It's just the expectations on how long these reviews would take were all accelerated and prioritized. And it made a huge difference, and I think really a case study for how large infrastructure projects can be built more quickly in our country.

CATHY WURZER: Gosh, I had forgotten that it was only a year that it took to rebuild that bridge. That is pretty amazing, when you think about it. I'm wondering, Governor, have you been in touch with anybody in Maryland? Have you been able to pass along some of the lessons?

TIM PAWLENTY: I did receive word this morning that The governor of Maryland will likely be calling me today or tomorrow. I certainly will share Minnesota's prayers and thoughts, and give them any insights that I can in terms of the lessons we've learned in our crisis with the I-35W bridge.

CATHY WURZER: What's the biggest lesson you personally took away from that situation?

TIM PAWLENTY: Well, you have to multitask, for sure. But one of the things I learned, among others, was the importance of leadership in a crisis. You have to rise to the moment. You have to communicate clearly and confidently, not misstating things, not misleading people or sending them down rat holes. People need to be reassured that the situation, while heartbreaking and difficult, is something that you can manage and we can move on from. And at the same time, of course, expressing empathy and grief for those who lost lives or the injured.

CATHY WURZER: Which is difficult to do, in that none of us had ever seen anything quite like that at the time. And so you and Mayor Rybak and other leaders had to do your job as everyone was trying to figure out how do you move forward from this, which must have been difficult.

TIM PAWLENTY: Yes, and so many aspects to it, Cathy. I know we don't have time to go through it, but just one example. When it moved from rescue to recovery in the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, there's only a very limited number of highly specialized divers who can work in those kind of currents, with that kind of debris, to do the recovery work.

And coordinating with President Bush, he sent an elite team of Navy divers there. There were just a handful of those kind of teams in the country or the world that can do that kind of work. And so that was the type of partnership we had across the whole spectrum of needs in response to the bridge collapsing.

CATHY WURZER: We'll see how Baltimore moves forward. I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

TIM PAWLENTY: You're very welcome, Cathy. And it's a sad day for Baltimore, a sad day for all of us. But a pleasure to talk to you, and I hope that some of the things we learned in Minnesota are helpful to them.

CATHY WURZER: Right. Thank you. That was former Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty.

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[MIKKO BLAZE, "MY PRIDE"] Be sure the people be feeling

Be strong, be bold, be fearless

My joy is an act of rebellion

I love who I am

I'm using my freedom--

CATHY WURZER: This is our Minnesota Music Minute, and this is the song My Pride by Minneapolis artist Mikko Blaze. He's performing at a Trans Day of Visibility Celebration happening right now, as a matter of fact, over at the State Capitol. We'll have more coverage of that celebration with Representative Leigh Finke on All Things Considered.

[MIKKO BLAZE, "MY PRIDE"] Freedom to be what I want to be proud

This is my pride, yeah, to be what I want

We keep the [INAUDIBLE] and hoping for the unity of our community

Let's educate, liberate, be as queer as you want to be

I want to be strong

I want to be bold

I want to be fearless

Say it with me now

We are strong

We are bold

We are fearless

CATHY WURZER: I'm glad you're with us here on Minnesota Now from NPR News. I'm Cathy Wurzer. Quick weather note here if you are listening in Northeastern Minnesota or Northwestern Wisconsin.

Seeing some snow squalls in your area. Little tough when that happens, especially if you are around places like Marengo and High Bridge in Wisconsin. Visibilities are reduced over the next 30 minutes around State Route 13 in those areas of Wisconsin, and really tough to drive when that happens. It's 12:16 here on Minnesota Now.

Today at the Capitol, pretty busy day. Disability advocates from across Minnesota are gathering for Disability Advocacy Day. Folks with disabilities, as well as caregivers and community members, will be there.

However, it's important to remember on days like this that disabilities are not always visible. PTSD, autoimmune disorders, several severe mental illnesses and more can all be disabling, yet most people would not be aware of the disability without the person disclosing it. This adds a crucial extra step that can prevent people with invisible disabilities from getting the care they need.

Here to talk about what it's like to live with an invisible disability is Trevor Turner. Trevor is the Public Policy Director for the Minnesota Council on Disability. Thanks for joining us, Trevor.

TREVOR TURNER: Thank you, Cathy. How are you?

CATHY WURZER: I'm fine. Thanks for being here. Did I get the definition right of invisible disability?

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah, absolutely. I think most invisible disabilities are going to be things that just are not apparent when you're looking at someone. Every day you just may not see it, but they might be living with it. Me particularly, I have a condition called Usher Syndrome, which manifests itself as deaf blindness. But my blindness is not always apparent, and that can be a struggle sometimes.

CATHY WURZER: Can you share what that's like for you?

