Political control of the Minnesota House comes down to tight races in two counties. Our reporter spent the morning in Shakopee where a recount is happening and she is here with the latest on the close race in District 54A.

Robbinsdale Public Schools made a twenty million dollar mistake in their budget. We hear about the fallout and plans for budget cuts.

And St. Paul Public Schools is changing the way they teach reading — and they made a documentary about it. We talk to the district’s literacy coordinator.

Plus Minnesota United is inching closer to their first cup. They’re in the semi finals this weekend against the LA Galaxy. We'll talk to a former Loons player about their journey to the top.

Our Minnesota Music Minute was “Chopper” by Dessa.

Minnesota United are making a run in the playoffs, with a quest for the MLS Cup. This Sunday they’ll play the LA Galaxy in the conference semifinals. The playoffs weren’t guaranteed for the Loons and they came in as underdogs. But the team has now proven themselves as worthy contenders.

Joining the program with a playoff preview is Zarek Valentin, a recently retired Minnesota United player.

Public schools across Minnesota are in the process of overhauling their reading curriculum. You may remember in 2023, the state passed the READ Act. It includes requirements that students be taught phonics and requires districts to purchase specific curriculum. At St. Paul Public Schools, the district began putting an emphasis on literacy even before the READ Act. And just last night they premiered a docuseries that followed students over one school year and their literacy journey.

The docuseries is called “All In: The Saint Paul Public Schools Literacy Journey.”

Jenny Davis is the literacy coordinator for the district and joined the program to talk about the docuseries. Emily Hanford was the reporter behind our Sold A Story podcast, which spurred states like Minnesota to put new laws into place regarding literacy and started a nationwide conversation. Hanford also joined the program to talk about her reporting on this topic.

Election officials in Scott County are busy counting ballots this morning in a Shakopee-area state House race. A change in result there — or in another recount next week — could flip political control of the Minnesota House.

MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson is at the Scott County Government Center in Shakopee and joined us as the recount was underway.

World AIDS Day is coming up on Dec. 1 and leaders in the HIV/AIDS field are taking this time to reflect on the enormous progress the medical community has made to reduce the spread and improve the lives of people living with HIV. That progress was made in no small part from the shift in public narratives around the disease.

A Minnesotan is exploring the life of Randy Shilts, a little-little known leader from those early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Shilts was a pioneering journalist from San Francisco who worked to change the narratives and reporting around the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Michael G. Lee is a professor at Saint Mary’s University and the author of a new book about Shilts’ life called “When the Band Played On.” He joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about it.

The Office of Cannabis Management rejected about two thirds of applications from people hoping to start some of the state’s first cannabis businesses. We hear about frustration from hopeful entrepreneurs and why the state deemed so many applications ineligible.

Wednesday, Nov. 20 is Trans Day of Remembrance. We talk to a new organization on the North Shore about building resilience.

And a wildlife refuge in the state is lucky to be a stop on the migration path of the sandhill crane. We learn about why more cranes are showing up this fall.

Plus we learn about the life of a journalist who changed the narrative around the AIDS crisis back in the 1980s.

Our Minnesota Music Minute is Shine a Light on Me by Cole Diamond and our Song of the Day is Crawling Home When the Morning Comes by Sweet and Lonely.

Every year on Nov. 20, people around the world gather to remember lost loved ones for Trans Day of Remembrance. The day was created to recognize people who were murdered because of their transgender identity.

The new organization called Trans Northland is holding events in both Duluth and Superior to remember lost peers and have important conversations about resilience. Trans Northland’s executive director, Sean Hayes, joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the day.

Minnesota cannabis regulators say they plan to hold a lottery sometime in the next two weeks to determine who will get to open up the state’s first legal marijuana businesses. But the Office of Cannabis Management is facing pushback this week after it rejected more than 1,100 applicants it deemed ineligible. That’s around two-thirds of those who applied.

MPR News correspondent Matt Sepic has been following this and joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about it.