Minnesota gets its first Youth Poet Laureate, organizations try to keep up with changes to state financial aid programs, and fire departments statewide look to add more women to their ranks.
Transcript
WITH HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE STATE, I’M XAN HOLSTON.
MEET MINNESOTA’S VERY FIRST YOUTH POET LAUREATE...READING HER POEM TITLED... ‘WAR WITHIN PEACE’...
[SIENNA LEE: WARM DECAY TRAILS BEHIND GOLDEN BOOTS IN THE DIRT. ANGER TAINTS YOUR NAME. SINS ENOUGH TO FILL THE BLACK VAULT ABOVE.]
SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD SIENNA LEE OF MOORHEAD IS THE INAUGURAL STATE YOUTH POET LAUREATE... AWARDED THE TITLE BY THE MINNESOTA HUMANITIES CENTER... AFTER THE LEGISLATURE CREATED THE PROGRAM LAST YEAR TO GIVE YOUNG POETS A STATEWIDE PLATFORM... AND PATH TO NATIONAL RECOGNITION.
[SIENNA LEE: SINKING INTO PEBBLES AND SOON, STONES. THAT CRY TUMULTUOUSLY TO MAKE UP FOR MY SILENCE.]
OFFICIALS SAY LEE STOOD OUT IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE STATEWIDE FIELD.. FOR HER STRONG POETIC CRAFT, EMOTIONAL DEPTH, AND FOR WRITING ABOUT IDENTITY, IMMIGRATION, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
LEE WILL SERVE IN THE POSITION FOR ONE YEAR ... AND WILL BE AN AMBASSADOR FOR POETRY ... APPEARING AT EVENTS ACROSS THE STATE AND REPRESENTING MINNESOTA IN NATIONAL YOUTH POETRY GATHERINGS.
LEE SAYS THE TITLE IS A HUGE HONOR … AND SHE HOPES TO LIFT THE VOICES OF THOUSANDS OF MINNESOTAN YOUTHS IN CREATIVE SPACES.
--REPUBLICAN HOUSE LATINO CAUCUS--
LATINO COMMUNITIES HAVE NEW REPRESENTATION AT THE MINNESOTA CAPITOL...
THE NEW SUB-GROUP OF REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCED THE FORMATION OF ‘MINNESOTA’S CONSERVATIVE LATINO CAUCUS TODAY... THE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES SAY MINNESOTA LATINOS ARE DIVERSE... POLITICALLY.. GEOGRAPHICALLY... AND CULTURALLY..
THEY DO NOT WANT TO BE TREATED AS ONE VOTING BLOC.
FIRST TERM REPRESENTATIVE BIDAL DURAN OF BEMIDJI SAYS LATINOS SHARE MANY COMMON VALUES..
[REP. BIDAL DURAN: MANY LATINO FAMILIES DEEPLY VALUE FAITH, FAMILY, HARD WORK, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, PUBLIC SAFETY, EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.]
THE CAUCUS SAYS IT WANTS TO GIVE CONSERVATIVE LATINOS A STRONGER VOICE AT THE CAPITOL.
--GAS AND FERTILIZER CLIMBS--
PETROLEUM-RELATED COSTS ARE FORCING SOME FARMERS TO SIT OUT SPRING PLANTING .
MINNESOTA FARM BUREAU REPORTS ALL EIGHT MAJOR FERTILIZER CATEGORIES ARE HIGHER THAN LAST MONTH.
DIESEL IS UP ABOUT FOUR CENTS A GALLON FROM LAST WEEK...
AND .. STATE AGRICULTURE OFFICIALS SAY SOME CORN GROWERS ARE LOSING ABOUT 100-DOLLARS AN ACRE..
--FINANCIAL AID MODEL – INTRO--
MINNESOTA IS ACTIVELY WORKING TO KEEP UP WITH CHANGING FEDERAL FINANCIAL AID RULES.. AND A COLLEGE AID PROCESS MANY FAMILIES FIND CONFUSING..
AMPERS MEMBER STATION K-A-X-E REPORTER... MEGAN BUFFINGTON AND MINNESOTA NEWS CONNECTION REPORT HOW STATE OFFICIALS ARE TAKING A NEW LOOK AT HOW MINNESOTA HANDS OUT STATE COLLEGE AID.
--FINANCIAL AID MODEL – KAXE SOT--
[EXTRA DOLLARS IN THE STATE WILL FUND THE PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS AHEAD OF POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE STATE'S FINANCIAL AID PROGRAM.
MINNESOTA IS ONE OF 10 STATES TO SECURE PRIVATE GRANT MONEY MEANT TO HELP SIMPLIFY APPLYING FOR COLLEGE.
EXTRA DOLLARS IN THE STATE WILL FUND THE PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS AHEAD OF POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE STATE'S FINANCIAL AID PROGRAM. LUMINA FOUNDATION IS USING ITS PHILANTHROPY TO SPUR SELECTED STATES TO EITHER STUDY OR IMPLEMENT REDESIGNS OF THEIR HIGHER-ED SYSTEMS IN AREAS SUCH AS ADMISSIONS, FINANCIAL AID AND ENROLLMENT.
