Minnesota Now: Nov. 27, 2024

[THEME MUSIC] MAN: 1, 2, 3, 4.

NINA MOINI: This is Minnesota Now. I'm Nina Moini.

Thanksgiving travel is expected to set a new record this year with millions of drivers on the road. State law enforcement is stepping up patrols in an effort to keep roads safe. We'll talk about the pattern of more dangerous driving that's been going on.

A Thanksgiving meal is not always guaranteed for every Minnesotan. We'll hear from the director of a food shelf in Saint Peter about how they're meeting increased demand. And we'll get your chilly Thanksgiving forecast from MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner.

And a new arts collective is wrapping up a unique tour that connects Minnesotans in rural and Native communities. And we'll meet Rosemount's Ramlall sisters. The trio are making a name for themselves in basketball as a new season gets underway. All that and more right after the news.

LAKSHMI SINGH: Live from NPR News, in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Celebratory gunfire in Beirut--

[GUNFIRE]

--as thousands of people return to their homes in Lebanon hours after a ceasefire took effect between Hezbollah militants and Israel.

Reporting from Tel Aviv, NPR's Scott Neuman says the 60-day truce calls for a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces as Hezbollah militants move away from the border.

SCOTT NUEMAN: The truce, aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, was welcomed by Iran's foreign ministry, which praised the end of, what it calls, Israel's aggression against Lebanon. The truce, which went into effect at 4:00 AM local time, was brokered by the US and France. It comes eight weeks after Israeli forces entered southern Lebanon.

Egypt expressed hope that the deal would be the start of a broader de-escalation in the region, while Jordan's foreign ministry called the ceasefire "an important step," but also said Israel's, quote, "aggression in Gaza" must be stopped.

French President Emmanuel Macron also said he hopes the deal will, quote, "open the path for ending the war in Gaza."

Scott Neuman, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

LAKSHMI SINGH: Three Americans have been freed from prisons in China in a deal brokered by the Biden administration. A State Department spokesman says all wrongfully detained US citizens in China are now home. Politico reports, they were exchanged for Chinese citizens, though there are few details about them.

The State Department has now revised its travel advisory for China for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. NPR's John Ruwitch has the latest.

JOHN RUWITCH: The travel advisory was lowered to level two, which advises Americans to exercise increased caution when traveling to China. It had been one notch higher, at level three, advising would-be travelers to reconsider trips to China.

The level three warning was put in place early in the pandemic when the virus was spreading and China started imposing lockdowns. It was kept in place, though, after Beijing dropped COVID controls in late 2022. The State Department cited arbitrary enforcement of laws and wrongful detentions in China.

The level two advisory still says arbitrary enforcement of local laws is a problem, including in relation to exit bans, but the change is significant. China had been struggling to attract visitors, and this may make it easier for American students and others to travel to China.

John Ruwitch, NPR News.

LAKSHMI SINGH: A new law in Ohio says that on school grounds, a transgender man or woman must use a multi-person bathroom that corresponds to their sex at birth, not gender identity. Republican Governor Mike DeWine signed the legislation today. It applies to bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations on all school grounds.

Teachers unions and civil rights groups objected. The ACLU of Ohio said that the measure would make LGBTQ Ohio residents less safe.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

MAN: Support for NPR come from NPR stations. Other contributors include Fisher Investments. As a fiduciary, Fisher Investments is obligated to act in their clients' best interest. Learn more at fisherinvestments.com. Investing in securities involves the risk of loss.

This is NPR.

[THEME MUSIC]

NINA MOINI: Across the state today, temperatures in the teens, mostly the 20s. Some light snow showers and flurries are possible throughout the day. It'll bring even colder air and wind for Thanksgiving. We'll get your holiday weekend forecast in a bit, coming up with Paul Huttner.

I'm Nina Moini, with these Minnesota news headlines. A new holiday pay rule for nursing home employees is slated to take effect in January, but a coalition of nursing home providers is suing to stop it. Estelle Timar-Wilcox reports.

ESTELLE TIMAR-WILCOX: The statewide rule would require nursing home workers to earn time and a half pay for working holidays. But two senior care trade associations filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday, asking the court to block the rule passed in early November. The organizations say it violates federal labor laws, and will be costly for nursing home operators.

Nursing home workers with SEIU Health Care said they're disappointed in the move to block the rule. They say holiday pay is a way to help retain workers, as the industry faces a staffing shortage.

The Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board, which set the rule, was established by the Minnesota legislature in 2023. It's tasked with raising the minimum wage for nursing home workers.

I'm Estelle Timar-Wilcox.

NINA MOINI: The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the next stop for a challenge to the Office of Cannabis Management's handling of social equity license applications. Dana Ferguson has more.

DANA FERGUSON: A lawsuit now before the Appeals Court will determine how and if a lottery can be rescheduled to determine who is pre-approved to run cannabis businesses once the legal market launches. The state regulatory agency has been directed to supply more information on the process it used to decide who moved forward, but the lottery was postponed indefinitely after applicants who were denied sued.

A Ramsey County District court judge blocked the lottery from happening while their cases proceed. Applicants who were weeded out say they weren't given enough information about why, and they said there wasn't adequate option to appeal. The state has said it followed the process for advancing license applicants as laid out in law.

I'm Dana Ferguson.

