Recent content from Reid Forgrave
Highway 61 revisited: 100-mile road trip shows election fear, sour mood among Minnesota voters
From the Capitol to Minnesota City, voters expressed a jaded view of modern American politics.
In divisive times, Minnesota faith leaders are wary of politics
One recent week before the election, Minnesota Star Tribune reporters fanned out across the state to see how — or if — religious leaders discuss the election with congregants.
Pickleball fans cheer opening of Red Wing's first permanent courts
Pickleball fans raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to build six courts in Red Wing's Colvill Park.
In Minnesota city most evenly divided on politics, a generational shift
In 2020, 881 people in Mountain Iron voted for Biden, 876 for Trump.
How Minnesota's biggest church grows as others shrink
Eagle Brook Church is opening its 14th Minnesota church in Red Wing, as it expands across the state.
When big-box stores left, a Minnesota town feared for its future. Downtown investment changed the vibes.
Renewed focus on downtown Fergus Falls has enlivened the west-central Minnesota town.
Child care has long been a vexing problem in rural Minnesota. One county may have cracked the code.
Stevens County's pod model has attracted attention as an innovative solution for a longstanding issue.
Two Minnesota natives, high-profile national activists, aim to shift fraught abortion debate
A comedian and a founder of a handful of abortion clinics, who have been friends for more than a decade, aim to destigmatize the procedure.
Are Minnesota's mom-and-pop resorts dying?
As lakeside property values skyrocket and fast-paced lives demand different experiences, the state's small lakefront resorts are a disappearing way of life.
Employee, hospital staffer killed after man crashes into crowded St. Louis Park bar patio
Officials have identified the driver, who also injured several others at Park Tavern on Sunday night.
At a camp in rural Minnesota, high schoolers against abortion learn to talk to the other side
The political landscape around abortion has shifted since the last presidential election.
Training rural politicians, without the partisanship
In "leadership-distressed" areas of rural Minnesota, Run4Rural seminar seeks to create a new crop of public servants.
Formed by Nebraska small towns, Tim Walz brings unconventional background to race
Kamala Harris' VP pick spent half his life in rural Nebraska, graduating from high school in a county where nearly 90% of voters picked Trump in 2020. Nebraskans who knew Minnesota's progressive governor say that upbringing shaped him.
A bullet hole in his 'golden leg,' Minnesota taekwondo champ seeks Olympic medal
Alasan Ann is competing for the Gambia, tiny West African country where his father is from.
Nancy Uden, face of medical aid in dying in Minnesota, dies at 73
Corcoran woman's death came six months after powerful testimony pleading for option to choose her time and manner of death.
America's divisiveness got you down? Some Minnesota towns see an antidote: Improv comedy.
Improv impresario Tane Danger uses Stephen Colbert quote as inspiration: "You can't laugh and be afraid at the same time."
How 6 Minnesota conservatives feel about the presidential race ahead of the RNC
Conservatives who participated in a Star Tribune voter panel were divided on whether they'll support former President Donald Trump. But they shared concerns about immigration, the economy and other issues.
From blue to red in a generation, Upper Midwest's Driftless Area flexes political muscle
From 2008 to 2020, the region along the Mississippi River covering parts of four states saw America's biggest flip from Democrat to Republican.
After months stuck in Brazil, Minnesota family arrives home with newborn
Caught in Brazilian bureaucracy, Greyson Leo Phillips finally got to go home at 3 1/2 months old.
Yes, intersex people exist. A Twin Cities advocate is fighting for their rights.
Hiding in plain sight, overlooked by law and culture, intersex Minnesotans want visibility — and to ban cosmetic, nonessential surgeries on intersex children.
In a small Minnesota town, America's divisiveness meets its match: Civil debate
A couple of weeks before President Biden debates Donald Trump, people in New York Mills, Minn., came together to debate free speech.
Warring words, ejections and lawsuits: Why can't local governments work together?
Recent incidents on city councils and boards across the state show how the rancor of D.C. has infected local politics.
Minnesota family getting documentation to bring premature baby home from Brazil
Greyson Leo Phillips was born in Brazil on March 12, three months premature. His family has only now secured his Brazilian birth certificate, an important hurdle in finally coming home.
