sam stroozas

sam stroozas

@samstroozas.bsky.social

she/her | ♊️ gemini journalist & all things digital at mprnews.org 🌙 beep me: sstroozas@mpr.org

5.7K followers60 following49 posts

Have you heard about the new art installation at the corner of Fry Street and Spruce Tree Drive? There’s a wind phone for people to share their grief in. I’m working on an article about it for @mprnews.org and would love to accompany you to it for my radio story. Email sstroozas@mpr.org ☎️

sam stroozas reposted

A fan at Phee's home return: “She should have been MVP last year,” Ishabor Makvandi said. “She is like the epitome of a role model for this state, in my opinion. She’s very socially conscious,” he said. “We're pretty excited to have her receive our welcome, whatnot. It's like she is the Lynx.”

mprnews.orgQueen Phee’s return: ‘The epitome of a role model for this state’Napheesa Collier was back on her home court after an ankle injury and surgery caused her to miss the first half of the season.

sam stroozas reposted

"When I picture coming back it is being in Target on my home court, surrounded by my teammates," Napheesa Collier said Monday. "There's a reason why we say we have the best fans in the world. We really do. They support us through everything."

mprnews.org'Queen Phee' reigns again: The return of Lynx star Napheesa CollierNapheesa Collier was sidelined by a left ankle injury sustained in a semifinals game last season against the Phoenix Mercury. She had double ankle surgery during the WNBA offseason.

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I spoke too soon. The Lynx has MORE news. Just a day after being named a starter for the All-Star game, Olivia Miles was named the Kia WNBA Rookie of the Month for the second month in a row. Head coach Cheryl Reeve was also named WNBA Coach of the Month for June. 🏀

mprnews.orgLynx's Miles wins second consecutive Rookie of the Month, Reeve named Coach of the MonthThe Minnesota Lynx had an exciting mid-season week of accolades. Just a day after being named a starter for the All-Star game, Olivia Miles was named the Kia WNBA Rookie of the Month for the second mo...

I’m so proud of @anikabesst.bsky.social!! She noticed a big gap in our newsroom — no one is dedicated to women’s sports coverage. She’s worked very hard to make MPR a better place for women’s sports fans 💜😌 follow along!

Anika Besst@anikabesst.bsky.social

I’m in Knoxville covering the latest in Minnesota women’s sports: Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve being inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. “I’m not going to be standing there on the stage tomorrow night without so many great players that poured into wanting to be great.” Reeve said.

sam stroozas reposted

Radio story airs at 4:20 and 5:50 on @mprnews.org. 🦋

share.mprnews.orgMinneapolis City Council votes to repeal ban on adult bathhouses, sex venuesBathhouses were banned in the city in 1988 during the AIDS epidemic. The Minneapolis City Council voted on Thursday to repeal the ban. It now heads to Mayor Jacob Frey.
sam stroozas@samstroozas.bsky.social

BREAKING: The adult bathhouse and sex venues ban in Minneapolis has been repealed. Members voted 9-2 in favor, with one member abstaining and one being absent. “Today is the first step and it will not be the last,” said Council member Jason Chavez.

BREAKING: The adult bathhouse and sex venues ban in Minneapolis has been repealed. Members voted 9-2 in favor, with one member abstaining and one being absent. “Today is the first step and it will not be the last,” said Council member Jason Chavez.

sam stroozas reposted

Dozens spoke in favor of repealing the adult bathhouse ban during city council hearings this week in Minneapolis. They focused on public health, tourism and city history. After the hearing, Mayor Frey confirmed to MPR he’s in favor of repealing the ban, but says it’s not a top priority for him.

mprnews.orgDozens speak in favor of repealing Minneapolis ban on adult bathhouses, sex venuesMore than 30 people who spoke at public hearings Tuesday and Wednesday supported ordinances that would overturn a longtime ban on bathhouses and sex venues. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also voiced su...

Over 30 people spoke at city hall today in favor of repealing the Minneapolis bathhouse ban. Council chambers were full and 50 people were in the overflow room, with a dozen waiting in the hallway. Buttons and posters were handed out. The ordinance advanced & the full council will vote next week.

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Congratulations to the newsroom for taking home 26 awards at the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists Page One Awards!! Thank you to our members and readers for supporting local news and public media. ❤️

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Your buds at Racket took home eight awards from the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists tonight, including three first-place W’s! Thanks to everyone who read and shared our stories and supported our work over the last year. We just love ya.