[THEME MUSIC]

NINA MOINI: Our top story this afternoon on Minnesota Now, expect extra DWI patrols on the road today through New Year's Eve. The state Office of Traffic Safety is ramping up enforcement in an effort to reduce alcohol-related crashes in Minnesota over the holidays. Road safety is on many of our minds as we hit the roads tomorrow. Maybe you're traveling a few minutes or a few hours to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends.

So for more, Mike Hanson is on the line. He's the Director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety.

Thanks for being here, Mike. Nice to talk to you again.

MIKE HANSON: Thanks for having me on. I look forward to our conversation today.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, thank you. This is really important. As we're nearing the end of 2024, can you just give us a sense of what the roads have been like this year in terms of safety, and why you feel this initiative is the right way to go right now?

MIKE HANSON: Oh, that's a tough question because, quite honestly, when I look at where we're at this year with fatalities and serious injuries on Minnesota roads, quite honestly, for me and the traffic safety business, it's heartbreaking.

NINA MOINI: Oh.

MIKE HANSON: At least 418 fatalities to date. And just to put that into a little bit of perspective, that's 64 more than we were at this time last year. That's unacceptable. It's heartbreaking. It's tragic. It's frustrating. It makes me angry. There is no reason for us to be looking at numbers like this.

Every one of these 418, that number represents an individual family that is going to have an empty table or an empty chair at the Thanksgiving table this year. That's a family that had to plan a funeral for somebody who lost their life because of somebody's bad decision at some point.

Traffic crashes are not inevitable. Every one of them are preventable if we can just all figure out how to work together and fix some of the problems that we're seeing out there.

NINA MOINI: Thank you for that. That's important. I know the focus here is specific, maybe, to alcohol-related crashes, but when you're looking at these numbers, do you have a sense or are you able to get a sense for why they're so drastic and upsetting right now? Or do you just say, our job is to stick to the enforcement side of things?

MIKE HANSON: Well, again, that's a good, broad question. And certainly enforcement is part of the strategy that we're trying to employ to change driver behavior for the better. But changing cultural practices and changing how drivers interact with each other on the road, and really, the roots of some of the challenges that we're seeing now really go back to the onset of the pandemic.

When the roads emptied out and we saw vehicle miles traveled-- that's how we measure the number of cars that are on the road and all of that-- those numbers plummeted. And every time that happens, historically, we see a drop in fatal and serious injury crashes.

Well, in 2020, instead of a drop, we saw a 100% increase in the number of fatal and serious crashes. And many of those are attributed to speed and to impairment.

And so we're employing enforcement, but we're also doing things like having a conversation with you and getting the word out there that, "Hey, you know what? Minnesota, we got to work together to make our roads safe for everybody."

We all want to get where we're going safely, but we all have to follow a given set of rules on the road if we're going to do that. And treat the driving task more as a cooperative venture than a competition.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And we've heard this anecdotally that people are saying, wow, people are just driving way worse than they used to. I know there's alcohol and other substances. What are some of the other dangerous driving behaviors that maybe you're seeing or seeing more of? Speeding, road rage, that type of thing, are you seeing a rise there?

MIKE HANSON: The number one thing that we're seeing, and this is the one thing that makes everything else worse-- it makes impairment worse, it makes distraction worse, it makes not wearing a seat belt worse-- and that is speed, speed, speed. We've just seen speed continue to go up and up and up across Minnesota. And this is across the country, as well.

And speed is the one thing that controls the outcome of any crash that occurs because speed is energy. Energy is what causes injury and death. So the more speed and the more energy you bring into a collision, the worse the outcome is going to be.

And so speeding and impairment and distraction. And still, we have a segment of our population that doesn't wear that seat belt all the time. And those are the four things that are the result of almost every one of these serious and fatal crashes that we're talking about.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and these are the types of things we all know, right? But I'm always happy to talk about them and give reminders, especially before a big holiday weekend, because you just can't remind people enough.

So when you're ramping up enforcement, can you tell me a little bit about what that looks like, what drivers might see, and it's across the entire state?

MIKE HANSON: You bet. And everything we do is driven by data. And so, yeah, we're kicking off an impaired driving enforcement campaign and education campaign right now. The reason we're doing that is because historically, we know that starting the Wednesday before Thanksgiving right through New Year's Day is one of the most dangerous times on Minnesota roads when it comes to impaired driving. You just think of all the things that are going on this time of the year, and it lends itself to people maybe imbibing and over-imbibing or overusing, whatever it happens to be.

And so we use the data to tell us when and where and why and how we need to deploy our resources. And so across the state, we are partnering with over 300 law enforcement agencies between now and New Year's Day to do everything that we can to be the backstop to stop a tragedy before it happens when somebody makes a bad decision.

But you know what? By the time that arrest and that traffic stop takes place, it's too late, really. We need people to make better decisions before they get behind the wheel. And that's part of our education and our public outreach campaign. And media interviews like this, trying to get people to think ahead of time, to plan to make good, smart, safe decisions before they get behind the wheel.

There's no excuse for somebody to be arrested for impaired driving or to be involved in a crash that results from impaired driving. There's just too many options out there today that you can avail yourself from. Even in greater Minnesota, it's as simple as just making a plan, having a designated driver that you can count on, and/or having a place to stay, or somebody who can come pick you up, who will be sober.

NINA MOINI: Sure. I wanted to ask you quick about this. This is not related to impaired driving, but I think it's a good opportunity to share advice with folks.

