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Social Issues

Children are the unintended victims of meth

There are children in Minnesota who live where meth is made. There are children whose parents use methamphetamine. In fact, when adults are arrested for using or making meth, one-third of them are the parents of small children. In one Minnesota county, there is a baby born addicted to meth every week. These are the unintended victims. The people who take care of these children feel overwhelmed. But there isn't enough data to attract the attention of policy-makers.

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Hospice movement reaches out to immigrants

The hospice care movement arrived in Minnesota a quarter century ago. In that time, the service has slowly caught on with Minnesotans. About 25 percent of the state's terminally ill patients use hospice to help them die at home. But hospice use is much lower among the state's diverse population of immigrants. There are lots of reasons why, and hospice officials hope they can overcome most of them.

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Meth presents new dangers for law enforcement

Law enforcement officials say methamphetamine is now the drug of choice in rural Minnesota. It's easy to get and it's easy to make. Cops are trained to deal with drugs and drug users, but meth presents new challenges. Meth users are aggressive and can turn violent. People use caustic chemicals to make the drug, and that makes meth labs a health hazard. Minnesota cops are learning how to deal with the changes meth has made to their jobs.

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Meth poses a danger to first responders

Minnesota cops are not the only ones who have to deal with the dangers of meth. Doctors, nurses, EMTs and firefighters all have to worry about being exposed to chemicals from meth labs. The State Department of Health is working to train all first responders on safely dealing with meth and the people who make it.

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St. Cloud Somalis turned away from taxi driving jobs

An old city ordinance in St. Cloud forbids immigrants from driving taxis. City officials are moving to strike down the law. But Somalis in town say it's not just the city ordinance that stands between them and taxi driving jobs.

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Hmong refugees begin arriving in June

Later this month, Hmong refugees will begin arriving in Minnesota from Thailand. By the end of the year, the Twin Cities will have nearly 5,000 new Hmong residents. They'll join the more than 20,000 Hmong who began arriving here in the 1970s. While this new wave of refugees will have some obstacles to overcome when they arrive, they'll have some advantages their predecessors never did.

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A refugee's story

A difficult transition to American life drives a Vietnamese emigre family apart in a poetic debut novel.

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Plan to address homelessness takes shape

The Pawlenty administration is moving ahead with its plan to end long-term homelessness in Minnesota. Legislators this session didn't approve the $20 million for the proposal's first-phase. But the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency says 59 apartments are already being developed using money the agency has redirected from its own budget. Over the next seven years, the administration hopes to build or refurbish 4,000 apartments to house the state's most chronically homeless residents.

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Gay couple from Glenwood wanted to get married, not make history

After Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay couples to wed, same-sex partners from across the country flocked to the state to get married. One of the first couples to take advantage of the new Massachusetts law came from west central Minnesota. Cody Rogahn and Jonathan Yarbrough have returned to Glenwood, but they're not sure what to make of all the attention their wedding received.

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The rights of the disabled

The Supreme Court handed a big victory to disabled people last week with a decision that upholds a key provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The provision requires state and local governments to make courthouses accessible.

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