Minnesotans may breathe easier, knowing that this summer’s air quality will likely be better than it was in 2023, at least if things go as planned, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Agency representatives, along with Gov. Tim Walz, gave a rosier forecast for air quality this summer but warned that the state will see more air quality alerts than in a typical recent year.

“If you have kids with asthma or you yourself have it, you know that last summer was brutal,” Walz said during a Thursday news conference at the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Center in St. Paul.

Minnesota saw 52 air quality alert days, 16 due to wildfire smoke. Nine reached the highest air quality index alert, meaning the air is hazardous for everyone. The agency expects more than seven alerts this summer, according to MPCA meteorologist Matt Taraldsen. The yearly average is five to seven alerts per year.

Air quality index, or AQI, is a color-coded guide that ranges from green (good) to maroon (hazardous). Air quality is determined by hourly measurements of fine particles, ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide.

Part of the agency’s reasoning for the better forecast, Taraldsen said, was that Canadian wildfires had already started by this time last year and the impacts from El Nino, a climate pattern that has global impacts on weather, will not play a factor this year as the phenomenon wanes. Western Canada remains in severe drought, but Minnesota has seen plentiful rainfall across much of the state following a virtually snowless winter. Only 11% of the state is currently experiencing drought conditions.

The higher the AQI rises, the more people can be harmed, particularly those with health issues, the elderly, children and people exerting themselves in prolonged activities.

“Unfortunately, it became part of many Minnesotans’ daily ritual where they got up and they checked the air quality index to see, could their kids play outside, would it be safe for a run,” Taraldsen said.

While fine particles from wildfires will not play as big of a factor this summer, Taraldsen said surface ozone levels will likely increase due to slightly above-normal temperatures that will create an atmosphere to more easily trap gases, like those from vehicles, closer to the ground.

The Twin Cities and Rochester metro areas will be impacted the most by elevated surface ozone.

A change in how AQI is determined will also show more moderate and very unhealthy alerts but total air quality alerts are not expected to change.

The agency also retooled its AQI website, which will show live updates, three-day forecasts and a graphical state map, as opposed to the one separated by counties that was used in previous years.

Walz said the state recently invested $6 million in aviation infrastructure to combat state wildfires and that the state will continue to monitor issues surrounding climate change.

In 2015, air pollution played a role in 10% of all deaths in the Twin Cities metro area, 8% of all deaths in Duluth and 10% of all deaths in Rochester, according to MCPA.

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The Gophers men’s basketball team picked up a commitment from Charlotte transfer guard Lu’Cye Patterson on Friday.

Patterson, a Minneapolis native, averaged a team-high 14.6 points along with 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 turnovers in all 31 games for Charlotte last season. He was named all-American Athletic Conference second team.

“612 I’m back #Committed,” Patterson posted on social media.

Patterson, who is listed at 6-foot-2, projects to be a starting guard for the Gophers next season, his final year of eligibility. With his addition, the U has one vacant scholarship for next season.

Patterson shot 44 percent from field-goal range, 35 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line last season.

Patterson played two seasons at Charlotte and two seasons at Missouri State. He attended Minnesota Prep Academy and Brooklyn Center High School.

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Micah Nori has watched Nikola Jokic accept three NBA MVP awards — the most recent coming this week — and he joked he’s still waiting for his name to come out of the mouth of the Denver star center.

“I’ve been on him about that, as well,” Nori joked on Sirius XM radio. “I would just appreciate if he would say, ‘Thank you.’ ”

That’s the light-hearted, joking relationship coach and player developed during Nori’s three seasons in Denver — Jokic’s first three seasons in the NBA. Jokic was a second-round draft choice of the Nuggets in 2014, but he didn’t join the NBA squad until 2015.

In the 2015 Summer League, Nori was Jokic’s head coach, and Jokic was not at the top of Nori’s mind. Denver had just drafted guard Emmanuel Mudiay No. 7 overall. The Nuggets also had young standouts Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic, another center and first-round pick.

“I’m not going to lie, I had no idea who Nikola Jokic was. I honest to god didn’t,” Nori told Chad Hartman on WCCO Radio.

So Nori didn’t call a play for Jokic. And the big man has never forgotten that. It’s a common occurrence for Jokic to send Nori gifs of Forest Gump running aimlessly around the country with accompanying text saying something to the effect of “This was me in Summer League that first year, because you never ran any plays for me. All I did was run sprints.”

Which is ironic considering Jokic is now recognized as the best player in basketball because of his high IQ and skill level. In true Nori fashion, the coach always responds with wit.

“All I did was turn it around and say, ‘That was just a motivational factor. You needed to earn your stripes, and look how good you are today because of me,’ ” Nori told Hartman. “And obviously that’s not the case.”

The familiarity and bond between the two grew far stronger over the ensuing three seasons. Nori noted it just worked out where the open space for him to stand in the locker room was right by Jokic’s locker.