We just learned in the last hour, in the newsroom, that in Dakota County, a 69-year-old man from Hastings struck a deer while driving, and then pulled over on the north shoulder to get out and remove the deer from the roadway, and unfortunately was struck by another vehicle. And the man has not been identified. We don't know all the circumstances here.

Certainly very sad, but I wondered if you could share with folks, what do you do if there's debris, or if you get in a crash and you're in the middle of the road or maybe you're on a highway? Give folks the rundown of what to do to be safe.

MIKE HANSON: Oh, and thank you for the opportunity to address this because this is an area where we're seeing an uptick in the number of folks who are hit at roadside in struck-by incidents, as we call it. If you are involved in a crash or some type of an incident on the roadway, stay in your car until help arrives. Do not expose yourself.

And I see this traveling through the metro area all the time. Somebody involved in a minor crash, they're standing out next to the traffic lane, next to their cars. That's a recipe for disaster.

And especially if we're talking about when we have inclement weather or slippery road conditions, things like that, stay in your car. It will protect you. If you're outside the car, you have no protection.

And wait for help to get there. You need to protect yourself and to protect others and not put them in danger either.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and keep all of your winter gear and things in the car, as well. It's a good time to make sure you have the safety equipment you need. Correct?

MIKE HANSON: Correct. Correct. You want to make sure you have good tires on your car. Pay attention to those little maintenance items because as we get into the cold weather season, which we're into right now, it doesn't take much to disable even the most modern automobiles.

So if you don't take care of those little things, you can and will wind up being stranded. And that's where you need to have extra warm clothes. You need to make sure, hopefully, you have a cell phone and a battery-- the cell phone battery that works so you can call for help.

But you also need to have some of those basic things that you need in the car, like something warm, some way to have maybe some water, some food, some things like that, or warning devices that you can carefully place outside of your car if that's appropriate. But again, never take the chance and expose yourself needlessly if traffic is still whizzing by.

NINA MOINI: Mike, thank you for being here. Thank you for your work. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

MIKE HANSON: Well, Thanks, Nina. It's always such a pleasure to talk with you and with your audience, and we appreciate the opportunity to get our message out. And let's talk on Monday about a zero fatality Thanksgiving weekend. How about that?

NINA MOINI: Oh, I hope so. Thank you, Mike. Take care.

MIKE HANSON: All right. You bet. Bye, bye.

NINA MOINI: That's Mike Hanson-- Director of the Minnesota Department of public Safety Office of Traffic Safety.

[GOLDEN SMOG, "PECAN PIE"] And a piece of pecan pie. Knew that's all I want. Just a piece of pecan pie. and all i want is you.

NINA MOINI: That's nice. We're getting in the Thanksgiving mood with our Minnesota Music Minute. This is Minneapolis band Golden Smog, with their song "Pecan Pie."

(SINGING) Just a little whipped cream. Honey, I'm on my way with a piece of pecan pie. Knew that's all I want. Just a piece of pecan pie. And all I want is you.

NINA MOINI: You're listening to Minnesota Now. We thank you for that.

If you were to ask most people right now about the most iconic part of Thanksgiving, they'd probably say an enormous feast shared with family and friends. I'm sure someone in your life is worrying about what's going into tomorrow's big meal.

About one in every 11 people in Minnesota are worried generally about where their next meal is coming from. That food insecurity has been more intense in the United States since the pandemic began almost five years ago. There are so many factors that can go into people not having enough food, and there aren't always simple answers. But food shelves do a lot of heavy lifting, even for holiday meals this time of year.

Cindy Favre is the manager of the Saint Peter area food shelf just north of Mankato, and she's seen a lot of people struggling to get enough food in their households. She's on the line now to explain the problem and talk about the road of food shelves.

Thank you so much for being here, Cindy.

CINDY FAVRE: Hi. Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: I bet you might be a little bit busy right now. Heading into the holiday. Has your organization and your region seen a rise in hunger recently as well, like most of the state.

CINDY FAVRE: Yes. The short answer is yes, we have.

I think overall, what we're seeing is not just the cost of grocery prices, which we all see when we go to the grocery store, but other increases. Energy, housing, health care, child care. All of those things shrink that grocery budget.

So for nearly half of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, one incident-- a car repair, a medical thing-- puts them in a hard position of having to make decisions about paying bills and purchasing food. So, yes, we are seeing that increase, just as other folks have told you.

NINA MOINI: Sure. And how has it been trying to keep up with that demand?

CINDY FAVRE: We have had to make some decisions about how we spend our money and focus the funds that we have available.

Our mission is really focused on food, although people show up to us with other concerns and other needs. But for example, we are focusing on food, and so relying on community donations for personal care products, cleaning products, that type of thing, because we just made the decision that we have to stay focused on the food first, and then those other things are secondary.

NINA MOINI: Sure. Sure.

Food insecurity and some of the things you're talking about can be an invisible issue. It's not always obvious when someone is experiencing hunger.

I'm curious, I have heard that there's been an uptick in seniors, in particular, visiting food shelves. I wonder if you have any demographic ideas of who's coming and who you're seeing.

CINDY FAVRE: Yeah. Of course, we see a whole range. We see young people, young families, very large families, sometimes multi-generational households.

But yes, we do have seniors. And for seniors, it becomes even more complicated if they have disabilities or transportation concerns and issues. So we work particularly to try to accommodate whatever needs they might have so that we can be sure that they're getting food in their house.