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah. For me, I often describe it as-- I'm a gay man as well. And I tell people that oftentimes you have to come out of the closet, so to speak, every day with your non-apparent disability.

Because you have to make that calculus when you're talking to someone. Will my disability make them think less or more of me? Or will they make assumptions about what I can and cannot do? And so I'm always making that calculus in my brain when I meet new people, and just try and decide how much I disclose about my disability.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, that's got to be exhausting.

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: I'm wondering, do we know how many people like yourself live with invisible disabilities in Minnesota?

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah. I looked it up, and I think they estimate about 70% to 80% of disabilities are considered invisible disabilities. In Minnesota, we have about 20% of the state is identified with a disability. So obviously it's probably roughly 70% of that.

But one of the challenges with finding a number for invisible disabilities is just it's a matter of self-disclosure. And so oftentimes many people don't necessarily want to disclose but they have a disability. So it really depends on how the data was collected. And so that really depends on whether someone wants to identify as someone with a disability, especially if they have an invisible disability.

CATHY WURZER: I wonder then, does that affect someone's quality of care, receiving accommodations for that invisible disability?

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah, absolutely. With accommodations, like I said, because it may not be obvious that you have a disability, sometimes employers may not think that you actually need that accommodation. And so that can be really challenging, trying to convince people that you are, in fact, someone with a disability. And you need accommodations and are entitled to them under the ADA, just like any other disability. But it can just be a real challenge trying to remind people that you have the disability.

CATHY WURZER: Do you have to prove that you have a disability in order to get, say, a disabled parking sticker, or just those basic parts of life?

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah. You are required to provide documentation of a disability. So with disability parking, the Department of Public Safety, you do submit a form that has the doctor's signature on it saying that you do have a disability, things like that. Oftentimes you have to disclose your disability and show what it is in order to get services and accommodation that you need.

CATHY WURZER: So I mentioned the rally at the Capitol today. Any bills this session that you're hoping will pass when it comes to folks who are living with invisible disabilities?

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah, absolutely. I'm actually at the Capitol right now. I was fortunate enough to find a quiet space to be able to do this. I will be returning to the rally later.

But one bill that I'm really looking forward to is called the Minnesota Rise Act. It has been heard in every committee, and will be included in the higher education omnibus bills. But this bill basically standardizes and requires that institutions of higher education be more communicative with students with disabilities, especially those with invisible disabilities.

So I'm really hoping that it will help people with invisible disabilities in college to be able to get the accommodations they need to finish their coursework and get their degrees. Because the number one reason most students with disabilities drop out of college or don't finish their degrees is because they aren't able to get the accommodation they need to do it.

CATHY WURZER: I'm wondering, too, there is that bill moving through the legislature dealing with Uber and Lyft rideshare companies, with all the latest news on what's happening in Minneapolis. And I know a lot of my friends who are living with a disability use Uber and Lyft, and don't use Metro Mobility to fill those gaps. I'm wondering where you stand on this situation, and are you a fan of having more of a statewide solution to this?

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah, absolutely. And the Council on Disability has been working behind the scenes with the governor's office and the state legislature to find a solution and get more accommodations for people with disabilities in Uber and Lyft. Because the reality is, taxis are required by the Americans With Disabilities Act to have a wheelchair-accessible vehicles. But because Uber and Lyft are not considered taxi companies. They're considered a technology company, they're exempt from those ADA requirements.

And so because the state does not have any kind of wheelchair-accessible vehicle minimums for Uber and Lyft, then they actually don't provide wheelchair-accessible vehicles. So if you're a wheelchair user, Uber and Lyft is not a service you can use. And so we are really trying to push for that, because obviously Uber and Lyft are concerned about people with disabilities like myself.

As a blind person, I don't drive. I use Uber and Lyft quite often. However, I would say it's unfair for Uber and Lyft to say that they are caring about disabilities when they often exclude so many people with disabilities who are wheelchair users from their service. So I hope that this conversation with Uber and Lyft will provide better accessibility in their apps in the future.

CATHY WURZER: And I'm going to assume that you might be a little worried about them pulling out of the Twin Cities-- or at least the threat of them pulling out-- because so many folks like yourself use the rideshare companies.

TREVOR TURNER: Yeah, absolutely. It will dramatically impact my quality of life to be able to not use Uber and Lyft. And Metro Mobility, unfortunately, is not considered an on-demand taxi service. You have to schedule those several days in advance, and oftentimes the window, the wait times is several hours. And so it's really not an adequate replacement for Uber and Lyft.

Obviously, I would support more funding and support for Metro Mobility so that it could increase those. But obviously they're working with what they have. But without Uber and Lyft, there will be definitely pain among people who rely on it.

