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ST. PAUL, Minn. — In just three days, nearly 80,000 Minnesotans can officially apply for a driver's license. These are Minnesotans who are undocumented.

This spring, Minnesota became the 19th state to adopt a "Drivers License for All" law, which goes into effect Sunday. Minnesotans without proof of legal presence in the United States can begin the process by scheduling appointments for written knowledge tests. All other requirements remain the same.

On Thursday, Minnesota Department of Public Safety officials and community advocates held a news conference in St. Paul to announce available resources for those looking to apply.

"We are working with the community in a new way," DPS Commissioner Bob Jacobson said. "We recognized that we needed to work more effectively within the community, and we've taken strides to do that with outreach, engagement sessions and partnering with organizations that work directly with our communities."

Organizations that are helping community members navigate through the application process include COPAL, Immigration Law Center for Minnesota, Minnesota Immigration Movement and Unidos MN.

Meanwhile, DVS is offering forms and documents in several languages, including the written test. Multilingual videos and guides are also available on the website.

Jacobson says the agencies have been preparing for the influx of additional requests for tests — at the same time as they serve the typical requests for drivers' tests and IDs.

He says there's no timeline to say how long it will take to move 81,000 additional applicants through the system, but added they're working to expand options for testing and accessibility as time goes on.

For more information on the new law, requirements and how to apply, visit the DVS's website.

Adam Duxter

Born and raised in Metro Detroit, Adam loves all things Michigan, but is thrilled to now call Minnesota home.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - There are few times in life when you can truly cut loose and feel free. Or to put it another way, to dance like nobody's watching.

Every other Wednesday, about two dozen people get together to strut their stuff along Grand Avenue. The group is called Wance, a combination of walk and dance, and that's exactly what its members do along the popular street.

"What I like about Wance is it allows me to embrace fear, to show up without judging myself or others, and allows me to create space for others to do that as well," said Wance St. Paul organizer Morgan Short.

Short started wancing after a friend created a similar group in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, during the pandemic.

"She was out on a walk with her headphones in, and she was walking, and she kind of just started dancing, and then cars would go by, and she would be like, 'Oh, I guess I should stop dancing,' and she just decided, you know what? I'm not going to stop dancing. I'm going to keep dancing, and I'm going to invite other people to dance with me," said Short.

Short decided to bring her own group to St. Paul this spring as a way to spread some joy and positivity and build community at the same time.

"It's just a really nice feeling, and you always feel really energized afterward, and I want to spread that to everyone because we really need that right now," said Short.

For some, it's a way to get a good workout.

"Totally got caught in the grocery store in the pizza aisle. Dua Lipa came on, and I was just jamming out. Some lady walked by, and I was like 'Yeah, getting some pizza for tonight,'" said wancer Sydnie Froyd.

While for others, it's an exercise in letting go of societal norms.

"It's really about being yourself and being free and not worrying about what other people think," said wancer Michaela Makarianova-Wentz.

The unusual outdoor activity draws its fair share of strange looks, but the wancers take it all in stride.

"When we walk down Grand Avenue, we get honks. We get people joining in. We get people doing dance moves too. We get smiles. Some people just ignore it. To each their own," said Short.

"My favorites are the ones where you can tell they want to join in, but they are too shy to do it. I wave at them. Try to bring them out and encourage everyone," said Makarianova-Wentz.

With fall, Short says wance season is coming to an end, but she is looking forward to keeping this strolling dance party on its feet, bigger and better next year.

"I love it. I'm so grateful to have found it. It's a gift to bring it to the Twin Cities, and I can't wait to see how we expand and grow the group over time," said Short.

Walker|West Music Academy in St. Paul has received a $4 million unexpected gift that leaders will use to help acquire and expand facilities.

The academy’s Executive Director Braxton Haulcy said the gift from Pat and Gary Sauer will help the 35-year-old music school move to a new level.

“We're going to build a state of the art 200 seating capacity concert hall,” Haulcy said.

Once renovated, a building the school recently acquired, will offer a much larger and updated space than the old location, he said. The building on Marshall Avenue, will include two performance halls, digital labs, larger rehearsal space, a recording studio, administrative space, instrument storage and safer parking and pick up/drop off options.

“It’ll be free and open to the public. And so, we can really bring the joy and healing power of music to our community,” Haulcy said. “Especially in this present moment when there's so much chaos and conflict.”

Walker|West is believed to be one of the oldest community music schools in the nation established by African Americans. It teaches all styles of music, including classical but is especially well-known for teaching jazz and gospel.

The Rev. Carl Walker and Grant West — both musicians — opened their first building along Selby Avenue in the late 1980s to help redirect kids from the drug scene to music.

“Where Walker|West is located right now, the Pioneer Press called ‘crack street,’” Haulcy said. “And both Rev. Walker and Grant West literally put their music school right in the middle of ground zero of crack street to literally get the kids off the street and into music and into something more productive.”

Haulcy said the gift from the Sauers will allow the community music school to speed up renovation plans with construction now likely to begin before year's end. It will also help cut down on a waiting list of about 200 people who want to take part in the programming.

“We're really excited,” said musician Lawrence El Grecco Waddell, who began lessons with Walker before Walker and West opened their school. He now oversees adult instruction there.

El Grecco Waddell said he and his colleagues have a lot of work ahead of them.

“It's a good problem in a way,” said El Grecco Waddell. “Because we are expanding where we have a new building that has much more space, so that we can have much more room for teachers to teach and for students to learn and grow. So, it is a challenge, because we have that waiting list, and we want that waiting list to be zero.”