NINA MOINI: Sure. Are there any other barriers that you think people face? You mentioned transportation to getting to a food shelf, and any ways that you're addressing that?

CINDY FAVRE: Yeah. So I think, barriers to getting to food shelves is about the logistics. Like, where is the food shelf, and what are the hours, and how do I get there? Those kinds of things.

And so we do what we can to have service hours available, having them during the day and also evening hours. We do some limited delivery. We allow people to have proxies so other people can come and pick up the food for them, or we can bring it out to your car if you're not able to get yourself into the food shelf. So those kinds of things.

But I also think that-- something that I often hear in the food shelf is people saying, "I never thought I would go to a food shelf.", "I never thought I'd be in this position." So what I've come to realize that a barrier is people's identity.

They have to reshape their identity to say I'm a person who does go to a food shelf, and it's OK for me to be doing this. So I think sometimes that's a barrier is getting over their personal image of themself and their own identity.

NINA MOINI: Oh, Cindy, I think that's a really important point. And I visited a lot of food shelves for work purposes, but if you've never been, and you've never had to go, it might be intimidating.

Do you want to share a little bit about what the experience is like when people do come, and what you all do to make it a good environment, a comfortable environment?

CINDY FAVRE: Yeah. I think that's really true, is that just like anything, if you haven't been there, you don't know what you're walking into.

NINA MOINI: Right.

CINDY FAVRE: The first thing I would say that might surprise people is how joyful food shelves are. It's just a joyful place to be.

We have volunteers who love being there. We have families who are able to get food and to make choices about what foods that they want. There is a lot of laughing, and there's a lot of greeting people. Some of our shoppers we get to know because they come to us pretty frequently.

So when I'm asked if I like working at the food shelf, I say, I'm a farmer's daughter, so it gives me great joy to send people home with food. And I think that's the one thing that I would say.

We try to really limit the paperwork and the documentation that you have to do. We try to make that really simple and easy. And we work hard to have fresh produce and a variety of food choices. And then to let people do their own shopping and make the own choice of what foods they want to take home.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And the people there are just people, like you and I.

I wonder, as we are heading into next year, we know that hunger is a huge issue right now in our state and beyond. We have a legislative session coming up in January. What needs to happen, structurally or in government, to help you right now, and help your cause and in your region?

CINDY FAVRE: Yeah. Hunger, like so many of the issues we face now, hunger is complex, and it's layered. And if the answers were easy, we would have already figured it out.

NINA MOINI: Sure.

CINDY FAVRE: So it's going to take a lot of people working from a lot of different angles. The good news is that I know that there are professionals on a lot of levels. Our public health professionals, our partners at Second Harvest Heartland are doing a lot of that higher level strategic work. Second Harvest Heartland's strategic initiative is to make hunger history, which that specific goal is to cut hunger in Minnesota by half by 2030. So just a lot of folks working on a lot of different angles to make it happen.

And what we're seeing locally is just a lot of community members stepping up with volunteering their time, with donations, both of food and products, and also financial support. And I think that's how we're going to solve it, all of us working together.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. What are some of the other food shelves in your area? Like, are you pretty much one of the only services out there, or are you all kind of working together? You mentioned other partners, like Second Harvest Heartland.

CINDY FAVRE: Yeah. There are other food shelves-- other communities in our area do have food shelves. And as far as I know, at least, all of us are in partnership with Second Harvest Heartland. So we get together and have conversations about what are you doing, and what's working for you, and those types of conversations.

But with that said, each food shelf has the opportunity to operate in a way that best fits their community. So if in our food shelf, it works better for people to call in and make shopping appointments, we do that. If for some place else, it works better for people to just walk in without appointments, they can do that.

So that's, I think, one of the great things about our food shelves is that they really are a part of the communities that they're serving.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And people can always call and ask, right, if they have a specific need or if they're curious.

CINDY FAVRE: Absolutely. And I think most of our food shelves have web pages, they're on social media, but certainly calling. Or people just stop in and say, "How does this work?", and we're happy to share that.

NINA MOINI: Cindy, thank you so much. I'm wishing you a great Thanksgiving and a good year ahead.

CINDY FAVRE: Thank you for the conversation today, and happy Thanksgiving to you and your listeners.

NINA MOINI: Thank you.

That was Cindy Favre, the manager of the Saint Peter area food shelf.

MAN: Programming is supported by Lutheran Social Service. They are neighbors helping neighbors, bringing together Minnesotans from all 87 counties to make a meaningful difference in each other's lives. lssmn.org.

NINA MOINI: Well, still to come on the program, we're talking to three sisters from Rosemount High School who are making waves through the varsity basketball scene in the state with their tremendous talents. You're not going to want to miss it. It's a lot of fun.

But first, we want to get some news headlines from Emily Reese.

Hi, Emily.

EMILY REESE: Hi, Nina. A ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah appears to be holding as residents stream back toward southern Lebanon. Many are ignoring warnings from Israeli and Lebanese troops that they stay away as Israeli forces are set to gradually withdraw in the coming weeks.

If the ceasefire holds, it would bring an end to nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The deal does not address the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says Israel plans to appeal the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants against him and his former defense minister. The ICC issued the warrants last week over alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Court said there are reasonable grounds to believe the two leaders bear responsibility for using starvation as a method of warfare, among other misdeeds.

Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released. The White House announced the rare diplomatic arrangement yesterday.

The three are Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung. Each had been designated by the US government as wrongfully detained. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges, while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges. The White House says in a statement that the men will soon return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years.

Nina, a spacecraft from India that studies the sun has made an important discovery. It might help scientists predict when coronal mass ejections occur. Those are what can take out satellites and power grids.

The spacecraft, called Aditya, L1 has an instrument that allows it to look at the corona of the sun at all times. That's the part we usually only see during a solar total eclipse. The BBC reports that the discovery could help prevent damage to power grids and satellites, and it would give us a better idea of when the Northern Lights will appear.

Nina.

NINA MOINI: Oh, that's great. Thank you, Emily. Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving, as well.

EMILY REESE: Thank you.

NINA MOINI: Well, parts of the state have certainly looked a little bit more festive this week. Many of you listening across the state are seeing some light snow even today. It's not looking severe, though, enough to affect Thanksgiving weekend travel. But as meteorological fall wraps up, let's get the rundown from our own meteorologist, Paul Huttner.

Hi, Paul.

PAUL HUTTNER: Hey, Nina. Happy Thanksgiving. Grateful to chat with you today, and grateful for a furnace and MnDOT these days.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. I'm always grateful to chat with you, Paul.

So light snow, it's pretty dreary, and not a lot of snow I'm seeing here out the window, in Saint Paul. But what are other folks seeing?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it's a November gray across Minnesota. There is a weak wave that's moving across Minnesota. Now, this thing is a one on a scale of one to 10, but it's enough to squeeze out some light snow and flurries.

Right now, parts of western Minnesota, central Minnesota, just near and west of Saint Cloud, down through Wilmer, Redwood Falls, and that'll ease into the Twin Cities here over the next couple of hours, it's light, mainly flurries, and some light snow accumulations less than an inch just about everywhere.

But when it's below freezing, could see a couple of slick spots out there as this thing moves through this afternoon. It'll be done by tonight. And overall, Thanksgiving travel looks pretty good today and pretty good tomorrow and through the weekend. Though, it will be chilly.

NINA MOINI: Oh, OK. That's good to know.

So how does this Thanksgiving rank, I guess, among historical weather, or what's considered average?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, we're in about the coldest third of Thanksgivings this year. Our normal high in the Twin Cities on Thanksgiving Day is 38. So we're going to top out around 25, 26 tomorrow with a brisk Northwest wind, so it's going to feel even colder than that.

And interestingly, if we stay below 26, it would be the coldest Thanksgiving in 10 years, since 2014, when we topped out at 10 above. We had 26 just three years ago. So this definitely on the chilly side.

We've been as warm as 62 in the Twin Cities, in 1914 and 1922. Coldest, one below for the high way back in 1872.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, it's been a lot of ups and downs this year in weather. It was really, really warm, and now, it's going to be cold.

What do you see in for next week, or is it still looking pretty cold?

PAUL HUTTNER: It is. So I call this week a seasonal pattern change, Nina, where the jet stream is not just a little brief cool down. We've really seen the jet stream buckle, shift to the south out of Canada, bring that colder air down with it, and it's a persistent pattern. And it looks like this will last right through this holiday weekend, so really, even a shade colder.

Black Friday through Sunday, highs in the teens to around 20 in the Twin Cities, and overnight lows, single-digits above zero. We may even see some subzero readings in northwest Minnesota this weekend.

And then next week, the pattern looks persistent. Highs mainly in the 20s. Might see a day or two in the 30s. But just on the models I was looking at this morning, Nina, some chances for snow late next week.

So it's been cold. The grass is still kind of green out there around the Twin Cities, but it looks like it could turn white here over the next week or so if we get a couple of those clippers sliding down late next week.

NINA MOINI: And I always like to ask you about this, Paul. Does this give an indication of what winter is going to be like, or what indications do you have of what this winter might look like?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, the main thing is this weak La Niña that's developing in the tropical Pacific. Now, that's when waters are colder than normal along the equator in the Pacific Ocean. It affects jet stream patterns that can affect Minnesota. And in La Niña winters, the trend is for colder and snowier than normal weather for the winter.

This is a weak system, we're battling climate change in which winters are 5 to 8 degrees warmer in Minnesota. So my guess is it's probably going to be a near normal-ish winter for temperatures, maybe even a little above normal. But that's going to be a real winter compared to last year, which was the warmest on record.

And we'll probably get our fair share of snow. It's normal average of 52 inches in the Twin Cities. I think we could get close to that this year, at least.

NINA MOINI: And so meteorological-- that's hard-- that's a hard word for me to say-- meteorological fall ends right on Saturday, so what's your fall synopsis? What was it like? Pretty warm, huh?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it was. And happy meteorological winter to those who celebrate on Sunday.

Look, we're on pace for the warmest fall on record, but it's kind of a close call because this cold weather we have around this week is dropping our numbers a little bit. September was the warmest on record.

And meteorological fall, by the way, goes from September, October, through November for record-keeping purposes.

September, 7 degrees warmer than normal in the Twin Cities, warmest on record.

October, 8 degrees warmer than normal, was the fifth warmest.

And November through yesterday was 5.9 degrees warmer than normal. Now, that's dropping by the day because of these cold temperatures. So it looks like we're going to be neck and neck with 1931, which was the warmest on record.

