Minnesota has mined iron for well over a century, and it is still the largest producer of iron ore and taconite in the United States. Now the state is at the center of a bigger question: should it open a second kind of mining, for copper, nickel and other metals, in some of its most water-rich landscapes? This Explainer is part of a series designed to help people understand how the government — and the people we elect to it — serve the common good with the decisions they make about policy and funding priorities that impact the interconnected whole.

The memorial service for retired Minnesota legislator Karen Clark on September 18 reiterated how much she believed that everyone can plant seeds, literally and figuratively, setting the landscape for what is to come.

“In moments of crisis, people appreciate you just asking them how you are doing. As someone who has suffered from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], it is important to have moments of humor, cracking a joke, simply talking to somebody that you knew for years. Just doing those things can really change a person's outlook.”