The Sauers declined to be interviewed about their $4 million donation, but Pat Sauer said they “care about the Rondo community” and they want the community to shine bright amid the “doom and gloom of our society.”

The human history of the Twin Cities dates back to over 12,000 years. Today, Minneapolis and St. Paul form a bustling metropolis filled with parks, restaurants, and some of most vibrant diaspora communities in the United States.

On your next trip to Minneapolis–St. Paul, use this guide to explore all the city has to offer.

Where to eat

The Jucy Lucy, a molten cheese–stuffed hamburger from Matt’s Bar & Grill, is a must. So are reservations at Owamni, if you can get them. Minneapolis’s newest food hall, Eat Street Crossing, serves sushi sandwiches and Brazilian pizza. Travelers can peruse the stands at the always bustling HmongTown Marketplace in St. Paul or snack on sambusas at Karmel Mall, the first and largest Somali shopping center in the U.S. Nearby, at Quruxlow, settle in for a hearty spread of beef suqaar, spiced rice, and banana. The cardamom- and ginger-heavy milk tea is the perfect finish.

Where to shop

Scour the shelves at century-old Ingebretsen’s Nordic Marketplace for lingonberry preserves and Norwegian Hardanger embroidery kits. Birchbark Books, owned by Pulitzer Prize–winning local author and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa member Louise Erdrich, specializes in titles by Indigenous writers. Head to 24 Somali Mall for scores of silk scarves. XIA Gallery & Cafe in St. Paul’s Little Mekong district stocks jewelry, prints, and more by Hmong and other Asian American makers.

What to do

Tour the museums—big (Minneapolis Institute of Art, Walker Art Center) and small (the Museum of Russian Art, Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery). The Norway House and Danish American Center host events inspired by their respective diaspora communities, while the Somali Museum of Minnesota houses upwards of 700 artifacts, including a full-scale reproduction of a nomadic hut. If you visit during the warmer months, get yourself on or near some water: Rent a kayak from Mississippi River Paddle Share, cycle your way around the scenic Chain of Lakes, or go for a stroll through Lyndale Park Rose Garden, a horticulturalist’s heaven bordering Lake Harriet. In the winter, ice fishing and crosscountry skiing take over, and you’ll have no shortage of cold-weather festivals (The Great Northern, Art Shanty Projects, and others).

Where to stay

Location: 245 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis | Find on Google Maps

Book now: From $360 per night

In summer 2022, Minnesota welcomed its first five-star property, Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis. Local flourishes abound, from the regionally stitched Faribault blankets draped over elegant sofas in the suites to the sculptural installations livening up the spa (the handiwork of local ceramicist Juliane Shibata). Mara Restaurant & Bar, the hotel’s Mediterranean eatery from chef Gavin Kaysen, is an indulgent treat.

Location: 300 N. Washington Ave., Minneapolis | Find on Google Maps

Book now: From $230 per night

The boutique 124-room Hewing Hotel is located in the heart of Minneapolis’s North Loop neighborhood. Part of the Aparium hotel group, which prides itself on celebrating local communities, the common rooms are adorned with paintings and decor created by artists living in the area. The on-site restaurant Tullibee offers Scandinavian-inspired fare; the Nordic influences continue to the rooftop, which features a sauna.

This summer, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal for the first time asked about a thousand Minnesota employers to respond to a question: How diverse is your workforce in terms of gender?

The Business Journal surveyed the state's largest public and private companies, as well as its largest nonprofit and government entities. The goal was to bring attention to those organizations being led by women and employing a significant share of women.

Companies that responded to the survey or otherwise made this information available in annual filings reported on average that their workforces were 59% women. Of course, this list is made up of mostly organizations that chose to submit their information, so the average gender makeup for all companies in Minnesota is likely more male than this sample. For some companies, we used information available in online EEO-1 reports, federal compliance documents that provide a breakdown of an employer’s workforce.

The surveys resulted in our first gender diversity List, which ranks organizations by the percentage of their workforces that identify as women.

Organizational gender diversity in Minnesota

Percent of total employees who identify as women

View this list

These companies also reported on average that their C-suites are a little less than half women. Three organizations – Studio BV, All In One Accounting and Talencio – reported that their entire leadership teams were made up of women.

Six Minnesota public companies that collectively employ hundreds of thousands rank among the top 25 organizations on the List. Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. leads the pack, with women making up about three-quarters of its workforce, as reported in the company's most recent EEO-1 report.

Overall, the state of Minnesota's population is about 50% female, according to 2021 Census Bureau data. Sixteen organizations, ranging from small consultancies to multinational corporations, reported that their workforces were at least half women.

Outside of the 25 companies that submitted for the Business Journal's list, Minnesota scores pretty high for gender diversity in the boardroom, according to a recent report.

More than 30% of the state's boardroom seats are occupied by women, reported 50/50 Women on Boards, an organization that measures gender diversity in large companies. The state is only one of four at or above that threshold.

Women left Minnesota's labor force in droves in 2020, as many were forced to stay home with children when the pandemic closed schools and day cares.

But now, almost two-thirds of the state's adult women are either employed or actively looking for a job as of August, according to Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development data. That's up from the first few months of 2020, when that figure dropped several percentage points. It's also much higher than the nation as a whole, where less than two out of every five women has a job or is looking.

More recently, women fill a little more thanhalf of all jobs in Minnesota, per DEED's latest statistics.

Women make up a little more of the workforce than do men in Minnesota, according to a state report.

Female

Male

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Chart: Ethan NelsonSource: MN DEEDGet the dataCreated with Datawrapper