If you add up all the high temperatures and low temperatures for September, October, November, divide them by the number of days, you come up with 56.5 degrees. That's the average temperature through the fall, Nina. Boy, that sounds pretty good right about now, doesn't it?

NINA MOINI: It does. Thanks for being on and updating us on all that, Paul. I appreciate it.

PAUL HUTTNER: My pleasure. Happy Thanksgiving, Nina.

NINA MOINI: You too. That was MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner.

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This is Minnesota Now.

Minnesota girls high school basketball season tipped off this week, and there's a trio of sisters that has the eyes of fans, coaches, and college recruiters alike. Amisha, Arshia, and Ashna all play for the Rosemount Irish Varsity Team. Last week, as just a sophomore, Amisha committed to playing for the Gopher Women when she graduates. Her twin sister Arshia, and her younger sister, Ashna, both have offers from D1 schools. What a powerhouse family.

All three of the Ramlall sisters join me now in the studio. Thank you so much for being here, ladies.

AMISHA RAMLALL: Yeah, of course.

SISTERS: Thank you so much for having us.

NINA MOINI: Oh, of course. What a special time for all of you. Congratulations, truly.

Amisha, I want to start with you. Congrats on committing to the Gophers, it sounds like, Wow. How does that feel to be even thinking about colleges as just a sophomore? That's amazing.

AMISHA RAMLALL: It's definitely really fun. I mean, just thinking of the future.

And I've always wanted to go to the Gophers. It's been my dream school since I was really young. So being able to complete that dream and just building off of that, it's super relieving. And especially going into season, it's been really fun, and just like a good weight off the shoulders.

NINA MOINI: And so when you say you wanted since you were little to commit to the Gophers or to go to the U of M, what was it about the school? Is it just kind of being from here and growing up with its presence, or what is it about it that sticks with you?

AMISHA RAMLALL: Yeah. Obviously, it's in Minnesota. I've always wanted to stay close to home. I mean, I'm really close to my family, so I never really wanted to go far.

And it's obviously, an amazing school, amazing program, great academics, and the coaching staff is absolutely amazing. So there's nothing more I could want from them. And it's just the perfect fit.

NINA MOINI: Amazing. Congratulations, again,

Arshia, so the three of you are all on the same team. I'm curious, do you get competitive when you play, or how's the dynamic between you all?

ARSHIA RAMLALL: No, we absolutely get competitive. We do a bunch of drills, and we try to win almost every one. Even if it's like individual, we'll always ask each other, like, what scores did you get, or like, how much did you get?

NINA MOINI: What do you-- what are you others think about that?

AMISHA RAMLALL: We are so competitive. Like, it-- I mean, it's so fun because we always try to beat each other, and be like, no, I got that one, and we'll go back and forth on it.

But it's so fun because obviously, we all just like really compete-- try to compete at the highest level, and then it just pushes us to be better. So it's a really good thing for us.

NINA MOINI: So Amisha says definitely competitive. Ansha, how about you? What's it like being out there with your sisters?

ANSHA RAMLALL: I mean, it's a great feeling having two other sisters that like want that competitiveness in you. And just, it makes like me better overall. And also them pushing all of us to be the best we can.

NINA MOINI: Totally. And so I understand you also have a brother who plays basketball. Ansha, how young were you all when you started to play basketball? Were you inspired by him?

ANSHA RAMLALL: I feel like for sure we were because we grew up watching him, and we'd always go to his game, cheer him on. And we just started playing basketball out of the blue, and then, we just kept going from there. And it got better and better as the minute [? gone. ?]

NINA MOINI: Amisha, I'll kick this one over to you. What has been the reaction of your teammates and coaches, just seeing how much success, how much talent is in one family? It's really remarkable.

AMISHA RAMLALL: I mean, they've been nothing but the best. They've been really supportive and happy for us. And it's just been really great having that support system around you, and just such a positive environment, and just them wishing nothing but the best for you. So we're really grateful and thankful to have them right by our side throughout this whole process.

NINA MOINI: So Arshia, I understand the season has just started this week, and the team did make it to state last year, but unfortunately, you lost in the first round. So what is the goal this year? What is the vibe as you're going into the season as a team?

ARSHIA RAMLALL: Win the section championship and make it to state. That's really our one goal. Just like, beat out our top competitors in the South Suburban Conference, and then get to state.

NINA MOINI: When you're looking at the team this year, Ansha, I'm curious, what stands out to you in terms of how your team is playing, or how you want to be playing this year, maybe compared to last year?

ANSHA RAMLALL: I feel like we're-- last year, we were really good. We had lots of players. And this year, now, we're really young as a team right now, and then I feel like building up.

And we all have an amazing connection as a team. We always hang out after school and all of that, but I feel like being we're more of like a transition, fast-paced team. So to keep like that fast pace up and always-- like, pass in transition, and be quicker than the defense, and just overall, have that quickness above them.

NINA MOINI: Ansha, do you all talk about basketball? Like, is it all day, and then at dinner, and then at home?

ANSHA RAMLALL: Yes. We always have our talks after practice to see what we did, what can do better, and what happened.

And our parents get a whole debrief of it, basically, after practice.

NINA MOINI: I'm sure they actually really love that, probably.

Arshia, what is your favorite part about playing with your sisters on a team? Because I have a sister, a lot of us have sisters, but haven't experienced being teammates, as well.