CATHY WURZER: So Trevor, before you go here, question. Folks who are listening might not know how to interact with a person with an invisible disability-- because you just don't know, right? So what can folks do to be more inclusive of individuals with invisible disabilities?

TREVOR TURNER: I think the best thing you can do is just not to assume. The down syndrome organizations have had a really great campaign recently that says, "assume that I can, and maybe I will." And I really like that campaign, because there's often so many assumptions about disabilities.

And I think that you don't want to assume just because someone has a certain disability-- for me, particularly with my vision, I do have enough vision to still be able to use a smartphone, watch TV and stuff like that with some accessibility features turned on for that. But I think oftentimes when people see me with my cane and then see me using my smartphone, they get confused. And so I think the biggest thing you can do is just not to assume the abilities of somebody with a disability.

CATHY WURZER: All right. I know you have things to do here today at the State Capitol. I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

TREVOR TURNER: Thank you, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Trevor Turner is the Public Policy Director for the Minnesota Council on Disability.

PRESENTER: Programming is supported by Cub. Cub's commitment is ensuring to provide its customers fresh produce. If it doesn't meet your standards, then it doesn't meet Cub's. More about Cub's produce commitment, cub.com.

CATHY WURZER: So around the region at this hour, as I mentioned prior, we still have snow. Boy, this storm system is just really hanging on in Northern Minnesota. It's been snowing most of the morning in International Falls, where it's 15 degrees. It's snowing in Duluth over the hill, where it's 19 at the harbor. A little mix of rain and snow.

Rain and snow in Fergus Falls here this morning. Flurries around Rochester now. But it's partly sunny in Red Wing, where it's 27 degrees.

It's sunny in Saint Cloud, where it's 23. And in Western Minnesota around Appleton and Granite Falls, sunny skies and it's 21 degrees. Winter weather advisory continues for far Northern Minnesota, far Northern and North Central Minnesota through the rest of the day for a few more inches of snow.

We're going to talk to our Paul Huttner coming up in just a few minutes here on Morning Edition. Morning Edition-- [LAUGHS], no, that's not right. We are Minnesota Now. Sorry about that.

He's going to recap just how much snow we got over the last three days. And then, because it's almost time for member celebration week, we're going to need your help to make it a success. I want you to donate today to help us meet our goal of 250 new members by April the 1st. You can make your gift at mprnews.org.

All right, right now a news update with Emily Reese. Emily?

EMILY REESE: Hi, Cathy. Investigators are collecting evidence from the cargo ship that hit Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused its collapse. Divers are searching for six construction workers who fell into the harbor.

Officials with the NTSB boarded the ship and plan to recover information from its electronics and paperwork. The ship was traveling under a Singaporean flag. Officials in Singapore say they're conducting their own investigation into the bridge collapse in addition to supporting US authorities.

The Israeli military says around 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Northern Israel this morning. Hezbollah took responsibility for the launches, and said they were retaliation for an Israeli airstrike in South Lebanon that killed seven of its members overnight. Hezbollah began launching rockets toward Israel the day after Hamas-led militants stormed into Southern Israel October 7.

An update on that new Banksy mural we talked about early last week. It popped up in London on St. Patrick's Day on a building beside a real and severely pruned cherry tree, with swaths of green paint across the wall that stood in for the tree's absent leaves. Well, that mural was defaced within two days, when someone splashed white paint on it.

So the owner of the building covered it in transparent plastic. The Islington Council, who are in charge of the London borough, then fenced off the site to protect the art. The council also stepped up patrols by Park Police, and will be putting in cameras.

For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks in a few years, because the planet is rotating just a tad faster. Apparently clocks may have to skip a second, called a negative leap second, around 2029. Now, this might have happened in 2026, but ice melting at the North and South poles has been counteracting the burst of speed, and is likely to have delayed the need to drop a second until 2029.

And Cathy, I won't bore you with the details. It's a very complicated situation. It involves physics, global power politics, climate change, technology, and two types of time. I thought there was only one, but there you have it.

CATHY WURZER: I'm exhausted listening to you.

EMILY REESE: Right?

CATHY WURZER: All right, yes. Thank you.

EMILY REESE: Thanks.

CATHY WURZER: It's 12:29 here on Minnesota Now. Our multi-day snowstorm is taking its own sweet time exiting the region. As I mentioned, it's still snowing in parts of Northern Minnesota right now as the system heads East. That was a significant snowfall, which also added much needed moisture to the state.

NPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner is here to give us the final numbers on this storm earlier this week. Well, that was a heck of a storm, I have to say.

