Minnesota enters 2026 with major new laws in effect, including paid family and medical leave, clearer worker break requirements, a minimum wage increase, new protections for vulnerable adults, and changes to voting, water use, boating fees, and hunting rules.
Kirsti Marohn
Kirsti Marohn​ is a correspondent based in Collegeville covering central Minnesota communities, water and the environment. She started at MPR News in 2017.
 Kirsti​ started her journalism career in 1996 as a reporter and editor at the Pine River Journal in Pine River. She then served as a reporter at the St. Cloud Times for nearly 20 years, covering state and local​ government, investigative stories and the environment. She has also worked as a correspondent for USA Today.
Kirsti​’s work has been honored with several awards, including a National Headliner Award for coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists Page One Awards, and awards of merit from the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association.  
Kirsti​ graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and history. She lives in Brainerd with her husband, two daughters and a Lab-Shar Pei mix named Gryffindor. She spends her free time running, hiking, kayaking, reading and traveling, and she enjoys taking annual trips to her happy place — the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness — with her family.