🧵 The Minneapolis City Council is hosting two public hearings this week as they consider repealing the longstanding adult bathhouse ban. Currently, the ban prohibits any private businesses from allowing “high-risk sexual conduct” on the premises.

mprnews.orgMinneapolis City Council to hear public comments on effort to repeal adult bathhouse banThe council will host two public hearings this week concerning ordinances that would repeal the adult bathhouse ban. They were banned in 1988 during the peak of the AIDS epidemic, but advocates say af...
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According to city documents, the ordinances being considered would not automatically legalize venues like bathhouses where people can have sex, but they would lay the groundwork so the city could develop a regulatory framework to allow sex venues in the future.

Six of the 13 Minneapolis City Council members co-sponsored the proposed ordinances. A few others have signaled opposition, like council members Elizabeth Shaffer and Linea Palmisano. Both hearings take place at 1:30pm. I’ll have a story Thursday morning breaking it down for you. 📝

🧵 The Minneapolis City Council is hosting two public hearings this week as they consider repealing the longstanding adult bathhouse ban. Currently, the ban prohibits any private businesses from allowing “high-risk sexual conduct” on the premises.

mprnews.orgMinneapolis City Council to hear public comments on effort to repeal adult bathhouse banThe council will host two public hearings this week concerning ordinances that would repeal the adult bathhouse ban. They were banned in 1988 during the peak of the AIDS epidemic, but advocates say af...

The hearing on Tuesday is for license and business regulations for adult bathhouses and sex venues and rules on how they can be designed. Wednesday’s is for health and sanitation, the ordinance that holds the ban. And will remove what advocates call stigmatizing language.

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The Minnesota State Fair starts in 100 days! MPR loves to cover the fair but we wanted to ask — what do YOU want to see us write about this year? A hidden gem? Your favorite weird exhibit? Comment below or email us at tell@mpr.org.

changed my whole life bc i saw an ad on campus for the student newspaper and joined. nine years later the uw la crosse communication studies department honored me with an alumni award! i am so lucky to tell stories for a living. ❤️

an all woman student newsroom?? sign me up. LOVE this story by @jcollins.bsky.social 🫡

MPR News@mprnews.org

The first thing the editor in chief of the Roosevelt school newspaper did when she got home was hug her father. Then she opened her computer and started to type. Her article went viral. Lila Dominguez said running the newspaper during the ICE surge showed her “the power of truth.”

sam stroozas reposted

sam stroozas reposted

A group of Minnesota lawmakers, law enforcement and former students are banding together to prevent and penalize predatory grooming in K-12 schools. Some, including a key lawmaker, are survivors of abuse by teachers.

mprnews.org‘We all know someone’: At the Capitol, a bipartisan effort to end predatory groomingA group of Minnesota lawmakers, law enforcement and former students are banding together to prevent and penalize predatory grooming in K-12 schools. Some, including a key lawmaker, are survivors of ab...

sam stroozas reposted

“I would always try to play football with my friends, but when I was younger, it used to be considered a man’s sport, so I could never play, so now playing flag football, I feel like I’m a role model for younger girls who have the same aspirations.” varsity.startribune.com/minnesota-vi...

varsity.startribune.comVideo: Girls flag football players, Vikings advocate for fast-growing sportAt Content Capture Day hosted by the Vikings at TCO Performance Center, high school athletes across the Twin Cities gathered to create content to promote the upcoming season.

🧵 Everyone’s talking about the bathhouse ban in Minneapolis right now — but why did they actually close? Sources say bc increased police surveillance, a fear of AIDS and gentrification. In this deep dive I talk to all the key players about how closing them likely did more harm than good.

mprnews.orgAdult bathhouses were a part of Minneapolis nightlife. Then police and panic pushed them outForty years after the adult bathhouse ban was passed, the city council is considering reversing it. A myriad of components led to the ban, but for several decades, public sexual spaces in Minneapolis ...
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The health commissioner did a study in 1977 proving that closing the bathhouses would do nothing. They were a place people learned about safe sex and the sex would continue, just in less safe environments. In 1988 the council passed an ordinance to ban them 11-0.

Nearly 40 years later, the current council could reverse this ban. As treatment for HIV has changed, advocates want the code to as well. & they say Minneapolis is actually an outlier as many cities reversed their bans already or never closed bathhouses to begin with. 👩🏻‍💻

🧵 Everyone’s talking about the bathhouse ban in Minneapolis right now — but why did they actually close? Sources say bc increased police surveillance, a fear of AIDS and gentrification. In this deep dive I talk to all the key players about how closing them likely did more harm than good.

mprnews.orgAdult bathhouses were a part of Minneapolis nightlife. Then police and panic pushed them outForty years after the adult bathhouse ban was passed, the city council is considering reversing it. A myriad of components led to the ban, but for several decades, public sexual spaces in Minneapolis ...
View full thread

Earlier that year, there was a more ~ unofficial raid ~ the head of vice, deputy mayor and a buisness man were out drinking and went to Big Daddy’s Bathhouse. They dragged 30 people out of bed, screaming homophobic remarks. Witnesses say the three men were so drunk they could barely walk.