PAUL HUTTNER: Oh, and it went on for days and days and days. I loved your Morning Edition reference, because it's been like that with the weather, right? We had snow last Thursday, Sunday, rain Monday, snow-- it's all kind of a blur at this point, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: It's like the movie Groundhog Day.

PAUL HUTTNER: Yes, one of my favorites. Love it. So this has been the biggest snowfall event of the season for most of Minnesota. This three-day storm brought us snow in the Twin Cities Sunday, rain on Monday, snow again Tuesday.

It was all the same low pressure system, Cathy-- very slow mover. Crept up from Colorado and then down into the Central Plains, and finally up toward Minnesota yesterday. Here's some of the incredible totals.

We had one to two-feet of snow eight miles West of Duluth, 24.9-inches. So that's two feet of snow. Baxter had two feet of snow. Brainerd Lakes area, 24.7.

A little place West of Gull Lake called Casino, Minnesota-- I didn't know there was a Casino, Minnesota-- 22.8-inches. I see right around Two Harbors, a little West of there, 21.2. Lester Park, East side of Duluth, 20.6. Brainerd area, 20 in town. 10 as far Northwest as Bemidji.

And then you get down to the Twin Cities. We had 12.1-inches, a cool foot of snow here. And six to 12 around most of Southern Minnesota. Marshall had 8.5, Rochester area 6 to 7. So this was a very, very productive system, Cathy. As I said, biggest one of the snow season.

CATHY WURZER: Well, good. I'm glad to hear that we got the snow that many of you meteorologists said we would. Because right after that first dump, there were people who were complaining like, "oh, we didn't get the snow." But obviously we did.

PAUL HUTTNER: There always are.

CATHY WURZER: I know. We clearly got that snow. So I'm wondering then, when you melt all that snow, how much liquid is in that snowpack?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, there was quite a bit. The Twin Cities, we had 2.32-inches of liquid, so about 2 and 1/3 inches. That's like a 2 and 1/3 inch rain.

And that snow to water ratio was 8 to 1. That's a very wet cement snow. Our average is probably 10 or 12 to 1 in Minnesota. And even in those clippers in winter, it can be 20 to 1 or greater, that fluffy stuff.

Duluth had about 1.67-inches. Year-to-date Twin Cities, Cathy, we caught up with our overall precipitation total-- 3.29-inches so far. That's about a 10th of an inch now above normal.

Now, the drought monitor comes out tomorrow. I think it will likely show a one category improvement in parts of Minnesota, maybe most of Minnesota. Some of that precip didn't make it in before the, I think, around 7:00 AM Tuesday deadline.

But boy, this was a great storm. It really put us on a good path. And if we can get about two, maybe three more of these by the time we get into the growing season, we should be in pretty good shape.

CATHY WURZER: Mr. Huttner, do you think that that is possible, looking at the long range forecasts?

PAUL HUTTNER: There was a big storm. Some of the models were winding up again in about 10 days. It's disappeared today, so I don't see anything in the next two weeks.

But hey, there's still a good chance. It's spring. We'll likely get a couple of rain systems in here.

CATHY WURZER: You'd think so, right?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: So where do we stand for the seasonal snowfall totals? We still have to be behind though.

PAUL HUTTNER: Oh, we are. We've had a little over half of our season normal of 52-inches. 29.5 at Twin Cities Airport now. Duluth 36.6. Normal season-to-date is about 79-inches.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, wow.

PAUL HUTTNER: Remember last year they had, what, 120 or some crazy record number for Duluth, and we had 90-inches in the Twin Cities. So way behind normal, and way behind last year.

CATHY WURZER: OK. So this coming holiday weekend for many people, any warm up in sight?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, temperatures will moderate. We're in the mid 20s today across much of Minnesota. Tomorrow 34 with sunshine in the Twin Cities, 20s up North. Then just a slight chance of a shower Friday, and again on Sunday. Highs low to mid 40s, Twin Cities, mostly 30s in Northern Minnesota.

But Cathy, it gets milder again next week. The forecast model is pumping 40s in here Monday, 50s into the Twin Cities and Southern Minnesota by next Tuesday and Wednesday. And a little too early to jump for joy just yet, but I notice NOAA's GFS model's cranking out some 60s--

CATHY WURZER: What?

PAUL HUTTNER: --late next week. Thursday, Friday, maybe even into the following weekend, we will see. The European model has it pretty mild, too. So it looks like we will be significantly milder about a week or eight days from now.

CATHY WURZER: OK, so obviously this little blip of winter just mother nature reminding us that it actually can snow around here, which is good. Say, Climate Cast this week?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, so there's an interesting new paper from the Journal of Communications and Climate Change. It says that climate change has been a factor in inflation-- in food prices, specifically. That these heat waves and these drought events, they've been able to tease it out and measure it out. So we're going to dig into that more today, and that'll be up on Climate Cast tomorrow during All Things Considered.

