Amy Hockert

When you walk into Mercury Mosaics in Northeast Minneapolis, you're greeted by a cavernous warehouse and a guard dog named Elmo. But once you make it past Elmo, your reward is a rare look at the life-cycle of handcrafted ceramic tile. It's one of the few operations like it in the world.

A woman they call "Doc" throws a party every year at the Hopkins VFW to benefit veterans organizations.

Minneapolis students, motivated after learning about the struggles kids in Ghana face trying to get an education, have banded together to raise money and collect supplies.

Brain tumors are the number one cause of cancer deaths in children. But at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, they're trying to change that and they're closing in on a possible breakthrough.

When you think about those in a school who influence children the most, teachers probably come to mind first. But in one Minnesota school, there’s one staff member who the kids will remember long after the final bell rings.

If you saw Peanut the pug strolling through your neighborhood, you might think she was a little pampered - and you'd be right. 

A couple of times a month a truck rolls into the Twin Cities carrying some very precious cargo. 

We first met Buddy on a summer afternoon at his home in Duluth. Life was good. He was content and curious - and half the dog he was just one year before.

Many of their stories start the same way. On the surface, everything seems fine, but underneath there's a battle between life and death.