“So I was next to him for every film session, and we’d talk a little bit. And he honestly is a very quiet, very introverted person,” Nori told Hartman. “But he’s very, very smart, very, very funny and we have the same sense of humor — very sarcastic — and he’s also self-deprecating, not afraid to laugh at himself. And the other thing was he’d just ask very good basketball questions. I was learning from him probably just as much as anything (he learned) from me, at all.”

Jokic even sat next to Nori on the bus.

“I still think, to this day, it’s because he didn’t want to walk all the way to the back and I was closer to the front and he wanted to get out sooner,” Nori joked to Hartman. “So we’d share bus rides and we’d talk a lot. He talked about his horses and his family and stuff and I’d ask a lot of questions about Serbia. So we just kind of became, naturally, friends there. Then, when I left, we’d always stayed in touch. We still text to this day quite a bit and always give each other a hard time.”

Asked about Nori recently, Jokic said the following to The Athletic: “He’s a bad person, first of all.”

The jokes never end between Nori and the man known as The Joker — fitting so.

“He says brutally honest stuff in really funny ways,” Jokic told The Athletic. “That’s what makes him a really interesting, really funny guy.”

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Two new series — one an absolute guilty pleasure and the other a sci-fi head trip — are worth a look this week.

But two indie features are even better: Oscar winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s exceptional eco-themed drama “Evil Does Not Exist” and Francis Galluppi’s noir homage “The Last Stop in Yuma County.”

Here’s our roundup.

“Dark Matter”: Cerebral sci-fi brain twisters such as Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” and this nine-part series (seven episodes would have sufficed) from Apple TV should come bearing a warning advising viewers to avoid all distractions since they’ll want to devote their full attention to this complex, mind-bending territory. The similarities between “Dark Matter” and Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” don’t stop there. Both series originated from popular novels, and while “Dark Matter” isn’t nearly as ambitious as its metaphysical cousin, it, too, centers on a thought-provoking concept. This one is centered on an abducted Chicago family man/physics professor Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton, well cast as an everyman) and his seemingly endless attempts to keep opening doors to various alternative realities until he encounters the one that sends him back to his “normal” life with wife Daniela (Jennifer Connolly) and son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). What led him to this desperate act?  Another version of himself has cozied up and is carrying on in his stead. The concept might seem silly, but the story by author Blake Crouch — who serves as showrunner and executive producer here and who also wrote many of the episodes — works, and challenges us to ponder what lengths we would go to if we were in not only Jason’s shoes but his wife Daniela’s as well (Connolly gives the role more dramatic shading than usual). Co-starring Alice Braga as another searcher with Jason in this weird multiverse, “Dark Matter” asks us to consider our own dual natures and how they would be altered if our worlds were different. Details: 3 stars out of 4; two episodes drop May 8, with one following every Wednesday through June 26.

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“Pretty Little Liars: Summer School”: Horror and comedy don’t always mix well, often due to one genre showing up the other. But creator, writer and executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa respects both and strikes a good balance with a guilty pleasure that’s stuffed with killer salutes to iconic horror films as well as other pop culture touchstones (“Xanadu,” anyone?). The eight-parter (it’s really Season 2 of “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin”) follows in the bloody footprints of the first, but don’t worry if you’re new to the party. The Cliff Notes version supplied in its fast-paced recap at the start of “Summer School” caught me up with all the gory details about its five “final girls” — played by Bailee Madison, Chandler Kinney, Zaria, Malia Pyles and Maia Reficco. They’re guardedly upbeat since the serial killer known as A who hounded them before is on trial and facing a long sentence. Before you can say “Candyman” numerous times in front of a mirror, a killer pops up and starts slaying folks around Millwood, the high school and even that secluded, creepy cabin in the woods. As the body count rises and potential love interests emerge — including a cute new movie theater employee (Noah Alexander Gerry) and a handsome, often shirtless, Millwood Creamery ice cream coworker (Antonio Cipriano) — our five intrepid teens (who look notably older than a typical sophomore) tangle with an outraged parent and even the legend of Bloody Rose Waters. It also deals, at times seriously, with issues about overcoming trauma. All of this makes one hope that this “Liars” club sticks around  least for its junior year. We might even follow them to grad school. Details: 3 stars; two episodes drop May 9, followed by one episode every Thursday through June 20.

“Evil Does Not Exist”: As a jocular crew from the big city searches for a remote, tranquil spot in Mizubiki, outside of Tokyo, for a glamping site, an assignment arises that upends the quiet existence of dad Takumi (Hitoshi Omika, astonishing in the role) and his daughter, Hana (Ryo Nishikawa). They live in a rustic cabin tucked comfortingly away from Japan’s busy city life; and the arrival of these strangers sets off a domino effect that leads to a startling, unpredictable outcome. Oscar winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi — one of our very best filmmakers — follows up his more straightforward “Drive My Car” with this ecological-themed surprise that mirrors the dramatic tempo and unexpected punch of a story written by the late Raymond Carver. Hamaguchi peers under the mossy rock of humanity and finds a simmering “evil” that exists within us all and it’s one that has the potential to destroy everything in its path. Details: Opens May 10 in theaters.