CATHY WURZER: All right, that sounds great. Thank you so much for your work all this week.

PAUL HUTTNER: Appreciate it. Thanks, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Absolutely. That is our Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. Of course, you can listen to Paul and my colleague Tom Crann this afternoon on All Things Considered. And if you want to be updated on the weather at any time, you can go to the Updraft blog. You find that at mprnews.org.

PRESENTER: Support for this program comes from Minnesota's Nongame Wildlife Program and the Live Eagle Cam. Swans, Loons, turtles, and butterflies all benefit from your support. Find out how you can personally help at mndnr.gov/nongame.

CATHY WURZER: This coming Friday, the Office of Cannabis Management will hold the inaugural meeting of its Cannabis Advisory Council. Now, the council was created as part of the new state cannabis law, and it will review policy and make recommendations to the state office. While that's happening on the state level, there is a grassroots nonprofit that's keeping a close eye to help keep the community informed about the implementation of all aspects of the legalization process. It's called the Minnesota Cannabis College.

Joining us right now is the founder, Tanner Berris. Tanner, welcome.

TANNER BERRIS: Thank you so much for having me, Cathy. I really appreciate it.

CATHY WURZER: Well, I appreciate your time. So I understand that you started the Cannabis College before legalization in 2020. I'm curious as to why you started it at that time.

TANNER BERRIS: Yeah, absolutely. So me and a group of activists have been working for a number of years to help change the law in Minnesota to make it move towards legalization. We saw, looking at other states like Colorado and Michigan, this really big influx of jobs that come after legalization. But they're not really being the support network there to help ensure people have the training they need to succeed.

There's tons of people that have a passion for the industry. Maybe they've been working on that legacy side. Maybe they've been a consumer and they're looking at legalization as their potential entry to the market.

But we need to make sure that there are those supports there to help those people be successful when they do enter the market. So we wanted to sort of pre-legalization a little bit. Help set up here in the state to make sure that we're able to support some of the amazing employees and entrepreneurs of our future industry.

CATHY WURZER: What kind of education are you providing?

TANNER BERRIS: Yeah, for sure. So we have a couple different types of education. I think the biggest one that people have been connecting with recently is our cultivation education. So teaching people how to grow cannabis, where a lot of that focus is on the home growth side, because that's what people can really be getting their hands on with today. The education is highly transferable, and most of our classes are geared towards that commercial cultivation side.

The other type of education that we're doing is just basic business education. Like I said, there's a lot of people that are really passionate, but maybe have never actually managed a legally compliant business before. We want to be here to help those people be successful. So business side, cultivation side, and then also just helping people to prepare for what does it look like to engage with community leaders, to engage with lawmakers, city council members, all of that. So lots of education to be done, for sure.

CATHY WURZER: So the cultivation part of the equation sounds like it's more difficult than people think it is. Is that right?

TANNER BERRIS: Yeah. I think it's how you're looking at it. It's sort of like tomatoes. If you wanted to throw seeds in the backyard, see what you get from it, I really think it's something that pretty much anyone can do.

Where it gets a little bit more tricky is when you look on that commercial side. So using tomatoes as an example, everyone can throw some seeds in their backyard. Not everyone has the skills to be able to go work in a commercial cultivation facility. And cannabis is the exact same way.

So can people grow cannabis at home? Yeah, and we found a lot of beginners that are starting to make that entryway. But when you're looking at how to actually get the maximum yield from your plant, when you're looking at how to take the square footage that you're allowed to have under a micro, or a meso, or a cultivator license, and really push that to get the maximum product from it.

CATHY WURZER: So you are helping people prepare to get a license, should they decide to do something like that?

TANNER BERRIS: Exactly. Yeah. There's lots of people that, very frankly, have been cultivating for years here in Minnesota. We want to help provide them a route to being able to do it legally here in the state.

CATHY WURZER: So I understand you're partnering with Minnesota the state to be a community bridge, as it were?

TANNER BERRIS: Yeah, absolutely. So the state's been doing a really great job of figuring out what does regulation look like, especially in this in-between time before full legalization really kicks in and we have stores open.

But there's been a lot of questions that business owners have. The regulations have changed a lot over the past couple of years. So we really want to be that support, where the state has the regulation, the business owners have the questions. How can we sort of bridge that gap, as you said.

So we have an online training program that's available for businesses to train their employees. It's a super low cost. Our goal is just to get that training and compliance out to people. But as you mentioned, we also work with the Minnesota Department of Health to get their current inspectors that are doing that inspection process out to the businesses to frankly teach them a little bit more about what compliant products look like, and what they need to be keeping their eyes on to make sure that their retail store is following the laws in Minnesota.

