Minnesota Now

A data center in Hermantown is closer to becoming a reality. The city approved a zoning change in a meeting Monday evening that lasted until nearly midnight after residents voiced opposition. MPR News Duluth reporter Dan Kraker was there and shared with MPR News host Nina Moini what happened. An investigation by Eagan police found an alleged "pattern of predatory grooming" by a local high school teacher. We learned more about what grooming is - and whether new health education standards will help keep kids safe. We learned about a new film from Twin Cities PBS that looks at 150 years of police reform efforts in Minneapolis. We got the latest about Prairie Island Indian Community's new cannabis agreement with the state. MPR News host Nina Moini talked to Native artist Dyani White Hawk about her new exhibit at the Walker Art Center. Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Sitting on the East Side” by Stone Arch Rivals and our Song of the Day was "Maze" by TABAH.

An MPR News story [https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/10/20/eagan-police-concluded-teacher-brett-benson-groomed-students] published this week looks at what Eagan police described as an alleged “pattern of predatory grooming” by former high school music teacher Brett Benson. That conclusion came out of a police detective's report following a nearly two-year investigation. Its allegations include that Benson paid special attention to some girls in his class, flirted with them, found reasons to spend time alone with them and exchanged private text messages with them. When some students turned 18, the text messages became sexual, according to the detective's report. The report said one student alleged that Benson made sexual contact with her on the last day of her senior year. Police referred the case to the Dakota County Attorney's Office for possible charges. No charges were ever filed, and Benson denied doing anything inappropriate. One of the students who talked with Eagan police and MPR News has also met with officials like state representative Liz Reyer about strengthening protections for students. Reyer told MPR News sex education has a role to play. The state of Minnesota is finalizing new health standards to implement next year. One advocate who has been pushing for those standards to include more comprehensive sex education is Meg Bartlett-Chase. She is founder and executive director of the organization Honest Sex Ed Minnesota. She joined MPR News host Nina Moini to share more about what inappropriate behavior like grooming looks like and whether the new standards could help students recognize it.

The Walker Art Center’s new exhibit, “Dyani White Hawk: Love Language,” [https://walkerart.org/calendar/2025/dyani-white-hawk-love-language] is now open and runs through Feb. 15. The show is White Hawk’s largest to date [https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/10/18/new-dyani-white-hawk-show-at-the-walker-is-a-love-letter-to-community], a milestone in an already distinguished career that includes MacArthur “Genius” and Guggenheim fellowships, and acquisitions by the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. White Hawk reflected on her exhibit’s opening weekend in Minneapolis with MPR News host Nina Moini.

The phrase “Minneapolis police reform” may bring to mind the events of 2020. The murder of George Floyd that year made the city the center of worldwide calls to change policing. It led the city to enter a process of court-ordered reforms that are still taking shape. A new documentary looks back much further. In “Paradox: Echoes of Reform & the Minneapolis Police,” [https://www.pbs.org/show/paradox-echoes-of-reform-the-minneapolis-police/] historian Yohuru Williams traces local politics, community activism and police union organizing over 150 years of Minneapolis policing history. The film by Twin Cities PBS premieres Tuesday night. Yohuru Williams, along with the film’s executive producer Daniel Bergin, joined MPR News host Nina Moini to discuss the documentary.

After an hourslong meeting, the Hermantown City Council approved a needed zoning change to advance the proposed data center that’s being developed by an unnamed Fortune 50 company. MPR News host Nina Moini spoke with MPR News correspondent Dan Kraker about the meeting that lasted late into the night.