ARSHIA RAMLALL: Just like having that connection, because we all know it's-- what our strengths are, and what our weaknesses are, and we just help each other out. And like, make sure our strengths shine out.

NINA MOINI: Do you feel like being teammates makes you better sisters and siblings?

ARSHIA RAMLALL: Honestly, yeah. I mean, it gets competitive sometimes, and we get a little scrappy, but honestly, it's so much fun.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And you have to learn about each other, and understand one another, and probably show grace and support. I just think it's so cool.

Ansha, I'll kick the same question over to you. What do you love the most about having your sisters as teammates?

ANSHA RAMLALL: It's really fun, like, overall. Like, we talk so much on the court, that's one thing we wanted to work on this season is talking on defense. And I feel like we just push ourselves to be better, and we look to each other to have each other for help, and like, it's there.

And it's so helpful sometimes. When you just need somebody to help, they're there for you to help also, because they know you inside and out.

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

Amisha, I'm curious, what it's like as a sophomore, right, to know your college plan a little bit.

AMISHA RAMLALL: Yeah. I mean, obviously, like I said, Minnesota has always been my dream school growing up, so I've always wanted to go there. So once I got the offer, it was just a matter of time and when.

And then obviously both my parents are both professors, and academics is a huge part in where I want to go to school. And Minnesota is an amazing academic school, so that was never a question about where I was going to go.

So I always knew, like, I'm going to go to a great academic school. That Was obviously academics first before anything. And then when the basketball part came in, it just-- it felt really right, and then you just like, knew. So I knew that, that was a really good plan for me, for my college career, and then just future just to get me started for later on in life.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And then I imagine you can just really be in the moment the next two years and have a lot of fun.

AMISHA RAMLALL: Mm-hmm.

NINA MOINI: And Arshia, I know that you all have your offers as well, but have not committed at this point. Eventually, the three of you might be playing at different schools, not be on the same team anymore. What do you think about that?

ARSHIA RAMLALL: It will be a little sad, but of course, I'll still go and support their games, because they'll all be like doing great at their own schools.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. What do you think about that, Ansha? What's your wish for the three of you as teammates, and then moving on?

ANSHA RAMLALL: Well, obviously, build our own like paths, also. And like, we're all like one individual, and we'll support each other no matter what school everybody goes to. And we'll still have that amazing connection because I feel like our families are really close, so we'll always have that chemistry with each other no matter what happens.

NINA MOINI: Well, Ashna, Arshia, and Amisha, thank you all for being here, and congratulations on all of your success so far. Can't wait to see what's next for you all.

AMISHA RAMLALL: Thank you so much. Thank you for having us.

ARSHIA RAMLALL: Thank you so much.

NINA MOINI: Oh, you're very welcome.

That was Amisha, Arshia, and Ashna Ramlall, all on the Rosemount Irish Varsity Basketball Team.

MAN: Programming is supported by the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. Two distinct campuses seamlessly connected for one transformative education. There's more to explore. Plan your visit today at csbsju.edu.

NINA MOINI: This Friday, which is Native American Heritage Day, artists are gathering to remind Minnesotans of our profound and often ignored connection to the Earth. The arts collective called Fire in the Village is wrapping up its statewide tour with a decolonized Thanksgiving show at the Hook & Ladder theater in Minneapolis.

To talk about the tour they've taken and what's next for the group arts creators, Annie Humphrey is an artist and musician based on the Leech Lake Reservation.

Annie, thank you so much for joining us.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. And Shanai Matteson is an artist from Aitken County.

Thank you for being here as well, Shanai.

SHANAI MATTESON: Yeah, thanks a lot.

NINA MOINI: Well, folks might remember you all because our wonderful arts reporter, Alex V. Cipole, who's just the best, did a great story about Fire in the Village when you first began this sort of statewide tour. But for people who didn't get a chance to hear that story, Annie, could you tell us about the overall goal of this collective?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Yeah. The overall goal is to just use art and music and culture to inspire people to be more creative and think for themselves. Because I feel like we have these screens that are so-- in the palm of our hands that the more you look at that, I think the capacity for creativity is diminishing.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. Absolutely. So just presence and people really paying attention.

And as I mentioned, you've been touring the last few months, and these aren't your ordinary shows, right? Shanai, can you explain a little bit about what you do in the communities?

SHANAI MATTESON: Yeah. So it's more than just a music concert. We bring a printmaking pop-up, where we're teaching people how to make block prints using our emblem, aandeg, or the crow.

We also have a fashion show that is clothing that's been created by Annie using upcycled, thrifted items. So we're talking about all of these different ways that we connect to one another and to the places that we live through the things that we create and through the way that we share that with each other.

NINA MOINI: Sure. It sounds like a really unique experience for everybody. Annie, as you're kind of wrapping up this few months, what have you taken away from this experience so far?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Well, so far, we've been visiting students in high schools, and to me, that part was the most where you can see the difference in-- it seems like young people are more open, and they express their-- I don't know.

At first, you can see fear. And then when you put an instrument in their hand, can see them like, they're still not sure. And then when you see them on stage performing in front of people, they just grow. I mean-- and this is a matter of hours.

And "When are you guys coming back?" That kind of thing. So that's-- I just have a special place in my heart for the high school-aged person.

And also, we hit some communities. Taylors Falls was a really great show and event.