CATHY WURZER: I know you have a podcast that also efforts to bring folks information. You have a lot of interviews on that. I know you've interviewed Erin DuPree right after she resigned.

TANNER BERRIS: So we stand on the shoulders of giants, like NPR and other journalist organizations. But yeah, really try to help put a lens on some of the things happening in our industry. We had a group chat among our team that kept going back and forth on, hey, have you seen this new product? Or, hey, this new business just started, or whatever be it. And eventually it got to the point that we wanted to tell others about it.

So I've been doing that podcast for about a year now. We're on a weekly basis wherever podcasts can be found on YouTube all of that. But really just try to help highlight some of the stories of the Minnesotans that are making our cannabis industry possible.

CATHY WURZER: We've talked to Charlene Briner, the Interim Director of Cannabis Management, as she is trying to get things together for the rollout. But as you know, the state is still looking for that permanent new director, and they still are in that process. What do you want to see in a director?

TANNER BERRIS: Yeah, so I think what we've been seeing in Charlene is great. I listened to the interview that you did with her last week. I thought that was super awesome, hearing her talk about the importance of equity when we look at setting up our industry. I think what's going to be really important to look for in the future, especially in a new director, is someone that doesn't just sort of talk the talk, but then actually walks the walk.

So saying social equity is important. Saying early applications are important is great. And I think what we've seen from our current OCM Interim Director is that action of moving forward through the legislature, saying these are the changes we need to make.

I think with our next director, it should just be someone who's willing to take similar steps to help set up our industry and make sure they're listening to all of the many stakeholders that make up cannabis. It's an interesting industry, where you have health care and also people that have been, frankly, skirting the law for the last couple of decades, now coming together into one community. And we need a director that will be able to balance the interests of both. So I don't know exactly who that person is, but man, they sure have a difficult job ahead of them.

CATHY WURZER: So I wonder before you go here, Tanner, what are your thoughts? Do you worry about the corporatization of cannabis in the state of Minnesota-- you know, big, well-funded individuals and organizations swooping in?

TANNER BERRIS: Yeah, I think that's a great question. So on the activism side, we worked for years to make sure that we had an easy route for Minnesotans to be able to enter the industry. I think what's going to be particularly tricky, and I think that your question lent towards, is making sure that those Minnesotans that get a spot at the industry aren't bought out or gobbled up by other organizations. I think looking at other states, it's been a big concern.

So I hope that regulators here in Minnesota, along with the cannabis community, continue working forward to make sure that we have our tight knit community and keep a look on each other. Canna Connect is an organization here that does networking style events. I think those type of events are really what's going to be important to helping us to build our industry. It's not just going to be people coming in from out of state, but actually people in the state here building something up that I'm really excited to see.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Tanner, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

TANNER BERRIS: Yeah. Thank you so much, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Tanner Berris is the founder of the Minnesota Cannabis College.

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CATHY WURZER: This is Minnesota Now on NPR News. I'm Cathy Wurzer. It's time for our segment Vital Signs.

Every month we'll be talking about topics that are important to your health, take a deep dive into medical news, or what's on the top of mind at your doctor's office. Joining us right now is Dr. Jon Hallberg, a family medicine physician at Mill City Clinic in Minneapolis, and a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Thanks for coming back.

JON HALLBERG: Oh, my pleasure, Cathy. Thank you.

CATHY WURZER: Let's talk about the lingering effects of this cyber attack that involved mammoth Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth group. This is a system that's complicated for folks. But it's a system that many hospitals and medical clinics use to submit claims, right?

JON HALLBERG: It's that and more. And I know that in my clinic, we very quickly became aware of this when we were sending in prescriptions-- and we do this electronically. There was a time when we would have a prescription pad.

CATHY WURZER: Yes.

JON HALLBERG: I'd get ink stains on my hand from filling these out. And I can't tell you how happy I am that we don't have to do it that way anymore. But when you rely on something electronic, you order the prescription, you send it in. You assume that the pharmacy that you're sending it to got it. And we pretty quickly realized that our pharmacies were not getting the prescriptions.

And, of course, people are showing up at the pharmacies to pick up their prescriptions, and their refills, or their new medications to treat acute conditions and chronic conditions. And oh, my gosh, all of a sudden it was just, not chaos, but it was creating a ton of frustration and anxiety on behalf of the patients. And also our nursing staff, who are fielding the phone calls then of angry patients. It took them a while to figure out why exactly this was going on.

CATHY WURZER: I was talking to the head of the Minnesota Hospital Association who said that this is also causing ripple effects when it comes to financial problems for hospitals and clinics.