MINNESOTA WAS AWARDED $100,000, AND WENDY ROBINSON, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER FOR PROGRAMS, POLICY AND GRANTS AT THE STATE OFFICE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SAID THEY'LL SOLICIT FEEDBACK FROM A WIDE RANGE OF PEOPLE ABOUT WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE NEEDED FOR DISTRIBUTING FINANCIAL AID.
SHE SAID MINNESOTA'S MODEL HAS ITS STRENGTHS BUT WAS DEVELOPED ROUGHLY 40 YEARS AGO.
"WHILE IT DOES A LOT OF THINGS REALLY WELL, IT IS NOT THE EASIEST MODEL TO UNDERSTAND," SHE SAID. "IT'S NOT THE EASIEST MODEL FOR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES TO BE ABLE TO PREDICT HOW MUCH AID THEY MIGHT GET."
SHE SAID FAMILIES KNOWING HOW MUCH AID THEY QUALIFY FOR BEFORE DIVING DEEPER INTO THEIR APPLICATION CAN SAVE THEM A LOT OF HEADACHES. ROBINSON SAID THAT MIGHT COMPEL MORE FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP, WHILE PREVENTING CURRENT STUDENTS FROM DROPPING OUT, IF THEY WEREN'T FIRST AWARE OF AVAILABLE AID. AFTER FEEDBACK IS GATHERED, THE OFFICE WILL SEND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE LEGISLATURE AS EARLY AS 2027.
MELANIE HEATH, STRATEGY DIRECTOR FOR ACCESS AT THE LUMINA FOUNDATION, SAID THESE INVESTMENTS REPRESENT A PUSH TO MAKE THE COLLEGE PLANNING PROCESS LESS ABOUT PAPERWORK AND MORE ABOUT THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE STUDENT.
"WE REALLY WANT TO BRING BACK JOY AND EXCITEMENT INTO THE COLLEGE-GOING JOURNEY AND THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS," SHE SAID, "BECAUSE GOING TO COLLEGE SHOULD BE ONE OF THE MORE EXCITING TIMES IN YOUR LIFE."
LEADERS SAY THEY HAVE TO MEET STUDENTS WHERE THEY'RE AT, AND A NUMBER OF THEM REPORT BARRIERS AND COMPLEXITIES IN NAVIGATING THESE SYSTEMS. THE INITIATIVE IS PART OF A BROADER NATIONAL EFFORT TO BOOST POST-HIGH SCHOOL ATTAINMENT AND ADVANCE LUMINA’S GOAL OF HAVING 75% OF WORKING-AGE ADULTS HOLD A CREDENTIAL OF VALUE BY 2040.]
--WOMEN EXPLORE FIRE DAY--
FIRE DEPARTMENTS AROUND THE STATE ARE STRUGGLING TO FILL OPENINGS... AND ARE SPECIFICALLY RECRUITING WOMEN FIREFIGHTERS THIS WEEKEND.
WOMEN EXPLORE FIRE DAY IS A HANDS-ON EVENT AT 15-FIRE STATIONS AND TRAINING CENTERS ACROSS THE STATE.
OWATONNA FIRE DEPARTMENT IS ONE OF THEM... INTERIM FIRE CHIEF JACOB DASHIELL SAYS ASPIRING FIREFIGHTERS CAN GET A TASTE OF REAL-WORLD FIREFIGHTING... WOMEN CAN HOIST HOSES … DRAG DUMMIES … LIFT LADDERS …
[JACOB DASHIELL: TRYING TO REALLY GIVE THAT ALL-AROUND WHAT YOU MAY HAVE TO DO ON A FIRE SCENE, SO ALLOWING PEOPLE TO COME IN AND PUT THE GEAR ON, FEEL THE WEIGHT, AND THEN DO THE WORK.]
THE EVENTS ARE SATURDAY … REGISTRATION IS OPEN THROUGH FRIDAY AT WOMEN EXPLORE FIRE DOT COM.
--MANKATO SHELTER --
AND FINALLY...
FOR PEOPLE WITH NOWHERE TO GO IN MANKATO, SPACE IS OPENING UP THIS SUMMER.
THE CITY OF MANKATO AND ITS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ARE PUTTING UP 135-THOUSAND DOLLARS TO KEEP THE CONNECTIONS-HOMELESS-SHELTER OPEN THROUGH SEPTEMBER OF 2026.
THE SHELTER USUALLY RUNS FROM OCTOBER THROUGH APRIL. BUT LOCAL LEADERS SAY REMAINING OPEN ALL YEAR WILL KEEP PEOPLE AND SERVICES CONNECTED.
FOR NORTH STAR STORIES, I’M XAN HOLSTON.