And Shanai's right, so she forgot to mention, we have homemade cookies.

NINA MOINI: Aw.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: We show a video. And if we don't have a screen, we have people in the crowd hold up a sheet. So we're really like, I don't know, we're just really DIY.

And, we did this whole tour up to this point with no money. I mean, we did get funding that caught up, but we did the Turf Club show, we did all of these events with absolutely, no funding. And just this is-- it's all doable. We don't have to wait for money to take action, especially I think creative and arts action.

As an artist, grant people want you to quantify the work you're doing, and it's really hard to do that because we can't show this. I don't know. It's just hard to explain, to show.

NINA MOINI: Sure.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: But just going on and doing the work anyway. And if I just see it in front of my face, that's really important to me.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, Sometimes it's hard to describe because it's like a feeling.

Shanai, what was your favorite part if you could name one of the different experiences you've had?

SHANAI MATTESON: Yeah. Well, we made a point of visiting a lot of smaller venues. We went to a community center in Taylors Falls-- Annie had mentioned that-- a little space called Sampaguita in Aitken, Sandstone.

And in these communities, there are people who are building these little creative fires and connecting with one another. And we come to town bringing some new energy, recognizing the hard work that they're already putting into creating these kinds of cultural and community spaces. And it feels like our little fires are getting connected up across the region, and that's really exciting.

And Annie really loves working with young people. I do, too. I also really love working in these small communities because you can see how people are just really hungry for a place that they can connect heart to heart.

We talk a lot about issues-- in the broader world, we're talking a lot about the issues, and things that people that maybe divide people. But what we're doing with these Fire in the Village gatherings is we're really talking about what makes us all human and where we connect. And that, to me, has felt really nourishing and really encouraging.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And you both mentioned connecting with people and their vulnerability to be able to do that.

Annie, did you see connections between people there as well, or people meeting new people and feeling supported?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Oh, yeah, very much. Because we haven't talked about the fashion show yet, but the way we do this fashion things, and I have like between 14-- we run 12, 14, or 16 different outfits.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: And we find our models at the print table. Like, bam. We're like, "Hey, would you want to model?" And at first, people are like, "I don't know. I've never done it. I don't think so."

I'm like, "Come on, just look at the clothes. You can do it."

And all these women and men, who may know each other from the community, but have never like, done something so connected.

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: But it's just the energy in the green room after everybody is dressed and lined up and nervous and the model-- the walk music starts, and they do their walk, and when they come back to the back room, and then we do our big finale, I mean, that is so connecting.

And then the people out in the crowd, like maybe their husbands or their coworkers, are out there. It does it-- in that silly fashion show. I didn't know it'd be such a big hit. I just thought, let's put my stuff out there, and we'll add something to this event.

And the fashion show is crazy connecting. It's just amazing to me.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, no, thank you for describing that. There's so many different elements of art and expression.

And Annie you are Native. Shanai, you are not. Shanai, do you feel like part of this is creating allyship through art and just awareness?

SHANAI MATTESON: Well, I think that word, ally, I've kind of been sitting with that, and I don't think that's really a title that we non-Native folks can just give to ourselves. I think that we are all relatives in some way or another, and we can honor Anishinaabe culture and Dakota culture by being good relatives, and helping to take care of the places that we live, and also getting to know our own stories and our own connections to the Earth.

Because Annie sings about this in her songs. We are all made of Earth, and we are power when we recognize that. And I think that's the message and the spirit that we're bringing, is giving everyone a chance to gather around in a small circle, like around a fire, and in that circle, we recognize ourselves, and we recognize each other.

And so that's not to say that there aren't really important differences--

NINA MOINI: Sure.

SHANAI MATTESON: --and that there aren't really important Anishinaabe culture, and that we are in Anishinaabe territory, but at the same time, I think the role of arts and culture is to create a space where we can reflect, and we can find where our connection points are as human beings.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, that's really beautiful. Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Annie. No, go ahead.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Well, I just think that-- to add what Shanai said-- is that we are really all in this together now. We are all sinking on the same ship, and I feel like it's really. Important to recognize our similarities and talk about that--

NINA MOINI: Absolutely.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: --and not our differences.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and before we go, we got to wrap up in a minute, but Annie, I want to make sure that we talk about, the tour is wrapping up, but what's next for the project?

ANNIE HUMPHREY: Well, for me, I'm going to keep on sewing. And summertime is mural and painting time, so I'm sure we have that going on.

Personally, I am-- I want to start-- I want to keep sewing because this little fashion thing caught on so good and--

NINA MOINI: Great.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: --and I want to start making like, the spring and summer dresses.

NINA MOINI: All right.

ANNIE HUMPHREY: So that's for me.

NINA MOINI: Well, I hope you'll both keep us posted on your efforts. And I thank you so much for being on with us today and sharing your work.

BOTH: Yeah, thank you.

NINA MOINI: That was Annie Humphrey and Shanai Matteson, co-creators of Fire in the village arts collective.

That's it for us on Minnesota Now. This week, our senior producer is Aleesa Kuznetsov. Other producers are Alanna Elder, Ellen Finn, and Gretchen Brown.

And Gretchen has her last show working with us today after several years. She's going to be working with Tom Crann, on All Things Considered. She'll still be in the building. We love her, and we thank her.

And we also thank Derek Ramirez, our tech director. Have a great Thanksgiving.