While MPD got a more liberal chief in 1980 — the damage was done. Bathhouses were now in the main stream as everyone debated their existence. The first positive HIV test was in 1982, and then researchers tell me officials used bathhouses as a scapegoat to the AIDS crisis.

🧵 Everyone’s talking about the bathhouse ban in Minneapolis right now — but why did they actually close? Sources say bc increased police surveillance, a fear of AIDS and gentrification. In this deep dive I talk to all the key players about how closing them likely did more harm than good.

mprnews.orgAdult bathhouses were a part of Minneapolis nightlife. Then police and panic pushed them outForty years after the adult bathhouse ban was passed, the city council is considering reversing it. A myriad of components led to the ban, but for several decades, public sexual spaces in Minneapolis ...

On Dec. 1, 1979 the MPD vice team conducted the largest bathhouse raid in history. Over 100 people were ticketed and 9 were arrested with the then-felony of sodomy. Police reports from that night show MPD relied on humiliation and fear. Nine years later, all the bathhouses would be closed.

for the last year and a half i’ve been following the bathhouse ban for mpr 🔎 in 1988 minneapolis made adult bathhouses illegal. the rise of hiv cases made people worried, but the queer community also lost institutions because of this fear. nearly forty years later, the city may change the ordinance.

mprnews.orgAs Minneapolis reconsiders the adult bathhouse ban, here’s what to know about the historyIn the 1970s and 1980s, the bathhouse scene in Minneapolis was plentiful. Some activists say it’s time to update outdated language in the 1988 ordinance banning them and create an opportunity to bring...

sam stroozas reposted

A Minneapolis woman who opposed ICE woke up to a drone outside her second floor bedroom window. A man delivering groceries to a suburban distro house for mutual aid recorded a drone hovering above the house. Whose drones and why? (1) www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

mprnews.orgDrone sightings drove surveillance fears as ICE surged in MinnesotaSome Minneapolis residents who took to the streets to document U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids believe federal authorities used drones to record and intimidate them. Despite laws govern...

i am working on a story about the effects of the ice surge in MN on repro health and sexual health. are you a clinician who has been worried about your patients? are you someone in hiding that has missed prenatal meds, HIV treatment, etc? are you helping distribute items? dm or 📧 sstroozas@mpr.org

have you or someone you know had to find care for your pet after being detained by ICE? are you in hiding and worried about vet care? i am working on a story about what happens to pets during the ICE surge. DM me or email sstroozas@mpr.org

hello minnesota and beyond! thank you for your kind messages. it is very weird to be the news when you cover the news. i love this beautiful state and journalism, and i am hopeful for better days. but we will be forever changed bc of the last two months.

mpr.orgMeet Minnesota Bathrobe Lady Sam Stroozas of MPR News | Minnesota Public RadioEarlier this week, an unexpected and fast-moving incident unfolded in St. Paul, Minnesota involving both federal and local law enforcement. As crowds gathered and questions mounted, one of our MPR New...

more to know: - i run the mpr news IG. follow us here: www.instagram.com/mprnews/ - i’m part of the reverb team at mpr 🫶🏻 - due to federal funding cuts mpr had layoffs last year. support me and my dedicated colleagues by donating so we can keep telling stories: support.mpr.org/news-web

mprnews.orgIntroducing Reverb, an MPR News initiative covering younger MinnesotansReverb is an initiative from MPR News focused on serving younger (and young-at-heart) Minnesotans. Find us at @mprnews and #reverbmpr.

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sam stroozas reposted

sam stroozas reposted

As I said on NPR this morning, @mprnews.org Minnesota Public Radio has done a fantastic job all month—has it only been a month?—covering the hardest of stories and often informing the whole country through reports heard on NPR.

sam stroozas reposted

sam stroozas reposted

A 2-year-old’s detention is part of an accelerating trend of what an attorney describes as ICE agents sending children and adults with legal immigration status out of state to avoid dealing with accountability from the federal court system.

mprnews.org‘ICE conveyor belt’ illegally detaining, moving Minnesota children to Texas faster than courts can respondICE is pulling Minnesota immigrant families with legal status out of their driveways, homes and school commutes and sending them to Texas within hours — in at least two cases against a judge’s order. ...