JON HALLBERG: Oh, yeah, especially small clinics. Some places are not able to make payroll, because they're not getting reimbursed for the work that they're doing. So you can imagine the lower level small clinics, you've got massive systems dealing with this. Pretty much every clinic that's submitting things electronically, using a certain system to get their prescriptions sent in, that was affected. So it had a really unforeseen massive effect on patients and health care providers, and the systems in which they work.

CATHY WURZER: I wonder what this says for the vulnerability of our health care system to cyber attacks.

JON HALLBERG: Well, this is certainly [? not ?] a test of that security, or a test of that system. But what an example of how interconnected everything is. This is affecting everything from independent practices to massive systems, and we're all buying into the same system. It's really tough.

CATHY WURZER: Hey, let's talk about a new report that was out. It's called the Global Happiness Ranking, and it looks at things like social supports, life expectancy, that kind of thing. And evidently the US saw a big drop, going from 15th to 23rd.

And it looks like there are some generational divides in this study. It's pretty interesting stuff. What did you make of it?

JON HALLBERG: You know, it's interesting. So let's start with the positive, and that is that people over 60 in the United States seem to be relatively happy. So they actually made the top 10.

And I think for a variety of reasons-- obviously, not ignoring social determinants of health-- but let's say that people at 60, you're done raising your kids, generally speaking. You've got some money that you've saved. Life is different.

And, in fact, it's funny. This past couple of weeks with my patients in clinic, a lot of my patients are over 60. A lot of them are over 65.

And they've been reading books like Live Life in Crescendo-- Your Most Important Work is Always Ahead of You by Stephen Covey. Another one that was mentioned was Learning to Love Midlife-- 12 Reasons Why Life Only Gets Better With Age. And so it's interesting. There's this certain security amount of happiness in that group.

But if we go to the other side, people who are younger, I'm hearing this all the time that the political divide, climate change, housing affordability. I mean, gone is the starter home. I had a teacher the other day who works for one of the big school districts who is paying more for daycare than her home mortgage.

CATHY WURZER: What?

JON HALLBERG: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: Wow.

JON HALLBERG: So how all of that erodes a sense of happiness and well-being and creates a huge amount of stress. And again, to stress the social determinants of health for so many people-- cost of groceries, can you afford a car, can I get to my job or my appointment? That is heavy, heavy stuff, and absolutely will erode a sense of happiness. And I think that the countries that have strong social support, generally they're happier. And I think a lot of times we feel like we're left to fend for ourselves and it's really tough.

CATHY WURZER: I wonder what role the pandemic played in this, too.

JON HALLBERG: Oh, I think a huge, huge role. A lot of folks are questioning everything.

CATHY WURZER: Still questioning everything.

JON HALLBERG: Oh, still questioning everything. And people probably know, when you go to a medical appointment, generally speaking, we all have questionnaires to fill out ahead of time. And usually it's like good depression screening.

Even if people say they aren't depressed, they'll often have a little caveat with that. They'll say, I'm not depressed, but. And they'll say, I am so stressed, or I've never been more worried about the condition of the world. I can't talk to my family members, because they're on one side of the political spectrum.

Yeah, there's rifts. I mean, I've been doing this for 28 years. And I just feel lately, since the pandemic, I'm hearing kinds of stresses and strains I haven't heard before.

CATHY WURZER: What kind of effect does it have on a body when you're under so much stress and anxiety?

JON HALLBERG: Oh, I talk about that all the time. This is simplistic, but I think of a rat in a maze. And if every turn that rat takes you get a big piece of cheese, life is good. But if every turn you take you get zapped, how can that not have a physiologic effect on that body and that brain and neurochemistry?

And of course, life is that maze. And if you're getting negative reinforcement, negative feedback all the time, everything's a challenge, it's going to change things and it has a profound physiologic effect on the body. And it can include and go to overwhelming anxiety, depression, of course loneliness ties into all of this, and just all of that.

CATHY WURZER: I'm glad you brought up loneliness. Because, of course, the US Surgeon General declared fairly recently a loneliness epidemic-- about a year ago he did. I wonder if anything has improved along those lines. Because we are so connected though via our devices, but not necessarily person to person.

JON HALLBERG: Yeah. When you say that, I always go back to the Pixar movie WALL-E. The sort of dystopian future of people on La-Z-Boys that float, and slurping on liquid protein, and connecting with one another through tablets.

There's a scene in that movie where two people pull up side by side. And they don't realize that they're actually physically side by side. They're looking at each other on these screens.

And I think that there's more talk about loneliness, so I think that has been a conversation changer. That comes up all the time now. But what's the solution to that?

It's sort of like, yep, we're talking about it. Now what? How are we going to fix that? How are we going to help people?

CATHY WURZER: Somehow you have to reach out, I think, and really work to make social ties with individuals.

