A wet week may mean flooding for much of Minnesota

Plus: A rural county cracks down on vacation rentals [Plus: A rural county cracks down on vacation rentals] View this email as a [web page]( [Star Tribune]( [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA [Essential Minnesota logo] ESSENTIAL MINNESOTA Good morning, Minnesota! Enough is enough — this Oregonian is ready for the rain to go away ☔️ Here's the news 📢 [Eder Campuzano] By Eder Campuzano TODAY’S TOP STORIES - [Bipartisan group takes credit for spiking sports betting in 2024 Minnesota Legislature]( - [Brooklyn Park City Council member promises action after being censured]( - [Somali parents ramp up efforts to prevent tragedy following 4-year-old's drowning]( - [How a Boundary Waters fishing trip turned tragic and led to an extraordinary rescue and search]( - [Rain delays push high school baseball championship games to Friday at Target Field](   Rowdy revelers lead to a crackdown on rentals Kim Hyatt/Star Tribune The sheriff came but the parties carried on. Those eight words, penned by greater Minnesota reporter Kim Hyatt, perfectly capture the strife some Otter Tail County residents had to put up with when rowdy guests filled nearby vacation rentals most weekends. County officials responded by passing a new ordinance restricting how many guests are allowed to stay at a vacation rental and establishing quiet hours between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. It also bans the use of RVs, tents or fish houses to increase occupancy. The ordinance, which is similar to one Crow Wing County officials enacted in 2020, illuminates the tensions that flare in the state's rural reaches when rowdy revelers stress remote residential infrastructure. Read Hyatt's [full story about the tensions between residents of the state's most lake-filled county and vacation rentals](.     GOING OUT - [5 reasons you should buy Questlove's new book, "Hip-Hop Is History"]( - [Want to nod off? This fake baseball radio podcast is designed to make you fall asleep]( - [Craft & Crew restaurant group is buying the Muni bar in Rogers]( A wet week across much of Minnesota Minnesotans love saying "we really needed that rain" after a dry spell but it appears the soil across much of the state is approaching its limit. The National Weather Service issued flood watches and extreme weather alerts in several counties this morning. While many of the thunderstorm warnings subsided a few hours ago, the looming threat of overburdened waterways will continue through late tomorrow. Tim Harlow has the [latest on all of the places under flood watch in Minnesota](. Leila Navidi/Star Tribune [Share this newsletter with friends]( Do you enjoy Essential Minnesota? Encourage your friends and family to [sign up](. You also can share it using the links below. MORE FROM THE STAR TRIBUNE - [MnDOT plans changes for University Avenue in northeast Minneapolis]( - [2 people on motorcycle killed in collision south of St. Cloud]( - [Something fishy in the air as corpse flower blooms at Gustavus Adolphus College]( Light amid tragedy Alex Kormann/Star Tribune Much of Kai Darden and Javayaa Puckett's high school career was marked by tragedy. Puckett lost her parents. Both of them lost a friend when DeShaun Hill Jr. was fatally shot on his way home from North High School in 2022. I remember that shooting well. I was covering the memorial service for a boy who was shot and killed outside a school in Richfield when I heard a man mutter, "We lost another one." When I asked what he meant, he mentioned the shooting at North. Darden and Puckett graduated from North High this weekend, weeks after they attended prom together. The two friends shared their hardships and triumphs with K-12 reporter Mara Klecker, who has the [full story of Darden and Puckett's senior year here](. IN OTHER NEWS - [Meet the "Queen Spinner of Shell Shock," a local celebrity at MOA]( - MPR News - [First cohort of Hmong language educators accredited in Minnesota]( - MinnPost     THE MINNESOTA GOODBYE The air feels ... wet. That isn't usually an issue for this former Pacific Northwesterner, but at a certain point even a self-avowed lover of precipitation and puddles begins to yearn for clear skies and a drop in the dew point. The silver lining to this humid and soggy week — if you want to see it — is that we at least got this really good meme from KSTP meteorologist Chris Reece. That's something, right? Thanks for reading Eder Campuzano, reporter David Taintor, editor [Email]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Manage email preferences]( • [Subscribe to Star Tribune]( • [Privacy Policy]([Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Manage]( your preferences | [Opt Out]( using TrueRemove™ Got this as a forward? [Sign up]( to receive our future emails. View this email [online](. 650 3rd Ave. S. Suite 1300 | Minneapolis, MN 55488 US This email was sent to {EMAIL}. To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.