“The Last Stop in Yuma County”: Expect to hear the name Francis Galluppi mentioned far more in the future — that is, if this knockout feature debut, a sly, lethal slice of bloody neo noir, portends what the screenwriter and director has in store in the future. Galluppi confines two-thirds of this film to a well-worn locale — an off-the-beaten-track diner cum gas station, a place that normally sees few customers. On this most unfortunate day, however, a suspicious assortment of folks arrive, including a knife salesman (Jim Cummings). They wait it out not only for their fried grub to be served by a wary waitress (Jocelin Donahue) and a gas truck so they can fill up tanks and skedaddle. Enter two violent bank robbers (Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan). Tension builds to a breaking point in Galluppi’s salute to noirs past and present that has a distinct style all to its own. Details: 3½ stars; available to rent May 10.

“East Bay”: Shot and set throughout the East Bay and occasionally in San Francisco, director Daniel Yoon’s quirky drama finds a 39-year-old Korean American part-time filmmaker lamenting that he’s been a loser in life. Told in an unconventional, fit-and-start manner, “East Bay” distinguishes itself with humorous characters and comedic encounters, along with a sweet romance Jack (Yoon) has with a film festival organizer (Constance Wu of “Crazy Rich Asians”). At times, though, it plays things a little too loose (a bit featuring gay slurs backfires) for its own good. Still, “East Bay’s” puppy-dog demeanor and existential ways will likely win you over. Details: 3 stars; in select theaters and available to rent.

“The Image of You”: Pour yourself a glass of the cheapest chardonnay to be found in a cardboard box, and let the guilty pleasure times roll. This hysterical, over-the-top thriller takes the exhausted-beyond-all-belief plot device about twin sisters for a spin, and the result is a bumpy ride from start to finish. One sis happens to be annoyingly sweet and clueless, the other  a wild vixen with an out-of-control libido. What a shock! Trouble goes down the tubes when bland and boring sis Anna falls for clueless but easy-on-the-eyes stock trader Nick (Parker Young) and soon the jealous and volatile sis Zoe sets her eyes, thighs and everything on him. Director Jeff Fisher realizes he’s throwing some trash about and lets his cast go for it. “Pretty Little Liars” Sasha Pieterse ping-pongs between the unlike twins with gusto. Infrequently, Mira Sorvino and Nestor Carbonell pop their heads in the door to play the concerned but enabling parents. Expect to howl (depending on how much wine has been consumed) almost as much as you did during Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room.” The difference is that this one knows exactly what it’s doing. Hats off, to that. Details: 2½ stars; available May 10 for rental.

“Force of Nature: The Dry 2”: In this sequel also based on a Jane Harper novel, Aussie federal agent Aaron Falk (a subdued Eric Bana, at times too subdued) and his colleague Carmen Cooper (Jacqueline McKenzie) search for missing informant Alice (Anna Torv) in the rugged, but fictional Giralang Ranges. Alice was aiding Aaron in a case that implicated her boss and she was poised to hand over documents. But a corporate wilderness retreat with four coworkers,  considered problematic and in need of some bonding,  puts the investigation in jeopardy after everyone but Alice returns after getting lost in the woods. Director/screenwriter Robert Connolly takes full advantage of gorgeous but treacherous Australian locales – including a waterfall – and all of it is quite a sight to behold. In the end, though, the mystery at the center of “Force of Nature” lacks the emotional, personal depth of the 2020 film, even if Aaron is haunted by more events from his past. But it makes up for that with its message about the high toll of exacting justice, and if the ends do indeed justify the means. Details: 3 stars; available to rent May 10.

“Tarot”: A potentially fun horror concept wherein an evil spirit summoned up via a deck of hand-drawn Tarot cards exacts vengeance on an unsuspecting batch of seven rich college chums in Massachusetts comes undone by muddled mythology and a lackadaisical script reliant on too many jump scares and illogic. Nondescript, underwritten characters get picked off, admittedly with some invention, after an impromptu card reading at a mansion where the friends gathered to celebrate a birthday. Directors/creenwriters Spenser Cohen and Anna Halpern hem themselves in with a PG-13 rating and fail to capitalize on what works – namely the demons conjured up and even the slayings. A bogus ending all but seals its fate. Too bad since there’s something worth saving. But this one’s not playing with a full deck and cribs too often from better horror franchises, including “Final Destinations,” even “Saw.” Watch “Infected” on Shudder for something creepy-crawly instead. Details: 1½ stars; in theaters now.

“The Lost Boys”: Although set in Belgium, director Zeno Graton’s taut drama examines a very American problem — the incarceration of young male teens. Graton’s knockout debut is just as convincing in portraying the all-consuming attraction between unwanted Joe (Khalil Gharbia of “Peter von Kant”) and volatile William (Julien de Saint Jean). The leads are exceptional, and Graton’s direction and pacing never slackens in this astute observation into the lives of these “lost boys” who find each other. Details: 3 stars, available to rent May 10.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.