JON HALLBERG: Yeah. And I think realizing OK, if we're all acknowledging this now, then who in our lives can we think about and turn to and offer help and a hand of kindness? I'm hoping that that happens.

CATHY WURZER: Well, since you mentioned the Pixar movie, let me ask you about some pop culture. Do doctors watch TV medical dramas?

JON HALLBERG: I think some do, and I think certainly younger folks do.

CATHY WURZER: Maybe just to laugh at them? I don't know.

JON HALLBERG: Well, it's interesting. I've talked to medical students over the years about this. A number of years ago I was in Washington, DC, for a conference, and I polled the assembled medical students.

And, man, they loved House. And I was really surprised by that because, like, really? This sarcastic, mean-spirited--

CATHY WURZER: Oh, yeah.

JON HALLBERG: But I think that the undertone of that we are so careful with how we interact with people, we're so politically correct, that he was the opposite. A little bit like Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David. Like just everything that you may be thinking that you could never, ever say, he says. And Dr. Gregory House did the same thing in that show.

CATHY WURZER: Did you ever watch Northern Exposure? I mention this because it's out on Prime Video.

JON HALLBERG: Oh, yes, I did. And, in fact, I had to go back, because I was thinking I know that I was a medical student when that came out. I watched it with great anticipation. It aired on July 12, 1990, so I had just finished my second year of Medical School. And Joel Fleischman recently graduated from Columbia Medical School, skipping the fact that he probably needs to do residency before he becomes a doctor in rural Alaska.

But set in Cicely, Alaska. It was actually filmed in Roslyn, Washington. I always felt like that little town was sort of like Grand Marais-- this quirky, artsy kind of place. And oh, I love that show.

CATHY WURZER: Did you start watching it again?

JON HALLBERG: Well, I haven't. I'm very interested, as a family physician, in how family medicine and previously general practice is portrayed in the arts, and pop culture in particular. And this is part of my, I don't know, 12, 15 television series and films that do this-- that portray primary care.

And though his training has nothing to do with what we actually have to go through, the humanity in the show is really something. And I really, really love that. And so yes, I'm watching it again and loving the music. And Cathy, there's a DJ, Chris in the Morning.

CATHY WURZER: What?

JON HALLBERG: Yeah, it's Alaska Public Radio Station, and he reads Dostoyevsky, and then he'll kind of turn to some music. It's really a lovely, sweet series.

CATHY WURZER: See, I never got into it. I maybe watched a couple of episodes. But now that you say there's a DJ in it, well.

JON HALLBERG: Now's your chance.

CATHY WURZER: This is my chance. It's always a pleasure. I'm so happy you came in to studio.

JON HALLBERG: My pleasure. Thank you so much.

CATHY WURZER: Dr. Jon Hallberg is a family medicine physician at Mill City Clinic in Minneapolis, and a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School. By the way, Friday, check out our podcast and you'll find an extended version of this conversation.

PRESENTER: Programming on NPR News is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Thanks to the citizens of Minnesota for their support.

CATHY WURZER: Say, got a nice note just a few minutes ago from Jeff about our discussion earlier in the show about hidden disabilities. And Jeff reminds us that at the Twin Cities Airport, because of a partnership between MSP and the UK-based hidden disabilities Sunflower Organization, folks with not obvious disabilities can get in wear a sunflower lanyard which discreetly informs others of their disability. You can get the sunflower lanyard at the traveler's assistance booths at the Twin Cities airport.

Thank you, Jeff. And Jeff knows that because he works at the traveler's assistance booth at the airport. Thank you for that. And thanks for listening, Jeff.

Thank you, of course, for listening and spending the noon hour with us. Just in case you managed to dip in a little late on the program and you missed some of the interviews, of course, we have a podcast for that. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts. I hope you have a good rest of the day. This is NPR News.

PRESENTER: Support comes from Standard Heating and Air Conditioning. Annual maintenance on your A/C equipment is recommended by the manufacturer. It's not too early to schedule your spring tune up to ensure peak performance this summer at standardheating.com.

CATHY WURZER: Summer? Yeah, it's coming. If you listened to Paul Huttner earlier, you heard that there could be more 60 degree readings by next week here in the Twin Cities.

This is NPR News, 91.1 KNOW, Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Right now in the Twin Cities, mostly sunny skies, it's 24. They were talking about flurries, but I don't know. It's possible you might see a few here by the end of the day.

We'll top out pretty much where we are, in terms of temperature. Flurries this evening. The overnight low six above.

Sunny skies tomorrow, with a high of 32 degrees. Rain in the forecast for Friday, with highs in the low 40s. Rain Saturday, and a chance for rain Sunday and Monday. It's 1 o'clock.