73 years after he was wounded in Korea, Minnesota man receives his Purple Heart
Earl "Sonny" Meyer, age 96, of St. Peter, received an honor the U.S. Army calls "long overdue."
Stuck in Brazil with premature baby, Minnesota family fights bureaucracy to return home
Cheri Phillips wasn't yet six months pregnant when she made the trip. The family has been stuck in Brazil since her son's premature birth March 12.
School sex abuse victim uses his tragedy to close gap in law
Lincoln Singh and his family are lobbying the Minnesota Legislature to require parental notification when students are unexpectedly pulled out of class.
Hastings mom is on a mission after son's fentanyl death
The Hastings family is among 64 nationwide suing Snapchat, alleging that dealers use the app as a marketplace.
73 years later, St. Peter man finally getting Purple Heart
Earl "Sonny" Meyer's family and attorney have been battling bureaucracy for years to recognize his Korean War injury.
In heated western Minn. GOP congressional primary, outsiders challenging incumbent
U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach has a solidly conservative voting record. But Steve Boyd, a Christian conservative who has never held public office, is gaining traction as an outsider.
St. Cloud animal shelter looking to reunite 94 Crosby-area cats with owners
The cats were found in a Crosby home and will go up for adoption Wednesday after mandatory five-day waiting period.
Assisted suicide in Minnesota? Critics point to Canada as cautionary tale.
Proposed medical aid in dying legislation promises to be an ongoing issue in Minnesota, where some in the disability community fear being devalued or coerced.
Nicolae Miu's attorneys suggest victims provoked fatal Apple River stabbing
The 54-year-old Prior Lake man is charged with homicide and faces life in prison; the sixth day of his trial opened with his attorney questioning a friend of the victims about whether they prompted the attack.
New Planned Parenthood CEO says real issue is fairness, health equity
Ruth Richardson, the new president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, must navigate big differences in Minnesota and neighboring states.
A tumor in her brain, she wants the option to die peacefully — before it's too late
As the Legislature debates a bill on medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide, a Corcoran woman with terminal brain cancer fears an ugly death.
'Nothing could be more honorable': Fallen Burnsville police, firefighter mourned in massive ceremony
Thousands attended in person and watched the livestream sending off the first responders.
Man arrested in Friday morning crash that killed two in Arden Hills
State Patrol released the names of the victims in the crash on Interstate 694.
Three years later, some Minnesota Republicans show sympathy toward Jan. 6 rioters
Some Republicans in Minnesota and across the country are pushing revisionist versions of what happened at the U.S. Capitol that day.
Cross-country skiing sees boom — even as your body screams at you to stop
For "world's most taxing sport," challenges such as the "pain cave" are a central feature, not a bug.
1980s middle-school basketball team helped change Black experience in Minneapolis
The McRae All-Stars team is now featured in a Minnesota Historical Society series.
Minnesota National Guard sends 550 soldiers to Middle East in one of state's largest recent deployments
The Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel changed the complexion of region, where Minnesota soldiers will be stationed until late this year.
Planned Parenthood to cut staff, consolidate clinics in Upper Midwest
Leaders for the five-state region, including Minnesota, say the change increases patient capacity.
Minnesota's end-of-life options bill clears its first legislative hurdle
The bill passed the House Health Finance and Policy Committee after hours of emotional testimony.
Walz predicts 2024 will be key year for abortion rights in Minnesota, Upper Midwest
18 months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Minnesota governor's visit to Planned Parenthood North Central States marks the ongoing battle.
After devastating fire, owners of Cass Lake Lodge near Bemidji rebuilding main lodge
After September fire, they plan to reopen the cabin by the May fishing opener, and main lodge by Memorial Day.
Why homelessness is a growing problem in greater Minnesota
In Beltrami County, where poverty rate is nearly double the state average, lack of affordable housing is acute.
He took joyride at Twin Cities dealership Christmas morning, charges say
The Little Canada man was arrested for allegedly receiving stolen property, possessing burglary tools, criminal damage to property and fleeing officers
Northeast Minneapolis woman who survived two genocides in Ukraine sees history repeating
With the help of her granddaughter, Nina Jablonsky, 90, is piecing together her life's journey.
A Minnesota screening of Hamas Oct. 7 attack film shares horrors
Israel compiled Hamas videos and surveillance footage into a gruesome film to remind the world of atrocities.
Canoes for cops: Ely uses outdoor vibe to recruit police officers
Like many other cities, the Boundary Waters gateway community is struggling to keep its force staffed.
Edina schools criticized for suspending students who used pro-Palestinian chant
Two Muslim students who participated in a walkout in October were given a three-day suspension for using a slogan that many Jews consider antisemitic.
For Minnesota Jews and Muslims, a shared darkness since Oct. 7
For those with deep ties to a conflict zone thousands of miles away, struggles are a secondary trauma.
100-year-old World War II turret gunner among few Minnesota vets remaining from Greatest Generation
From his cabin up north, as Jim Eide lives out his twilight, war stories spill forth.
COVID infections prompt Veterans Home in Minneapolis to cancel Veterans Day event
But the state Veterans Day Event in Inver Grove Heights will go on as scheduled.
Will terminally ill patients in Minnesota be allowed to choose when life ends?
The Legislature plans to take up the issue of medical aid in dying during its next session.
Jews and Ukrainians band together in Minnesota to link conflicts in Israel, Ukraine
Equating Hamas to Russia and Israel to Ukraine, groups see parallels as Washington debates funding.
Southeast Minnesota town to dedicate park to national service
With four of the original 3,000 Peace Corps volunteers, Plainview has a legacy of service.
These mining towns found new life as mountain-biking paradise
Crosby and Ironton, on the southern tip of the Iron Range, struggled after mining left. Then came the mountain bikers.
'His day to die': Charges filed in Benton County shooting of five officers
Karl Thomas Holmberg was charged Friday with multiple felony counts, including six counts of first-degree attempted murder.
For Minnesotans with ties to Israel and Gaza, feelings of fear, devastation and anger
One awoke in Tel Aviv to air-raid sirens. Another feared for his brother, who was called to military duty.
Anti-gay graffiti traumatizes high school teacher in Stearns County town
Jake Pundsack, a teacher at Melrose High School, said he hopes it becomes a learning opportunity.
Was Moorhead once a destination for drunks?
Decades before Prohibition, Moorhead benefited from a lesser-known liquor ban.
Minnesota Air National Guard to get 8 shiny new hulking transport planes
The C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, $112 million each, will replace the unit's aging C-130H fleet and help continue the unit's transport and disaster relief missions.
Inside Minnesota's busiest ER, the trauma of dealing with trauma never stops
Minnesota has been upended by trauma the past few years: COVID, George Floyd, civil unrest, gun violence, an opioid epidemic. The state's largest emergency room, at HCMC, has borne the brunt of it.
Sheriff sounds alarm on fentanyl, which killed average of 1 a day in Hennepin Co. last year
This year, interagency task forces have seized enough fentanyl to kill every person in Hennepin County.
Believing injury warrants Purple Heart, Minnesota Korean War vet, 96, sues Defense Dept.
The family of Earl "Sonny" Meyer, a retired farmer from St. Peter, cites a paperwork snafu as the cause of an injustice.
The Minnesota State Fair is crowds and chaos by design. Try navigating it with a disability.
Accessibility improvements have helped make the fair more welcoming for people with disabilities, but challenges remain.
Rally accident cancels race stage, sends driver to hospital
The hospital trip was only precautionary, said organizers of the rally race held near Lake Itasca.
The Mighty Midway is where Minnesota State Fair's magic happens — with help of 825 workers
It takes a week to build the midway — rides, games, concessions — and a few days to tear it down.
History often excludes Native Americans. The Minnesota Historical Society is trying to change that.
The Native American Undergraduate Museum Fellowship exposes students to careers in the museum field.
After burn pits in Iraq nearly killed him, Minnesota Army pilot gets his wish to return to active duty
Capt. Rafael Barbosa, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran in St. Paul, will return to active duty.
Deadline nears for vets to get maximum benefits after exposure to burn pits, other toxins
The benefits can also help survivors of deceased veterans, such as the children of Iraq veteran Rudy Ruiz.
![Samantha King votes as her son Luka Kind finds a spot to “hide” at Shakopee West Middle School in Shakopee, MN on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. ] Eliza](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/O5V5O4NQRNHH7DFUTVHN4THLYY.jpg?w=600&h=600&auto=format%2Ccompress&cs=tinysrgb)